January pruning will not be a problem unless it's followed by unseasonably warm temperatures that would promote leafing and new growth. Should this happen and be followed by a cold snap, any new growth will be killed. Unfortunately we don't know what weather is coming so you take your chances.
Me, I'd cut off the wayward canes to prevent further damage to the bush. I think that's the lesser of the two evils.

I think our roses are dormant enough that some winter pruning would be safe. I went out recently and cut back some longer canes that were so weighted down with snow and ice that they were attacking cars in the driveway. They got a January trim and I think they'll be fine. Here in zone 5, my Westerland and it's sport, Autumn Sunset, suffer quite a bit of winter cane damage above their mounding level. I usually have to cut them back quite a bit each spring. Fortunately, they do take off again nicely, but not as nicely as yours. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Wouldn't pruning in the winter leave the canes susceptible to disease and rot from the open wounds?...Being in a warmer zone I am not sure..that is what I was always told and even in my Zone 8B..I don't prune till Feb. 14th...Jeanne

Don't prune now! Anything you do could harm this plant. Westerland can be cold sensitive so you need to be careful. You can mulch it to about 4 inches around the base. At least this will help some. In a couple of months (late March or early April) you can begin to prune the winter kill away. This rose looks quite large and has been well taken care of.

I let all my large climbers pretty much alone until late winter/early spring. They seem to take the winters quite well.

I am in the Susquehanna Valley, PA.

Harry---Your Westerland looks so strong and healthy----I wish I had more sun so mine could look like yours.
In the winter------I just leave my roses alone and hope for the best although my DH has chopped off some long canes that were whipping around in the wind.
Florence

Zone 5 Karen: By "mounding level" do you mean the height that you mulch it? At the botanical garden here they surround some roses (I think mainly the tea roses) with chickenwire about 2-3' high and fill it with shredded bark. (I am assuming they do it after the ground freezes.) Did you ever try to wrap burlap around a climbing rose, and are you supposed to pull all the canes down and burlap them on the ground?

There are broken canes on Quadra I should get out and cut off. Since they happened to fall into the garden instead of into the path, it puts them much lower down on the to do list.

Usually, I do a big fall tieup on the climbers and ramblers. Part of it is so we can get past the roses even if the path has migrated a bit due to snow, and part of it is to protect the roses from being blown around. The stretchy tape can make quite astonishingly long loops if you need it to. However, Captain Samuel Holland has been known to eat it. That one has to get the foam covered wire.

Speaking of which, people who use regular electrical wire to tie up roses, what gauge are you getting? I suppose I could just go to HD and play around with the spools and see what I like.

My arbor kinda looks like a Chia Pet. I am not complaining. Its better to have too much. Let's hope the winter isn't too bad. Westerland seems completely hardy into the single digits. We rarely go below zero.

I have decided to prune any loose end longer than 6". I doubt I will be wanting for blooms in June.

{{gwi:217736}}

Ok I get the "mounding" thing now - the level of soil up over the graft. But I'm still wondering if it's worth the time and being stabbed by thorns to take it down and burlap it for winter.

What a beautiful Westerland you have. I call the job "topping" and do it. I would not shorten to the level of pruning, however. Just top off the errant canes waving in the gales. Leave yourself enough to prune later.