Steve approaching Tom's Rhinoplasty
Elain and I had been planning a trip to southern Colorado for some ice climbing, for over six months. We got our hands on a guidebook for Colorado ice this Christmas, and it whetted our appetite for the amazing waterfall ice in the San Juan range. We left for Colorado on Valentines Day, and planned to spend 6 days in Ouray and Telluride.
The trip was great fun, and we learned a lot about ice climbing. We spent two days climbing in the Ouray Ice Park, and two days doing multipitch ice climbing on waterfalls just outside of the town of Ouray. We then spent two days skiing with my parents in Telluride, before reluctantly returning to the Real World where amazing waterfall ice cannot be found a mere 10-minute walk from home.
We brought the following gear to Ouray: 4 ice tools, 2 helmets, 2 pairs of waterfall ice crampons, 8.5mm x 50m double ropes; 10 ice screws; 2 V-threaders; 15m of 6mm Perlon cord; 15 m of 9/16" webbing; 3 screamers; 7 quickdraws; 2 cordalettes; 6 single runners; 2 double runners; 1 dozen chemical heat packs (didn't use them); small passive rock rack; 4 pins; 2 headlamps; 2 avy beacons; 2 avy probes; 2 snow shovels; extra batteries; extra ice tool pick and wrench; rat-tail file. Sunglasses and sunblock were very useful to have. Note that we didn't bring all this gear on each climb; this is just the gear we brought with us to Ouray. We did not bring snowshoes and ski poles, but they would have been very useful for the approach to Dexter Creek Slabs. For many of the ice climbs in the Ouray area, double (or twin) 60m ropes would be useful.
This trip report is divided into four sections, one for each day we spent climbing in Colorado. Pictures are included after each day's trip report.
Tom's Rhinoplasty, 25m, WI3
Mr. Hankey, 30m, WI3
Captain Goddamnit, 25m, WI3
Camino, 25m, WI3-4
For our first day in the Ice Park, Elain and I climbed four waterfalls. The first three were WI3 waterfalls and we climbed them in our usual method; we both climbed with our packs on, and I led and then belayed Elain from above. We climbed Tom's Rhinoplasty and Mr. Hankey in the "South Park" area, then went over to the "New Funtier" area and climbed Captain Goddamnit. We then walked over to the "Schoolroom" area, and decided against climbing anything there, because of the crowds. So we went over to the "Alcove" area instead. For the fourth waterfall (Camino), we decided to set up a top-rope because of the steepness and the fact that we were getting pretty tired. Just as we arrived at the base of Camino, another climber started up on lead. We chose to climb a line to his right, practicing on the lower steep section of the waterfall. At one point while I was climbing Elain felt (through the rope) someone messing with the top-rope anchor. Some animated discussion followed, but in the end we didn't know what had happened, since we couldn't see the anchor from the base of the waterfall. Chalk up one more reason why we really dislike top-roping.
Steve approaching Tom's Rhinoplasty
Tom's Rhinoplasty, WI3
Steve climbing Mr. Hankey, WI3
Steve in front of the Uncompahgre Gorge
Dexter Creek Slabs, 120m, WI3-4
Elain found the Dexter Creek Slabs in the Colorado Ice Climbing guidebook, and thought it looked interesting. So we decided to check it out. The guidebook says it is 250' high, and rates it WI3. We found that it was a bit longer than 250', probably more like 350'. We climbed it in three pitches, although a mishap forced us to rappel and repeat a good portion of the second and third pitches. In addition, the steep step on the third pitch of the route is quite stout, for WI3. The easiest line was vertical for at least 15'.
The approach entailed walking up a snowed-over road, and then walking up the creekbed for 15 minutes or so. This opened up onto a field of deep snow. Without snowshoes or skis, we were forced to wallow to the base of the route. We eventually reached a short, rotten ice step below a tower of rock. The step was overhanging at the bottom, so the first move was the hardest. I soloed up the ice step and skirted around the tower, and then belayed Elain up to me. We wallowed through more snow to the base of the route, arriving about an hour after leaving the car. The first pitch was sustained WI3. At the top of the pitch, the ice gave way to snow, so I diverted towards the right, and set up a belay in a tree. When Elain joined me, I saw there was a party behind us. They probably appreciated having trail broken for them, but probably not all the ice and snow we had been discharging down the waterfall. It turned out to be the same party we had encountered on Camino the previous day. We asked them about the top-rope anchor, and found out what happened. Apparently someone had stolen the webbing for their anchor, so when the lead climber topped out expecting to find his already-made anchor, it was gone. So he was forced to use our anchor to belay his partner. This is apparently what caused the disturbance Elain had felt while belaying me.
The second pitch was a wallow in deep sugar snow over 45-degree rock slabs. Since the snow had not bonded at all to the rock slabs, it was a rather unpleasant pitch of climbing. After about 100' of climbing, I reached a WI2 ice ramp that led up to a steep step of ice. I made the mistake of misjudging the steepness of the step and the amount of rope we had left. Halfway up the ramp, I realized I would run out of rope in the middle of the steep section. At this point I cooled off on the idea of simul-climbing the ice step. The second party had caught up to us, and had set up a belay in a depression in the ice, just to the right of the ramp. With the obvious belay notch already taken, I reluctantly set up a semi-hanging belay right in the middle of the ramp. I belayed Elain up to me, and we surveyed the ice step. It looked steep, much steeper than anything I had led before. The second party was angling to climb the right hand side of the step, which appeared to be a stout WI3+ line. This left us with the WI4 pillar on the left side of the step, which was vertical for at least 20'. Not wanting to wait for the second party to pass, I started up the ramp towards the pillar. The pillar was exposed to sunlight, so the ice quality was not great. It was chandaliered in some places, and had frequent air pockets. I was getting tired, and due to nerves I was over-gripping my tools. After a few moves up the pillar, I made the mistake of swinging my pick into a large ice bulge above me. The bulge fractured from the ice and fell down the ice ramp. The ice struck one of Elain's tools and dislodged it from the ice, sending it 100' down the waterfall to the snow field below. While we were having an animated discussion about what to do, the second party offered us the use of their nearby belay anchor. I enthusiastically accepted their offer. After a few moves of unpleasant down-climbing, I was off the pillar and back on the ramp. I traversed over towards their anchor and eagerly hitched into it. I rigged a double-rope rappel from their anchor, and within 15 minutes Elain had her missing tool and we were both back at the tree belay. At this point we were both quite tired, so we stopped for a food break and waited for the second party to tackle the third pitch. Once the second party had topped out, I started back up. Instead of repeating the second pitch as I had climbed it before, I took a right-tending gully. It was really bad, essentially 3' of sugar snow on top of smooth rock slab. I eventually reached the second party's belay platform, and belayed Elain up to me. From there, I started back up the ice ramp. At the base of the steep section, I fired in a screw and started climbing up. About halfway up, I was getting quite pumped, and my swing started to falter. I struck another ice bulge above my head, dislodging a large ice chunk that hit me in the face and forehead. The ice chunk knocked me from my stance so that I fell onto my tools, yanking my left arm quite hard. I spat to get the blood out of my mouth and resumed climbing. A few moves later, the ice backed off and revealed a WI2 gully. Elain wanted me to stop and set up a belay there, but I was tired and looking longingly at a tree belay 20' higher. I ran out of rope just a few meters before the tree. Elain could barely hear my shouts, but eventually we started simul-climbing. At the tree, I rested and belayed Elain up to me. She had looked wide-eyed at the blood spots on the ice while climbing up, wondering what had happened. We both agreed that the ice step on the third pitch was quite stout for supposedly being WI3.
We followed the second (now first) party's tracks and took the walk-off descent. It was straightforward, except for the last slopes which were under direct sunlight and starting to slide. At two points, the tracks were obliterated by small sluff avalanches. Another small sluff came down while I was crossing the slope. We moved quickly. We reached the car in plenty of time to clean my disgusting bloody lip and get dinner in Ouray.
Gear we used: 8.5mm x 50m double ropes; 7 screws (sizes 13cm - 22cm); 3 screamers. Carried avy beacons, snow shovels, and avy probes.
Things we learned:
Dexter Creek Slabs
Dexter Creek Slabs. Our climbing route is shown in red. Belays are indicated
with circles.
Uncompahgre River valley, as seen from Dexter Slabs
Elain on the descent from the Dexter Creek Slabs
Elain on the descent from the Dexter Creek Slabs
Steve, somewhat cleaned up, back at the car
Lewis, 35m, WI3
Hen House, 20m, WI2
Elain and I were both tired after the two previous days of climbing, so we decided to have a "rest day". We went back to the Ice Park and toproped Lewis. We then spent a couple of hours working on high-angle self-rescue techniques. Finally, we went over to the Schoolroom and Elain practiced lead climbing on the lower section of a WI2, Hen House. Since it was a weekday, the Ice Park was much less crowded than it was on Sunday.
Steve rappelling on Lewis.
Steve on Lewis, WI3
Horsetail Falls, 150m, WI4-5
Flamenco, 35m, WI4-5
Elain and I climbed Horsetail Falls with Jared, a guide from Telluride Mountain Guides. Horsetail Falls is a 500' waterfall in the Bear Creek area. It is rated WI4-5, depending on your choice of line for the crux pitch. Horsetail Falls is typically climbed in four pitches, although sometimes the first pitch is buried in snow.
On the drive to Horsetail Falls, we saw some baby mountain goats climbing on the cliffs above highway 550. We were amazed at how they can climb class 4 terrain with seemingly no effort. Elain and I met our guide Jared at the pull-out at 8:30 AM. Jared offered Elain the use of a pair of razor-sharp Charlet Moser Aztars, but Elain declined in favor of her beat-up old Shrikes. While we were sorting gear, a toothless old snowplow driver pulled over to warn us about the warm temperatures and avalanche and icefall hazard. We thanked him for his concern and continued sorting our gear. Soon thereafter we were cramponing down into the canyon. Twenty minutes later we were at the base of the route.
Jared led, and I seconded while dragging the 11mm rope with which to belay Elain. We climbed a sustained WI4 line on the crux pitch. At the belay, I was pumped and breathing hard. While chopping a small stance in the ice with my adze, I accidentally stomped a hole in my boot with my crampon tine. While topping out on the crux pitch, Elain got blasted in the face with a small spindrift slide. She shrugged it off and continued up to the belay. We made short work of the second pitch and stopped for lunch at the base of the third pitch. The third pitch involved a step of WI3, and a snow wallow to get out of the gully at the top.
Two rappels and some down-climbing got us to the base of the route. It was getting very warm, and I was glad to be off the route at this point. Back at the car, the old snowplow driver passed by again, giving us a celebratory thumbs-up. We had a fantastic time. Horsetail Falls is truly a classic waterfall ice climb.
We had some time left over after climbing Horsetail Falls, so the three of us went back to Ouray to climb in the Ice Park. Jared set up a top-rope and I climbed Flamenco (WI4-5) on mock lead. For the first time in the trip, I felt like I was climbing efficiently. The top-rope really helped me to put fear aside and to concentrate on my technique. Elain followed in good style, wearing her pack as is her usual practice. By then, I was so exhausted that I could barely lift my arms.
We said farewell to Jared, and then drove to Telluride. There we met up with my parents, for two days of lift-served skiing.
Note that the Bear Creek area near Horsetail Falls is completely different than the Bear Creek area near Telluride. This caused us some confusion when we were discussing climbing destinations with Jared.
Gear we used: 11mm x 60m rope; 10.5mm x 50m rope; 6 screws. Carried avy beacons and snow shovels. Double 60m or twin ropes would be perfect for this route. The 50m lead rope we used was really stretched on the first and second pitches.
Things we learned:
Horsetail Falls
Horsetail Falls. Our climbing route is shown in red. Belays are indicated
with circles.
the first pitch of Horsetail Falls
Steve starting out on the second pitch of Horsetail Falls
Steve on the third pitch of Horsetail Falls
Bear Creek Falls, gushing with water
Elain rappelling to the base of the route
Elain and Jared at the base of Horsetail Falls
Steve and Elain in front of Horsetail Falls
Steve rappelling down Flamenco, WI4-5
Jared giving Steve some pointers on leading
Steve climbing Flamenco, on mock lead
Some closing thoughts on the Ouray Ice Park:
The Ouray Ice Park is a fantastic area for working on technique and developing ice climbing skills. You can really focus on climbing rather than routefinding, avalanche hazard assessment, and other things. There are over 160 routess in the Ice Park (mostly pure waterfall ice, but some mixed as well), and there is also great multipitch ice climbing just outside the town of Ouray. There is a "Schoolroom" area that is set up for beginners and top-roping (see rant below on the Schoolroom, however). Also, a note to hardpersons: There is a "lead-only" area of challenging climbs where WI5-6 and M7-8 climbers can get away from the crowds.
One thing to bear in mind is that the Ice Park is quite crowded on weekends. It is much more enjoyable to go to the Ice Park on a weekday, when there are probably 75% fewer climbers in the park. (There is tons of great ice climbing in the Ouray area outside of the Ice Park, so this is not really a limitation). However, even on a crowded weekend day in the Ice Park, you can still get a lot of climbing in. All the decent motels in Ouray seem to book up on the weekends, so you will want to have a reservation if you are staying over a Friday or Saturday night. There is some kind of famous Hot Springs in Ouray, so bringing a swimsuit might be useful, if you enjoy soaking in 108-degree water.
Buy an Ice Park Map. It costs $12, but it has all the waterfalls and is very up-to-date. The routes change every year, as the maintainers of the park move the spigots around at the top of the gorge. The map will really help you to get orientated faster, and to learn where the walk-down trails are to access the bottom of the gorge. Besides, the money goes to support the Ice Park. You should buy an Ice Park membership, too. It is not required for climbing in the Ice Park, but it only costs $35 and goes to support the Ice Park. Furthermore, you get 20% off at many restaurants and motels in Ouray, if you have a membership. It will easily pay for itself if you are staying a couple of nights in Ouray.
Bring a pair of 50m or 60m double or twin ropes, and you will be able to lead and easily rappel into the gorge, or top-rope, depending on your preference. A single 60m or 50m rope would suffice for lead-climbing, but you will need to use the "walk down" routes to get back down into the gorge; a single 60m or 50m rope will generally not suffice for top-roping at the Ice Park. Bring a long (50') strand of 1" tubular webbing or old rope, for setting up topside anchors. Occasionally the good anchor trees are set back a ways from the waterfall. We were able to get by with a 20' cordalette, but 50' of bomber webbing would have been useful in the Ice Park.
This should go without saying, but you should wear a helmet at all times when you are down in the gorge. Ice (and occasionally rocks) seem to fall from the canyon walls with alarming regularity, especially on sunny days. More importantly, other ice clmibers are often discharging ice on the waterfalls on the canyon walls.
A second thing to note about the Ice Park is that 90% of the climbers are exclusively top-roping, and most of them seem to rarely consider the possibility that others might be lead climbing. This means that you should consider "claiming" your waterfall by setting up some kind of topside anchor, even if you intend to lead the climb. This ensures that some idiot will not toss ropes down on you while you are leading the climb. You don't have to use the anchor, but leave some webbing up there so it looks like you are top-roping. This should decrease the chance of someone tossing ropes on you. This is less of an issue on weekdays when the park is less crowded, but it is still something to be aware of.
Finally, a note about the Schoolroom. It is very crowded, even on weekdays. On weekends, it is just crazy. The top-rope anchors in the Schoolroom are set up largely on bolts on the rock face above the waterfalls. However, this means that people's anchor webbing and cord cross the metal walkway that runs along the rock face above the waterfalls. In my opinion, this creates a hazardous (or at least unnerving) situation because people are constantly walking back and forth across the metal walkway and stepping over your top-rope anchors in their crampons. Fortunately, this unsafe situation only exists in the Schoolroom. Elsewhere in the park, there is generally not a problem with people walking back and forth over your top-rope anchor. Lead climbing in the Schoolroom is an option, but you must "claim" your waterfall by leaving a convincing-looking anchor top-side (this practice is required in the Schoolroom by Ice Park regulations). Even so, consider that there is a lot of traffic on the walkway above the waterfall where you are leading. In my opinion, the Schoolroom is not worth the trouble and crowdedness, when there is plentiful ice to be found elsewhere in the Ice Park.