Originally Posted by SheriffJoe


Never cared much for rock routes, but you get into it on mixed routes out here. Am sure you know what it's like to edge with crampons and dry tool!

Do any waterfalls in Colorado? We have to really bust ass to find good water ice in this region. Love the green alpine ice, though...like cork! Don't know that I can trust rehabbed rotators anymore, though for anything past a couple of ice pitches without exchanging leads.

Only a few climbs in CO require edging with dry tools and crampons and then only a few steps. One exception is the west face of Crestone Peak. I climbed the India Route on the east face of the peak and the descent requires one to traverse a ledge about 4" wide and forty feet long across the face of a thousand foot vertical wall. Really raises the pucker factor. I suspect that west coast climbers commonly encounter similar situations.

Lots of waterfalls though. The north face of Mount Lincoln is the best and I already mentioned the Ice Park in Ouray. But there are many other smaller isolated waterfalls that freeze in winter. A popular one is the Rigid Designator also located east of vail. It's an hourglass shape and one has to climb the upper half while leaning back on your tools. It really requires a lot of arm strength. I climbed it by tieing my picks into my climbing harness and resting.

The best ice that I have ever seen is on the northeast face of the Grand Teton. It's all alpine ice, not water ice, and it sucks your tools in like a magnet. It's layed back about 10° so one can lean into the face. It's really an aesthetic climb about 1,000 feet from Valhalla Canyon to the base of ther Black Ice Couloiur.

I wrote this article and it was published in Trail & Timberline, the journal of the Colorado Mountain Club.

KC

Dead Man's Steel

I have never considered myself to be superstitious. But several years ago I was confronted with a feeling that made me think twice about that.

A friend and I planned to climb the ice falls in Officers Gulch, East of Vail. We had heard on the news, that on Wednesday someone had died while climbing in that area.

We hiked in on Saturday and began hiking up the debris fan at the bottom of the gully. It was covered in fresh snow and half way up the fan we saw where someone had been digging in the snow. When we looked into the hole, we saw a climbing rope. Apparently someone had been hit by an avalanche while climbing and this is where they came to a stop. We figured that this was the remnants of the climbing accident that had claimed a life earlier in the week. Seeing that rope in the bottom of the hole and realizing how it came to be there was a sobering start to the climb, for both of us.

I lead the first pitch, which was uneventful until I nearly reached the top and peered over the rim. There in front of me was and ice axe and an ice screw stuck in the ice. We surmised that the previous climber had just about reached the top and was placing his protection before attempting to climb over the rim, when he got hit by the avalanche.

I finished the pitch and set the belay right next to the axe and screw, then my buddy climbed up after me. My friend collected both pieces of gear and we climbed the final pitch, then rapelled down.

There's a common joke within the climbing community. It says "Climb Safely. If you die, we split your gear." When we reached the bottom, my climbing partner asked me which piece of gear I wanted. I thought about and said that I didn't want either. It just didn't feel right.

In the Navy there's a superstition that it's bad luck to possess anything made of steel that was owned by a man who has died. I never gave it much thought until I was confronted with the choice.

KC


Wind in my hair, Sun on my face, I gazed at the wide open spaces, And I was at home.