This area is posted as “closed for hunting” Dec 1 – Jan 31 not because the area is actually being hunted but because it is a possible access point to the Centennial Cone area, which is. There is no hunter access through this gulch and the only danger to climbers is in the form of a ticket from an open space ranger.
The line is obvious. Ascend up fifty feet of less than vertical but often thin ice to a ledge, then breeze up some steps to a short vertical section that climbs past a rock horn, and then climb up the last short section to the top. The crux is either the odd-angled climbing sometimes needed to get around the rock horn on the second tier or the thinness of ice on the lower section. If in thick, this is a great beginner route. If thin, which it often is, it can be sketchy.
Protection
One or two screws for the lower section and one or two for the crux should do you. Short screws are the rule, have I mentioned that it is often thin? It’s also a great solo but take a rope to rap, the scramble down is a pain. No bolts and little to no rock pro on this wall. Use the tree at the top to anchor and rappel. Bring slings and a 70m rope is a must.
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