This area has access issues. Please read the details below.
The Frigid Inseminator.
Description
Dang those organizing types. Why couldn't we just leave this area a mess and let climbers figure it all out? Shucks, we're just being helpful 'round these parts.
This is a decidedly popular ice area. It is north-facing, so dress warmly. It is easily visible from the road. While most of the popular areas are listed here, there certainly is more ice that forms up here.
This area holds a great variety of of 1-2 pitch ice and mixed routes. If you get to climb here, you'll likely leave with a smile. This is probably the birthplace for Colorado modern mixed climbing with Jeff Lowe's ascent of Octopussy, although Alex Lowe's influence was strong, too.
Parking is a hassle since the town of Vail outlaws on-the-street parking. So, don't assume anything or you'll be made to pay.
Snow can pile up. It can even avalanche.
Access issues can be problematic. Check things out first.
Occasionally rappel trees fail. So, beware!
Getting There
Located approximately 100 miles W of Denver. Most folks will use I-70 to access this area. The E Vail exit is most useful for most of these climbs. Parking is a hassle. Probably, the locals know the best scoop on parking. It's best to find a legal spot and expect to walk a bit further than you'd like or just buy one of these little shacks and cough up a mil or two.
Odd tidbit for 2007: there seem to be conflicting signs posted near Pumphouse where one sign suggests climbers need to pay to cross the golf course, but other signs do not.
This is perhaps the most spectacular ice formation in the area. The Designator usually forms in a massive pillar of ice detached from the rock with a giant cone at the bottom topped by nearly a hundred feet of vertical ice. Surprisingly, the cone at the base is the crux of the route. The cone usually forms like an open artichoke with layers of petals six or more feet high. Protecting these is difficult and climbing them is awkward. Attacking them...[more]
By Matt Shepard From: Golden, CO 3 days ago CONDITION REPORT
Climbed at Vail on Sunday the 16th. There was little climbable ice. Slabbutt looked ok, Spiral Stairs looked all there but so soaking wet that you should take soap and get in a shower while climbing. It ended up being a drytooling day for us. The other areas at Vail look just as thin. We need some cold temps, it was 45 when we left in the afternoon.
Vail amphitheater most all mixed climbs are in: Amphibian, Fatman & Robin, 7th [Tentacle], Little [Thang] - not in at all but - Pitch [Black], Lucky, [Reptile], [Somnambulist], [Resurrection], [Teriebel] Traverse and the route way left of the Designator "[Dr.] Delicate?" are in and good ([hasn't] come in in a long time). The Belfry (above staircase) all routes including [Pencil] and [Eraser] are climbable and need done. Secret [Probation] also in "thin" as are the routes left of the "[Spiral Staircase]". Lots of water in the area - yehaww! game is on lets climb........
Hi all. Is there another name for Pumphouse falls? The climb near the golf course west of the Designator area. Is it in this database. Looking for manageable WI-3-4 first time lead in the Vail area Dec. 27-Jan 2.
Lost Camera at Pitkin Falls!!! She is an old school Powershot with 3.2 megapixel resolution. Left behind the curtain on Sunday February 25. I'm back in Crested Butte but will return that way soon. Help a brother out. The Falls were great, bullet hard on the left, but a small hole opening up top.
Vail Ice
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