Mary's Bust Area  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Page Views:  68,368. Good page?    Administrators:  Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Leo Paik on Jun 29, 2010 Make this area a Favorite What's New  Printer View Add Area  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event  Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 82° | 39° 77° | 43° 79° | 43° 77° | 39° 73° | 43°

BETA PHOTO: An overview of the area, showing Mary's Bust, its ...

Description 

Construction Zone

This is an organizational entry to help with restructuring this section of the Big Thompson Canyon. It was suggested by one of the BTC developers.

The Mary's Bust area provides Big Thompson climbers with a wealth of different opportunities for climbs ranging from 1 to 6 pitches, trad climbs to sport climbs, slabs to overhangs, and from 5.6 to 13-. The rock is granitic with significant quartz intrusions and pockets of mica which can may holds flex. The rock is still shedding here. Consider helmets. The approaches are brief. Some climbers have remarked that this is Lumpy without the approach. The sun is often warm here, although you can chase the shade a bit here.

In this area, we'll include a number of crags that are accessed from the same parking area. Included are: Golden Hall (above and on the right side of Mary's Bust - left buttress), Mary's Bust - left buttress, Mary's Bust - main buttress, Tick Rock (to the left), Sugar Cube (to the right & below Mary's Bust), Moonlight Rock (above Mary's Bust - left buttress)....

Incidentally, there is nice opportunity to rinse off or wash down after a pleasant day out on the rock here.

Please email with any suggestions for improvement.

Getting There 

From Estes Park, drive ~7.7 miles east on US 34. This decent-sized rock, Mary's Bust, will loom above on the north side of the road. There are pullouts both on the north and south of the road. There is a cairn marking the typical approach towards the east end of the cliff.

From the east, it lies ~9.4 miles west of the Beige Siphon Tube (BST) in the narrows.

The Classics

Featured Route For Mary's Bust Area

Violet Blue 5.11c  CO : Estes Park Valley : ... : Mary's Bust - main buttress

Violet Blue runs up an old aid line on the west face of Mary's Bust just adjacent to the gully that separates the two main crags. The route was installed ground up, solo, and on the lead using hooks and some other related tricks. The original aid start was left alone and may provide a difficult and protectable alternate start. VB consists of three pitches and stops well short of the top of the crag. Rock above the final belay looked unpleasant but could certainly be led safely to the prominent l...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO