St. Mary's Falls  WI2+ PG13

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Type:  Ice, 1 pitch, 100 feet Consensus:  WI2 [details] FA:  Season:  November-April Submitted By:  jmeizis on Nov 14, 2008 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (2) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

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Description 

This low angle ice climb starts off pretty easily and gets harder as one ascends with the crux being around the top. Nice climb but a heck of a walk for one, single pitch, ice climb. Would be a good beginning if one planned to hit all the local ice climbs in Cheyenne Canyon.

Location 

Take N. Cheyenne Canyon Rd. till the parking lot at Gold Camp Rd. Head west along Gold Camp Rd. for about 1.5 miles where you will pass a tunnel. After the tunnel you will come to FS trail #624 which you will follow for another 1.6 miles. There are a few offshoot paths so follow the largest path heading uphill and you'll probably be okay. You stick to the creek most of the time till the end where you'll go up some switchbacks, follow them uphill, don't get sucked down the hill to the east. Near the base of the falls you'll come upon a sign that says the base of the falls is 500 feet. You can also take the path that points to the top for 0.2 miles to set up a toprope.

Descent can go down this path as well and you can anchor on trees to the side.

Protection 

Ice screws of varying lengths depending on ice thickness. Can be thick in winter.