Mountain Project: Climbing CO Ice & Mixed > Tenmile Canyon aka Officer's Gulch

Tenmile Canyon is along the interstate just west of Dillon. This area has lots of nice easy to moderate ice climbs with casual approaches. The downside is that most routes are the bottoms of avalanche chutes, so it is only sane to climb here early in the season before heavy snow falls. Preview conditions carefully before jumping on anything here.

Getting There

From Dillon, drive west on I-70 to the exit for Officer's Gulch. Park on the south side of the road at the start of the path through Tenmile Canyon. Most of the routes are to the west, but a few come in east of the lot. To approach everything, walk along the trail until you see your route and then bushwhack up to it(there will likely be tracks through the snow).

The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Tenmile Canyon aka Officer's Gulch:

Chimney M4 Trad, Mixed, 1 pitch, 200 feet, Grade II

Right of Round the Corner WI4 M2 Trad, Mixed, Ice

The Plumb WI4+ M6+ Trad, Mixed, Ice, 1 pitch

Fish Out of Water WI5 M4-5 Mixed, Ice, 1 pitch, 100 feet

Holy Grail M7 Sport, Mixed, 1 pitch, 50 feet

Crown of Thorns M4-5 Trad, Mixed, 1 pitch, 50 feet

The Shroud WI3-4 Trad, Ice, 1 pitch, 60 feet

Round the Corner WI4-5 Trad, Ice, 2 pitches, Grade II

Tony's Nightmare WI3-4 Trad, Ice, 3 pitches, Grade II

Sneaky 1 WI2 Mod. Snow Trad, Ice, Snow, 3000 feet, Grade III

Three Tiers WI2+ Trad, Ice

Featured Route For Tenmile Canyon aka Officer's Gulch

Close-up pic of Three Tiers. Kita -the Alaskan Mal gives it 2 paws up.

Three Tiers WI2+ CO : CO Ice & Mixed : Tenmile Canyon aka Officer'...

This is as fun as WI2 gets. Walk past The Shroud and Tony's Nightmare to an obvious, long gully in a rocky section of the canyon, about 20-30 minutes and past a prominent side canyon. The route consists of three steep steps separated by long stretches of snow groveling and low angle ice. The first tier is the crux and is about 45 feet long, and the remaining tiers get easier and shorter. The gully is about 400 feet long or so, but only three stretches are technical....[more] Browse More Classics in CO

Comments on Tenmile Canyon aka Officer's Gulch

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By Anonymous Coward
Jan 16, 2002

The Shroud in nice and fat (just a 10 minute walk from the Officer's Gulch exit). Climbed it on Sunday the 13th of Jan.

By Tradkelly
Nov 24, 2002

The Shroud is partially in - left side looks pretty good, but right side only has a few small columns touching down. Three Tiers is in to the top of Tier 2, with between 2 and 4 feet of well-consolidated snow covering the approach and most of the climb. First pitch is small, only about 15' of WI2 at the transition, rock and snow only to the first anchor. Second pitch is much nicer, still WI2, but lots more ice all-around. The heavy snowcover makes the climb kind of dull - but we put the trail back in today and it should last for a week or two. Contrary to previous reports, snowfields above 10Mile appeared to be caught in the rocks and stable, and there were no apparent layers in the runouts or gullies. A couple of small runs earlier in the season (2 weeks ago, perhaps?) looked to have happened, but confined themselves to the direct run-out and 30M below the first tier pitch. It appeared that a couple of climbs in the Designator area at Vail were in and good to the top of the cliff as well, but most of the other lines looked thin or not in for normal climbing yet.

By Matt Ledges
Nov 14, 2003

Climbed Round The Corner today with Tim and Nick. Touches down. Start is a pseudopillar, then opens up a little. Chandelier ice most of the way. Psych pro only first 35 feet. Stiff lead (for me), but recommended. Felt like 4+/5-. Easy approach right now, 6-10 inches of fresh stuff on the ground. No slide risk as of today. Keep the snow shoes in the basement for a few more days, but recommend ski poles to pick your way through the rocky approach.

Shroud is a long way from coming in, just a few bits of ice here and there.

Upper part of Tony's looked climbable, but Round the Corner looked better to us.

By Kyle Mattingly
From: Crested Butte, CO
Nov 12, 2006

Officer's Gulch is amazing right now. Tons of good quality ice/mixed routes are in. Just take your pick. And best of all the avalanche danger is low! It has been the best early season in a long time!

By Lee Jenkins
From: Buena Vista, Colorado
Nov 27, 2011

Anybody been up there lately. Conditions? Avi and route?
Thx

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Tenmile Canyon aka Officer's Gulch

Description

Getting There

The Classics