Chama Ice

Edited:  I, and then Sean McLane, went in and climbed some early season ice in Chama.  This is an edit of my original post because Sean's info was more accurate.

The Chama headwaters are home to some of the tallest waterfalls in Colorado. In Summer and Fall these waterfalls are a 6 to 10 mile hike in. (Or you could ATV in to shorten the distance). Doug Scott's Chama Falls Video shows what this place is like in the summer.  Video here: https://youtu.be/5M98Wj_uOkM  Once the snow comes, however, this area becomes a deep, isolated valley with miles of snow between the falls and the pavement.  Even with a snowmobile, this area is likely a two day trip.   Which is likely one reason there is no ice climbing beta for this backcountry destination.

This October has been somewhat cold and relatively snow free.  These conditions garnered my attention.  Being a lazy POS that doesn't want to ski in for miles and miles, this early season hike might be my best chance to explore here.  I've wondered what this area has to offer in the way of ice climbing, and can not find any information on these falls.  Have they been climbed before?
I've heard hearsay that they have, but I haven't been able to find anything on this area online or in the American Alpine Journal.  

I went in and climbed what I thought was an unnamed line, but ended up being Banded Falls.  The first photo below.  I found this out because Sean McLane went in and climbed the second ascent of it while also climbing 3 other lines, including the second photo, which he called The Ghost.  There is much more ice to climb in this basin.

Banded Falls

The Ghost

southwestbackcountry.blogspot.com

Super cool! Nice job getting out there. What did you think of the one that you did climb?

Thank you Aerili,  It was engaging, and a nice bonus on a "recon" trip.  It was wet, so it should fill in quite nicely. The roses on the approach and depproach were memorable too.

Nice! that definitely looks worth the hike..

Grant Kleeves wrote: Nice! that definitely looks worth the hike..

Yeah Grant.  Glad I could share. Hopefully this little bit of info intrigues experts like you enough to go exploring more out there. Super gorgeous area, with some long routes to figure out.  Those south facing routes (shown best in the waterfall video above) would be some huge, complex lines when filled in. 

Doug Shepherd has been up that way before. He is always a good resource. What is the parking situation like? I have heard it is on private property. 

Yeah Dallin.  The Forest boundary, shown in purple here,  is well up the FR121.  5.5 miles of public right of way allow one through the private to the Forest trailhead parking lot. The road is a common snowmobile route in the winter, but doesn't really have a parking lot right on the pavement.  The first section in red is private, Summer/Fall (pre-snow) parking shown here:

I don't really climb much any more, nor am I on this site really, so if anyone wants more beta just email me through my little blog, southwestbackcountry at gee mail dot com

Hope sharing the info will help someone go big up in there.  signing off for now.

Thank you for posting this and taking the time to put together the topo, super cool!

Word Vaughn.

This is some mind bending stuff! ... a lifetime spent looking for big ice in NM & all it taught us is it wasn't worth trying ... everything was either small or big but ephemeral (i.e., Brazos Falls)  .. now you're telling me there's ... what ... 3,500+ feet of vertical in one river basin?  I know it ain't strictly NM but still ... you're blowing my mind!  Move over Silverton/Red Mountain/Yankee Boy, there's a new kid in town ... I don't climb that much anymore, either, so I especially like how you got your solo in before opening the beta to the MP community ... great post, & kudos on the 'discovery'! ...

I know it's snowed, but if the drive is still doable, does anyone want to try to head in there tomorrow/Saturday and get it? I'm coming from Los Alamos. Have to start driving home around 3 on Saturday. I'm good with a big day trip tomorrow. 

I climbed 9 (map location), 9 (actual), 9.5 (not on map between 9 and 10), and 10 over the last two days. Contact me if you want a partner to go back in.

Some observations:
- Hidden Pillar is not located in the drainage marked on the map as #9. That's a long WI2 couloir I climbed yesterday.
- What is marked as #10 on the map is the correct location for Hidden Pillar.
- I believe Hidden Pillar is actually Banded Falls, which has a treeless, sharp outcropping that "hides the pillar" in summer photos of the falls (see Doug Scott's site).
- What was previously labeled #10 Banded Falls is a separate climb I'm calling The Ghost.
- There is another climb between Banded Falls and The Ghost. All three are located east to west within a couple hundred feet of each other in the drainages starting at #10 on the map.
- All east-south-west aspect ice is sun-baked and suspect.

Sean, Nice work.  I'll edit my info.  Glad you got to climb that "ghost" line.  Super sweet job!