The Spear

The Spear is an amazing pillar crafted from some of Vail's finest snowmelt and the vision of one man. The Spear is a 35m FARMED ice pillar 5m left of the natural ice route Rigid Designator.  Enjoy a fantastic 20+m section of vertical ice before it eases off to 3-bolt anchor. The Spear is rated WFI5...(Water Farmed Ice).

Unlike all other fully natural ice routes in the Rigid Designator Amphitheater, The Spear is a completely 100% farmed (human aided) ice route.

There is a lot of myth, mystery, misinformation, and misconceptions about the Spear, so as the sole visionary of the route I will explain its history and inception. The Spear was formerly called the Guillotine due to its broad, heavy curtain formation that formed and collapsed repeatedly throughout the ice season. This massive, free-hanging formation was very unstable and unsafe and had on occasion almost injured/killed climbers belaying near the left base of the Rigid Designator. My vision was to take a very dangerous situation and create a safer and ultimately enjoyable farmed ice feature. My vision and work was an absolute success, and climbers have continued to enjoy this new farmed ice route throughout the 2024-25 ice season. Historically the Guillotine had icicles that touched the ground two times that I recall in my 20+ years of climbing in the Desi Amphitheater. The multi-ton curtain would collapse within 2-3 days of a handful of icicles touching the ground. It was never safe, stable, climbed, or formerly named, as it was an obvious and absolute death route.

In the fall of 2024, I put my vision and plan into action sourcing two 40m lengths of 5/8", retired, high tensile, steel winch cat cables along with all necessary hardware to safely and securely hang the cables. The cables each weighed 80 lbs. and needed to be transported to the base of the cliff. At the time, I was recovering from shoulder surgery, and an 80# pack was too much for my shoulder, so I enlisted the help of P. Johnson who in turn recruited E. Gomez to transport the two cables to the base. P. Johnson and I returned to the cliff, with P. Johnson monitoring the cables on the ground while I climbed to the top of the cliff, body-hauled, and secured both cables into place with my hardware. The cables were anchored in a safe and non-damaging way to the environment and placed in a spot where I felt the water would travel and form the farmed ice. I installed a 3 bolt anchor (separate from the cable anchor) in the limestone at the exact mid-point length of a 70m rope. The water source to the Spear farmed ice route is from the Rigid Designator drainage. Without the cables and manmade equipment, the Spear would not be the safe and climbable pillar it is. The Spear was envisioned, aided, and funded completely by myself. I am thankful to P.J and E.G. for their transport role as this allowed me to finish the project in time for countless climbers to enjoy the Spear for the 2024-25 ice season. The sales of my climbing guidebooks are donated back into my development visions like The Spear.

The Spear farmed ice route was published in "Cold Stoke, an Ice Climber's Guide across the Colorado Continental Divide", (grizguides.com) which became available in November of 2024. The route was named the Spear in advance of being formed and climbed, because it is a 100% human aided and farmed ice route. The FA information was intentionally left out as that was to be determined. Just like a bolted sport route that uses manmade hardware to 'create' the route, so too does the Spear use manmade hardware to form a 100% farmed ice route. With any climbing route development that involves manmade materials and human intervention, it is climbing ethic and respectful custom for the developer to name the developed route they have envisioned and invested in. This route is called the Spear.

I hope you enjoy the Spear and the many other routes and areas I have personally developed for climbers like you in the 10 Mile/Gore/Vail Valleys. Life is filled with givers and takers. In my 20+years of climbing, I have enjoyed giving so much back to the climbing community with new route development, volunteer ASCA rebolting, an amazing ice and mixed climbing guidebook resource entitled "Cold Stoke" ....and now an incredible 100% farmed ice pillar, called The Spear.

The Spear is the farmed ice pillar just to the climber's left of the Rigid Designator.

Ice screws and a stout 3 bolt anchor at the 'Tip of the Spear'. A 70m rope is required.

Eds. This submission and the first submission are left in place, as the history is complicated enough and not easily resolved as one submission. This is not typical for our website, but certain complicated exceptions warrant this. This subsection is intended to be under admin jurisdiction.