Snow School at St. Mary's Glacier
April 9, 2005
Saint Mary's Glacier is something that's been a second priority item on my list of things to check out in Colorado for a long time. It is ranked as the southernmost glacier in Colorado or North America, depending who you talk to and depending whether you actually classify it as a bone-fide glacier or not. In any case, it is a more-or-less permanent snow field on the lower slopes of James Peak in Colorado's Front Range. At under a mile from the parking area, it is popular with off-season skiers and hikers. The CMC and other outdoor groups conduct Snow School on its slopes teaching people the basics of crampon and ice axe use as well.
Amy admires Saint Mary's Glacier from across the lake. The glacier stretches up and to the left with the steepest part right behind her. |
The weekend forecast was not optimistic, so we decided to hold snow school of our own at St. Mary's. We packed every conceivable bit of snow gear and climbing gear in the car and set off. Despite the dour predictions, Saturday was gorgeous, warm, and clear. We quickly found the small parking area, donned hiking gear and loaded up the packs.
We followed the well-packed, icy trail half a mile up through dense forest before breaking out at Saint Mary's Lake. Spectacular! The lake itself had clearly dropped in water level since freezing and there were all kinds of interesting pressure ridges and crevasses not normally seen in lakes. Beyond, the snow sloped up into what must be the glacier. The main trail up James Peak traverses the right side of the glacier where it is least steep (perhaps 10 degrees) while the left side is much steeper (upwards of 45 degrees in places). An evil looking cornice loomed above the steepest slopes. In the summer, the left side is cliffs and waterfalls. Must be an interesting contrast!
Climbing the glacier at about 30o. |
We traversed the lake and changed into climbing togs. First up, we climbed a steepish section (30 degrees) roughly up the middle of the glacier. The snow was perfect for cramponing; firm but without any icy crust or deep powder pockets. At the top, we spent half an hour putting a lot of theory into practice in the area of self arrests. We could get a good slide going, but it was never fast enough to be worrying. In any event, the runout down to the lake was smooth and looked like fun. I tried arresting from several different starting position including head down, on my back, which was definitely interesting.
Jamaica and James Peak in the distance from the top of the glacier (about 11,500') |
After playing and getting nicely snowy, we continued up the glacier wanting to see the top. The slope was pretty easy and got continuously easier as the tundra slopes at either side gradually pulled away. After climbing almost a thousand feet from the lake, we were clearly off the glacier and on the immense flat bit of tundra known as Jamaica. At the far end of Jamaica was the summit cone of James Peak and over to the left were Bancroff and Parry, the two other major summits in the James Peak Wilderness. Despite the nice view, we decided we'd had enough and would head back down taking opportunities to play around in the snow as they presented themselves.
The snow was much softer and slushier on the way down and the weather was looking a bit more ominous. We paused at the top of the steep, lower portion of the glacier and did a nice long glissade almost all the way down to the lake. I spied an interesting looking bit of ice perched half-way up a steep slope to the right of the glacier. This was my chance to try steep snow techniques and perhaps a little mixed ice/snow/rock work as well. Amy occupied herself playing with some ice screws down on the lake while I took off with both axes in hand.
Saint Mary's Lake and Fox Mountain from part way up the glacier. The Mount Evans massif is seen in the distance. |
The initial snow slope was steep (50 degrees) but nothing I couldn't handle, especially with two tools. A hundred feet up was a rocky band with a thin ice sheet, also at about 50 degrees. I picked a line between the two bits of rock and ice climbed my way up it reawakening the skills I'd picked up at the CMC Ice Climbing Clinic. Good stuff! I was pleased to see that my new technical ice tool functioned beautifully. The ice varied in thickness from half an inch to several inches and I felt extremely comfortable climbing to the top. Once at the top, I traversed left and faced the difficulties of coming down steep snow. Some plunge stepping and a glissade and suddenly I was moving a bit faster than I was entirely comfortable with. Instinctively, I rolled over into a self-arrest posture but was brought up short. I had two ice axes! What do you do in this situation? I dragged both axes and used my elbows and was soon under control, but the rest of the way down was somewhat lacking in technique. I've never seen a two-axe self-arrest technique described in a book, but I'm sure it must be an issue at times. The best solution I have subsequently heard of is to stack the axes together and use them as a single axe. Either that or let one of them thrash around on its wrist leash while you use the other one and hope you don't get beaned in the head.
Back down at the lake, the weather was definitely turning for the worse. Amy and I spent a little while longer poking around the shores of the lake admiring crevasses and bergschrunds before proceeded back down to the car and home. It was a very nice, casual trip with a chance to practice skills in a beautiful, new location. My short stint of ice climbing improved my confidence immeasurably on this kind of terrain and I feel capable of tackling harder alpine routes now. If only winter would finish already!
