St. Mary's Glacier

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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snowymountainsrock
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St. Mary's Glacier

Post by snowymountainsrock »

Hello, I am interested in practicing ice axe arrest at St. Mary's glacier to get some experience for future snow climbs and was wondering what the conditions were for the trail to the glacier, the glacier itself and if crampons would be good to bring.
Thanks
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Moraine14
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by Moraine14 »

Sorry, no clue about current conditions on the "glacier" itself...but I did ice axe practice in May and the approach trail was dry - no crampons/traction needed.
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somethingrandom
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by somethingrandom »

snowymountainsrock wrote:Hello, I am interested in practicing ice axe arrest at St. Mary's glacier to get some experience for future snow climbs and was wondering what the conditions were for the trail to the glacier, the glacier itself and if crampons would be good to bring.
Thanks
My last time was a few weeks ago so take it for what you will:

-Trail to glacier, snow free.
--Glacier itself, typical (albeit worse than normal) mid-summer ruts, dings, and dents (some of which more than a foot deep)
---Crampons depend on what you are climbing. If you are staying to the right (North) side of the glacier, crampons are rarely required, generally the farther left you go, the steeper, and probably the only moderately decent 'climbing' on the glacier right now, and in no way shape or form a good place to 'learn' self-arrest, you need to know it there!

Probably not what you wanted to hear but thats my opinion of it right now.
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by jaymz »

I was up there about a month ago, and the approach was bone dry. Like somethingrandom said, the snow is pretty crappy right now. I was able to do a little glissading - about 100 feet worth, and it's much softer and more forgiving than it initially looks with all the ruts. I didn't get very far up the glacier, but you don't really need to if you just want to do some rudimentary glissading... at least that was the case when I was up there. If you do go, just be sure to stay on the climber's right, as was mentioned.
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by snowymountainsrock »

Does the time of day matter? Would going really early make for better practice?
Thanks
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by snowymountainsrock »

Is the glacier skiable with the current conditions?
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by bergsteigen »

I skied it July 8. It's very dirty, but you "can" ski it.

http://otinasadventures.com/index.php?t ... ys_glacier
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by ajkagy »

with all the warm weather and low snow this year i would think it's just a matter of time before it disappears during the summer...doesn't look too bad right now at least.
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by snowymountainsrock »

ajkagy wrote:with all the warm weather and low snow this year i would think it's just a matter of time before it disappears during the summer...doesn't look too bad right now at least.
Do you think it will be alright in very early August?
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by ajkagy »

snowymountainsrock wrote:
ajkagy wrote:with all the warm weather and low snow this year i would think it's just a matter of time before it disappears during the summer...doesn't look too bad right now at least.
Do you think it will be alright in very early August?
it will be alright in August, although it will be interesting to see what it looks like by late Sept before major snow comes.
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by snowymountainsrock »

Alright,
Thanks for all your input.
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Re: St. Mary's Glacier

Post by snowymountainsrock »

Sorry, but I have one more question. Would you recomend bringing a helmet?
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