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Chain Station
POW Gloves Stealth GTX Gloves

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Scarpa Rockette Climbing Shoe - Vibram XS Grip - Women's

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Petzl Aztar Ice Axe

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Evolv - Evo Climbing Shoes

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MSR Sweetwater Purifier System

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Mountain Hardwear Lamina -15deg Sleeping Bag

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Sugoi RMP Bike Short - Women's

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Five Ten - Supermocc Climbing Shoe

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CAMP USA - Cassin X-Dream Mixed Ice Pick

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Bigcicle 
Chimney 
Columbine Falls 
Fatcicle 
Gear Jammer 
Grinch's Chimney 
Honeymoon Gully 
Jake Break 
Pencil-Neck Geek 
Penny Slot 
Snaggle Tooth 
Sometimes a Great Notion 


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Chain Station 


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Lat, Long: 37.5712, -106.7593 Map
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Administrators: Ben Mottinger, Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monomaniac, Tom Erickson
Submitted By: Ben Bruestle on Dec 31, 1969

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BETA PHOTO: Chain Station.

Description 

This area was the first in the San Luis Valley to see ice climbing. It is south facing, so it may be very wet and sun baked at times. There are at least 6 climbs that are almost always in, and more than 30 inconsistent ice or mixed lines in the area. Anything from WI3 to M7.


Getting There 

This is located right above the big outhouse/pullout before going over Wolf Creek Pass from the east.


The Classics

Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Chain Station:
Fatcicle   WI4     Trad, Ice, 1 pitch, 60 feet   
Honeymoon Gully   WI3 M4     Trad, Mixed, Ice, 1 pitch, 60 feet   
Chimney   WI3-4 M3     Trad, Mixed, Ice, 1 pitch, 80 feet   
Jake Break   M5     Mixed, 1 pitch, 80 feet   
Columbine Falls   WI3 M4     Trad, Mixed, Ice, 1 pitch   
Bigcicle   WI4-5     Trad, Ice, 1 pitch, 80 feet   
Browse More Classics in Chain Station

Featured Route For Chain Station
Fun climbing!

Jake Break M5  CO : CO Ice & Mixed : ... : Chain Station
This is trad mixed at its best. You get rock stems with tools in ice runnels, dry tooling in flares, groveling, and it's all on your own gear- the best type of mixed! Maximum value for one pitch from bottom to top. It is rarely in due to massive sun hit, so if it looks decent and not rotted out up top, get on it! The crux is surmounting the large chalk stone 1/2 way up, but depending on the amount of ice on the route it could vary. The climb is obvious up through the slot at the top, but th...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO


Photos of Chain Station Slideshow Add Photo
The Chain Station area from the road near the parking pull off of January 22, 2011. Bigcicle, Honeymoon Gully, and Fatcicle were in, the rest of the climbs were hurting.

BETA PHOTO: The Chain Station area from the road near the park...

Looking to the northeast (towards South Fork) from the base of the climbs. Bigcicle is the climb on the left.

Looking to the northeast (towards South Fork) from...


Comments on Chain Station Add Comment
Show which comments —
By Ben Bruestle
From: Pueblo, CO
Jan 20, 2002

Chain Station is still looking good. It does seem to be seeing more traffic than usual. White Trash and The Bulge are hurting.

Honeymoon Gully, Bigcicle, and Chimney look good.

By Ben Bruestle
From: Pueblo, CO
Feb 27, 2002

The Chain Station is still in, sunbaked yet suprisingly good.

By Jesse Morehouse
From: CO
May 27, 2008

Personal 5 favorite routes in the greater chain station area: Bigsicle, Columbine, Snaggle Tooth (Hidden), Jake Brake and Sometimes (2nd tier). Nary a bolt on the mixed ones and a fun place to push your limits since the climbs are short enough you can push that limit with less committment. A great place to educate yourself for bumping it up a notch in larger venues. Ice climbing in the sun is fun too!

For the real low down on climbing here get Life By the Drop by Jack Hunt. It is the only guide that was written by someone who actually has climbed much here, and since he did most of the FAs, it's a rather authoritative source! It is also one of those guides that is just a fun read.

By Steve Marr
From: Colorado Springs, CO
Jan 26, 2011

Location: 37.571167° N, 106.759333° W

By Jesse Morehouse
From: CO
Jan 14, 2012

Found today: 1 pair ice tools (excavated from the base of Bigcicle, 1 pair gloves. PM me with description, and I'm happy to figure out how to get em back to you and earn myself some good karma points!