Parry Bear Claw 3 - Direct Approach

Name: Parry Bear Claw 3 - Direct Approach
Rating: 3.0

3.0 ( 1 )

Trail

2.9 mile 4.7 kilometer point to point
Ascent
Intermediate/Difficult

Elevation

Ascent: 3,772' 1,150 m
Descent: -18' -6 m
High: 13,240' 4,036 m
Low: 9,468' 2,886 m

Grade

Avg Slope: 24% (14°)
Max Slope: 122% (51°)

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Trail shared by Kevin Gillest

Avalanche risk for Jul 10, 2019: Unknown

Unknown or outdated data.

Full forecast for CAIC: Front Range Zone — Brought to you by CO Avalanche Information Center

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Popular ski lines nearby

This picture shows the easy pillow line at Zero Creek. Up trail, it's just left in the trees.

Morning Glory

0.7 mi 1.1 km • -824 ft Descent • -251.01 m Descent

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After the Flora Creek drainage gets tighter and steeper, down lower from the entrance point.

Flora Creek Ski Run

1.1 mi 1.7 km • -1,754 ft Descent • -534.5 m Descent

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6.3 Ski Run

1.8 mi 2.8 km • -1,745 ft Descent • -532.02 m Descent

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Lower 110s

0.1 mi 0.2 km • -168 ft Descent • -51.31 m Descent

(1) Winter…, CO

Tea Cup Area

0.4 mi 0.6 km • -512 ft Descent • -156.2 m Descent

(2) Winter…, CO

Tea Cup Bowl

0.1 mi 0.2 km • -123 ft Descent • -37.55 m Descent

(2) Winter…, CO

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“We parked on highway 40 at 40 gate parking, followed Parry Creek up above tree line, boot packed the ski line exactly.”

— Kevin Gillest

GPX File

Type: Backcountry or Sidecountry

Need to Know

This is fairly remote, so no mistakes. If your avalanche skills are suspect, you should find anther ski line. The skiing is not very hard, but the potential for issues is high on the wrong day. The creek navigating would be hard if you were only doing it in the down direction—going up first made it much better on the way out.

Description

We used the 40 gate parking near the Mary Jane turn off, just past the gate. We skinned across the pond area, heading to the Parry Creek Drainage. After finding the drainage, we headed up for a few miles until we could see the line before the trees ended. We crossed under the Bear Claw 3 ski line and boot packed the entire line. The snow ended near the top, maybe 300-400 feet below the summit ridge.