Dexter Creek Slabs

Date: January 31, 2026

Location: Ouray, Colorado, USA

Team: Adam Sapers

Field Notes: A 70m rope will allow most parties to complete this in 2 pitches. The first pitch is WI3/4 that tops out on a low-angle ramp. Belay here or at tree anchors to the right. The second pitch climbs the lower-angled ice until a final 20 feet of WI4 ice. The belay anchor is on a tree to the climber's left. We chose to rappel the route. Alternatively, there is a walk off to the climber's left of the route.

Dexter Creek Slabs. The first pitch is in the upper middle of the photo - the flow in the shade.

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The last time I got to play in the mountains with Sapers feels like a lifetime ago. But when we reconnected in Ouray, it felt like only a week had passed.

Deanna asked me if it felt like we had changed much since we’d last seen each other. My answer? Not really. We’re both still optimizing our lives for adventure and time in the mountains. Of course, we’ve grown in many ways. But at our core, we’re the same. If anything, internal obstacles have been removed, which has only brought us closer to who we’ve always been.

Sapers is a shredder on skis, but Ouray is the capital of ice climbing, and I really wanted to get him out on some ice while he was here.

The first pitch on Dexter Creek Slabs. We climbed the thick part of the flow in the middle.

The day before our climb, we spent time at the Ouray Ice Park dialing in technique and having fun. Dexter Creek Slabs is only a five-minute drive from the Airbnb, goes at around WI3/4, and seemed like the perfect multi-pitch climb to do together.

We started at sunrise and bootpacked through knee-deep snow to reach the base. Standing below the first pitch, it looked steeper than I’d expected — which was perfect. A solid step up from some of the other routes I’d been climbing.

We roped up, and I led out on the first pitch. To my delight, the ice was hero — super sticky, one swing sticks. I moved methodically, placing screws every few body lengths, settling into rhythm.

At the top of the first pitch, I used the tree anchors to belay, located to the climber’s right. Up came Sapers, and we transitioned to the second pitch.

The second pitch on Dexter Creek Slavbs from the belay anchor on pitch 1

Adam topping out on the second pitch of Dexter Creek Slabs

The weather was perfect. We didn’t even need belay jackets. I was also surprised to see no other parties on the route — just the two of us on this beautiful blue ribbon of ice.

I climbed the lower-angle section of the second pitch until things steepened about twenty feet below the top-out. It was steeper than the first pitch, so I placed a screw while at a comfortable stance and took a moment to assess. Once I visualized the moves, I committed.

Deliberate. Methodical. Staying in flow. Place a high tool. Walk the feet up. Repeat.

At the top, I built an anchor off a tree and brought Sapers up. We were stoked — our first ice climb together! A new experience added to a long history of shared adventure. From there, we rappelled the route and were soon back on solid ground.

Rappelling Dexter Creek Slabs

Not long after that, we were back home, where Deanna had made fresh soup.

Happy days...