The Cathedral Spires are closed from March 1 to July 31 for raptor nesting.
BETA PHOTO
Description
Location: see location for South Side Johnny in this same area--Southside Cracks of the Dome. (Just over and down from the ridge between the Dome and the Bishop.) This is a short crack, from fingers to hands to off-width. You'll see it on your right as you approach SSJ. It's located in the photo below just before you get to #11, Twist and Shout. It faces due west.
The climb: I couldn't find this route mentioned in either Hubbel's or Trout's books. Don't know if I can really claim the first ascent, but since no one else has...
You'll need four-five large cams for the first section, a vertical crack that widens as it goes. Decent jamming. I grabbed a big, sketchy flake inside the crack about twenty-five feet up where it had widened, which gave some respite from strenuous climbing. However, this flake is no longer there. My partner pulled or pushed the thing out after he was past. (It made a helluva crash below. I couldn't see anything and was a tad worried; I figured he'd either taken out his wife (hence the climb's name), or my dog, or both... but he'd cleared them out of the way first.) So this climb may be a bit harder now...
Anyway, once you're past the steep section you can set up a belay and bring your partner up to the midway point, then walk across to the north and pick the next short crack you like (there are at least three to choose from). Instead of doing this, I climbed straight on. After the slab, there's one 5.9+ move that takes a medium/small cam to protect, then you can run it out up the easier slab above.
The descent: it's long and circuitous! You may want to climb some of the short cracks at the midway section to get your money's worth before you top out. Anyway, climb on up the gully; there's a wicked off-width on your right. Then circle back around to your left-- north (more good looking single pitch cracks there), then west, and work your way out down slabs and boulders. Cool area. Great views of mountains south of Mt Evans, and back at Pikes Peak as well. Hardly anyone seems to go out here...
Hah. Nice name on the climb. There was a nice body sized flake that was wedged in the upper crack. It gave you respite from a small section of OW. When I climbed to the flake it was moving! Luckily we both didn't dislodge it until we were past it. Now the climb has 15 feet+ of OW moves. It made a nice booming crash. Great lead on the climb, Toby.
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