The Cathedral Spires are closed from March 1 to July 31 for raptor nesting.
Good day for it! Photo by Traskos
Climber listed ...
Route Info
P1: Climb the disjointed cracks to a bolt. Pull the crux after the bolt and reach a huge ledge you can unrope at. Belay at a tree.
P2: Starts with a terrifying slab through a crack (pro to 2") and then 4 bolts to a two-bolt anchor.
P3: 6 bolts to a two-bolt anchor. The Green Colorado Guide gives this pitch 5.11, but it's not that hard. After the the crux, you clip a bolt and can't see any more bolts. The anchor is just out of sight. From here, you can climb the slab to the summit at 5.0.
Pitch 1 (5.10): As mentioned by Brent, follow discontinuous cracks to the slab, clip the bolt(5.10), and belay at the big tree. Small gear.
Pitch 2 (5.9+/5.10): Climb onto the sloping ledge from the pine tree with slings. I used the water groove with the left hand/foot and the small holds with the right hand/foot placements and worked my way right, then up to the crack. The crack takes small gear to a #3 Camalot. I placed a #0.4 Camalot at the start of the crack and a #2 Camalot higher, though I would have placed more gear if I would have brought it. It is strongly suggested that you protect the crack well, because when the crack runs out, the bolt above you is 15' feet higher on steep slab (5.9+R).
Pitch 3 (5.10++). I didn't lead this pitch, but was thoroughly challenged to the bitter end. Awesome pitch as this is the best pitch on the route. Six bolts to the two bolt anchor.
The FA was done by Steve Jenkins and Dave Dangle. The bolts were put in maybe around 1985? We thought it was 11a back then. I haven't been on it for over 20 years. What's Sea of Holes rated these days?
By Kevin Stricker From: Evergreen, CO Dec 6, 2007 rating: 5.10+ PG13
I smell a sandbag......The last pitch is at least 10+, and Trout's guide gives it a 11b rating.
Sea of Holes is still .11a/b and seems easier to me than PM, but maybe that is due to the nature of the climbing.
Smell a sandbag? I'm the guy who told everyone I was a 5.11 climber after doing an 11a in Boulder Canyon! The last pitch is no harder than the last pitch of Topographical Oceans, which gets 10b. If you think this pitch is 11b, you should check out Miss Manners on Little Scraggy Dome. It gets consensus 11a and it's considerably harder than Pornographic Motions. The rock quality on pitch 3 of Pornos isn't so great, and I guessed that maybe when they originally climbed this pitch is was MUCH worse, hence the 11b rating. Also you can pimped by going left through the crux when you should go right....Who knows.... Besides, if you survive pitch 2 without losing your mind pitch 3 will feel like a walk in the park! However I don't want to be a sandbagger, and if you guys really think this pitch is 11b, then that means I'm "The Man", and I thank you for confirming this.
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