| Snake Buttress |
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| | Seasonal Raptor Closure MORE INFO >>>
The Cathedral Spires area, including Block Tower, Cynical Pinnacle, Snake Buttress, the Dome, Hall of Mirrors, Sunshine Wall, and Poe Buttress, are closed annually starting March 1 for raptor nesting. After careful monitoring of nest sites, Jefferson County Open Space opens certain areas of Cathedral Spires and maintain spot closures for active nests through July 31st. Check back periodically during times of closure for updates.
This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund,
and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates.
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Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment
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J. Bryan leading Illusion Chain
Description Snake Buttress contains a good number of bolted slab climbs, and a couple of nice cracks.
Getting There To get to Snake Buttress, keep heading North past the normal parking for the Cynical Pinnacle parking area, for about 1/4 to 1/2 mile. Park in a pullout on the East side of the road (by the river). You will be directly below the rock, and will see it as you drive up to the parking spot. You can spot the crag when you are looking at the back-side of the Cynical Pinnacle, and it will be to the right, and down a bit. Hike directly up the drainage, starting up an old road that is gated (steeper, and longer than it looks), and Snake Buttress will be the second major rock that you encounter. If you keep on the right path, you will encounter a couple of cairns on the way up. As a comparison, the approach is maybe a bit shorter than the approach to Cynical Pinnacle.
The ClassicsMountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Snake Buttress:
Browse More Classics in Snake Buttress
Featured Route For Snake Buttress
| Comments on Snake Buttress |
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By Jason Haas From: Broomfield, CO Oct 12, 2009
| Kevin Stricker is my hero and should be yours, too. This bad ass not only crushes, he also replaces more bolts down in the Platte than probably everyone else combined. Considering he only gets out once a month or so these days as most of his time is consumed with being a super psyched new dad, he is by far the coolest and most humble steward in the area I know. For example, he literally replaced every bolt on the entire Snake Buttress a year ago with the only exceptions being Ride um Rueboy (rebolted by another person) and Dr. Demento. My count was 60 bolts, give or take one or two. Who does that!? Very few, exceptional people. Buy that man a beer. |
By Kevin Stricker From: Evergreen, CO Oct 14, 2009
| Thanks Jason, I wanted to credit Fremont Shields for getting the ball rolling on the Snake Buttress replacement, which was done in 2007. He replaced the bolts on Rue Boy and the first pitch of Hodge Podge. Also thanks to Dave Russell for helping with logistics, and especially to the ASCA who provided all the hardware. Snake Buttress is a fun place to climb, but be considerate of the private property in the area and don't park on the closed mining road. |
By Fremont Shields Oct 31, 2009
| I too want to thank Kevin for his selfless efforts to replace the many aging bolts in the South Platte. He does this with ASCA hardware, but still at considerable expense using his own equipment and equally valuable free time. His work is strictly replacement of like-for-like hardware and he does a quality job not scarring the rock. The one day I worked with him at Snake I hammered all day and had replaced 5 bolts by the end of it...my forearms were pumped and my ears were ringing. Hand drilling 12mm holes in granite is a humbling experience. |
By slim Nov 2, 2009
| Fremont, I usually bring some of those little cheezy foam earplugs when I am doing any hand drilling, it is definitely really hard on my ears otherwise. Thanks to you and Kevin both. Snake Buttress is a fun little crag. I'm always surprised it doesn't see more traffic. |
By Tzilla Rapdrilla Nov 2, 2009
| Somewhere back in the distant past I was in on one of the slab routes at Snake Buttress, unfortunately I don't remember which one. We placed 1/4" bolts on lead on that route and I recall some differences in our feeling how reliable the bolts would be after they were in as some stances were easier to drill from than others, etc. Thanks to Kevin and others for replacing that old junk with something that might actually hold a fall. |
By Jason Haas From: Broomfield, CO Nov 6, 2009
| Tod, according to Climbing #111, you, Curt Fry and ?? Frizzell put up Wake of the Flood. Sound about right? |
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