Connect with Facebook
Routes in Cathedral Wall
|
Altar Boy T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a R |
|
Big Easy, The T 5.10- 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a |
|
|
Blackstar T 5.7+ 5a 15 V+ 13 MVS 4b |
|
|
Dalke Route T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a R |
|
|
Flying Nun T 5.10a/b 6a+ 19 VI+ 19 E2 5b |
|
|
Garden Wall T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b R |
|
|
Jagged Arch T 5.10c/d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b PG13 |
|
|
Kor Route T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a R |
|
|
Lever Action T 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a PG13 |
|
|
Pew, The T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a R |
|
|
Running With The Bulls T 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c R |
|
|
Sublime Buttress T 5.11 6c+ 23 VIII- 23 E4 5c R |
|
|
Tourist Tragedy T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a |
|
|
Tourist Tragedy Too T 5.9 5c 17 VI 17 HVS 5a PG13 |
|
|
Winchester T 5.10 6b 20 VII- 19 E2 5b R |
Order Wrong?
Sort Routes
| Type: | Trad, Alpine, 600 ft (182 m), 5 pitches |
| FA: | Dan Bradford, Angelo de La Cruz, 1985. |
| Page Views: | 3,553 total · 14/month |
| Shared By: | Leo Paik on Jul 25, 2002 |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC |
Your To-Do List:
Add To-Do ·Your Star Rating:
Access Issue: Closures
Details
Seasonal closures Feb. 15-July 31. Per the Denver Post:, the Cathedral Wall and all areas above the Loch Vale-Sky Pond Trail are closed to off-trail travel! Per this RMNP website, "Initial closures now occur in Feb. 15 and April, when raptors return to the region and scout for nesting sites. Areas containing general habitat preferred by raptors are closed during this time. Once raptors have selected nesting spots, the initial closures are lifted or adjusted. The specific areas which raptors choose for nesting sites are closed."
For additional information about raptor closures, please visit the Rocky Mountain National Parks area closures website.
General NPS climbing regulations for RMNP posted here.
For additional information about raptor closures, please visit the Rocky Mountain National Parks area closures website.
General NPS climbing regulations for RMNP posted here.
Access Issue: 2022 Seasonal Falcon Closure
Details
From the Denver Post, the Cathedral Wall is CLOSED beginning February 15, 2022. Reopening is expected July 31st if needed. Click the following link for more details: nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/…
When closed, the closures include the named rock formations and the areas surrounding the base of the formation. This includes all climbing routes, outcroppings, cliffs, faces, ascent and descent routes, and climber's access trails to the formation.
Areas not listed are presumed to be open. These closures will be lifted or extended as conditions dictate.
When closed, the closures include the named rock formations and the areas surrounding the base of the formation. This includes all climbing routes, outcroppings, cliffs, faces, ascent and descent routes, and climber's access trails to the formation.
Areas not listed are presumed to be open. These closures will be lifted or extended as conditions dictate.
Description
Here is another obscure backcountry RMNP route whose description from the guidebooks leaves you wondering. Though certainly not a classic, this route may merit your attention for a short adventure with a mellow approach walk, and modest walk/scramble off descent. Ultra-early starts are not required...brainbuckets are. The original ratings may reflect utlizing offwidth techniques in the chimney that we may have neglected to use.
Approach: Hike from Glacier Gorge parking lot to Loch Vale, continue past the Andrews Tarn/Glacier turnoff to near the waterfall below Lake of Glass. Cathedral Wall is obvious. This route is on the 1st buttress, one buttress left of the Tourist Tragedy route. The big dihedral/ chimney is the prominent feature on buttress and is followed for the upper half of the route. Contour in to the base. 1 hour 15 minutes utilizing the climber's cutoff.
The 5.4 start of this route described by Rossiter and Gillett is not obvious to oafs like us. The description from both guidebooks describe starting right of the obvious dihedral/chimney of the upper 3 pitches; however, as far right as these describe the route, you find terrain that seemed too steep to be 5.4 this side of the Gunks. Both authors describe going up and right, belaying beneath the black stained roof, crossing the black stained area to a tree on a ledge and belaying, and following cracks to another belay ledge below the chimney. So, if you can decipher the description, climb on, or use this alternate start described here.
P1. There is an obvious, featured area a short distance to the right of the dihedral/chimney section that we started up. At some points this felt 5.6. Aim up for a small, right-facing dihedral, left of a wide black groove, perhaps 25 feet up. Continue up on a slab to a small ledge behind a big block. Move R and up, then angle left to the dihedral/chimney. Continue up to a ledge with a #3 Camalot slot above. You are just short of a few short trees here. Beware of rope drag. 5.6, 200 feet.
P2. Traverse right briefly, head up before you get to a tree, angle R up the dihedral/chimney or slab on the R. Belay in the chimney or link the next bit. 5.6, 150 feet.
P3. Work up the chimney. There are optional #4 & 5 Camalot slots in here. Rope drag exiting this chimney require a belay here. There is a perfect #11 hex slot and black (0.33) Alien slot for the belay. 5.6, 40feet.
P4. Here comes the exposure. Move up the dihedral for perhaps the crux moves, move R below a large block and jam the crack with stems out L. Briefly move to the L crack and back R. Gain a stance. Move up to a large ledge. Beware of a precarious block hanging off this ledge. You could link the next pitch. 5.7+, 120 feet?
P5. Chimney facing R up this large slot. Many moves can be done sans hands and no offwidth moves are required. However beware of objects hanging off your back like camelbacks, cams. Small pro plus a #4 Camalot. There is another loose block R and below the "chockstone". Encounter a mini-forest and belay. 5.7, 40-120 feet depending on your belay tree.
If anyone has done the upper chimneys, please post & we can incorporate the info into the description.
From here, you can see the wall could continue up perhaps 3 pitches or more chimneys to the right. If you've been chimneyed out use the descent described here.
Descent: Traverse on a treed/shrubbed ledge left perhaps 300 yards to an obvious scree/boulder slope and head for Lake of Glass. Do not cut off early or risk being cliffed.
Approach: Hike from Glacier Gorge parking lot to Loch Vale, continue past the Andrews Tarn/Glacier turnoff to near the waterfall below Lake of Glass. Cathedral Wall is obvious. This route is on the 1st buttress, one buttress left of the Tourist Tragedy route. The big dihedral/ chimney is the prominent feature on buttress and is followed for the upper half of the route. Contour in to the base. 1 hour 15 minutes utilizing the climber's cutoff.
The 5.4 start of this route described by Rossiter and Gillett is not obvious to oafs like us. The description from both guidebooks describe starting right of the obvious dihedral/chimney of the upper 3 pitches; however, as far right as these describe the route, you find terrain that seemed too steep to be 5.4 this side of the Gunks. Both authors describe going up and right, belaying beneath the black stained roof, crossing the black stained area to a tree on a ledge and belaying, and following cracks to another belay ledge below the chimney. So, if you can decipher the description, climb on, or use this alternate start described here.
P1. There is an obvious, featured area a short distance to the right of the dihedral/chimney section that we started up. At some points this felt 5.6. Aim up for a small, right-facing dihedral, left of a wide black groove, perhaps 25 feet up. Continue up on a slab to a small ledge behind a big block. Move R and up, then angle left to the dihedral/chimney. Continue up to a ledge with a #3 Camalot slot above. You are just short of a few short trees here. Beware of rope drag. 5.6, 200 feet.
P2. Traverse right briefly, head up before you get to a tree, angle R up the dihedral/chimney or slab on the R. Belay in the chimney or link the next bit. 5.6, 150 feet.
P3. Work up the chimney. There are optional #4 & 5 Camalot slots in here. Rope drag exiting this chimney require a belay here. There is a perfect #11 hex slot and black (0.33) Alien slot for the belay. 5.6, 40feet.
P4. Here comes the exposure. Move up the dihedral for perhaps the crux moves, move R below a large block and jam the crack with stems out L. Briefly move to the L crack and back R. Gain a stance. Move up to a large ledge. Beware of a precarious block hanging off this ledge. You could link the next pitch. 5.7+, 120 feet?
P5. Chimney facing R up this large slot. Many moves can be done sans hands and no offwidth moves are required. However beware of objects hanging off your back like camelbacks, cams. Small pro plus a #4 Camalot. There is another loose block R and below the "chockstone". Encounter a mini-forest and belay. 5.7, 40-120 feet depending on your belay tree.
If anyone has done the upper chimneys, please post & we can incorporate the info into the description.
From here, you can see the wall could continue up perhaps 3 pitches or more chimneys to the right. If you've been chimneyed out use the descent described here.
Descent: Traverse on a treed/shrubbed ledge left perhaps 300 yards to an obvious scree/boulder slope and head for Lake of Glass. Do not cut off early or risk being cliffed.
4 Comments