| Type: | Trad, 100 ft (30 m) |
| GPS: | 39.42096, -105.25683 |
| FA: | unknown |
| Page Views: | 1,586 total · 7/month |
| Shared By: | Aaron Lucas on Aug 19, 2007 |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC |
Per Josh: for the first time in at least 5 years, it appears we have nestlings at the peregrine falcon eyrie at Cathedral Spires! The breeding pair has been present and made attempts at nesting all those years but have not gotten this close to fledging a nest in that time.
Ornithologists across the Front Range have noted that migration and the onset of the avian breeding season seemed to be delayed by around 7-10 days this year, possibly because of the timing and amount of spring precipitation. The peregrines at Cathedral laid eggs later than usual. Because of that, their nestlings may not be ready to leave the nest by the time our usual seasonal closure would end, after July 31. As such, the closure this year will remain until at least August 15 (an opening of August 16). This should give the nestlings the time they need to finish development and leave the nest area.
2023 info: jeffco.us/1531/Alerts-Closures
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: jeffco.us/open-space/parks/…
Note, JeffCo Open Space has notified us that access to The Bishop and Poop Point (along with all the Cathedral Spires Area) currently goes across JeffCo OS land. Despite information in some guidebooks (published or soon-to-be-published), the entire Cathedral Spires area is subject raptor nesting closures. Please be aware of the hefty fines associated with failure to observe these regulations.
Description
Fred the crack starts out as a ugly tour of vegetation in a gully. When it is reasonable to head right, go to the flat ledge and climb the hand to fist crack straight up. When your feet are at the chockstone, go left up the thin crack because you are out of big gear.
This middle of Fred was kind of fun.
The descent is entertaining. We used some old slings on a ledge to rappel to the base on the right of the start.
Location
This climb is on the Sunshine Wall. To reach it, park in the larger parking lot and follow an obvious trail. When the trail is fairly level and straight, start looking for a trail that takes-off to the left. Scramble off to the left over some logs. Find a dirty looking gully with lots of plant life. To the left is a scary runout 5.11 with a few bolts.



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