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Cathedral Traverse

5.8, Trad, Alpine, 8000 ft (2424 m), Grade IV,  Avg: 3.9 from 31 votes
FA: unknown
Wyoming > Grand Teton NP > Grand Teton Traverses

Description

A traverse that climbs Teewinot, Owens, and the Grand. Aptly named for the sacerdotal appearence of the three prominent peaks that rise in the skyline.

Description taken from the Grand Traverse page:

"Begin by climbing Teewinot's East face (12,324', cl4). Nearly 6000' of elevation gain here serves as your warmup.


Return to the high col, then barely descend west, before scrambling south, gaining the sunny side talus and tundra.

Scramble down a loose couloir on the west side of Teewinot to gain the ridge that connects it with Mt. Owen. Negotiate this ridge, passing two major downclimbs ("Peak 11,840" and the East Prong) along the way (loose 5.6).

The most direct line would be to ascend the East Ridge of Mt. Owen (12,928', 5.6). This may require crossing a snowfield or two. An easier alternative is to traverse under the south side of Owen, and then ascend the Koven Chimney, on the west side of the summit block (5.4). Either way, descend the Koven.

Rejoin the ridge leading towards the Grand. Stay on the east side of the ridge until a notch allows passage to the west side. Downclimb here to access a system of large ledges (5.6). Follow these ledges all the way into the bottom of the Gunsight notch (the very deep, prominent notch between Owen and the Grand).

Climb straight out of the Gunsight, via fun steep cracks (5.6), then skirt around to the east side of the Grandstand, and gain it's top via easy scrambling.

Climb the North Ridge to the summit of the Grand Teton (13,770', 5.8). As with much of the traverse, the difficulty is largely dependant on the amount of snow and ice on the route. If the standard route's chimney pitches are icy (or even if they're not) the Italian cracks provide a high quality and somewhat drier variation. Descend the Grand via the O-S"

Location

Start at the Lupine Meadows Trailhead

Protection

Standard alpine rack

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Summit of Teewinot.
[Hide Photo] Summit of Teewinot.
Crossing the notch between Owen and the grandstand.
[Hide Photo] Crossing the notch between Owen and the grandstand.
Headed to the raps
[Hide Photo] Headed to the raps
Ascending the Koven to the summit of Owen.
[Hide Photo] Ascending the Koven to the summit of Owen.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

[Hide Comment] Climbing straight out of the gunsight left me off route. In hindsight, it seems better to traverse left, towards the teton glacier for ~10 meters before going up. Also, its worthwhile to know that there are nice bivy's just west of Owens summit and along the grandstand as well, for those not planning to finish in one push. Jun 21, 2022
Rhett Burroughs
Salt Lake City, UT
[Hide Comment] The Gunsight is very sand bagged. Make sure you can find this .6/.7 start. It was the crux for us and 3 other parties for some reason.

Do your research. It is longer than you think. The backside of Owen is also a bombing range.

The cruxes for us were:
- Teewinot (stay left on trail. Don't get suckered into the false summit gully on right. This is on All Trails.)
- bring 1 rope (you're ropes will probably get stuck off 11840)
- backside of Owen negotiations (long)
- Gunsite climb out (total Sandbag, 4 parties racing for the top for us). The "5.7" is mythical.. we think it's more climbers left than expected - give additional time
- We did the Italian Cracks - the 2nd Ledge is approx 55m from the TOP of the 2nd pitch of Italian Cracks. You need to climb approx 55m from the 2 bolt anchor to reach 2nd Ledge. (we broke this up into 2 pitches for drag)
- Make sure you know the Descent of the GT. There is a mandatory unprotected downclimb or reverse traverse to stay ON the Upper Saddle. It doesn't' look like the trail continues
from the top but it does. Get to the enclosure wall after you rap the OS, hang a left and trend right. Do not get suckered into the gullys on the left expecting a short cut.

There are nice bivy spots below the grandstand.

Enjoy! Hope this saves someone's life one day. Aug 19, 2022
Ben Eder
Salt Lake City, UT
[Hide Comment] I almost fell to my death between Teewinot and Owen. Ended up breaking both wrists/back/TBI/etc. Does anyone have drone footage of the Koven area? Would love to see what the terrain looks like (I can't remember). IF you do, could you email it to me? beder12@gmail.com Feb 19, 2023
Aleksander Holleran
Salt Lake City
[Hide Comment] Heres the best beta I can give, bring a single 45m rope. Technically a 42 will cut it, but no harm in a lil extra. Learned this from an old school guide and tested it my self (twice). You're able to reach all raps with no fuss, i think you just have to do one more coming down 11840. May 18, 2023
Granite andPow
Boulder, CO
 
[Hide Comment] The pitch above the gunsight notch is awful and loose. It starts with the fixed two nut belay and ends with a rap anchor belay. It’s protection is awful. How is this not a Grade V? That’s pretty misleading. We moved for 24 hours straight before a planned shiver bivy at lower saddle and my fitness is pretty darn good. Aug 13, 2024