Cathedral Peak
13 Apr 2014 15:19 #60335
by ghaznavid
Replied by ghaznavid on topic Cathedral Peak
I'll post some photos story shortly, but here is how I found it:
The walk in to Orange Peel Gap is very easy. Remember that this is a small berg pass, but you traverse into the gully so late and the contouring makes it quite easy. The gully doesn't seem to get any sun, so its cold, wet and mossy. It is also quite eroded in places.
The last water we found was just before the path reaches a the first nek after the pass. The trail contours in and out of little valleys from the pass to the peak. The path gradually gains altitude till eventually you get to a spot where you can see Cathkin etc. About 500m before this there a line of vegetation and a faint trail. About 5m off the path (up the hill) there is a wet rock with a trickle on it. We shoved a plastic bag into a crack in the rock and used this to fill our bottles on the way up and again on the way down - its very helpful, but probably dry from June to October.
There is a solid trail the entire way from the turnoff from B's Gully to the top, there are also occasional cairns when its more rocky.
I noted 7 scrambles, but having just looked at the diagram again - 2 of them were probably counted as that one long A-grade. Both ones marked as A-grade are real doddles and you barely even notice them.
The ones that are an issue are the first 2, the long C-grade and the top one.
1st scramble
If this was wet I don't think getting up it would be possible.
It starts off quite steep with long but thin footholds. In climbing shoes it would be easier. Once you are through these 2 moves, the rest of it is easy as it is not steep at all.
I struggled with the small footholds and practically no handholds (tiny crimps and not much more). I think the grading of this scramble as B grade is probably when aided by a rope (B A0 - perhaps?). Carl/Viking got up it in no time, I took forever to get the first 2 moves right.
But where this becomes a real issue is coming back down. You sit on the rock and try to do a controlled slide, but with not much in the way of holds, it is very hard to control this.
The holds that currently exist on this are small and are probably getting worn down quite fast with the amount of traffic on the route. I am not convinced that the use of this scramble will be sustainable or even possible for much longer.
2nd scramble - traverse
Traversing on rock has never been my favourite activity. Once again, Carl got through this quite easily.
The traverse is over 10m long, we considered setting up a rope to assist my traverse, but my 10m access chord wasn't long enough by about 3m (account for 1m to tie it to the bolt on the one end).
The beginning of the traverse is easy on good hand and foot holds. But in the middle there is quite a big gap without great hands or feet. This bit ends with a discoloured rock that is beginning to come loose.
I eventually took what I now see is marked as the "alternative B route" on the diagram. The moves to reach the discoloured rock are easy and then you simply traverse the last part - this is not too bad.
Coming down this bit, I tied my 2 access chords together (triple fishermans knot), used the single bolt at the end (yes I know - you should never use only 1 bolt - but there was no 2nd), made a 120cm sling into a harness and abseiled down. Took a few minutes to set up, but I really didn't feel like doing this traverse again.
The biggest and supposedly most difficult scramble - the one just before the chain ladder
We met up with another team when we reached this scramble. The team was being lead by a person from the hotel, and worked out quite well in the end.
Carl took the old route up the washed out gully. He rated this to be quite scary and looking at it, its probably not safe to use anymore.
I went up the route as per the diagram. My camera took a 15m fall from the top of this to just above the cliff that one would walk under in B's gully. Somehow the camera didn't even pick up a scratch!
Anyway - I found this part to be quite pleasant. I would have liked a top rope, but the guy from the hotel had set up an aid rope, which turned out to be enough to settle the nerves. This part is quite steep, but the holds are really good.
The scrambles mentioned above were not on steep rock, but lacked holds - this bit was more like what I was expecting. Somewhere to put the hands and feet, but substantially more vertical. This is more my kind of thing.
To come down this, I gave Carl a quick lesson in belaying, we used 2 slings to attach a belay device to the anchors (i.e. a static belay), and attached the rope to my backpack. Technically this belay wouldn't have helped much in a proper fall - the strap at the back of a backpack isn't rated to hold a fall (I used the handle strap at the top of the pack, the one you would use to pick up a pack and put it in your car) - but the rock was less than vertical, so all I would need is enough of a delay between slipping and regaining my balance. The rock would also - at least partially - bear my weight as I fell due to the gradient. Really this belay was more psychological than genuine safety. I nearly fell near the bottom, and the rope ran out 2m above the end of the scramble. It was surprisingly easy to downclimb, but I would not want to do it without a rope.
Carl downclimbed this without any problems.
Top scramble - changing corners
Ok - the top scramble doesn't have a name, but I like to refer to it as "changing corners". For those who don't know: "Changing Corners" is the crux pitch on the Nose Route on El Cap. The name seems fitting to me for this pitch seeing as you are going around a corner, by far the worst exposure on the route is this bit. Feel free to ignore my name reference to an unnamed bit of scrambling
To me this part was actually the most scary part of the climb. The hand holds and foot holds are great, but if I did it again I would probably rope this part. Mostly because 2 of the moves are above large potential falls, and one of them is the biggest step you take on this section.
Climbing down this bit was absolutely terrifying! A rope probably would have eased the nerves, although I didn't see any bolts (but saw many spots to put in nuts around sizes 5-8).
Summit view
Exactly what I expected: Sentinel sticking its head over the Eastern Buttress, Monk's Cowl and co visible in the opposite direction. The only thing I couldn't see that I hoped to see was the Pins. And wow Ntonjelana Pass is eroded!
Epicness
We set out at 6AM and only returned at 7PM. This one was on me, unfortunately. Not entirely sure why - but yesterday ended up being one of my bad mountain days. We stayed on the top for a while, I was feeling sick and also had a headache. I had noted that my heart rate was also abnormally fast yesterday. Not sure what was up, but it felt as if I hadn't been hiking for a few months - even though it was less than 3 weeks since doing a 4 day hike. I also took a while to get through the scrambles.
If you are nervous on rock, or having a bad day, allow for 4 hours from the first scramble to the top and back to that. We got from the top of Orange Peel to the car park in about 2 hours, so kind of made up for part of it...
Comparison to Sterkhorn
Hypothetically Sterkhorn and Cathedral are supposed to be similar in difficulty.
Map distance of 17km vs 19km, both graded C, similar altitude gain.
This assumption couldn't have been more wrong
Sterkhorn is definitely steeper. But Cathedral was much further (about 24km - don't forget 2km each way of walking along a road, 1km from the car park to the dirt road, 1km further to the river). It is obvious that Cathedral has more scrambling, but the top scramble on both peaks are similar in technical difficulty - however the exposure on Cathedral is substantially more than Sterkhorn.
Grading is subjective and depends on each individual's preferences, ability and even just how they are feeling on the day. But to me, the following are equivalent difficulty (discounting for confidence issues resulting from exposure):
- The top pitch on Cathedral graded B
- The top pitch on Sterkhorn graded C
- The Hot Plate Route on the Near Eastern Buttress at Monteseel (maybe with the exclusion of the crux move). Graded 9/E1, probably 8/D without the crux move. Note that the difficulty may be higher without a rope and therefore this may not be a fair comparison.
Supposedly Monteseel ratings are sandbagged, so go figure on that!
In my mind either Sterkhorn Standard Route is a B or Cathedral Peak Standard Route is a D.
One way or another, Sterkhorn is definitely easier than Cathedral Peak in practically every aspect - except for steepness of the hiking.
The walk in to Orange Peel Gap is very easy. Remember that this is a small berg pass, but you traverse into the gully so late and the contouring makes it quite easy. The gully doesn't seem to get any sun, so its cold, wet and mossy. It is also quite eroded in places.
The last water we found was just before the path reaches a the first nek after the pass. The trail contours in and out of little valleys from the pass to the peak. The path gradually gains altitude till eventually you get to a spot where you can see Cathkin etc. About 500m before this there a line of vegetation and a faint trail. About 5m off the path (up the hill) there is a wet rock with a trickle on it. We shoved a plastic bag into a crack in the rock and used this to fill our bottles on the way up and again on the way down - its very helpful, but probably dry from June to October.
There is a solid trail the entire way from the turnoff from B's Gully to the top, there are also occasional cairns when its more rocky.
I noted 7 scrambles, but having just looked at the diagram again - 2 of them were probably counted as that one long A-grade. Both ones marked as A-grade are real doddles and you barely even notice them.
The ones that are an issue are the first 2, the long C-grade and the top one.
1st scramble
If this was wet I don't think getting up it would be possible.
It starts off quite steep with long but thin footholds. In climbing shoes it would be easier. Once you are through these 2 moves, the rest of it is easy as it is not steep at all.
I struggled with the small footholds and practically no handholds (tiny crimps and not much more). I think the grading of this scramble as B grade is probably when aided by a rope (B A0 - perhaps?). Carl/Viking got up it in no time, I took forever to get the first 2 moves right.
But where this becomes a real issue is coming back down. You sit on the rock and try to do a controlled slide, but with not much in the way of holds, it is very hard to control this.
The holds that currently exist on this are small and are probably getting worn down quite fast with the amount of traffic on the route. I am not convinced that the use of this scramble will be sustainable or even possible for much longer.
2nd scramble - traverse
Traversing on rock has never been my favourite activity. Once again, Carl got through this quite easily.
The traverse is over 10m long, we considered setting up a rope to assist my traverse, but my 10m access chord wasn't long enough by about 3m (account for 1m to tie it to the bolt on the one end).
The beginning of the traverse is easy on good hand and foot holds. But in the middle there is quite a big gap without great hands or feet. This bit ends with a discoloured rock that is beginning to come loose.
I eventually took what I now see is marked as the "alternative B route" on the diagram. The moves to reach the discoloured rock are easy and then you simply traverse the last part - this is not too bad.
Coming down this bit, I tied my 2 access chords together (triple fishermans knot), used the single bolt at the end (yes I know - you should never use only 1 bolt - but there was no 2nd), made a 120cm sling into a harness and abseiled down. Took a few minutes to set up, but I really didn't feel like doing this traverse again.
The biggest and supposedly most difficult scramble - the one just before the chain ladder
We met up with another team when we reached this scramble. The team was being lead by a person from the hotel, and worked out quite well in the end.
Carl took the old route up the washed out gully. He rated this to be quite scary and looking at it, its probably not safe to use anymore.
I went up the route as per the diagram. My camera took a 15m fall from the top of this to just above the cliff that one would walk under in B's gully. Somehow the camera didn't even pick up a scratch!
Anyway - I found this part to be quite pleasant. I would have liked a top rope, but the guy from the hotel had set up an aid rope, which turned out to be enough to settle the nerves. This part is quite steep, but the holds are really good.
The scrambles mentioned above were not on steep rock, but lacked holds - this bit was more like what I was expecting. Somewhere to put the hands and feet, but substantially more vertical. This is more my kind of thing.
To come down this, I gave Carl a quick lesson in belaying, we used 2 slings to attach a belay device to the anchors (i.e. a static belay), and attached the rope to my backpack. Technically this belay wouldn't have helped much in a proper fall - the strap at the back of a backpack isn't rated to hold a fall (I used the handle strap at the top of the pack, the one you would use to pick up a pack and put it in your car) - but the rock was less than vertical, so all I would need is enough of a delay between slipping and regaining my balance. The rock would also - at least partially - bear my weight as I fell due to the gradient. Really this belay was more psychological than genuine safety. I nearly fell near the bottom, and the rope ran out 2m above the end of the scramble. It was surprisingly easy to downclimb, but I would not want to do it without a rope.
Carl downclimbed this without any problems.
Top scramble - changing corners
Ok - the top scramble doesn't have a name, but I like to refer to it as "changing corners". For those who don't know: "Changing Corners" is the crux pitch on the Nose Route on El Cap. The name seems fitting to me for this pitch seeing as you are going around a corner, by far the worst exposure on the route is this bit. Feel free to ignore my name reference to an unnamed bit of scrambling
To me this part was actually the most scary part of the climb. The hand holds and foot holds are great, but if I did it again I would probably rope this part. Mostly because 2 of the moves are above large potential falls, and one of them is the biggest step you take on this section.
Climbing down this bit was absolutely terrifying! A rope probably would have eased the nerves, although I didn't see any bolts (but saw many spots to put in nuts around sizes 5-8).
Summit view
Exactly what I expected: Sentinel sticking its head over the Eastern Buttress, Monk's Cowl and co visible in the opposite direction. The only thing I couldn't see that I hoped to see was the Pins. And wow Ntonjelana Pass is eroded!
Epicness
We set out at 6AM and only returned at 7PM. This one was on me, unfortunately. Not entirely sure why - but yesterday ended up being one of my bad mountain days. We stayed on the top for a while, I was feeling sick and also had a headache. I had noted that my heart rate was also abnormally fast yesterday. Not sure what was up, but it felt as if I hadn't been hiking for a few months - even though it was less than 3 weeks since doing a 4 day hike. I also took a while to get through the scrambles.
If you are nervous on rock, or having a bad day, allow for 4 hours from the first scramble to the top and back to that. We got from the top of Orange Peel to the car park in about 2 hours, so kind of made up for part of it...
Comparison to Sterkhorn
Hypothetically Sterkhorn and Cathedral are supposed to be similar in difficulty.
Map distance of 17km vs 19km, both graded C, similar altitude gain.
This assumption couldn't have been more wrong
Sterkhorn is definitely steeper. But Cathedral was much further (about 24km - don't forget 2km each way of walking along a road, 1km from the car park to the dirt road, 1km further to the river). It is obvious that Cathedral has more scrambling, but the top scramble on both peaks are similar in technical difficulty - however the exposure on Cathedral is substantially more than Sterkhorn.
Grading is subjective and depends on each individual's preferences, ability and even just how they are feeling on the day. But to me, the following are equivalent difficulty (discounting for confidence issues resulting from exposure):
- The top pitch on Cathedral graded B
- The top pitch on Sterkhorn graded C
- The Hot Plate Route on the Near Eastern Buttress at Monteseel (maybe with the exclusion of the crux move). Graded 9/E1, probably 8/D without the crux move. Note that the difficulty may be higher without a rope and therefore this may not be a fair comparison.
Supposedly Monteseel ratings are sandbagged, so go figure on that!
In my mind either Sterkhorn Standard Route is a B or Cathedral Peak Standard Route is a D.
One way or another, Sterkhorn is definitely easier than Cathedral Peak in practically every aspect - except for steepness of the hiking.
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