6/2/07 – Cathedral Peak – South Ridge

9.0 miles, 4060'


It's almost inconceivable now that I think about it, but Erin and I hadn't climbed in the Elk Mountains in almost four years! We had completely neglected the Elks since our October 2003 climb of Snowmass Mountain. Over Memorial Day weekend we bumped into Jeff Valliere on Horseshoe Mountain, and he invited us to join his group for Cathedral Peak the following week. I wasn't positive we could handle such a strenuous climb so soon after our return to Colorado from Pittsburgh, but the allure of a late-spring climb of this peak, which by most accounts isn't too enjoyable without snow in its crux couloir, was too great to resist. She and I were prepared to turn around if we felt we weren't up to the challenge, especially since Electric Pass Peak wouldn't be too shabby a consolation prize. We had been corresponding with John Kirk about getting together for a climb, and he expressed interest in Cathedral, saying that the peak was high on his to-do list. It was becoming quite a large group! We were to meet up with Jeff, Daves Hale and Gibson, and John Prater. Dave G. was a new hiking partner for us, as was John P. whom we had met a few times before but only at social functions.

Erin and I retired at 8:00 p.m. on Friday evening for an unholy wake-up call of 11:45. There is a sick part of me that likes waking up before many people have gone to bed on a Friday night. We met up with John K. at the T-Rex lot at 12:45, and Erin drove us to Aspen through Glenwood Springs. We arrived at the Cathedral Lake Trailhead at 4:15, and as we got ready we saw stirrings over at edge of the lot. Must be the rest of our group! Sure enough, Jeff and the Daves were going through the morning routine, and I saw John P's storied Sportsmobile camper van for the first time. Our plan was to get more of a jump-start on the group, but as it turned out we began hiking only 20 minutes ahead of them.

Pine Creek raged below with spring runoff while we followed the trail on its ascent toward a meadow. Not long after crossing the boundary of the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area, daylight broke. We were pretty confident that the peak being graced with morning sunlight was Cathedral, but we were off-target by more than a half-mile. It was in fact an unnamed peak with very little prominence, Point 13,780, but it put on quite a show for us nonetheless. As we neared some switchbacks that would lead us to Cathedral Lake, the rest of the group came upon us. It'll be nice not to be a liability as we get back into shape, but for now we feel thankful that folks are willing to put up with our slower pace!

As we neared the lake, Cathedral Peak finally made its first appearance, though we still didn't quite catch our bearings until we crested a snowy rise and took a break to apply sunblock and fidget with our gear. Then we proceeded, slipping around Cathedral's east ridge and onto the slopes east of the lake. I waited behind with Erin while she tightened her boots, and we fell far behind. It was just the two of us as we entered the basin and saw Cathedral and our route now fully revealed. We caught back up with the guys as they were donning their crampons, and we paused to do the same. We trudged up to the base of the gully, and then we went up. This was the first time Erin and I had ascended a route that Roach terms "Steep Snow," but happily this climb is right on the border between moderate and steep. Most of our group thought the slope angle near the top of the gully was no steeper than 45 degrees. I was huffing hard when I finally reached the notch, but perhaps it was simply the views west into the Elks taking my breath away.

The remaining 500' climb of Cathedral's south ridge was straightforward with some light scrambling to keep things interesting. At the summit, Jeff and Dave H. got on their walkie-talkies to touch base with their wives who were climbing beautiful Electric Pass Peak. Erin spotted Allison and Emily high on the peak's east ridge, and everyone reveled in the scenery. John P. asked if anyone wanted to join him for the direct traverse to Electric. This option was never a consideration for me after reading some trip reports from last year and seeing Ken Nolan's comment that the ridge is host to "explosive scree." The ascent had taken a lot out of us, and no one else wished to come along with John for the dicey traverse. We gathered for a group summit photo, and then we began the descent back to the notch.

I had been anxious about descending the gully, and I was glad that Dave H. and Jeff were willing to lead the charge. To my surprise, with steps kicked into the now sun-softened snow by our climbing partners, I felt very comfortable, even more so than on the ascent. About halfway down the gully, Erin's back began to stiffen. She had been too long in the same hunched over position and needed a break. We know from previous experience that Erin's back is not a thing to be toyed with, and I hung back with her while the four guys continued toward the basin. We saw John K. glissade from low in the gully, and we watched as he went down a few bumps before coming to rest in the basin. I was in a pretty good echo spot, and distinctly heard John yell something like, "Well that wasn't the greatest idea!" I tried calling back to to find out what had happened, but he couldn't hear me. It didn't seem serious, and I didn't pay it a second thought until later. Later I saw that the four had grouped together, and for all I knew they were kindly waiting for Erin and I to catch up.

When Erin was ready to continue, I helped kick some deeper steps for her. We made short work of the last remaining steep section, and once the slope had relaxed to the point where care-free plungestepping was in order, I continued ahead. I picked up on John's glissade tracks and sat down for an easy ride. The glissade took me near to the guys, and that's when I noticed that John was down to his boxer-briefs. The others were tending a wound on leg, and had nearly finished dressing it with gauze and tape. At the end of John's glissade, he hit a rock that tore through two layers of clothing and cut a several inch long gash into his upper thigh. I went back to check out the rock he hit, and it was an ill-designed fiend, perfectly flat except for a quarter-inch dagger jutting from one side. Fortunately, the wound wasn't bleeding much, so the rock hadn't hit anything critical. The rock cut deep, however, and we had to talk John out of continuing on to Electric Pass Peak as we had been planning! In all seriousness, he of course knew the priority had to be to get him to the hospital for stitches, but his disappointment was clear. Before we set off again, we heard from John P. over the radios; he had already completed the traverse! Amazing!

We all broke trail for John to keep his postholing to a bare minimum and connected rocky patches as often as possible. As we passed Cathedral Lake, Jeff turned uphill to head for Electric Pass Peak. His flightfooted pace netted him the summit well before we reached the trailhead. Soon we noticed John P., Emily, and Allison with Scooby, Shep, and Sierra in tow. There were just across across the way, hiking a trail along a small rise, so we crossed over to meet up with them. Once back at the cars, we hurriedly got packed up so that Erin could drive John to the hospital. John P. had related to us that he had once visited the Aspen hospital under similar circumstances and that they treated him quickly. True to that story, the hospital saw to John immediately, and we were in and out within an hour and a half. We then ate lunch at Little Annie's before Erin drove us back to Denver.

John's injury notwithstanding, I'm really happy with the climb. Cathedral tested our mettle in a gorgeous setting, and we earned our 75th of the highest 100 peaks in Colorado. Thank you Jeff for asking us to come along! I doubt we'd have ever considered Cathedral on our second week back without your invitation.