The Cathedral Spires are closed from March 1 to July 31 for raptor nesting.
BETA PHOTO: Start with the left crack and switch to the right ...
Description
This route is on the Cynical Pinnacle. It starts below the obvious line of Hand Job which leads to the top of the Pinnacle in 4 pitches.
If hiking up from the road towards the start of Center Route and Wunsch's, look for the obvious line of Monkey's in the Forrest, it has a small tree with slings on it, and contnue uphill to the next crack. It looks obvious and good from the ground.
Start off with steep hand jams which lead to the crux where the crack widens a bit. Move right above the crux into a different crack and follow this (5.8+ hands) to the walk off ledge.
Walk off to the left making some rather exposed scrambling moves.
By Ken Trout From: Golden, CO Dec 30, 2003 rating: 5.8+
Chris Hodge and I climbed this back in winter, 1974. Probably a first ascent. Later in the spring we finished Hand Job all the way to the Wunsch's bolt ladder and summit with another guy from high school named Barry.
We did not name the route Hand Job or anything else, That is one of the lies from the Brown Book, but the jamming sure messed up our hands.
If Center Route and Wunsch's seem intimidating, then try just the first pitch of Center Route and Hand Job Direct for a good day's 5.8 crack climbing.
It would be better if hand job had a double bolt anchor at the top. We hadn't been to the valley yet in '74 and didn't know how to set up single pitch cracks properly.
Climbed this right after Center Route. I don't get this one's 5.8- 5.9 rating. It was more strenuous, awkward and sustained than Center Route. There is a rap anchor at the top. 60m won't make it, We used 2 ropes. The anchor placement is pretty bad for pulling the ropes. We had to get far away from the cliff face to be able to pull them.
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