The Catslab

BEE CAREFUL OLD DEUTERONOMY:

A yellow jacket nest is in a perfect finger hold below the crystal block. I fingered the wrong hole. It is a moment I will not forget. So before you eye that perfect booty. The aftermath could be what I got!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike Y. - When I showed up there this afternoon, a sign said "no tresspassing, No Rock Climbing..." 04/02/01

As of 4/5/01, there was No Trespassing and No Rock climbing - This means YOU! Hopes for some moderate climbing in Clear Creek shattered.

This comment is in response to Richard Wright's comment on Skimbleshanks in the Catslab. I thought it might be appropriate to place this nature of a comment on the area pages. I confer with RW. Be carefull when climbing at the Catslab, Dog House, Primo Wall, and especially the Armory. Some people seem to enjoy shooting their guns in this area. Last summer two of my friend's tires were shot out with a 22 pistol while parked across from the Primo Wall. This 'attack' was unprovoked and was reported to the police. Be carefull, and perhaps us climbers should consider getting law enforcement to actually do something about this situation.

I tried to go climbing here a couple of months ago, and was greeted by signs saying that climbers (that means YOU) are not allowed there anymore. Was I in the right spot? What's the deal? Thanks.

That's the right spot and yes, people do shoot at your car. It seems climbers are unwanted here. The sign has since been removed and is open to climbing, but I'm not so sure you even want to risk climbing there. BE CAREFUL.

Very fun climbs, worth the visit. I have been there twice and did not experience any problems. ...but I did hear someone target shooting, a little unnerving.

Remember, this is private property. Although no-one sould be shooting close to the road, there are certainly safe places to shoot on this land. I often hear shooting, but have never experienced problems at this crag.

Every route I climbed in this area was over graded by a full number. I climbed everything but #1 and #3.

I took a beginner here on an October sunday, and at one point there were 24 people and 2 dogs at the crag! The stone is very good, but I would not recommend going here on a weekend due to the popularity of the place - it is a zoo.

Nice place for beginners - in spite of the crowding, all parties seemed to be having lots of fun - good job by Richard Wright and ABS!

In mid-June Rob Copolillo, Dale Haas and I added 5/16" quick links and 3/8" chain links to the anchors on Old Deuteronomy, Mungajerry, Rumple Teaser, Mr. Mistoffeles, Jellicle Cats, Gumby Cat and MacCavity.The existing 3/8" cold shut anchors were showing signs of wear most likely due to the unfavorable practice of lowering and belaying directly through the anchors.

This work is part of the American Safe Climbing Organization's (ASCA - www.safeclimbing.org) Clean Anchor Campaign. They would appreciate your support!

It's official CAT SLAB IS CLOSED at the request of the landowner. They are building a house on the property. Pass the word along.

We climbed here [Aug. 22], saw one other party. We didn't see any signage that the climbing was closed, just a no trespassing sign on the other side of the river. Fun slabs with lots of bolts.

Great place for sport leading and trying to push leading limits as all routes are very well bolted for protection.

Climbed at Cat's Slab yesterday (Sunday, April 23, 2006) and saw no signs of any type that would indicate the area being closed.

We tried to climb at Cat Slab on Saturday, May 13. We were greeted by the land owner's son that CAT SLAB IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED!! It is on private property, the land owner is disgusted by the trash and the dog poop that is left by climbers and they do not want to be liable for accidents that happen at this crag. There are NO TRESPASSING signs posted. Not sure there is much we can do at this point?!?

I was there yesterday and there were no trespassing signs and a "NO CLIMBING" sign blocking the approach trail. I posted on rc.com to see if anyone knows what is going on. Link here:

http://www.rockclimbing.com/topic/113407

Apparently there was a hiker accident there last week. Don't know if that is related.

The hiker incident was nowhere near Cat Slab. It was about 1 mile west of tunnel 1.
I would say this is just the landowner finally putting their foot down....

Talked with the son of the landowner a few days ago, while he was putting up the no trespassing sign. Catslab is indeed closed. Apparently there was a climbing accident at Catslab sometime ago. The victim sued the landowner. The hiker accident near tunnel 1 has nothing to do with it. Neither does the dog poop or trash.

Therefore, he was fed up with liability issues. Done and done.
It was always a privilege for the many climbers to be there day in and day out.

Another example of one person's stupidity (greed?) ruining it for everybody else. Hope he/she (or parents of!?) is proud of themselves and their lawsuit. Now, how the hell is the landowner responsible for some climber hurting themselves? Heaven forbid they take responsibility for their own actions.

I wouldn't be surprised if all the bolts get removed to make it a permanent closure.

I will still include Catslab in the new book for completeness/historical sake, but I will be very clear on this new closure status. I am sure there is probably more to the story.

Pretty unfortunate. Lets just hope JeffCo OS doesn't follow suit....

Please don't assume that the 'person' sued the landowner. That is actually not so likely. What is likely is that the person's insurance company sued that landowner. As I understand it, since they pay the bills, they are the 'injured party' and have a 'legal right' to pursue recovery. They have lawyers and accountants sitting around on payroll, so they use them to do things like this. Keep that in mind when ever you get hurt. I have been injured a few times, mostly minor. At the hospital you fill out all those darn forms, and then on top of it, your insurance still won't pay until they have a lot of details like: Was it in a auto accident? Was it at work? (Rough translation of all of these: "Can we make someone else pay?")

I wonder if our insurance companies would find it odd that the only place we seem to hurt ourselves is in our own houses? You know, twist your ankle on your porch step, dislocate a finger doing yardwork, etc...

Perhaps we should be asking the Access Fund for some intervention?

Good point, Tony. I am rather naive on the subject of lawsuits, insurance, legal stuff, etc... but the principle of the matter is still annoying.

Besides, I really don't climb there that much, except for the research I did for the book, but I see a lot of climbers frequent that area due to its "convenient" bolting, and moderate grades.

I just want to get the real story and be clear of the truth for documentation sake.

Met up with climbing partners today at the parking area for Cat Slabs.
Unfortunately, big sign blocking the approach path says no climbing and no trespassing. Bummer this was such a nice place to climb.

Isn't there anything to be done?

This was a note I received in reply to my request for more info from the regional Access Fund rep:

It is indeed our understanding that Cat Slab, a privately owned crag, is currently closed to public access. The CMC and the Access Fund are jointly working to see what might be able to be done regarding this unfortunate closure. Sometime in the next next month or two we hope to have a better idea what the long term picture for restoring public access will look like. In the mean time we encourage climbers to respect the wishes of the landowner by obeying the No Trespassing signs that are currently posted.

Please don't hesitate to contact me should have further questions.

best regards,
Rick Thompson
Front Range Regional Coordinator
The Access Fund

What a shame. We heard about this last month too. We were also told it was closed due to the lawsuit. And honestly, who can blame the poor guy for not wanting to be sued. It is unfortunate that we can no longer climb here. Catslab was the first place my hubby and I climbed outdoors. We are really bummed that this spot so close to home is closed.

The thing that makes me sick about this situation is the fact that we all pay the expensive premiums for health care and when something does actually happen, insurance companies still don't want to foot the bill. This would be a totally different situation if someone were actually responsible for the injury. But you can't blame the landowner for owning land that contains rock that has been around before man walked the earth. This is clearly an accident. Insurance companies are degrading the quality of life for others.

I may be preaching to the choir, but we should all realize the implications of this type of litigation. Many of the climbing areas in the Front Range are on private property. I don't want to see this happen again. Hopefully the access fund can find a way to re-open this area.

I saw someone climbing at Catslab as I drove by on Sunday. It looks like the yellow tape and the no climbing sign have disappeared. There is, however, a new chain link fence up on the west side of the creek.

As of 4/29/07 climbing is still off limits at the Slabs. Drove by today and the No climbing/keep out signs were posted.

I climbed at the Cat Slab today and didn't see any NO TRESPASSING signs on the access trail, BUT about midday a couple of guys on the opposite side of the river showed up, pointed pistols at us and started firing in our direction. I'm sure this was a move to intimidate us and get us to leave, and it certainly was unnerving. Nobody was hurt, including my vehicle, but this place is clearly a little sketchy in the access rights department and the hillbillies with guns department. Otherwise fun climbing, slabby and overgraded but fun. But maybe not worth getting shot at for.

I was wondering the status of the slab. I saw some climbers on it last weekend but am unsure of what the staus is.

I climbed there today and there were no "No Trespassing" signs or hillbillies with guns.

My climbing group figures this slab is open, though the path on the opposite side of the creek is closed. Catslab side has a For Sale sign on the wire fence, but there is no indication that you cannot climb at the slab. Anybody want to buy it though?

That said, a great place to take beginner climbers. Four routes under 5.10 makes for a nice day for the inexperienced. Make sure you do take someone who can lead belay though cause there is no approach to the top. Check your rope lengths as well, not all the climbs can be lowered back to the bottom. There's also a 5.4 that's great to teach leading classes. Bring lots of water though as it's mainly in the sun all day.

Catslab is on private property and is definitely closed. You are trespassing if you climb there, regardless of signage. Landowners do change their minds, but generally don't if they're pissed.