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Routes in The Bishop
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Bishop Crack T 5.12b 7b 26 VIII+ 26 E5 6b |
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Bishop Offwidth T 5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c |
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Bishop's Conundrum (aka Psycho Physics) T 5.11+ 7a 24 VIII 24 E4 6a R |
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Craftwork T 5.11c 6c+ 24 VIII- 24 E4 6a |
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Ellingwood Chimney T 5.8 5b 16 VI- 15 HVS 4c |
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Flounder T 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b |
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Unknown Handcrack - AKA The Right Splitter T 5.10+ 6b+ 21 VII+ 20 E3 5b |
| Type: | Trad, 130 ft (39 m) |
| FA: | Christian Griffith and Henry Lester, 1982 |
| Page Views: | 15,669 total · 55/month |
| Shared By: | Richard M. Wright on Aug 28, 2001 · Updates |
| Admins: | Leo Paik, John McNamee, Frances Fierst, Monty, Monomaniac, Tyler KC |
Access Issue: Seasonal Raptor Closure
Details
The Cathedral Spires area, including Block Tower, Cynical Pinnacle, Snake Buttress, the Dome, Hall of Mirrors, Sunshine Wall, and Poe Buttress, are closed annually starting March 1 for raptor nesting. After careful monitoring of nest sites, Jefferson County Open Space opens certain areas of Cathedral Spires and maintain spot closures for active nests through July 31st. Check back periodically during times of closure for updates: jeffco.us/open-space/parks/…
Note, JeffCo Open Space has notified us that access to The Bishop and Poop Point (along with all the Cathedral Spires Area) currently goes across JeffCo OS land. Despite information in some guidebooks (published or soon-to-be-published), the entire Cathedral Spires area is subject raptor nesting closures. Please be aware of the hefty fines associated with failure to observe these regulations.
Description
While Bishop Crack is a two pitch route, the first pitch gets my vote as the best single pitch 5.11 crack in Colorado. Several years ago we headed up to The Bishop with our minds full of sending the whole damn unit, however, there is nothing like having eyes far bigger than our stomachs.
Bishop Crack starts left of center on the perfectly vertical East face, a brilliant yellow wall in the morning sun. A wide 5.8 squeeze gets the juices flowing for perhaps 30 ft. This seques into a fingers thin crack for a bit and then promptly widens up to butt and hips dimension for 15 ft of 5.10 wrestling. I thought that the hardest move was in getting out of the wide crack and onto the thin fingers (read two joints) crack. What follows is brilliant crack climbing for 50 ft on perfect stone. Wires and small cams will sew it up. Look for some fairly good edges on either side of the crack, for the most part you don't ever really have to jam the toes except for a few places where it really lets you turn on the motor.
A sling belay will be found at 100 ft from which it is possible to rap. For the true hard men, a hope we had long abondoned after 100 ft of relentless jams, the second pitch fires up on more of the same in a perfectly vertical crack that gets thinner and thinner the higher you go. From our escape stance below the upper 5.12 section, it appeared that the edges found on P1 had all but disappeared. Even doing only the first pitch, Bishop Crack ticks in as a brilliant climb.
There is no longer a midway anchor. Be prepared to climb/aid all the way to the top.
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