Cathedral Buttress
Date: July 23, 2023 (Sun)Trip Report #: 633Partner: Erin Houlihan
Route: Caveat Emptor (5.10, 6p)
An outstanding rock climb just left of (and harder than) The Snaz.
Intro
This was my second trip to the Tetons this summer. In early July I had climbed for four days in the Tetons with my sister Jenny. It was a great time with my sister and I was reminded of how much I love the Tetons. Plus, Jackson Hole is an easy place to find places to work remotely (so I can work a bit around the edges) and there is plenty of easy free camping in the area if you know where to look. I returned two weeks later, not batting an eye at the eight-hour drive from Estes Park to Jackson Hole. This time I climbed with Erin, a newfound and equally-psyched climbing partner from Boulder. Erin and I climbed for four days. I drove up after work on Tuesday, worked remotely out of the Jackson Hole library and explored town on Wednesday while Erin drove up, and climbed with Erin on Thursday to Sunday. We climbed Guide's Wall (5.8+to 5.10, 6p) on Storm Point (Thursday), Armed Robbery (5.9, 8p) on Cloudveil Dome (Friday), Dihedral of Horrors (5.9, 4-6p) on Omega Buttress (Saturday), and Caveat Emptor (5.10, 6p) on Cathedral Buttress (Sunday). It was great to have a partner on the same page— i.e. a rest day just means a sligtly shorter route with a slightly shorter approach. I drove back to Estes Park on Monday, after putting in a full day working remotely from the library and Whole Foods in Jackson Hole. What a stellar four days of climbing!
This page gives a trip report for Caveat Emptor (5.10c, 8p) on Cathedral Buttress. Cathedral Buttress in Death Canyon has the highest concentration of pure non-summit rock climbs in Grand Teton National Park. The steep walls have several high-quality multipitch routes, including The Snaz (5.9-5.10+, 9p), Caveat Emptor (5.10, 6-8p), and Aerial Boundaries (5.10b, 5p). The lower elevation, south-facing nature, and relatively easy approach and descent combine to make this a popular area. Earlier in July Jenny and I had an enjoyable day climbing The Snaz (5.9-5.10+, 9p). I made a note that next time I visited the Tetons I would climb Caveat Emptor (5.10c, 8p), a harder and more sustained and supposedly better route running parallel to and just left of The Snaz and featuring several sections of overhanging cracks and lots of variety and five pitches in the 5.10 grade. Often just the first six pitches are climbed, since Pitch 6 is the crux pitch and the last two pitches after this are moderate and unremarkable climbing, and the route can be rappelled from the top of Pitch 6.
Indeed, Erin and I thought that Caveat Emptor is an outstanding rock climb, and I would agree with it being both a higher-quality and more challenging route than The Snaz. Erin and I knew that this route would be pushing our lead comfort, especially the "5.10 face" and "5.8R with little protection" on the crux Pitch 6. But the route sounded so good, so we went for it. We swung leads (I had odds, Erin evens). Erin did a great job on the spicy 5.10 Pitch 2 lead, and I enjoyed the sustained overhanging 5.10 cracks on my pitches. A healthy set of wider gear (we had three #2, two #3, and one #4, which were sufficient with some bumping and back-cleaning) was nice to have. When we reached the top of Pitch 5, we had a decision to make. We could not see the 5.8R section above. There was a rappel anchor here and we knew we could get down from here with a single 70 by intersecting the rappel stations on The Snaz (we also had brough a Beal Escaper so we could get down from anywhere on the route with the help of the Escaper). The route description noted an intermediate belay ledge below the 5.8R section, but we suspected that if we decided to bail at the intermediate belay ledge, we would have to leave some gear. The sun was also beating down, it was a particulary hot day, and we were nearly out of water. So we decided to play it safe and rappel. With a single 70, we rapplled back to the base of Pitch 5 of Caveat Emptor, and then climbed a pichlette to the anchor at the top of Pitch 5 of The Snaz. From here, we rappelled to the ground with a single 70, stopping along the way to toprope the long and sustained wide Pitch 4 of The Snaz, which I had not climbed yet since Jenny and I had climbed the 5.10 "Snazette" variation for this pitch when we had climbed The Snaz a couple of weeks previous. Once down, Erin and I beelined for the creek to take a refreshing dip before hiking back to the trailhead. We wished we had been able to finish the route, but still felt that it was a great day of climbing, involving 6.5 pitches and some excellent stretches of climbing.
The following page gives a route overlay, time stats, and photos from our climb.
Route Overlay
Also shows an overlay for The Snaz (5.9-5.10+, 9p), which I climbed two weeks before climbing Caveat Emptor (5.10, 8p).
Time Stats
Trailhead to base of route: 1 hour 30 minutes
Climb route (to top of Pitch 5): 3 hours 40 minutes
Descend (rappel to The Snaz, climb up to top of Pitch 5, toprope Pitch 4, rappel to ground): 1 hours 27 minutes
Hike back to trailhead (including refreshing dip in river): 1 hours 30 minutes
Total car-to-car (includes breaks, extra pitches, refreshing dip in river, ...): 9 hours 34 minutes
Pitch-by-Pitch Photos
Approach
2nd-4th
Hike the Death Canyon Trail to the last of eight switchbacks beneath the southwest corner of Cathedral Wall. Take a steep path that cuts back to the right. Climb a short cliff (4th) and follow the path east to its end beneath the middle of the wall. The route begins below an immense open-book dihedral that runs up the center of the wall. This is the same approach as for The Snaz.
Pitch 1
5.5, 200+'
Climb up and right into the corner and work up to a broad grassy ledge (5.5) (this is the first part of The Snaz), then angle up and left on ramps and ledges (5.4) to the base of a left-leaning chimney system. Belay a few feet up into the chimney, just below a fixed pin in pegmatite.
Pitch 2
5.10-, 130'
This is a spicy and engaging pitch of climbing. Start up the chimney, clip a fixed pin, awkwardly hand traverse right (5.10-) to a crack, and climb straight up the face (5.7 at first, then 5.9) to a right-leaning, right-facing corner. Follow the corner, aiming for a lege by a pillar with a rappel anchor.
Pitch 3
5.10-, 165'
This is an awesome pitch of climbing, perhaps the best on the route. To the left of the pillar, climb a beautiful finger and hand crack to a roof (5.10-). Turn the roof on the right (5.10-) and reach a ledge after about 30 feet (possible belay). Continue up a perfect crack (5.7) and belay on a ledge beneath a dark band of rock.
Pitch 4
5.10- or 5.7, 90'
There are two options for this pitch, both of which end at the same location. For either start off by moving right. For the hard version, make difficult moves up through a roof (5.10-), and belay across from the detatched flake on the sixth pitch of The Snaz. For the easier version, continue moving right and climb around the end of the arete and then up easier (5.7) rock on the other side.
Pitch 5
5.10, 150'
Power up through an overhanging and leaning hand crack (5.10) up through a left-facing corner and roof (5.10), and then go up on steep juggy terrain to a good ledge with a rappel anchor (bolt and a couple of stoppers).
Pitch 6
5.10, 120'
Move up and left about 10 feet to a fixed pin. Face climb up and right past a bashie (5.10) to a vertical crack. Then head straight up on easier ground about 20' to a bulge with minimal pro. Climb to a corner crack system, get good gear to left of corner, then climb up with no pro (5.8 R). There is an intermediate belay ledge somewhere before the 5.8 R section. Continue up corner crack until ledge with rap anchor.
Erin and I did not climb this pitch.
If your only concern is quality climbing and not "finishing the route", you should be able to rap from here with double ropes. You can rappel from the top of Pitch 5 with a single 70, with a small pitch to get over to the rappel annchors on The Snaz.
Pitch 7
5.6, 150'
Climb up the cornerto a big ledge with a tree. The climbing is mostly easy with one harder move.
Erin and I did not climb this pitch.
Pitch 8
5.easy
From here, keep angling left and up for a few hundred feet of progressively easier climbing. At some point you may wish to unrope.
Erin and I did not climb this pitch.
Descent
Rappel
From the top of Pitch 8, the best descent is probably to walk off (see guidebook for walk-off detail). It may also be possible to find the rappel anchor at the top of The Snaz and rap The Snaz with a single 70 as Jenny and I did from the top of the route.
From the top of Pitch 6, you can rappel the route with double ropes. Erin and I confirmed you can rappel from the top of Pitch 5 with a single 70, by doing a small pitch after the first rappel to access the rappel anchor at the top of Pitch 5 of The Snaz.
