Routes : North America : United States : California : Northern California : Castle Crags State Park : Castle Dome : West Ridge
PreviousWest Ridge - 5.8
Average Rating : 3.33 out of 5
Route sequence (left to right): 1
Route Summary | Ascent Notes (3)
Premier Sponsor:
|
Rock
Gear to 3 inches, double #1 camalots are helpful but the FA was done in the 60s with more primative
|
|
||||||||||||||
Description:
A fabulous alpinesque route on the north and west side featuring fun route finding and lots of suspect rock. Descend the talus filled gully on the west side to a large tree. The route begins here at a dike. p.1 Climb the tricky dike (5.8) to easier ground above. Belay at a tree. p. 2 Cross the easy slab then climb the steep tricky black face (5.7), traverse right once the headwall steepens to a gear (tricams) belay on a comfortable ledge. p. 3 continue right and up the "no reverse traverse", a big sandbagged at 5.2 p. 4 The money pitch. Climb the crumbling potato chip flake (5.7), which is more of a block and trend left along the groove with a fun well-protected sequence (5.8). Belay on the blocky ledge by slinging boulders. ***The 2 bolt belay mentioned in the book is not there*** p. 5 Straight up the groove on easy climbing to a 5.8 section over two ancient bolts. Bring a screamer and #1 camalot to back them up. Traverse left across a chossy ledge and belay by slinging boulders. p. 6 Grovel up a short squeeze chimney (5.6) and continue to easy ground and the summit.
Submitted by: lucander on 2005-07-05
Views: 2395
Route ID: 67797
3 Ascents Recorded
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 5.8 |
| Safety Rating | G |
| Exposure |  |
| Rock Quality |  |
| Scenery | |
| Fun Factor | |
Onsight ascent by:
Castle Dome West Ridge
Approach: Gully is loose but manageable. Obvious start across from tree.
P1 - run out but not bad
P2 - Look for the horns and flakes on the right side arete. Cross above large very loose blocks to solid ledge. Careful of nasty rope drag around the blocks. Traverse right past pod then finish up fun crack.
P3 - Horizontal traverse to ledge
P4 - We climbed the left side of the flake, next time maybe try the right side. Above flake is off width that protects well.
Traversed left to belay that caused rope drag. Might be able to belay on the right and climb face cracks.
P5 - Up gully to two new bolts and a fun face section. Trend left to great belay with lots of exposure!
P6 - Hard to see two gullies options from the belay. Move up and left to a short traverse that bring you to the bottom of the two off width gullies. We went left... felt more like 5.7 but was a fun way to finish the climb! Few more ramps to the top and we belayed at a tree.
Overall... fun day, careful of loose rock, good alpine adventure!
P1 - run out but not bad
P2 - Look for the horns and flakes on the right side arete. Cross above large very loose blocks to solid ledge. Careful of nasty rope drag around the blocks. Traverse right past pod then finish up fun crack.
P3 - Horizontal traverse to ledge
P4 - We climbed the left side of the flake, next time maybe try the right side. Above flake is off width that protects well.
Traversed left to belay that caused rope drag. Might be able to belay on the right and climb face cracks.
P5 - Up gully to two new bolts and a fun face section. Trend left to great belay with lots of exposure!
P6 - Hard to see two gullies options from the belay. Move up and left to a short traverse that bring you to the bottom of the two off width gullies. We went left... felt more like 5.7 but was a fun way to finish the climb! Few more ramps to the top and we belayed at a tree.
Overall... fun day, careful of loose rock, good alpine adventure!
Added: 2013-11-03
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 5.8 |
| Safety Rating | G |
| Exposure | |
| Rock Quality |  |
| Scenery |  |
west ridge
Falcon Guidebooks lead me astray once again!
wouldn't repeat this one at all. The book and this description neglect to mention that the initial dike is completely unprotected,
the route wanders a ton, route is not obvious until you get to the flake. We also never saw two old bolts, did see 2 fixed cams though so i guess that means we were on the route.
rock quality is pretty bad on this one. a good day, but not such a good route
wouldn't repeat this one at all. The book and this description neglect to mention that the initial dike is completely unprotected,
the route wanders a ton, route is not obvious until you get to the flake. We also never saw two old bolts, did see 2 fixed cams though so i guess that means we were on the route.
rock quality is pretty bad on this one. a good day, but not such a good route
Added: 2011-07-24
| Ratings | |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 5.8 |
| Safety Rating | G |
| Exposure | |
| Rock Quality | |
| Scenery | |
| Fun Factor | |
Ascent Note
Damn fun, surprising alpine feel with the crumbling rock and lots of black lichen.
Witnessed by: Jim Hammerlie
Added: 2005-07-04
Added: 2005-07-04
