Castleton Tower - North Face (5.11-)

Apr 14

Written By Dustin Klatt

North Face of Castleton Tower

Pitch One of the North Face of Castleton Tower

Pitch Two of The North Face of Castleton Tower

Pitch Three of the North Face of Castleton Tower

Summary

Wow! What a great route. Hand jams, face moves, a couple of wide moves, this route has it all. The views are incredible and the climbing memorable.

Gear

1 x 70 m rope

1 x tagline (for hauling bags and/or to quickly rappel the route)

12 x draws (half alpine would be a good idea)

2 x 0.3 - 6 cams with a light rack of nuts.

2 x 0.75 - 2

8 x 3

Micros (black, blue, and green Alien) are helpful for backing up small gear and/or reducing runouts.

Pitch notes

P1 : Haul #1 and 2x #6. Follow the LONG #3 hand crack. Place a #5 to protect the belay. Place #4’s when you can. The crack gets narrower as it gets higher. Bleed all cams when the crack starts narrowing near the top to save weight (3’s, 2’s, 1’s and then 0.75’s). Leave 2 #3’s on harness for next pitch, haul rest.

P2 : Climb finger crack to ramp on right and then hand crack left. Watch for sharp edges on the traverse and extend pieces. Place gear before and after crux move. Watch for loose flake near top.

Move belay to bottom of wide crack. Use 3x #3’s to set up bomber belay. Use a #3 to protect the opening moves of the next pitch.

P3 : Place every widening gear, bumping as you go. leave behind solid pieces and keep our bumping gear with you. Backclean gear as needed. Keep 1x 5,6 for the top crack.