Castle Rock Spire with Roper and Powell-1962

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Messages 41 - 60 of total 265 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
Feb 5, 2010 - 05:39pm PT
fabulous TR! thanks
Zander

Trad climber
Berkeley
Feb 5, 2010 - 07:02pm PT
Woo Hooo!!
mooch

Trad climber
Old Climbers' Home (Adopted)
Feb 5, 2010 - 08:55pm PT
Best thread on The Stand this year!! Beautiful shots Guido! And, to you, Guyzo......I finally got to see you and Kris doing CRS. Blown away!

Radish.....hell yeah, we got that approach dialed! I think we did that approach nearly 4 times in 2 months. Seriously!! Hell, I'm thinkin'
I got the "car-to-base of CRS-to-car" speed record (5 hours and 44 minutes....HA!)

Rene, Larry Zulim and I worked on that old CRS trail for two years (shhhh.....don't tell the park!), clearing brush and then some! We even stashed gear one year so we didn't have to haul a bunch the next spring. BAD CHOICE!! Even after carefully protecting said gear, we ended up finding badly corroded cams and biners that spring. What a damn shame! Rene knows how badly I wanted to do this route (and still do!) but didn't quite have the skills sets to free the .11b section (yep, can someone please drag me through that section!). I finally got the ideal partner last year to join me in doing the Regular Route on Castle Rock. A mad man and visionary named Brutus of Wyde said "let's do it". Dood already had 3....yes, THREE previous ascents of The Spire under his belt (2 of them FA's). Sadly, the two of us never made it up there last year. Many of you know why. :( Anyhooo....the Spire still calls to me (I believe Rene is tormented each night, waking up in a pool of cold sweat. Right Rene? ;) Believe we'll give it a go, eh Mungie!?

Micro -

You want to enjoy the Spire?! Recon it first.....that's the crux fo sho! Then, it'll be deeply embedded into your soul.....just like the ticks that you pick up along the way! :)
mooch

Trad climber
Old Climbers' Home (Adopted)
Feb 5, 2010 - 09:11pm PT
Oh yeah....I forgot to mention that I had a conversation with Allen Steck last year at Brutus' memorial. When I mentioned that Brutus and I had plans to do it, he chuckled and went into the cool story of his ascent of the Regular Route. He later told me that Salathe' had originally gone up there a year earlier (1949) to attempt the FA. Said he had started to the left of the Regular Route about 100'. Ended up bailing off it a pitch and a half up, dead-ending into a rotten chimney with a 50 lb loose block above.....which a expertly heaved over his head and behind him into the gully below!!

What a fine gem of climbing history that was, especially coming from Allen!
guyman

Trad climber
Moorpark, CA.
Feb 6, 2010 - 12:41pm PT
Thanks all.

Nate, we didn't name the root, it's about 10b. 3 - pitches of hand finger crack. Gets you up to where the Fin extends out from the hillside. If the Fin and Castle Rock spire were close to the road it would sport about 800 climbs. It would be pretty sweet if we could get a accurate recreation of the "Summit Register" back up there.

And Dave, Micro et all...... go for it!!!! Late April or very early May are best.... we saw no snakes or tics.

thx gk
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Feb 6, 2010 - 01:30pm PT
Yes, It'll depend on the season but it is good to go when there is snow in the gulley all the way down to the trail. Then you can bust up that and bivy on those nice ledges on the base of the fin right across from the spire. Cold mornings, but you are right there in position to go.
Radish

Trad climber
SeKi, California
Feb 6, 2010 - 02:58pm PT
Here's some more temptation. Dave, we should try again this year in May??



[photoid=144458
.[photoid=144447
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Feb 6, 2010 - 03:18pm PT
YESH! vee go!

great pics!
guyman

Trad climber
Moorpark, CA.
Feb 7, 2010 - 12:22pm PT
Reene.... good ones! Is that swimming pool part of the water flowing down from CRS? I hear you have the Trail sorted out. When we did it it was so faint it was almost gone. The "stone works" built by the Army were still in good shape. When we would find them we knew we on the path.

Post up more... ok
BooDawg

Social climber
Paradise Island
Feb 8, 2010 - 03:57pm PT
Great Story and photos, Guido. Please send me links to your other stuff here on ST, so I can catch up with your postings.
Dick Erb

climber
June Lake, CA
Feb 8, 2010 - 04:14pm PT
Ken, Just click on Guidos name to the left on his post and you will be taken to another page where you can find access to all his posts. He's got some good ones.
mooch

Trad climber
Old Climbers' Home (Adopted)
Feb 8, 2010 - 07:18pm PT
Guyzo....told you already what effort was put in to dial in the trail! Sheeesh! Put the lettuce away! LOL! Larry Zulim and I put in 8 hours of solid work one day. And Rene recalls the day when we worked on one section (about 1/8th of a mile in 4 hours!!) I think Rene and I have done this approach more than anyone person.

Rene.....absolutely! I love hiking that approach!! The orange newts are a bonus, as is the old rock walls where the trail is reinforced. The CCC did a fine job.....now it looks like old Mayan ruins, moss growing off the sides. That place is magical up there....
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Feb 8, 2010 - 07:49pm PT
Images for the secret handshake club only......




guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 8, 2010 - 08:56pm PT
Tooooooooooo Much!
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Feb 8, 2010 - 09:38pm PT
Dude, I recruited that chick for SF school.
She did great.....
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Feb 8, 2010 - 11:18pm PT
edit: I deleted my post... Too easily misunderstood and it's pointless anyway...

Nice pics everyone (except perhaps the belly full of tickbite... eew!)

carry on...
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Feb 8, 2010 - 11:29pm PT
If you told us...


SHE'D Have to kill us!!!!

Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Feb 8, 2010 - 11:51pm PT
If you told us...


SHE'D Have to kill us!!!!


How did you know???
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Feb 9, 2010 - 12:10am PT
trail prolly isn't for those doing it at the time, but those following it the next time up...

oldguy

climber
Bronx, NY
Feb 9, 2010 - 04:47pm PT
One more of the climbs I wished I had done early on, but (in regard to the register and for posterity's sake) Gorin (3rd ascent) asked Mike Sherrick to go with him, not me. And I believe it was TM and Dave Rearick on the 7th ascent. Too bad there isn't a picture of Guido, but doesn't Roper look like a kid, even in '63? An innocent kid, even, which we know not to be true.
Messages 41 - 60 of total 265 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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