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No I didn’t order it. They just know.

Do you have a favorite pre-2013 Dan Helmstadter where the photos aren't showing up? http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/profile/24033-danhelmstadter/?do=content&type=forums_topic&change_section=1 link one here...there are number to fix, so let me know if there is one i should fix sooner. I think around 2013 or so he switched to Flickr, so those ones are fine.

Photos fixed.

With a little work I was able to get the images out of the Wayback Machine. I think Dan's account on that image hosting site is gone...and there are other TRs with images on that same hosting service with the same issue. Thanks @G-spotter for nominating this one, and @JasonG for the challenge. And of course.... @danhelmstadter for the TR!

I climbed this once and was entirely uninspired compared to all the other offerings nearby. I wouldn't climb it again. But oh well. It's there, and an alternate way to access the second/third pitch of Midway etc. if Midway and/or South Crack are bottlenecked. But then again if that's the case, you can always climb Rainshadow. Again, I don't want to be critical of those people out there expanding our Leavenworth climbing options on their own time and money. I'm just not sure it was necessary to forge a line up in that exact spot. Lord knows I've spent a lot of time at Castle, and to me this route just seems sandwiched and out of place. Just my stupid opinion.

I teach a composition course to high school freshmen, and, as an assignment, they write an argumentative essay addressing the following prompt: Is is possible for climbers/mountaineers to make climbing a safer activity. Almost none of them have any direct experience with climbing. Most know almost nothing about it all. I provide them with data from Accidents in North American Mountaineering, a selection from Lynn Hill's autobiography, an article about the OES tragedy on Hood, and a video where two of my climbing buddies discuss their own direct experiences. Almost every student comes to the following conclusion: the environment that climbing occurs in is inherently dangerous and that the qualities of the choices that climbers make directly influence the rate of accidents. It is reinforced to me trimester after trimester that the math is not that hard on this one. Even an outsider, thinking carefully about the data, can come to this assessment. One of the interesting points of data that they often marvel at is that exceeding abilities and climbing unroped are contributing causes at nearly identical rates. They also note that half of accidents are caused by falling. When they ask me about what I do, my response is fairly simple. Accept that I engage in a dangerous sport and yet always make careful, thoughtful choices about my practices and habits.

I climbed this, it can go without bolts. Personally I didn’t like the climb and it was still pretty dirty. It protects well with gear with the rack we brought up. I'm surprised it was bolted up at castle. I could see someone bolting it as a new climb in some obscure spot for fun or to practice bolting... To each their own, but I don’t think the bolts were a tasteful addition for the climb or the crag in general. That said, I do appreciate the replacement of bolts and anchors on castle, as well as bolting on innovative new routes. That route is just fine without bolts IMO and you can place gear-there’s a cam placement right next to the second bolt and you can place gear without running it out. Not the nicest explanation of my opinion, and if you like the route that’s great.

I once tried it. We had four days to do it in round trip. That is not nearly enough time! I believe Peter Doorish and Dale Farnham spent many weeks pulling that one off and I can understand why. Should mention when they did it the approach trail up the Chilliwack River was still in excellent shape and very popular. Day 1 we spent 11 hours getting to highcamp approaching form Chilliwack Lake. The trail through the lower valley is just about gone and there is A LOT of bushwacking. Day 2, carrying a wall rack, bivi gear and two days worth of water, we dropped down around the north side and climbed the steep snow gully below the face. We were totally destroyed at this point from the approach. We climbed two pitches of horribly loose and unprotected rock till we realized we weren't going to pull it off in 1.5 days. Retreated by bailing upwards on the Beckey North Buttress Route. Observations Dialing in the approach in advance to Bear Camp, maybe flagging and doing a bit of brush work will dramatically improve your chance of success. The approach gully is horribly dangerous. Timing is a challenge as well. The gully will melt out to absolute choss by early summer most years. I'd plan on late June/early July. Good news is early season there will be running water right near the base of the rock climbing so no need to carry water up there. It's basically a chossy version of the Sheriffs Badge. There appeared to possibly be some very large rock scars on the face though impossible to say if they preceded or followed the original ascent. I would get in at least one training climb on the Badge. Expect a fair bit of nailing. Above the choss we climbed the rock improves. There are some bivi ledges in that stretch just below a large, detached flake ("The 4th pitch climbs the right side of a split pillar 5.10+"). A 4" cam may or may not protect that, definitely wouldn't hurt to bring one large piece. The bolt ladder is 30 years old, hope it's there, consider bringing a minimal bolt kit. Above that the weaknesses it followed seemed reasonably apparent on not the most awesome looking rock. Dale Farnham (RIP) told me the final chimney pitches were very chossy. Ideally you'll climb to the low bivi ledges and fix two ropes above on D1. Day 2 power up to broken ledges near the top of the face. D3 summit. 2 ropes, gear to 5", selection of pins and the ability to replace bolts.