Goat_Boy Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Anyone been up Victory Ridge or any of the eastern ridge routes with access to the Castle? I'm looking for any information out there, from access to conditions to recommendations. We're considering this as an August objective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted January 16, 2003 Share Posted January 16, 2003 Did you climb Victory Ridge? I saw it from a distance and it looked totally wicked. Got to be class 5. The Russel Cliffs above the ridge are 70 to 80 degree overhanging glaciers. Looked like they were just waiting to squash a climber. Â Battlement Ridge goes through the Castle. It is a class 3 route on the southeast side. I've scouted it out and it looked like a great climb. I'll be there in June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigA Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 Keep me posted if you want to do The Castle, that's one I've been wanting to do for a while now. I talked to someone whose climbed it and the Klickitat Glacier and he said they're routes you want to hit in the early season...i.e. before the indians open it up. I'd love to talk if your serious about it, like I said, The Castle has been on my list (since I saw it when we climbed Mazama Glacier a couple years ago). Â Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigA Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 Here is a picture I took of The Castle from Mazama Glacier a couple of years ago. Not much snow and this was the 30th of June (the first legal day for the indian reservation side). Â What a beautiful site....I REALLY NEED TO CLIMB THAT THING Â Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 Hey Craig. I didn't know about that June 30th limitation. What a bummer. I was hoping to do it early season when the rockfall danger would be lower. Nice pic. The Beckey guide describes a collapse in the castle area in 1997, but the area has been stable since. Did this guy mention anything about the maximum rock climbing difficulty on Battlement Ridge? The books aren't very specific about this. I wonder what the enforecement level of the Indian reservation is? Maybe special permission can be obtained??? Â I think the best route to obtain Battlement Ridge is to climb up the South Spur to about 9,600 feet, drop down unto the Mazama, then cross the Klickitat at the relativaly flat spot just above 9,000 feet. From there, it looks like there are several good spots to obtain the ridge by climbing directly up the slope due north. Â I'll do some more research and let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 Anyone been up Victory Ridge or any of the eastern ridge routes with access to the Castle? I'm looking for any information out there, from access to conditions to recommendations. We're considering this as an August objective. Â I did some more research on Victory Ridge. Apparently it has never been climbed!!! The Beckey Guide describes the first ascent and shows the route. They didn't even step on the ridge, they climbed the couloir just north of the ridge, then cut up through the notch in the Roosevelt Cliff (I had the wrong name in my first post). Beckey says Victory Ridge was unclimbable back then due to extreme rock climbing difficulty. When I viewed the ridge, I saw what he meant. I bet it could be Aid Climbed with modern techniques and gear. Â So who wants to make the first ascent??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigA Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 I would love to try a first ascent, don't know if my ability would allow it though, but I'm open for discussion.  The area can be approached from the standard south side trail head even if Bird Creek Meadows is not open, its just a little longer approach. This is assuming you are looking to camp at Sunrise.  I have my eye on the Castle route, well actually, its the Klickitat Slope of Battlement Ridge variation as shown on page 68 of the Beckey guide. What would you think about that one?  Keep in touch and as the time gets closer we'll see about making plans. Right now I do not have a partner for this route. Let me know what you think.  Craig  Attatched is a picture of the Klickitat Glacier (from the same Mazama Glacier trip) and I've hi-lited the route as I saw it. I scoped it out pretty good and it looked pretty intense and fun. Crossing the Klickitat down low would be quite an experience  Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 The route in the attachment is what I was thinking. Sounds like fun. I'll keep in touch. Â Victory Ridge is out of my league since I've never aid climbed. The Beckey Guide said the ridge is completely shattered. I'm more into alpine ice. I just wanted to share some info on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigA Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 C O O L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Check out this USFS photo before you cross The Klickitat.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted February 4, 2003 Share Posted February 4, 2003 Fairweather - How many other cool pictures do you have ferreted away on your computer? You seem to have quite the collection! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairweather Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 The previous Adams picture, obviously, is not mine. All of the others I have posted are though. I recently bought a Minolta slide/neg scanner. Lots of fun. Someday I'll put 'em on a website so I can post them here w/o the "attachment" burden. ...unless you know another way? Â I've got quite a few photos in the "photo album" section. Look under "top photo posters/Fairweather." (I guess I was bored that day.) Â Â In the meantime, here's another one that's mine. I took it on a Mazama Glacier climb about one month before the Big Rockslide in the USFS photo.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabertooth Posted February 5, 2003 Share Posted February 5, 2003 The collapse in the Castle area and the resulting slide down the Klickitat as shown in the USGS photo was over 5 years ago. According to reports, there has been no more rockslides in that area since. Sure there is a slight risk with the glacier crossing, but a rockslide could happen anywhere on a mountain made of choss. Â Nice photos, thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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