Know_Fear Posted March 12, 2002 Share Posted March 12, 2002 On Mar 9th I scoped a pitch or two of ice on the N. face of The Castle in the Tatoosh Range. Has anyone climbed it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted March 14, 2002 Share Posted March 14, 2002 A moderately large flow forms on the NW face of The Castle just about every year. I haven't been up there this year, but in the past it has been 100 to 200 feet high, somewhat tiered, with bulges up to perhaps 60 or 70 degrees. It seems to me that the top of the usual formation is in or close to a group of small trees. I've noticed it when I was up there skiing, or climbing Pinnacle Peak's N. Ridge, and have occasionally thought it might be worth a look. I've never heard of anybody actually heading up there to climb it. [ 03-14-2002: Message edited by: mattp ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstreet Posted March 15, 2002 Share Posted March 15, 2002 I can't answer if it's been climbed but I'm interested in more detail. Exactly where is it? Is is on the north slope somewhere or is it on the castles north face proper? How hard does it look? Any guess on WI rating? How close did you get to it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skisports Posted March 18, 2002 Share Posted March 18, 2002 I belevie it is in james martins new book on this web site dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Know_Fear Posted May 6, 2002 Author Share Posted May 6, 2002 Sorry for the belated responce. I'm sure this thing has melted out. Anyway - the location was described by another member. Castle Peak is south-southeast of Mt. Rainier. Access is via the Longmire entrance to Rainier N.P. Park at the Narada Falls snow park. It's about 1.5 miles to Reflection Lake and another .5 to the Castle. This is a popular back country ski area. I saw 100-200 feet of water ice flowing over small rock ledges on the NW side of the Castle. The flow wrapped many small trees. My guess was WI2-WI4. It looked fat enough to take screws. Some rock gear, and slings for the trees would help. See "Cascade Select" guides re: Pinnacle/Castle/Lane Peaks for an overview and other options. P.S. great backcountry skiing here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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