I admit it..I only added this route so I could pos...
Description
This is the impressive offwidths just to the right of Coffin Crack that splits the left side of the aid roof. Boulder up to a quarter inch bolt and make some insecure moves to get situated under the roof. Dive into the gaping offwidth above and squeeze through two slots, up the squeeze chimney to where you can easily traverse left to the top of Coffin Crack to belay (there was a slung pinch on 7/03 to rap off of that can be backed up with small tcus to belay). Some gear can be found in the back of the crack as well as in a flake on the right side of the crack about halfway up. -JG
Protection
Single set of cams from purple Metolius - #3 Camalot, nuts and a few draws. Pants
This climb is evil, I couldn't even get up it on toprope! Good technique goes a long way on this one, so lack of technique will earn you a thrashing. One reality about seconding this is that if you slide out of the slot you can't get back in and have to be lowered to the ground. This climb belongs in Yosemite, or is at least good training for nasty Yosemite wide cracks.
The first time I tried this was left side in and I got 'thrashed'. The second time up a fist jam after the bolt allowed me to stuff my right shoulder in and after a bit of sissy kicking the rest of the route was dispatched with a minimal donation of epidermal tissue. Two stars for sure.
By Tony Bubb From: Boulder, CO Jun 5, 2006 rating: 5.10
Those "5.9+" moves to get into the darn thing sure felt hard to me. I thought it was harder than Coffin Crack, to the left, which gets 10b. I did do this climb left-side in. Above comment suggests that's wrong, but it seemed best to me- maybe it wasn't right? Also, I placed my #4 Camalot low (left of the bolt) and ended up runout above.
I thought this thing was way harder than Coffin Crack. We actually warmed up on the other one, and although I probably looked as equally pathetic on both routes, this one gave me relatively less grief. The moves from the face into the OW were the business to me. Next step, red point!
By James Beissel From: Boulder, CO Jul 29, 2007 rating: 5.9+
A single set from #1 to #6 C4, with possibly two #4s, will protect this route nicely. Took me several attempts to get a redpoint on this one, but I learned a lot about offwidth climbing in the process. Yeah, it's a bit harder than a 5.10 OW, that's why it's rated 5.9+!
Castle Rock
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