Curving Crack 

Went up and led this again a few days ago.....what a GREAT pitch. It's got it all, face climbing, perfect hands, liebacking, finger jams and wide stemming to a roof with some steep jug-hauling and a couple finger/hand jams to the chains....wooooohooooo....fun!

Man, I was up there with my kids in the creek the other day and these guys were eyeing up curving crack..... i told them it's awesome and they decided to do it. The guy hung at the hand crack, hung on the stemming in many places and fell off the roof a couple times....then he almost made it over the roof but fell and pulled a yellow alien and a blue alien and fell probably 40 feet upside down and was saved by the fixed pin.Man, it was fuckin' scary fall but he was ok with a helmet on too. Make sure you get a good placement in that upper chalked up crack (easy to do) and extend it cuz turning the roof pulls that cam around a bit and probably walked it enuff to cause it to pull on that guy...... careful out there but climb hard.

Another solid 5.9 that I recently discovered. I found the rock above the piton to be a little slick. It was difficult to smear/stem until I reached the overhang. Good climb though.

Great Climb - 3 Stars!!! Get there early on weekends - it get's busy and when we were climbing there were two other parties waiting.

What's up with the grafitti around the base of Castle? It's in spanish and I have no idea what it means. Is it some kind of anti-climber political thing or just the work of complete moron with too much time on this hands?

Did this route two weeks ago. My first 5.9 trad lead. I can sauce a 5.8+ but this thing was very tough for me. The protection wasn't super good but certainly adequate. The first section is a piece of cake, it gets interesting after the piton. The rock on this route is very slick and the foot holds suck! I wouldn't recommend this route for new 5.9 leaders! It felt like I was on my hands a lot with no real rests. Because of the approach I give it one star. Also, I believe the hangers at the top are on small bolts which aren't recommended for use anymore and one of them is loose.

What? This is great 5.9 maybe 5.9+ climbing on very solid rock. The pro is great and as I recall, bomber. Its not friction-granite (but little is at Castle), so may feel a bit slick. There are 2 pretty damn good rest positions/gear placing if you stem out with your left foot. As you can belay from your car there is zero approach. The climb is short but sweet. 2+ stars (3 if it was longer).

If you smeared vaseline all over this route, I don't think it would make a difference.

That's why I can't figure out why so many people like this climb. I think 2 stars at best, and that's in cool weather.

Good line but very stiff for the grade even seconding, as feet tend to slip off. More like 5.10a (UK E1 5b) it seemed to me, but I guess the 5.9 grade is "traditional".

Seemed same difficulty as Dmentia over on Happy Hour to me, so I said 10a, as that is what Dementia is thought to be. Rating might be influenced by doing the right exit at the roof, instead of left, and it continues to be hard there. Chains/bolts for anchor seemed fine. Excellent pitch, and definitely easier than Skunk Crack (less greasy).

Led this today, great and safe 5.9 I would definitely recommend this as there is plenty of gear to be placed making falling safe. I don't think this route is slick due to high traffic but rather due to the rock - actually adding to the character of this climb, it makes you think, starting with bigger jams, going to smearing with your feet and using the two walls of the dihedral. Climb this.

"Curving Crack" is sooo good. What can you say... it's another great "Castle Rock" sandbag classic. Boulder Canyon, Co.

A great, delicate stemfest through a beautiful crack, then a jug rest before a small roof, what can I say? This thing brings out the footwork.

The crux section takes small gear (<0.4 C4), and one of the best holds is also one of the better placements, so that was a bummer for me on lead as I couldn't crank off of it. But the liebacking and stemming is great fun. Come on, 5.9? More BC sandbaggin', I have no problem giving this a 5.10a for my on-sight.