Castleton Tower is probably the most famous desert tower in the world, and was the first major tower climbed in the Moab area. The Kor-Ingalls route is one of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America, and Castleton also has one other 5.9 route of the same caliber. Harder classic routes both aid and free exist on its fantastic Wingate sandstone with its unique calcite crust.
Castleton is most climber's first desert tower, and it is common for lines to form on the Kor-Ingalls during the spring and fall. All the free routes are trad, and you should be solid at the grade - this is not a good place to break into 5.9.
Getting There
Drive as far up the dirt road as you dare, and start hiking. The road winds around the base of Castleton. Look for a cairn on the right made from white rocks and do not be tempted to leave the road too early. There is an excellent trail to the base of a small cliff band, at which point it turns towards the Rectory and the Priest. Scramble easily through the cliffs(if you are scared there is a better way) and hike up steep scree to the base.
The approach takes an hour if you are in shape, but it is strenuous.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Castleton Tower:
AKA The Girdle Traverse of CastletonThe climb has some wild situations, and perhaps an unusual experience for localized climbers. I would suggest that before you knock it you try it... The climb starts at the Kor- Ingalls. The traverse uses 4 pitches of established climbs and 5 new pitches.P1. Pitch 1 Kor route. 5.6 140'P2. Move belay to right to join P2 Arrowhead Left. Climb this pitch to top of the Arrowhead(junction with Stardust Cowboy). ...[more]Browse More Classics in UT
Climbed the North Chimney the day after the Moab Half-Marathon. Along with 3 groups from Kor-Ingalls we used 4 60 meter ropes to set two double rope raps down the north face. The second rap left us 6 feet off the ground; untying on a pillar and then downclimbing to the ledge. After the third person came off rappel and was nearly finished downclimbing, the 6 foot high pillar fell over. No one was squashed and we caught the downclimber. We set up a trad anchor to assist the other 5 rappelers in unclipping and downclimbing. Two 70 meter ropes would be enough for the last rappel; and recommended since the easier pillar is now laying on the ledge. Or just do three raps.
On the 26th of September Kimmyyyyyy Jacobs and I completed the cleanup and backup of the North Face anchors. We dragged a bunch of chain up and the big 1/2 inch steel snippers. We removed the old chain and equalized the stuff I dragged up there last spring. ON that previous job the drill broke down so I wasn't able to add the stainless bolts. All anchors now have at least 1 stainless halfie with the chain. The old chain was probably good for a few more years (though it was rusted together), but the way it was wset up, to one single cold shut worth only 900 pounds when brand new, was unnaceptable. Those things are made of soft metal and are never tested... the 900 pounds is an average. IN any event, it is now set up with big rings and rated to way over what we can generate. It should last a while.
You will notice there is about 5 feet of chain linking the long halfie to the orginail bolts. This is because I had to go 5 feet back from the rim to find a non-hollow spot in the cap rock. Its not pretty, but it makes it easy to get over the lip and is a much more stout rap anchor.
We also brought the top anchor on the Kor Ingals up to speed with chain. We ran out of time and were not able to do the lower rap... that will have to wait.
We climbed the N Chimney on Sept 25. The trail is mostly still in, but the last 1/5 or so is completely destroyed, making the last bit hard going. I had read on here somewhere it was possible to rap the N face with one 70m rope, so that is what we tried, but found that our rope came up about 8 feet short on the first rappel. The other two rappels reached fine.
By Jackie Blumberg From: some farm near Left Hand, CO Dec 3, 2008
A friend of mine just climbed the Kor-Ingalls route and noticed that the summit registers located in the ammunitions container are all filled out. If someone wanted to bank some karma points, throw a new logbook in your pack to leave on the summit!
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