This is a classic desert line to the top of the rectory. Some great varied crack climbing. This is a must do desert climb. To reach, hike up the trail to the base of Castleton and then traverse North on the ridge for a couple hundred yards to reach the base of the rectory. The route climbs the crack system on the Southern prow of the rectory facing Castleton Tower.
P1- Climb a fist crack past a pod and make a difficult thin hands move right. Climb up to a ledge with anchors, pass them and continue thin hands to fingers to a ledge with bolts and belay. (5.10+)
P2- Continue up the crack to a finger crack through a bulge. Past the bulge climb a hand crack past a small roof to a belay stance. (5.11a)
P3- Make some lieback moves, then pass a short rotten section to a roof. Continue up the crack to a big ledge and belay or continue up the 5.11 bolted face to the top. The 5.11 face is a better variation to the original route which makes a long traverse left. If you do the original line, belay at the large ledge below the bolted face. The leftward traverse adds two lower quality pitches.
Descent- 3 double rope rappels down the route.
The rectory is a fun tower to summit, because the summit is long and narrow and there is good exploring to do up there.
Protection
2-3 sets of cams to #3 Camalot. A set of stoppers.
It should be stated that on your first time up this route, you should definitely do the original finish. It can easily be dismissed due to the "5.7" grade but it is FAR more adventuresome and, I would argue, higher quality than the bolted finish. Description: belay from the base of the bolt ladder. Hand traverse the ledge with no feet and lots of exposure straight left and belay just around the corner. A #4 Camalot helps protect the traverse for the 2nd. The final pitch heads up the obvious feature around the corner. I won't give the beta for the finish, but it isn't as weird as many of the guidebook route descriptions make it out to be.
I agree completely. The original finish makes the route much more of an adventure and is really good. It is also much more historical. The hand traverse is killer!
I also like the old finish.I was able to do the hand traverse and the corner to the top in one pitch. If you don't place much pro on the traverse (there isn't much to speak of anyway), the rope drag isn't bad at all. So, three pitches including the historical finish are possible with a 60m rope.
With 2 - 200 foot ropes, you can get down in two raps. The first rap takes you to the nice belay just below the crux with 5 feet to spare, and the second rap puts you on the ground with perhaps 40 feet to spare. I wish I had paid more attention to the midpoint going up, because I think you probably could get off the top with 1 200 footer, but I wouldn't want to bet my life on it.
Very nice stuff, fun summit. Agree with all of the above, the traverse pitches are a kick.
Cheers, Frank
By Mike Morley Administrator From: Oakland, CA Mar 30, 2003
First off, frickin' incredible! Hats off to Chip and Pat for spotting this beauty! An elegant line combined with exposed, varied climbing. Every pitch is a winner. Don't bother hauling up a #4 Camalot to protect the 4th (traverse pitch), as it isn't necessary. The only #4 placement I made on the entire route was about 20' up on the first pitch, but there is good gear directly above and below. My gear recommendation: doubles from blue TCUs to #3 Camalots, with an extra red (#1) and gold (#2) Camalot. Enjoy!
Most, if not all, 5.11a desert leaders will want the #4 Camalot for the pod on the first pitch. Most people will find this section to be the crux of the climb.
Here's another vote for bringing the #4 on P1. Put it this way: you don't need it for safety, but if the climbing is at your limit, it may give you the peace of mind to make the difference between sending and hanging. Plus, it frees up the good hand jams, where you would otherwise have to place pro after the wide stuff.
The bolt is not only old and scary, but is next to a good #2 Camalot placement rather than the wide section.
The #4 could go either way--if you place it on the first pitch, you can then clip it to an anchor above and grab it on the way down. The climb can be done in three pitches: from the ground to just below the "crux" 5.11 fingers, then to just below the bolts, then the top. Amazing route, tough and pumpy from the get-go.
First of all, the bolted line at the end of Fine Jade is actually the proper finish to Coyote Calling. Second, that section is not .11a, more like .10, the 5.7 finish is WAY more fun. Third, a #4 Cam on the first pitch!? Fine Jade is one of the few towers you don't need such a big piece.
Wow, more like 5.10, for the bolted finish? Were we on the same route? I regularly climb 5.12 sport and I couldn't make the moves on the 5.11 final pitch. I took a whipper on the first bolt (coming close to the ledge) and then not wanting to hit the ledge, actually put my fingers through the second bolt- scary, but effective. You must be about 6 foot tall for that pitch to feel easy! In retrospect, I wish we would have done the traverse finish.
What a wonderful route. IMHO the pod low on the 1st pitch was harder than the "crux" second pitch finger crack. I actually thought it was harder to follow the 1st than it was to lead the second. As for the last pitch, I thoroughly enjoyed the classic finish.
We just climbed Fine Jade yesterday. I agree with Mike's comment about the first pitch being harder than the technical crux in some ways. The individual moves are probably easier, but it's a little awkward and it's right off the ground. Maybe I just wasn't warmed up yet. I also found the last pitch to be honest 5.11 sport, but in a tricky way, not a pumpy way. I'm tall and found it a little reachy, but my partner found a totally different way to do it so maybe I just didn't look hard enough. I'll try the original finish next time.
Don't forget to bring enough small stuff. I would bring two or three of both blue and yellow TCU-sized cams for the thin crack parts. Also, don't worry about starting up the route with another party above you, as there is an entire second set of rap stations that will allow parties to pass one another easily. I recommend two 60s as the pitches are all longer than 100 feet. All the anchors on the route are fantastic, as is the rock quality. Hands down one of the best desert free routes I've done to date, and one I suspect I will return to do many times.
Dean, I rapped this route with a 60 meter one time. One rap (I can't recall which as it was several years ago) took all the rope, but with a 70 you'll be able to do it comfortably.
70m works fine, dont take a #4 camolot, take only one #3, four #.4's, three of everything from #.5 - #2, and one blue tcu.
great route every pitch is stellar and definately do the face finish.
By Matt Toensing From: gunnison co Oct 12, 2009 rating: 5.11-
We didn't bring a nut tool with us yesterday on fine jade and got a hex stuck on the first pitch and a cam stuck on the second pitch. Sorry kind of lame but it happens. If anyone happens to retrieve those pieces I am willing to pay for shipping. I talked to some of you out there who were going up there today so hopefully you guys got those pieces.
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