Guilty As Charged

The upper crux slab moves seemed very easy for a 10d (for my height at least, ~ 5'10") at Castle Rock. Climb this and then climb "Viscious Circles" (5.10c, Indian Rock, CRSP) and you'll see what I mean. Still, the top half was fun and balancy.

Also, this route will really annoy you if you are short (less than 5'4"?) because the bottom mantle will be next to impossible, and you won't be able to clip the 2nd bolt (which happens to protect the crux) from any sort of good stance.

Small gear won't do you any good on this route. If you are really feeling nervous, it may be possible to place a mid-size cam or two in the middle. But the climbing there really is 4th class and most leaders will be comfortable without gear. Jan 15, 2010

Going straight up at the second bolt seemed 5.11+. Perhaps the crimpers broke? Granted you can go to either the left or the right to escape the crux. If you do so, however, you will miss on the best part of the climb: smearing your feet up on tiny nubs and indentions followed by an awesome mantel. Jan 26, 2014

The crux at the second bolt is not that bad if you mantel it. Going left or right is far easier, but avoids the original crux moves. Jul 26, 2014

How is this a 10d? The ONLY actual "climb" part of this route i the first move, getting over the little mini roof to the first bolt. And once you figure out the beta, it's nothing more than a V1 bouldering move. THAT one move makes the route fun. But once you get past that first bolt, it's like climbing a staircase. Felt like a 5.4 to me. My friends and I just did the first few moves over and over after we climbed it as a warm up.

And we tried variations like going left/right/straight at various spots. I don't see how anybody thinks this is a 5.11... Mar 27, 2016

The start is a lot easier than it looks. The best part is above the second bolt. You can dodge into the crack or out right to the obvious jugs but straight up is a two or three fun, balancy moves on tiny crimpers. I'd put that move in the 5.11+ or 5.12- category, but if you're comfortable on that, the rest of the climb will feel like a ladder. Apr 3, 2016

Really fun crux straight up at 2nd bolt. 5.10d seems about right -- slightly harder than the crux on Vicious Circles 5.10c. May 16, 2016

SF Bay area guidebook says that going straight up at the 2nd bolt is probably 5.12. Not sure how accurate is that, but it's definitely not a 10d if you go up directly. Going to the right is much easier than 10d (if you do this, the whole climb is no harder than 10a at most). The guidebook says that 10d is if you are avoiding the "5.12" part by going left, using the arete, but I haven't tried that. Jul 28, 2017

Yeah, that second crux is easily 5.11+/5.12- if you do it the wrong way...

The route itself is fun, but it's just a couple of easy bouldery moves connected by easy climbing. Feb 4, 2018