Bastion

An alpine sport climb on the lower prow of Castle Mountain that is sure to be a modern classic! This generously bolted 5.10c is a comfortably engaging option for climbers at the grade, or a cruisy day out for stronger climbers looking for mostly excellent rock in alpine terrain.

Pitches (base to top out: 4-6 hours)

P1 5.10b, 32m, 12 bolts: Climb right of the first two bolts on poor rock. Step left and move through a roof crux. Finish on solid holds and large moves higher up. Ledge belay.

P2 5.10a, 24m, 7 bolts: Climb through a series of blocky ledges. Follow the groove above before moving left to face climb on great rock. Ledge belay.

P3 5.10b, 32m, 12 bolts: Climb a short, steep wall off the belay. Then, a slab leads to a roof with exceptional underclings. Move leftwards and up into laybacks to the top of the pitch. Lovely! Gain the top of the buttress and bring your follower up on the anchor immediately to the right on protruding rock.

P4 Class 4, 20m, 0 bolts: Approach shoes or climbing shoes work for this one. Follow the scree cone up and leftwards (West), then rightwards (East) to an anchor on a short, rightfacing wall below the next pitch. There's a big boulder on the West side of the terrace that's a great spot for a bit of sunbathing and a sandwich.

Bail option: A belay/rappel station can be accessed by starting up pitch 5 to a dirt terrace, then moving out right. 

P5 5.8, 45m, 15 bolts: Alpines are useful on this pitch. From the belay, head right and up a dirt ramp into a corner of grassy ledges. Gain the ledges, then follow the slot chimney to another grass ledge. Around on the right, pull a lip and gain the face to the anchor. Small ledge belay.

P6 5.10b, 35m, 16 bolts: Start left of the belay, face climbing immaculate, grey rock. At the base of a steep wall, climb black rock on blocky holds. The crux changes flavour with small crimps and sidepulls guarding the anchor. Be cautious of poor rock on either side of the climbing line higher up on this pitch. Small ledge belay.

P7 5.9, 32m, 12 bolts: Stem up the corner before committing to the right face. Some loose rock on this one. Comfortable ledge belay. 

P8 5.10b, 37m, 17 bolts: Karate kick the gap and climb up a short section of grey limestone. Then, continue up on steeper, orange rock with some cryptic holds. A balancy crux trends slightly right and leads to a crack, which leads to the belay. Comfortable ledge belay.

P9 5.10c, 20m, 9 bolts: Crux pitch! Leave the large belay ledge by traversing left across the gully. Alpines are useful for this section. A vertical face with increasing exposure contains the hardest moves of the route. Incut crimps guide you to a steep crux with some delicious sidepulls and engaging moves. Victory buckets lead to a semi-hanging belay.

P10 5.10a, 25m, 11 bolts: The Money. Climb left of the belay to gain an arete which leads all the way to the top of Goat Plateau. Take in the amazing exposure and the 300m of air below. The difficulty eases as you near the final belay of your adventure. 

Pitches 1&2 and 9&10 are linkable.

Fire lookout to base of route: 20-30 minutes

From the Castle Mountain Fire Lookout, head North, uphill on an increasingly steep trail to a gully/drainage. Cross the drainage (East) and find the trail again. The trail continues steeply to the bottom of the Castle Mountain Hut access trail. Rappel bolts should be visible at the top. From here, head climbers left (West) for less than 10 minutes (around 150m) until you reach a bowl shaped wall. The bolts of pitch 1 are easily spotted.

Walk Off (30mins to 1 Hour to Fire Lookout)

Walking off the climb is the most straightforward option. Heading East towards Castle Mountain Hut along the plateau leads to the Castle Mountain Hut access trail. This obvious trail has a few short 4th class downclimbing sections and an optional rappel. Once you are back at the base of the wall, retrace your steps back to the Castle Mountain Fire Lookout.

Rappel

If rappelling (70m rope), make a short 15m rap (1) from the top of the route to a midway station on the face, outside of the bolt line of pitch 10. Do not skip this rap or your ropes will get stuck. (2) A 25m rap brings you to the base of pitch 9. Make two more rappels on the belay anchors to reach the base of pitch 7. (5) For the next rappel, follow the bolt line of pitch 6 initially, past a grassy ledge, into a short gully feature. There is a rappel station below. (6) Next, a 35m rope stretcher brings you the base of pitch 4. Alternatively, rappel to the dirt ledge below and walk to the base of pitch 4. From here, three rappels on belay anchors bring you to the base of the route. 9 rappels total.

70m rope, 17 draws (4-6 alpines). Take 20 draws if linking pitches 1&2, 9&10. All the belay anchors are FIXE, so you could even leave your slings in your backpack! Magic.

Topos courtesy of Matt Laird & Andrew Slootweg. Their masterpiece PDF can be accessed here