Castle Crags Photos

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Messages 1 - 20 of total 46 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Jerry Dodrill

climber
Bodega, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 10, 2007 - 05:48pm PT
Took a little solo photo trip last week. Beautiful park this time of year...



River is going off! -color wise.


Some aerials from October '98. Lots more snow than Oct. this year!

Must be some FA potential up there somewhere.... Only thing I've climbed here was Cosmic Wall, but I'll have to get back soon!

Let's see your pix. Hear stories...
Lambone

Ice climber
Ashland, Or
Oct 10, 2007 - 05:49pm PT
Nice Jerry! Most of that rock is untapped...

gimme a shout next time you are in the area, the Crags are only about an hour from my house. Cheers.

Recent 5.13a(r) Trad route put up in the park:
http://www.shastabasecamp.com/news.html

This is a website by a local guy who's probly the most active putting up new routes in the park:
http://www.alpineaddict.com/

went exploring for some alpine ice during a cold snap last winter, found a short piller but basically got skunked...I know there is some out there...
Gene

climber
Oct 10, 2007 - 05:50pm PT
Shasta looks naked.

Great pictures.
Jerry Dodrill

climber
Bodega, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 10, 2007 - 05:52pm PT
Great Lambone- it's on!
crøtch

climber
Oct 10, 2007 - 06:34pm PT
Great photos once again, Jerry. I particularly like 1 and 3.
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Oct 10, 2007 - 06:47pm PT
I helped out with putting up a route on the east face of castle dome. I wasn't there when it was finished, but we did some fairly good, hard climbing on the pitches I was involved with. I think it ended up being in the 11 c/d range. There's potential there, mostly on the faces where the rock is more solid. The cracks can be pretty crumbly. I'll look for some pictures.
Jerry Dodrill

climber
Bodega, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 10, 2007 - 07:12pm PT
Here's another fishing one for you Jody.



That third one above is my favorite. Working on a print of it.
billygoat

climber
3hrs to El Cap Meadow, 1.25hrs Pinns, 42min Castle
Oct 10, 2007 - 07:40pm PT
Hey Lambone--

That's the same site twice.
Inner City

Trad climber
East Bay
Oct 10, 2007 - 08:14pm PT
I love Castle Crags....Cosmic Wall is a cool one! Haven't been for a few years but some time back, one of my ex girlfriends (Helga!) and I climbed the east face of Castle Dome..it was long, and it was hot, we ran out of water on the second pitch and took a brief nap in a small alcove out of the sun. We thought of bailig but decided to continue. Made it past the two 10+ roof sections (Helga leading of course!)and got about a pitch and a half from the summit and I slipped off a foot hold but held on and dislocated my shoulder. Managed to relocate it and then climbed the remained 5.9 with 1+ arms...on the hike down, we were so thirsty that we started jogging and it was then that Helga turned her ankle but good and almost rolled off the trail at an exposed section...quite an adventure, that dislocating shoulder has been an ongoing concern, failed surgery etc...Jerry, Great Pictures! This thread is great!
Jerry Dodrill

climber
Bodega, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 10, 2007 - 08:29pm PT
Try this link: http://www.alpineaddict.com/

Good story, Inner City.

My Cosmic Wall trip was funny. Went up there with Justin Black (mountain light). He was a newbie leader, psyched for his longest climb yet. We got to the base and realized I'd forgotten my climbing shoes, so he got to lead the whole thing. The view at the top is amazing.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
Oct 10, 2007 - 08:37pm PT
long hike, when it was hot, for a couple short trailside routes for me.

awesome potential for new routing, but just the wrong direction at the wrong time of year for me usually.
Spencer Adkisson

Trad climber
Reno, NV
Oct 10, 2007 - 08:47pm PT
The Crags have been getting some well-deserved attention lately.
Here is a shot of a local hard-man Steve Weber gettin' busy on "Impeach the President" 5.10c. One of many new routes in the Crags.
Anybody who is interested should go to, or call the Shasta Basecamp, and talk to Styles. He'll set ya straight.

Nice one Jerry, Ian is super motivated. He, Webber, Styles, and Carr are making it happen up in there.

P.S. Lambone, there is some great ice that forms around the Crags from time-to-time. Castle Lake sometimes gets it, and the north side of the Crags, out of Railroad Park gets it. I've been eyeing a sick long couloir route in the Crags for a long time, but it rarely forms, and isn't in for very long. But one of there days...
wootles

climber
I've moved
Oct 10, 2007 - 09:28pm PT
Nice, Jerry. Real nice.

My friggin' major league stressed out mind is diggin' the photo threads.
Misha

Trad climber
Woodside, CA
Oct 10, 2007 - 09:30pm PT
Awesome photos (as usual), Jerry! Cosmic Wall rocks!!





ground_up

Trad climber
mt. hood /baja
Oct 10, 2007 - 09:53pm PT
For a couple of summers the Crags was the home stompin grounds, there were few other climbers and alot of rock to explore. Did many a f.a. way back in ,some awesome, some a little so-so due to the bottoming nature of many of the cracks there. An interesting note is that at the base of one of the bigger walls on the south side was a bolt, not just any bolt...but a 1/4 buttonhead with a loop of plumbers tape as the hanger...serious.
I miss that place and need to get back to some unfinished business. There is much untouched rock and it takes more than a gym climber to get into it. Thanks for bringing back fond memories.

S.
426

Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
Oct 10, 2007 - 09:59pm PT
sweet stuff
Spencer Adkisson

Trad climber
Reno, NV
Oct 11, 2007 - 02:56am PT
Ok, while it is important to recognize what is currently being done in the Crags ("Craigs" for fossils like Blinny (love ya!)). It is also important to recognize the accomplishments of those who are no longer with us. I am speaking primarily of the late-great, Reid "Commander" Sanders. Reid was an incredible guy. Seriously. He guided on Mt. Shasta for Shasta Mountain Guides for years. That's where I met him. But he also guided Yurt supported backcountry ski trips in Hellroaring Canyon of the Centennial Mountains of Montana. He and his wife, Kelly, owned the Free-Heel and Wheel, a ski/bike shop in West Yellowstone.

Here is a picture of the man in action belaying my other buddy Geoff at 8 Mile Boulders on the flanks of Mt. Shasta.


Reid was super-motivated, as are alot of the Mt. Shasta folk. His burning desire to climb and explore enlisted the talents of many Shastafarians, and his routes are legendary. Styles, Webber, or Chris will have to weigh in on the when, where and how's of Reid's routes (whenever their ears start burning). But one thing is for sure, Reid was a Champ.

First of all, he was a stellar guide.

Here he is leading the charge to the summit of Mt. Shasta after completing the Holtum-Bolam route.


They didn't call him "Commander Sanders" for nothing. He wrote the textbook on Jedi Mind Tricks, as it applies to guiding. I view myself as very fortunate to have had Reid as a friend, roommate, and mentor.

And the clients loved him! Here he is in the red jacket, cooking dinner at basecamp on the Holtum-Bolam Route. Good times...


Here he is chillin' out with "Da-Guides". Notice that indominable smile. It was always there. Wheither topping out a route, swilling a beer and shooting the breeze, or climbing your ass into the ground, it was always there.
Reid pushed the development of climbing in Castle Crags. He established such routes as: The "Majic Rib", and "She's Got Legs" in the Majic Gully of Castle Crags State Park. Just before Reid was tragically killed, along with his childhood friend Aaron Martin, in a skiing accident on Mt St. Elias, he was working on an A3+ headwall finish to one of his routes in the Crags. To this date the route remains unfinished, and less than a handfull of people even know where to begin. In Reid's memory, the route will be finished by his close friends, and new routes will go up in the Crags. It is already happening.

Is there potential for new routes and first ascents?


You Betcha, I'm lookin' right at 'em:

But you had better believe that I don't rope-up in the Crags without thinking about Reid Sanders.

Thought you might want to know...





Jaybro

Social climber
The West
Oct 11, 2007 - 03:24am PT
We hiked up castle dome and scoped features, lines and bolted stuff
I would really like to do some climbing there.



Seemed like a lot of potential for fun and adventure.


Jerry Dodrill

climber
Bodega, CA
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 11, 2007 - 01:05pm PT
Wow, good stuff. Thanks for sharing. This place has always had a sort of shroud of mystery around it, many folks knowing of its potential and that there is a long history, but nobody seems to know much about it. Tales of long, hot approaches, no water, and bottoming cracks abound, yet the aesthetic of the place has an undeniable allure, both to the artist and the adventurous spirit within each of us. Thanks for (as e-kat would say) keepin' that magic alive! Now keep it coming...

john bald

climber
Oct 11, 2007 - 02:47pm PT
I guess folks are still climbing at the Crags. Have fun with all the outback routes. Looking forward to hearing about the local ramblings there. Cheers..........JB
Messages 1 - 20 of total 46 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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