Elk Mountains > Castle Peak > Climber's LogCastle Peak Climber's Log
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[ Sign the Climber's Log ]
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| doumall | Route Climbed: Northwest Ridge Date Climbed: May, 19 2005  | |
| 38th 14er! | |
| Posted Jul 13, 2005 2:43 pm | ||
| s_tuning@msn.com | Route Climbed: Northeast (ascent) and Northwest Ridge (descent) Date Climbed: 7/12/05 | |
| A beautiful day. Had the summit to myself. Snow is still perfect for climbing early and glissading back down. Summitted in 3.5 hours. On the way down, I was reminded of the reason I wear a helmet in the Elks... A thunderous roar permeated the silent wilderness as a large, spontaneous rockfall occured on Cathedral Peak, just one peak to the north. | |
| Posted Jul 12, 2005 11:03 pm | ||
| Asphazell | Route Climbed: Northwest Ridge Route (snow) Date Climbed: June 25, 2005 | |
| Beautiful day out! Got a little bit of everything in on this one...some nice hiking, snow climbing, ridge walking, a wee bit of scrambling, and a LONG glissade down the North Face Couloir! The snow started to get a bit slurpee-ish while descending, making the speed on the glissade manageable. Awesome day with two of my favorite climbing partners! | |
| Posted Jun 28, 2005 10:07 am | ||
| Trevor Simmons | Route Climbed: North Face Couloir Date Climbed: June 19, 2005 | |
| I stopped where the road crosses the creek about 1-2 miles from the highway by Pearl Pass. The climb took just under 6 hours, with great snow conditions. It was my first 14er in the Elk Mountains, and my first solo trip on a 14er. Probably my favorite climb yet! | |
| Posted Jun 24, 2005 5:01 pm | ||
| ktiffany22 | Route Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: June 4, 20054 | |
| This retarded mountain got me again... I've only failed 2 14ers before, and this is now the 2nd time the great walls of Castle's mighty fortress have gotten me- ARgH! With only a 1/2 mile visibility the whole time and having snowed on us since our campsite just below the 1st creek crossing, mother nature was against us AGAIN. Even with snowshoes/ice axe/etc, we were doomed. I will WAIT now until the mass of snow is GONE on this darned mountain and WILL succeed- 3rd times a charm, right?! | |
| Posted Jun 11, 2005 10:09 pm | ||
| Brad Snider | Route Climbed: NE Ridge, with North Face Couloir Descent Date Climbed: June 9, 2005 | |
| Carried snowshoes the whole way but did not need them. Crampons and ice ax a must. Some recent minor slide activity, but snow was solid today. Fun glissades on the way out, including down the North Face Couloir. | |
| Posted Jun 11, 2005 2:13 am | ||
| bc44caesar | Route Climbed: Northwest Ridge Date Climbed: 27 May 2005 | |
| A nice snow climb to the saddle, but the final ridge to the summit was bare. Used snowshoes the entire time I was on snow, although crampons could've been used on the final slope to the saddle. Was able to do about 7 glissades down Montezuma Basin on stable snow. Following the creek bed was much easier and faster than trying to stay on the snow covered road. The road was impassable slightly above the first river crossing with the foot bridge. I started at 5:40 and reached the top after about 4.5 hours after coming over from Conundrum. Back to the car in 2.5. I started from where I camped 0.4 mi. up from where the Pearl Pass Rd. leaves the Castle Creek Rd. I would recommend an earlier start time to avoid soft snow. | |
| Posted May 30, 2005 11:54 pm | ||
| ktiffany22 | Route Climbed: NW Ridge Date Climbed: September 4, 2004 | |
| :-( Had to turn around 365 feet from the top.... the rocks were too icy and weather was blowing in (though it was only 11AM). It was worth it though- amazing scenery! I will bag this one!!!! | |
| Posted May 15, 2005 11:08 pm | ||
| Brian Kalet | Climbed 4x Date Climbed: Oct 14, 2006 | |
| May 11, 2004: East Face, Skied from the summit! October 14, 2006: Northeast Ridge, Skied from the summit! October 14, 2006: Northwest Ridge, Skied from the summit! October 25, 2008: North Couloir, Skied from the summit! | |
| Posted Apr 7, 2005 5:04 pm | ||
| pebblehopper | Date Climbed: Summer 2002 | |
| Fun Climb! | ||
| Posted Feb 21, 2005 4:10 pm | ||
| ColoradoScott | Route Climbed: North Couloir Date Climbed: September 2, 1984 | |
| Another wonderful long day in the mountains in the years before owing a 4X4. Starting near the paved road in Castle Creek valley, we ploded up the road, being passed by many vehicles. Being Sept. we had left our ice axes at home, but wished we had them above the 4X4 parking area. No axe ruled out the Conundrum saddle route and we climbed too high for the NE Ridge (these were the days before multiple guidebooks and comprehensive route descriptions), so we pushed up the couloir. While there was some loose rock, we were only a party of two and saw no others on this route. We summited in midafternoon, but the weather was warm and perfect and we made it back to our car before dark set in. I now start earlier in the morning tho'-hah. | |
| Posted Feb 2, 2005 12:08 pm | ||
| Rick F | Route Climbed: North Coulior Date Climbed: June 14 2004 and many other times | |
| Had Castle to myself ! great day . | |
| Posted Dec 4, 2004 5:23 pm | ||
| fritzd | Route Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: July 30, 2004 | |
| Climbed up Northest Ridge, down Northwest Ridge, up Cunumdrum, back down to the Norhtwest Ridge saddle, and down the snowfeilds back to the car. | |
| Posted Oct 23, 2004 6:12 pm | ||
| Larry V | Route Climbed: Castle Creek, north slope to west ridge Date Climbed: July 1997 | |
| Great hike and snow climb. Astounding views. Lost my water bottle when it slid 500 ft down the snow. | |
| Posted Oct 20, 2004 10:28 pm | ||
| Ed F | Route Climbed: Castle Creek TH - Snow Slopes Date Climbed: September 18, 2004 | |
| A fun snow / ice climb to the saddle between Conundrum and Castle. Had to do the last 200 feet or so to the saddle on the loose scree. Not fun! Ascended Conundrum, made the traverse to Castle, and then descended the north ridge. A nice tour. | |
| Posted Sep 20, 2004 8:17 am | ||
| thebeave7 | Route Climbed: Direct Ridgeline Date Climbed: August 1st, 2004 | |
| A fun rock scramble up the ridgeline from the parking lot below. A bit of exposure, and avoided most of the loose scree in the cirque. Eric J Lee | |
| Posted Sep 10, 2004 3:22 am | ||
| jrf | Route Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: August 8th, 2004 | |
| My first experience in the Elks. Definitely an interesting climb and a different experience. We had absolutely perfect weather and I got to do a reasonably decent glissade down from the saddle between Castle and Conundrum. For what it's worth, if the snow below the saddle is melted out seriously consider going back over Castle. The descent down the scree to get to the snow is dangerous and loose (people have gotten scared or hurt doing this). Be careful descending Castle to the saddle as well. There are a couple loose spots and generally speaking it's better to stay left. | |
| Posted Aug 17, 2004 10:44 am | ||
| Saintgrizzly | Route Climbed: Standard Date Climbed: Summer, 199? | |
| Climbed with Aaron Johnson. Probably the easiest of the Elks, but still worth it for the view! | |
| Posted Aug 10, 2004 1:14 pm | ||
| Gareth | Route Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: July 30, 2004 | |
| This one was a memorable ascent. We were snowed on as we made our way up to the ridge. A short time later we were turned around up on the ridge by a hair-standing-on-end lightning scare. We quickly retreated all the way back down to the snow and sat far away from our ice axes. After a while the clouds cleared and we ascended the scree all over again. We gained the summit with perfect weather. On the way down a guy in another party broke his leg (sliding down the snow with a trash bag on his butt!) and we stayed with him to keep him warm before assisting Aspen Mountain Rescue when they arrived. The guy had to be taken out in a helicopter. As we had hiked from our camp a mile up from the trailhead and it was late, we gladly accepted a ride down with the Aspen Mountain Rescue—hey we earned it! | |
| Posted Aug 1, 2004 8:16 am | ||
| mtwashingtonmonroe | Route Climbed: Northwest Ridge Date Climbed: June 12, 2004 | |
| Started on my first ascent of Castle Peak with perfect skies. By the time we got into the bowl, we had snowstorms and very high wind. We had to descend early but it was a beautiful mountain. Watch the weather! I'll be back to climb her someday! | |
| Posted Jun 16, 2004 1:10 pm | ||
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