"The Castles" route info needed

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Scott Rogers
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"The Castles" route info needed

Post by Scott Rogers »

Hey All, Long time no see!

I know this is a long shot and chances are I'll just have to show up and do some routefinding, but I was wondering if anyone has any info on climbing "The Castles" by West Elk Peak, viewable from Storm Pass:

Image

as seen in this wonderful trip report here: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=4635" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyway, this place has caught my eye as a beautiful location for an 'ahem' ...adventure... Any useful information is much appreciated!

Thanks,
-Scotty
We can't change the world, but we can change the way we live.
TomPierce
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Re: "The Castles" route info needed

Post by TomPierce »

Hey Scott,
I have not climbed these and thus have no beta to share. But they are on the unranked 5th class peaks list on Lists of John; no one has recorded an ascent on that website. That doesn't mean too much, I've climbed stuff on LoJ with no recorded ascents that I know for a fact had previously been climbed. But still, probably very rarely ascended, if at all. There is some discussion over on LoJ about which is the higher of the formations (they are broken down by The Castles-East, the Castles-West). If you go and try to ascend I'd love to see a TR. Good luck, be safe.
-Tom
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Scott Rogers
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Re: "The Castles" route info needed

Post by Scott Rogers »

Thanks Tom,

I've got a talented group of climbers coming with me, so I'll be sure to put a report together of the adventure. Hope it all works out.

Also,
Bump, if anyone has any info to share.

Happy Friday,
-Scott
We can't change the world, but we can change the way we live.
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Brian C
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Re: "The Castles" route info needed

Post by Brian C »

Looking forward to hearing about this! I was planning on scoping it out but have yet to get over there. Good luck!
Brian in the Wild
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DaveLanders
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Re: "The Castles" route info needed

Post by DaveLanders »

You might check with the outdoor shops in Gunnison and Crested Butte. I heard a story years ago that
one of them had a notebook with route info, but I have no idea which shop that was. I'm looking
forward to reading your trip report.
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gb
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Re: "The Castles" route info needed

Post by gb »

Your best bet for any info is probably crested butte mountain guides.

All I've ever heard locally is "really really bad rock". Even for our standards. Beautiful formation, though, I'd love to get on top of one of them myself. Good luck!
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