I think this is the best route in Castlewood. I stumbled upon it almost five years ago and fell in love at first sight. A friend (thanks, Pack) and I must have worked it for 35 days that first year.

Anyways, it shares the first three bolts with

Rim Job

, amazing slapping and heel hook up the arete. Then traverse right in the seam, and make an interesting clip. Get your feet under you, and throw for the BIG rail. It's a pretty big dyno, but the rail is huge, making the move maybe 12b. Clip the fourth or just skip it, and make one more moderate toss up right to the good pod. Here's the crux, I use a left hand sidepull which is actually a small, broken piece out of a big, white rock. Get your left foot up on the polished rock, and throw right up into a horizontal, credit card slot. The move is super frustrating, because you have to hit it perfect, more precision than power.

I will try to get some pictures up before climbing boulder freezes.

Bones

Arborist Arms

Lactic Tactics

Unknown

Raison d'Être

Swinging Sirloin

Not Long For This World

The Fat Raisen Sings

Wall of Gore

It's Flakey

Out of Arms Reach

Steam Rock Fever

High Road to Antwerp

Chimney Sweep

Internal Affairs

Bitch

The Headless Corpse of Roger Henry Floth

Rim Job

Club Cafe

Invaders from the North

Unknown TR

Rim Job must stand in the top five routes at CWC, and it would be a worthy addition to any climbing area. At CWC it is brilliant. Behind the Boux Block is a very (indeed, very) steep line that takes the commanding prow at the right end of the wall. Begin climbing on the left face and angle over to the arete for the first clip. This is followed by a series of slaps on the inverted arete. Chase up to a horizontal seam on the right before swinging back left to grab a huge hueco. Pull out of the hueco onto the face to start a series of pocket moves that culminate back on the arete above. Jog back left at the top to clip the anchor. If this route has any draw-back, it is that the stone is quite sharp and hard on the hands. FFA may have gone I.S. Greene. Great stone, great problem, and exciting climbing with a complex sequence in the start all add up to a CWC classic.

Arborist Arms is the middle of three bolted lines on this sector of the Falls Wall. This climbs up on small edges. It has good stone, interesting climbing, and is worth a visit if you are in the area.

This is a cool roof route that is strenuous and steep.  Start in an alcove and climb the inside right corner up to the roof. This initial crack is hand size and offers good jams. Now, lieback the thin roof for about 8 feet. Make a tough move to get out of the roof, and get a bomber fingerlock. This ends the difficulties.

This is the bolted line that goes up the face of the rock between

Steam Rock Fever

, 5.8 (left), and

The Fat Raisen Sings

, 5.11b (right).

If this is your climb, please claim it. It is not in Tom Hanson's guidebook.

Raison d'Être is another sort of Gritstone style route that utilizes marginal gear through the face, just right of the big chimney. Jump up to a jug rail to start, and then make some fun moves to good holds. Go up the face and into a small crack where you place some tricky gear, and the climbing gets a little more technical. After you mantel onto a ledge two thirds of the way up, the climbing gets significantly easier.

This route was sent as a head-point climb with moves and gear placements rehearsed on toprope before the lead.

The furthest route left on the Falls Wall is a steep little thing that arcs a bit left on sharp edges and thin pockets. This was named during the FA when Mike Lane took a whipper lifting his belayer halfway up the route. It has nice, continuous climbing with good, solid climbing.

This route is pretty cool--a tricky start gains a large pocket just below the small, right-facing dihedral.  There is a very thin crack here, but you can't really jam it.  Instead, stem up this steep face using holds on all three faces.  It would be a dicey lead but not unprotectable.

Difficult steep face climbing--start just left of "

Not Long...

" and head straight up and over the bulge.  Move up the face without using the dihedral on your right or the arete on the left.  Aiiiggghhhh!!!!

Climb the south-facing wall on abundant knobs.

In the corner of the Falls Wall directly above the Buoux Block is the climb.  The lower section is hard to protect with the crux being getting to the large pocket and thus the flake.  The flake above (easier) is very aestetic and takes a few good cams.  Lieback on the flake as much as you want!  The start I took is the feature on the far right that is shaded.  The crux is getting to the big pocket (left of the tree)  The flake is hidden in this pic but obvious from any other angle.

Out Arms Reach is the first route to the right of

Swinging Sirloin

, and it runs up a clean vertical face on good edges and pockets. Watch the ledge below. It is a good warm-up for the finger stuff to come.

Climb the crack in the corner (which is just North of

Not Long For This World

).  There is nothing too interesting here.

Go up the thin crack left of the cobble filled face (

Wall of Gore

). Gear starts high and can be tricky to place. There are lots of cobbly feet.

This is the obvious chimney on the right wall of the corner behind the Buoux Block.  It is a good route to practice your chimneying technique but not much else worthy of recomendation.

Internal Affairs climbs the blank face between the bolted line "

Not Long For This World

" and the crack climb "

It's Flakey

." A directional hand-sized cam can be placed in a roof from either of those anchors. Easy climbing leads up to a large pocket with some choss. Just above the pocket is the crux where thin climbing then leads to the top.

When walking up to the Falls Wall, this is the eye catching overhanging offwidth.  Climb up the steep corner, bury big cams, and get busy, or stall under the roof till your left leg is dead then get busy.  Fancy stuff will work or you can just roll down your flannel sleeves and meat and potato it.  I would give it two stars if there was an easier anchor.  It is a great practice, ow route.

This is the line that begins about 6 feet right of

Club Cafe

.

The crux is near the start. I repeated this route for the first time in over 20 years and decided that the 5.9+ grade in Hanson's guide is a sandbag. I shouldn't have believed brother Rob.

Invaders from the North completes the triumvariate on this sector of the Falls Wall, and is far and away my favorite here. Cobbles, pockets, and edges abound on this steeper than most routes. What makes Invaders interesting is the diversity of climbing and incremental difficulty. Start on vertical stone in a small corner system and arch right-ward toward a small roof with a couple of very sharp huecos and some polished cobbles. Good continuity and interesting climbing to a steep finish.

Start by climbing the detached block to get to good pockets, kick onto the wall, and do a huge move to the juggy flake above. This is good fun!

Description

Protection

Routes in Falls Wall