Castleton, Kor-Ingalls

This is Oliver again. This Beautiful 600 foot sandstone tower, Castleton, has been on my to do list for quite some time and this October me and my good friend Weston Cooley (Cooley Cat) finally went and climbed it. Moab sandstone is some of the most adventurous and intimidating climbing in Utah, and the desert scenery really makes the climbing surreal.

Castelton in the early morning as we begin the hike to get to the base. The Kor-Ingalls route goes directly up the crack in the center of the wall shown in this picture.

Me gearing up for the climb and Cooley looking at the amazing climbing that lays ahead.

Castsleton is made of a super strong sandstone called windgate sandstone and it is covered in a white calcite covering. That covering makes the climbing even more interesting because, although, it is very featured, its terribly slick. Most of the climbing on the Kor-Ingall is just a bunch of stomach twisting chimney or off-width climbing. This makes for very physically draining climbing; however, after every 100 or so feet you are greeted by a nice ledge to rest and regain your strength for the next couple hundred feet.

Here I am on top of the 3rd pitch faking a smile because I almost vomited finishing the last 100 feet of the 3rd pitch

The Last 100 feet are some of the funnest climbing that I have ever done. Once you leave the chimney of the the 3rd pitch you are greeted by a long system of flakes to the top of the tower. On this pitch you find yourself cruising up a perfectly vertical sandstone cliff with big holds, huge exposure, and nothing but red sand below and blue sky above; Unreal!

Me and Cooley on top!!

One of the most amazing thing about our trip is that we didn't see a person on the route until we started to repel off, we had Kor-Ingalls to ourselves in the middle of October!! (by the time we had left there were 5 parties on the route or waiting to get on it.) Amazing climb in a beautiful desert with awesome company. Does it get any better?