The Black Crack 

By the time I pulled my right wrist out of the green pigeon shit, both deeply embedded in Black Crack's horizontal fist crack, I was starting to get a little shakey. But when I had to stem a few moves off of the 5.12 Gill Crack then make a head scum, I knew this was a pretty hard 5.9. S.Kimball.

This route only has one star, but I think it deserves a higher rating. The crux for me was pulling out of the first crack and onto the face, before pulling over to the chains. Just look out left on the slab/face, because there are some feet, and rock on over to a good stance under the pin. I'd suggest slinging the pin too, as the eyehole definitely appears cracked. Every bit as fun as Curving Crack. JGH

While I would agree that there are some fun moves on the climb, I can't agree with more than one star. Between the INCREDIBLE amount of broken glass at the base of the climb, the redneck-campfire scars halfway up the climb, the bird shit, and the high polish on the route, I would have to say one is enough. The moves are interesting and it makes a great warm-up if you are getting on some of the other classics at Castle Rock, but it is not the destination climb that a higher rating would imply. Go do Skunk Crack instead.

This was a cool climb and my first 5.9 lead. The gear was all good although I did crap my pants a little. A #3 Camalot fits perfectly in the vertical crack a few feet above the end of Gill Crack.

Pretty stiff for a 5.9. I found the Yellow Spur and the first pitch of Tagger to be much easier than this. Though I agree that none of the moves are harder than 5.9, it threw me off because it was overhanging, and I wore myself out trying to get on to the face from the top of Gill Crack. The pin is good. I took a whipper on it while trying to get over the little corner at the top there.

I'm pretty sure the 5.9 rating is a relic. There used to be a two bolt anchor just above the horizontal hand crack. I think we used to call it easy 5.9 up to the old anchor.

It is a much better route now, with the old bolts gone and a new anchor on the "pinnacle" ledge, up right. The crux is stepping left, from about waist level with the old bolt scars. Harder than Curving Crack! (I use a #4, C4, Camalot to pro the move left, then #4 or #5 Steel nut for protecting up to the pin.)

The belay zone can be trashy or worse. It is useful to bring the doggy clean-up kit for the occasional human mess. This steep climb and its neighbors are worth keeping clean. The installation of outhouses and trash cans at Castle Rock is about fifty years overdue!

Definitely a 5.9+ move in there getting from the fist crack to the left-leaning crack and slab! Different ways to do it - without giving it away straight in jamming not necessarily the best option.

Also, fixed nut between this and the pin when I did it (seems really solid), but the eye of the pin is cracked. Can protect above it with a number 1 Camalot (or even higher with a 0.75 which I had to do as I looked at the #1 on the ground). Would recommend due to the fact that if the pin cracks through and the fixed nut pulls when your rocking right on the final moves you could conceivably ground out.

A good climb, my first 5.9 gear lead. The pin is partly broken, not sure how many more falls its gonna hold. I was able to get a gray alien in to protect the crux. Watch out for the sharp edge that you pull over. Once you finish the climb better to pull the rope through your gear to avoid unnecessary wear on your rope. Cleaning will be harder but, I managed to do it so you can too.