Rainshadow Direct

Perhaps the "hardest" route at Castle Rock, Rainshadow Direct had gone though a complex history to become the classic sport climb that it is today.

Originally a 2-pitch A3 aid climb put up by Fred Beckey, Eric Bjornstad, and Jim Stuart, it was freed during the great Ltown renaissace of the mid-80's by Gred Child, Matt Kerns, and Jim Yoder. Former PNW crusher Kyle O'Meara envisioned a direct start up beautiful white rock which would allow the route to be climbed in one pitch. Unfortunatly, Kyle ran out of bolts, and was only able to sink in the first three. Nonetheless it didnt keep Kyle from freeing the line with a stick clip to start and traditional pro (a few cams and a sea of manky fixed pins) through the upper crux bulge. This half-finished pseudo-"traditional" version saw possibly just one additional free ascent over the next few years. In the spring of 2014, Dave Morales, added the missing couple of bolts to the direct start, replaced the manky fixed pins through the upper crux with bolts, and added a lower 2-bolt anchor.

The route begins with beautiful climbing using perfect edges and side-pulls on aesthetic white stone. From a midway rest ledge a perplexing bouldery crux leads to a more moderate finish up a shallow corner system.

Just left of Daz Muzak from the top of the same approach boulder.

Bolts