Fieval Goes West

Fieval Goes West begins on the canyon floor at the base of Rat Castle and climbs up through moderate and varied terrain to the ledge bisecting the cliff two-thirds of the way up (this is the access ledge to the upper climbs at Rat Castle). This route was equipped to be climbed in 2 or 3 pitches in order to practice multi-pitch technique, although it is commonly climbed in one long pitch. An ambitious climber can even tack on Ratsberry Belay, a short slab climb which begins just above the top anchors, to create a 155' line – the tallest at POR.

After two bolts above the ground, a climber reaches a sizable ledge. At the third bolt, a climbing party can set up an anchor using this bolt and a #3 Camalot. This is a good spot to belay the rest of the climb, although it is unnecessary and is there primarily for practice. If climbing the route in one pitch, one can safely skip this bolt to reduce rope drag.

Halfway up the route is a set of chain anchors just below another large ledge, which can be utilized to break the route up into smaller pitches or to use as a rappel station if the route has been climbed with a rope shorter than 70m. (The ends of a 70m rope will just barely touch the ground from the top anchors, exercise caution when rappelling!)

The bottom half of the route is mostly bolts with a couple cam placements. The upper half follows a nice crack (splitter for POR) and is protected with gear and one bolt near the top.

Looking at Rat Castle from the road, Fieval Goes West is an obvious, scrubbed streak going up the middle-left of the cliff.

7 bolts, gear to 2" (or a #3 if setting up a practice anchor, see description), chain anchors at halfway and top.