1987 "Dragons Breath" Castle Rock State Park

1987 "Dragons Breath" First Ascent

Back in the way back, 1987, I had been climbing for five years and had taken to exploring the lower overhanging face of Goat Rock.  Goat rock was one of the warmest places to climb in Castle Rock during the winter due to its southern exposure.  Unfortunately, there would also be hoards of beginning climbers on the easier routes to the right as there were climbing schools out of Santa Cruz which would make a habit of roping up the entire face.  So, this left "Billy Goat" to the right (before all the holds broke off) as one of the only options.  Last Temptation cliff was yet to be developed ( this may even have been while the bolting ban was still in place.

These images were shot during the first successful top rope ascent.  I wish I had been more imaginative with the name, but one of the old guide book authors came by while I was climbing it later with Doug Sprock and I gave him the first thing that popped into my head.

If you're familiar with the area, you'll note the tree to my back.  That is all gone now.  The base of the cliff has been severely eroded. In some places I would say it is 4 feet lower than when these images were shot.  I have to say it is a bit depressing to see the amount of negative impact the climbing community has unintentionally reeked upon our local crag.  I guess it is just the nature of having such a huge population 45 minutes away (Though behind the Iota on Reed's Pinnacle in Yosemite, there was a huge tree and now there is no trace it was ever there).

I worked this problem over and over, not knowing whether it was possible.  I was elated to finally pull it off.  I rated it in comparison to one of the other well rated 5.11s at Castle, one of my favorite local climbs "Krokus" on Indian Rock.  

The crux sequence on "Dragons Breath" around 1987