This is one of the best crack problems anywhere. It starts out tight offwidth/big fists and fires out the slightly rising roof for thirty+ more feet of hands and fists, culminating in a wide exit that people overcome with various techniques probably mostly dependent on their hand size. The last moves can be committing.
This should be on every wide-crack climber's tick list for Joshua Tree. The 5.11 rating is what's given in the Vogel guide, while the V5 is what's given in the bouldering guide (That guy also only gave it three out of five stars. Guess he doesn't do much crack bouldering). Personally I would lean toward the V5 end of things, which would approximately translate to a YDS grade of 5.12. Absolutely spectacular!
Location
Park at Live Oak near the oak tree and head down into the little valley on the other side of the formation. Big Bob's Big Wedge is under the huge unmistakable boulder nestled at the base of one of the formations.
Protection
A couple of pads/spotters are nice, especially if you leavitate the lip, as you will be upside down a ways off the ground and it's easy for your feet to get stuck and your too far away from your spotters for them to help you.
Let's see... Big Bob..... hmmm.... figure that out on your own..... Big Wedge.... British slang right from Jerry Moffatts lips.... "wedge" is the same as "penis".... so, there ya go.
You can also hang a toprope cord at the lip and have someone clip you in when you get there to protect the lip encounter should things go bad (as they probably will)
Thanks Russ. I always wondered about the name because it is peculiar and I figured it had some slightly hidden meaning. Really awesome problem, right up there with The Crack House IMO. Still can't believe the bouldering guide gives it three out of five stars, what blasphemy.
Big Bob's Big Wedge
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