This route is fun, and goes to a cool summit on a very cool looking spire. The approach is very short. The climbing is relatively moderate, and it's sort of an easy tick for a desert spire. It's a good one. The route goes up cracks facing the road via free and aid climbing, until you get to a bolt ladder to the top. I free climbed to 5.9, but you could free climb 5.10 if you wanted to.
Location
JUST out of the parking lot of the Garden of Eden (Same one as for Owl Rock). This formation is easy to find, as from the front, it looks like a golfball on a golf tee.
Protection
Standard desert rack. (Maybe doubles or triples of everything..)
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Happily back on the ground and heading back to the...
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By toddgordon From: Joshua Tree, California May 5, 2007
I climbed this route with George Armstrong in April of 1992. I didn't know anything about the climb. I'm not sure the name Devil's Golfball , is really the name of the formation, but someone told me it was, and it sure looks like a golfball. I was nosey, so I walked over to this formation to have a look;...I could see the crack system going near the top, and the bolt ladder going to the summit, so we racked up and did the climb. The climbing seemed mellow to me, and I was happy for this, because I wasn't feeling too good that day;...had the flu and was quit under the weather. I accidently left my 9 m trail-line at the base, went back the next day to get it, and it was gone. This is an easy tick, close to the road, a cool summit, and a fun climb. I haven't seen this climb in any guide. Anyone know anything more about this climb?
There's a "Devil's Golf Ball" on kane Creek Road, a little bit further down from the Ice Cream Parlor. But I guess its possible there are more than one such formation in the Moab area.
By toddgordon From: Joshua Tree, California May 10, 2007
Nah;... the Devil's Golfball/Happy Turk is the one up Kane Springs;...this Devil's Golfball is the one in Arches just by the parking lot ( Garden of Eden) for Owl Rock. Devil goes golfing alot, I guess.
This route easily GOES CLEAN. Ben K. lead it under moonlight this December. He decided it was about 5.7 C1. Todd, maybe you could change the rating from A to C to abolish any question of a hammer in the park?
As Matt said I lead this recently and it definitely goes clean. I didn't climb directly up to the crack but instead followed a seam on aid that traversed up into the splitter crack. Not sure if that was the preferred way but it worked. Anyways once you get to the splitter hand crack free or aid up to the golfball. There is a drilled pin ladder to get to the top of the golfball. Anchor on top is bomber, consisting of multiple drilled pins.
The anchor is a little hard to find... its on the back side and goes of the south face. Bomber. Big bolts and chain. I would call this thing 5.10-,C1, but I would add that the move at the start to get to the hand crack is spicy. No way to get anything in and the fall is substantial. Once you get to the crack, its mostly hands and wide fingers with good footholds... till the bolt ladder.
Devil's Golf Ball
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