Post climb posing with Pale Fire on the left side ...
Description
This route is less well known than Primrose Dihedrals but is very nice. It is the easiest free route up Moses and consists mostly of 5.9 and 10- with one short but burly crux pitch. The route is on the northwest face of Moses, so it is generally shady. The upper part of the route is very obvious, following a huge right facing corner left of Moses' chin when looking from the parking lot.
P1 (45m): Solve a boulder problem through a small overhang (5.9+) to reach a discontinuous right facing dihedral. Follow this up and left (5.8). This crack widens just before the belay and a #4.5 Camalot is useful here, but is not necessary if you are willing to run it out a bit. Belay from a large ledge below an overhanging right facing corner.
P2 (60m): Climb the corner (10-) and continue up to the base of a chimney. You should probably belay here if you do not have a 60m rope or are experiencing rope drag. Climb partway up the chimney and then exit left, face climbing (5.9 R) and then following a left facing corner all the way up to a gigantic ledge (5.8). There are 2 bolts on the right side of this ledge. If you follow the chimney too far it turns into a 5.10+ squeeze ending atop a flake (slings). From here you can still traverse left to the big ledge.
Move the belay left 50' to the base of the crux corner.
P3 (25m): The crux pitch. Follow the right facing corner past an undercling (5.10+), then climb 20' of burly fist crack (5.11-). There are some desert bolts left of this crack, but you will also need several #3.5-#4 Camalots. Where the crack turns overhanging, crank into a cave not visible from below and belay.
P4 (45m): Burrow back into the cave and then exit straight up (5.8). This is a bizarre but quite easy pitch and you must squeeze through a very tight constriction. If you are a really big guy you may not fit (my chest size is 41" and I had to exhale). The only other option is to follow the main crack up, it is supposedly 5.11 offwidth and looks horrific. Belay from 2 bolts on a large ledge just below the top.
P5 (15m): Climb past 2 bolts (5.8) to the summit.
Descent: 4 Rappels down the North Face (Pale Fire route). The first rappel is only about 60', then do 3 more double rope raps. There are 2 hanging stances which are rather unpleasant, but at least the old decaying bolts have been replaced.
Protection
Standard desert rack plus extra #3.5 and #4 Camalots for the crux.
Did this route around 1988 or 89 and didn't have much to go on. When I got into the cave to belay and looked out at the "horrific" overhanging offwidth looming over me I nearly shat myself. Imagine my surprise when I found the cave exit in the back of the cave. Fun route!
John Catto and I climbed this in 1985. Niether of us knew that you could tunnel through at the big roof, so we went straight out the imposing roof [same way as Jimmy and Douglas]. It was not nearly as bad as it looks. We found good arm bars and foot stacks [left side in] worked well, and there is a small horizontal crack that provided a useful edge to work with in several spots. We had a couple of tube chocks and a homemade large friend that made the pro reasonable. I felt like the steep "fist" crack leading up to the roof was harder, but I have small hands, and it was more like an OW for me.
I always thought this route was named the "Dunn/Snively Route"
Moses
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