Bounce test is an interesting way to start out your climbing in Moab. Its easier than Owl Rock (if you leave out the last pitch) and has a great view. You can do the first 5 pitches only (5.8-) or all 6 (5.9) This is not at any of the specificed climbing areas, but is basically directly across the river from wall street.
Finding it. From moab take a turn to the west at McDonalds and head towards Kane Creek. Drive past the rim trail to the petracliffs. Take the first dirt road on the left that climbs up a hill towards a large parking area that looks like a junk yard. If the main road turns to dirt you've gone to far. You can hike or drive down the rugged road that continues towards the only rocks in sight. Stay to the left. The slab(or tower) that you will climb is the the third thin slab down. You can recognize it by the tracks that lead up to it as well as the two first bolts on pitch one. The downclimb comes from the canyon on the left.
First pitch is a 5.8 that has lots of soft sandy rock. After that the next 4 pitches are sloping climbs and scrambles up sometimes sparcely protected areas. There is one fun section on pitch two after scrambling after pitch one. Nothing exceeds a 5.7 from pitch 2-5. Pitch six is the crux at 5.9 Bring some webbing that you would be willing to leave on the rock, you might not like the rap slings. There are anchors on pitch one, five, and six - you have to come up with the rest. Great views of Wall Street from the top. I would bring a helmet along for the descent. I had some pretty big rocks fall on the way down. It takes three double rope rappels from either place. If you start from pitch 5 you'll have to swing left to the close anchors. The third rap goes directly over the edge down to the gully and is probably 53-55m, kinda scary in the dark if you can't see the ground.
Make sure and leave ample time for the downclimb, its a killer. We ended up doing it in the dark with no lights, bad idea. Stay to the left when looking down and keep your eyes open for the webbing supports for the steep sections. The downclimb is probably the hardest part of the route.
Any questions you can email me at Kelly_Paasch@und.nodak.edu
Protection
1 set of cams 3.5 and smaller, 1 set of hexes or tricams, set of nuts, 7 quickdraws. Lots of variation in the rock. Starts soft and ends scary soft on a 5.9 on scary fixed pro.
1. The end of the first pitch is quite interesting for "5.8."
2. Pitch Three starts up the ovious crack system on the prow, not anywhere on the right (as stated in the guidebook). The crack seemed more than 25'. Then follow an easy finger crack then the prow till the rope runs out.
3. The final pitch is rated 5.9 in Bjorny's book, with a single point of aid (standing on a drilled angle; don't bother bringing any aiders) but has been done free (not by me) with a 5.10 move past the last drilled pin. The pins seem pretty bomber. To finish, there is a boulder problem move onto the summit plateau, from where there are great views to the east. Downclimbing off the back then into the same gully looked doable, though slow.
2. We changed out some of the webbing (this fall) on the descent, but it gets bleached pretty fast on these slabs, definitely bring some leaver webbing (and a knife) just in case.
3. In daylight, the raps seemed pretty safe, and easy. They are just very long and steep. I don't recall any loose rocks. If anither party were on the route behind you, they could easily drop rocks on you on the raps. The second (?) rap requires some tensioning right to gain the next anchor. This would be way spooky in the dark. The descent scramble seems pretty simple in daylight. We did one very short rappel from a thread anchor, but from below it actually looked simple to climb down.
4. We did not bring any Hexes or Tricams, but extra medium-size gear (cams work best, but Hexes might be ok) would be a good idea, just to have some gear for the belays after doing these very long pitches.
5. The first gravel parking lot is privately owned I believe, by the folks in the trailers at the west end. They don't seem to care about people parking there, but best keep a lowish profile.
I (Andy Roberts)did the first ascent with a few different people over a 3 days. Most with Jay Miller and Jason Schroeder as well as my wife patiently belaying me on the first pitch. I called it bounce test because when I was about 10 feet up the 3rd pitch the large egde/ledge I was standing on broke and I fell down to the low angle start and rolled down another 15 feet bruising the hell out of my heel. I'm glad to hear that it is getting repeated it 's a fun climb but the rock is definately soft. Plus I've heard a few people complain about the last move on the 1st pitch, its no harder than 5.8 but I'm not sure I would want to test the pro, so don't fall!
I recently attempted to climb this fin with little luck do to the rain my partner and I encountered during the scramble, 2-3. The slick fin made for an interesting bail out. However, I lead the first pitch and pulled off some rock near the last couple of moves. The older piton held as I skipped past it. I did not see a spot to place gear above it. Please be careful as I think there is still some loose rock still to be pulled down. I plan to go back as soon as I can talk my partner into it.
Isolated Climbs
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