BETA PHOTO: You can see the sickle-shaped bolt line of 'Just A...
Description
Just another Pretty Face is a great thin, balancey face climb at the far end of Potash Road. It is located immediately left of a thin seam called "Chris-Cross," and can be identified by a first bolt 25 feet off the deck. The line arcs gently to the left and then finally heads up and then back right to the anchors. Tiny edges and sandy nubbins for the feet, and lots of off balance long reaches make for great fun on this pitch. The book lists the crux as between bolts 3 and 4, but I found the climbing to be pretty cruxy from bolt 3 right to bolt 6.
Protection
Six bolts/pitons to a two bolt anchor. Runout to first bolt - you can protect this by climbing up the neighboring crack, placing a friend, traversing and clipping the first bolt, then back-cleaning the friend, but why bother? If you are not comfortable soloing the 5.8 terrain to the first bolt, you probably will struggle on this climb.
The crux move after bolt 3 is MUCH harder than the remainder of the climb. I'd say it was 5.10d. The neighboring "Steel Your Face" is also supposedly 5.10a but it seemed like 5.7/5.8 with maybe one move of 5.9/5.9+.
Just Another Pretty Face is definitely a consistent slab climb. The 3 and 4th bolts are very delicate moves, but punch through as quickly as possible or you'll probably fall!
You're right, Steal Your Face is a much more moderate climb with more 5.8 and 5.9 than 5.10, but the Steal Your Face crux still could be safely called 5.10 ..... it's all a matter of opinion. With all the feet that slab has seen, some people claim it's getting harder each year as key hold and ledges get smoothed down.
I am going to have to agree with the upgrading of this climb. When I first did it, I thought it was a casual 5.9. Found out the wrong way. Sandstone slab is tricky but not that tricky. 5.10c/d
By Matt McMurray From: Castle Rock, CO Nov 27, 2006 rating: 5.10c/d R
When I climbed JAPF on my last trip through Moab, I thought it would be casual... WRONG! Almost all of the holds were very sandy. This undoubtedly added to the difficulty of the smears, as well as the psychological impact. It all felt very insecure. Even if all the holds were cleaned (which I did as I climbed the route, there is no way the climb is 5.10a. The crux between the 3rd and 4th bolts was not all that obvious, and I found the difficulty to be fairly consistent from the third bolt to the chains.
Soapbox: As an aside, the runout to the first bolt seemed silly to me. Not that the climbing was difficult, as it was straight-forward and easy compared to the rest of the climb, but as a first ascensionist wouldn't you want people to climb your route? Crazy long/dangerous runouts (25ft) with NO pro doesn't make much sense, and only deters other climbers from trying your line.
Felt harder than Shadowfax 5.11a, worse holds. I shouldn't have done this, because I felt like I was going to fall and die before the first bolt. Beware. Do Shadowfax instead, it's fun.
Wall Street
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