Amanda waking up on pitch 7 and getting ready to c...
Description
This is a great clean aid line to the left of the Moonlight Buttress route. A beautiful, straight-up line with lots of good nutting and tricky clean aid. The original first two pitches are loose and not recommended. Pitches 1 and 2 follow Moonlight Buttress. Leave bags below the anchors of pitch 1 where the 5.10 variation goes.
P1 (5.8) Start way left and scramble up 3rd class ledges and toss rope around bushes. Belayer needs to go up a few ledges (about 20 feet) so that 60 meter rope will reach anchors.
P2 (5.10 or C1) Traverse right and throw overhang with small gear. Follow crack to anchors below large, closed-book corner. Don't haul on pitch 2, just drag haul line up P2 and P3 then easy haul from anchors on top of P3.
P3 (5.10 or C1) Moonlight goes right, Lunar goes left up through large, flared chimney with a good crack in back. Good free climbing, much easier than aiding.
P4 (5.9 C1) Can be done in two sections; not a bad idea due to rope drag. From ledge ascend obvious crack (5.9) to mantle, traverse right ~15-20 feet to bolt and beginning of C1 and the Halfmoon Traverse. If done in two sections can easily belay from nice ledge above mantle and haul all of pitch as one.
P5 (C2) Begins the real meat of the route. Some fixed pieces to a Steep, thin crack. Hanging belay.
P6 (C2) Pitch is called "Leapfrogging Aliens" and that's what you do. Steep, thin crack. Hanging belay.
P7 (C2+) Same thing - steep, thin crack, this time broken by the Amoeba, a large mass of rock mysteriously clinging to rock face. The top of the pitch has dicey, sandy, mandatory 5.7 move to anchors.
P8 (5.8 C1) From belay ledge carefully free climb (5.8) up sandy rock steps to crack. Possible to place small gear in horizontal crack. Easy C1 up crack takes you to huge ledge.
P9 Two options: The original finish goes up right from multi-bolt anchor and has loose sections with mandatory free climbing. The Jarrett Finish (recommended) starts from the left side of the large ledge from the two bolt anchor.
P9 Jarrett Variation (C1) Loose C1 at start to bomber, steep, and exposed C1 for bulk of route. Finishes at two bolt anchor at lip. Can back up bolts with extra lead line tied to tree. Bring bags and follower(s) up to two-bolt station first. Then, make easy work bringing pigs and people over lip.
Bivy Huge ledge on top of Pitch 3 with 1 distanced pin, three equalized bolts, and one distanced bolt. Good for two portaledges.
Good ledge on top of pitch 4 with three equalized bolts and additional bolt for portaledge. Best suited for one portaledge.
Pitch 7 is okay bivy with three or four bolts and one pin. Easy to set up two ledges.
Huge, monstrous ledge on top of pitch 8; two bolts on left side of ledge and multiple anchors on right (2 or 3 pins and 3 or 4 bolts). Great for multiple ledges.
Ledge on top of pitch 3 could be slept on without portaledge, although uncomfortably. Pitch 8 would be a great sleeper ledge without portaledge.
Offset aliens and nuts work great. Multiple sets of aliens, as many as five per certain sizes. Up to #4 Camalot with 1 each #3, 3-1/2, & 4. 2 sets ball nuts. Didn't need hooks. 60 meter ropes recommended.
Descent
Hike up and right from tree to canyon rim and you can easily spot the paved trail that takes you to the Grotto Picnic area.
This is a great climb. Great exposure, nice belays, and engaging climbing make this one of the best routes I have climbed in Zion.
We took two sets of HB off-set nuts which, with a little back cleaning, turned out to be enough. Off-set Aliens were also helpful.
We climbed the original finish and thought that it was pretty cool. The last few moves are dicey as the rock is a little soft and the pin scars are pretty boxed out.
Once I get them developed and scanned, I will add a few photos.
I heard the tale of somebody that went up Lunar X with a crowbar and tried to pry off the Amoeba. I don't know the details, but I got a good laugh out of the thought.
The first bolt off the belay ledge ont the old A4 pitch (#5) is really scary, and a fall would hurt. A lot.I did the Jarret Finish. THe last bolt on it, which is a real reach to clip, is a 3/8 in a 3/4 inch hole... its just barely cammed in there. The top of this pitch felt as hard as any of the c2 ont he route.I used my HB offsets more than my alien offsets.
Just did this route last week- Feb. 2006. Couple of things...the description above list's the wrong pitch as the "leapfrogging aliens" pitch it is actually pitch 6(the next pitch). I found pitch 5 to be the crux, which is the pitch leading off "farewell ledge". The first bolt didn't seem bad to me, but the moves off the top of the bolt ladder were defiantly the crux of the route. I found a red Tri-cam to be the key...without it I could not have done this pitch. Thought it was C2+/C3- It seemed like maybe some of these placements were getting worn out? After that pitch I thought pitch the next 2 pitch's were no harder than C1+/C2-...no big deal really. A talon hook was key for 2 bat hook moves one around the amoeba, and one near the top of that pitch- both are marked on the topo from Bigwall.com. We took a double set of HB brassies and used mostly the bigger ones...we were quite surprised at how little we actually needed the offsets..however they were key in a couple of spots. We did not have any of the large offsets's and it didn't matter. Offset aliens were nice a couple of places. A very fun route!
Lowe Balls are not necessary but you may find them useful depending on what else you bring. Of course with any route, the recommended gear list will vary from person to person. I repeated this route last spring and I don't think we used, or brought Lowe Balls, although we had a number of offset nuts.
By Jesse Zacher From: Grand Junction, Co Mar 13, 2008
Last bolt/pin on the Jarrett finish is gone. It is possible if you are taller to top step and get a .5 in a horizontal crack. No need for ball nuts. A Talon hook helped a lot on the crux section of pitch 5 off of farewell ledge.
Great, steep, clean route! With the new DMM aluminum offsets, it's pretty much all C1. Except for the few moves off the bolt ladder on P5. Be sure to wear your free climbing shoes on the thought provoking Amoeba pitch. And the missing last bolt on the Jarrett finish is no problem - there are plenty of options.
Moonlight Buttress
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