All Locations > Utah > Southeast Utah > Island In The Sky > Monument Basin

Staggering Rock Rock Climbing

Climbing Area Map This is our best guess at this area's location.
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Routes in Staggering Rock

L › R R › L A › Z

Sobriety Test T 5.11a 6c 22 VII+ 22 E3 5c R

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GPS:	38.305, -109.866 Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views:	4,051 total · 17/month
Shared By:	Steve Bartlett on Feb 24, 2005 · Updates
Admins:	slim, Cory N, Perin Blanchard, GRK, David Crane Page Updates (admin only)

See Weather Forecast

Access Issue: RAIN, WET ROCK and RAPTOR CLOSURES: The sandstone around Moab is fragile and is very easily damaged when it is wet. Also please ask and be aware of Raptor Closures in areas such as CAT WALL and RESERVOIR WALL in Indian Creek Details

WET ROCK: Holds rip off and climbs have been and will continue to be permanently damaged due to climbers not respecting this phenomenon. After a heavy storm the rock will remain wet, sometimes for several days. PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB IN MOAB during or after rain.

RAPTOR CLOSURES: please be aware of seasonal raptor closures. They occur annually in the spring.

Description

Staggering Rock is the nearby sunlit tower visible in Ben Folsom's photo on the Meemohive post. There are a pair of towers together (you can see a second one just behind of, and right of Staggering Rock in the picture).

Back in the day, it caught people's eyes because the Monument Basin photo in Bjornstad's old 1988 Desert Rock book made it look more alluring than the far-off Standing Rock.

The only route so far (?) on Staggering Rock goes up the north side. It was perhaps the second tower in the basin to be climbed. It is described in Bjornstad's 1996 Desert Rock II (National Parks). But what is not included in that guide is that this now goes all clean and free, at around 5.11a.

The adjacent tower appears to have been climbed, but doing it free or clean looks to be a real challenge.

Getting There

This is in the heart of the basin. Any of the approaches for Monument Basin will work. The hard-to-find (and hard to locate) easy gully access for Standing Rock is best, as it is easy (duh) but it also dumps you out real close by. This gully is just west and north of Staggering Rock. If you try to locate this, please walk on the slickrock as much as possible. Try to park on slickrock too.