This route is a great free climb. The aid was removed a long time ago rendering a classic free climb that should not be aided. Aid climbing wears and enlarges the cracks too rapidly, with cams also chipping foot hold in the upper patina black crack. The line can be spotted from the road as a distinct dihedral with a roof/chimney at the top that runs up just past half way. The rock looks blank above that but a beautiful, direct, crack system runs almost the whole way up. This is a great easy aid route or a hardcore free climb on beautiful crack systems.
The belays are all bolted and the bolts are in great condition (thanks to the ASCA, I think). A hammer is nice for cleaning but do not nail anything on the route.
The start is a pain in the ass. On the far left side of the 3rd class ledges, locate a right angling ramp. It is somewhat obvious.
P1 (5.8+, ~200') Climb the ramp, step right, and follow short hand cracks to the bolt anchors. Pull up the haul line and throw it down to the pig. This is the worst hauling on the route (except the top).
There is a direct 5.10 variation that would make this much easier. This pitch is not so well protected but it is not too bad.
P2 (C1, ~100') Traverse far right and start aiding up the shallow right facing dihedral just after a small roof. Follow the crack system to a nice belay ledge in an acute dihedral with a bolt anchors.
This pitch could be free climbed at 5.10.
P3 (C1, ~100') The angling bolt ladder. Mostly QDs and a hook. Walk right on the ledge and stretch up to the first clip. Follow the line of bolts and drilled pins to where there are two pins next to each other.
From here we believe you do a free move then hook move to the next bolt. We decided it would be faster to do a long stick clip with the pole from the ledge's fly. We were told by a party later that the day before the pin had pulled or fell out so they hammered it back in. What ever you do here be careful as it is not a good pin at all. It is dead vertical so the fall is clean but it would be long and involve a swing.
This pitch ends on the rocker block with bolt anchors.
P4 (C1+, ~180') The Grand Dihedral. Clip two bolts and enjoy leap frogging cams up the steepening dihedral. This a beautiful pitch; long, so have plenty of carabiners and cams/nuts to take you the whole way (or back clean). Have the #2 and #3 cams for the couple of wider parts.
This is the first of the hanging belays from bolts.
P5 (C1+, ~150') Continue up the steep dihedral and decipher the step left on a hook. We used the big bros to aid the initial part of the chimney/v-slot and they worked great.
Follow the shallow dihedral system for another long pitch to an awesome ledge. There is a series of bolts along this ledge to accommodate bivies. A double portaledge is nice for comfort but one could sleep on the natural ledge. (Aahhhhh...sleep!)
P6 (C1, ~100') The beginning of the nice splitter crack system. OK stance, bolt anchors.
P7 (C1, ~100') Same stuff. Decent stance, bolt anchors.
P8 (C1+, ~100') The rock here turns into a rather broken crack system for a little ways. Watch where you place gear because some of the blocks seemed loose (although they didn't move).
Somewhat tricky; hanging belay, bolt anchors.
P9 (C1 5.7, ~130') Continue up the splitter clack system to a small roof with hand-sized pro. This can be free climbed at 5.10.
Arrive at a small ledge with the final 5.7 slabs. Belay here or run up the scary slabs. We belayed here and brought up the second to finish up the slabs.
The 5.7 slab is about thirty feet long and there are about two pro placements (red cam and red alien). Traverse right, up, back left, up to the top. It would be very scary without rock shoes. There are a couple of trees to belay off of on top.
When hauling at the top, it would be best to extend the tie-in to be over the lip. Otherwise you'll only get it up with a Z-pulley and you'll deepen the grooves in the lip. Be ready for the gawking tourists as the trail is only about 100 feet away.
For the meat of the route you don't need any hand-sized or larger gear (#1 cam and up) except for the 5.10 pitches and the chimney. Most of the pitches are TCUs and nuts and an occasional small hand-sized piece.
It would have been nice to leave the hand-sized pieces in the top of the pig and tag them up when needed. Be ready for the typical free move in the middle of an aid pitch.
If you know what you are doing it would be reasonable to do it in a day. You can fix lines down the rap route from the rocker block with 2 ropes. You can bivy on the rocker block but the best one is at the top of P5. There are no other good places to bivy as they are all hanging belays.
The route gets morning sun and is shaded after about 2pm or so.
Flagstaff, AZ
As far as I can remember the pitch by pitch description listed above is pretty much right on. I don't remember any hook moves, but I wasn't really looking for them either. The Big Bros that are on the gear list are not necessary, but would make aiding the chimney pitch far more enjoyable than my experience. The three pitches above the bivi ledge are stellar. The 5.12 trad climber shouldn't miss these. I can only imagine their quality and continue my jealousy. :) Every belay is equipped with at least two bomber bolts, which makes anchors and hauling easy.
For me, the rope drag on the last pitch was pretty bad. It made the 5.7 slab moves a little more exciting than they should have been. Definitely extend your hauling anchor over the lip at the top. This will make your life, and that of the rock at the lip of the cliff top, 1000% better.
Have a great time on this classic. :) Jul 22, 2003
Couple things:
The bolts on the bolt ladder are all bomb now...no manky pins. You still have an interesting section of aid/free stuff halfway through the bolt ladder.
This route can be done in 7 pitches or 7 1/2 if you dont like the slabs at the top. Climb as described to the bivy ledge. From there, its two to the top. Both are full 200' lengths. Or, you can belay on a small ledge at the bottom of the slabs and have some moral support for the last 30'.
Feb 11, 2004
South Lake
Thanks
Apr 25, 2006
Flagstaff, AZ
Sleeping on the "bivi" ledge without a port-a-ledge will suck. At the bare minimum take a single ledge and whoever leads the pitch up to the bivi ledge (through the thrash chimney) gets to sleep in it. The best idea is to borrow, buy, or rent a double ledge or two singles. You will enjoy your night much more. However if that isn't possible, then fix to the rocker block on day one and descend to the ground. Come back the next day and blast the route in a day.
Have fun. It really is one of the best routes I have ever climbed.
WC Apr 30, 2006
broomdigiddy
Glenwood Springs, CO
Littleton, CO
Carbondale, CO
Littleton, CO
Denver, Co
Carbondale, CO
2x #1 Metolius
4x #2 Metolius
4x #3 Metolius
3x .5 Black Diamond
2x .75-2 Black Diamond
1 Set of BD Stoppers Doubled from 8-11
1 Set DMM Alloy Offsets
0/1-2/3 Offset Metolius (Wish we also had 3/4 though)
Used a Tricam and Red Ball Nut on P2 but could have easily gone without them
No need for a hook
Partner linked P8 and P9. He said rope drag was extremely bad because of it. 6 and 7 would be a breeze though (back clean your heart out up there). Gear exists on the "runout slab" up top. I think a #1 and #2 BD were placed and weren't even far apart. Really sandy up there though. Hauling was a breeze on pretty much every pitch first 3 and last one were worse than others but bag only got hung up maybe once. The Bivy ledge on top of P5 would be just fine for 1 but would be interesting with 2 people but not the worst thing ever. Everything was as described when we did it. All the bolts were there and the anchors all had at least 3 bolts with the exception of the first pitch which has a great place for pro right next to it. The bolt ladder on P3 did have a few pins on it as of 3/17/11.
Go get after it and enjoy the climb. Such a classic route!!!
Greg Mar 24, 2011
Boulder,Colorado
Salt Lake City, UT
Denver, CO
2nd bit, there are unmarked bolted anchors at the very top of the climb 2 feet before you pull the lip to the summit trees. I'd take a wager these were installed to facilitate hauling and not groove the lip any more than it is. Again, you cant see them when you start the 5.7 face moves, but they are up there.
Sun Exposure: 9/24/11, the sun started hitting the top of the climb around 9am, and went into the shade around 3:30-4 depending on your elevation.
Approach: apparently no one else had problems with this, but we sure did. Firstly, make sure you are looking at the correct buttress... we mistakenly went up to Megamahedral first (the prominent buttress closest to big bend, climbers left of Moonlight). The approach trail for moonlight starts across the river and is best marked by a big flipping rock in the river, about the size of a bus. Its the only one around. trail starts 10 feet downstream. Sep 26, 2011
-P3 has a free move halfway through bolt ladder. Committing move onto a small ledge (approach shoes are fine for this pitch).
-P5 is the most difficult, one number 5 purple BD cam makes getting to the bolt in the chimney easy. otherwise it's either free climbing or stick clip, there is evidence of people desperately trying to hook blown out pods.
-You can't bring too many .5 purple Camalots. (we had six)
-Extra .3 and .4 camalots are handy
-No need for a number 4 camalot, and doubles yellow and blue (2 and 3) are sufficient.
-Offset cams not necessary (perhaps useful), we climbed with only C3 and C4 black diamonds and double offset alloys and had no trouble
-Approach shoes are fine for the 20 foot slab climbing to the summit. One red camalot for protection Sep 15, 2012
Wenatchee, WA
-P1: Do the 5.10 pitch variation. I followed it in approach shoes without difficulty.
-P5: Chimney pitch is awkward if getting into it low. after flailing down low, I ended up getting back out of it and getting high up by the anchors before re-entering it. This sets you up to free climb to the bolt, or french free by pulling on a tipped out BD#4 or properly fit #5.
-Gear: If aggressively back cleaning cams triples would be enough, even for the #0.5 pitch. Just hand place offset nuts for pro. Offset cams were helpful higher up on the route, but not required as passive offsets worked well there too. No hook moves necessary on the route, (and I love hook moves so I was looking). We didn't bring tricams, bigbros, or ball nuts either.
-You can never have too much water. 1gal/person/day seemed about right, but don't urinate off the wall because climbers are directly below you. This seems obvious, but apparently some people need reminding :( Oct 8, 2012
Oklahoma City
Utah
SLC, UT
Orem
P8, the nutting pitch, is really that, mostly small nuts, with bigger nuts sitting in shallow placements likely to pull out when you move above. Shallow pods that almost never held a cam so just find a nut placement and keep going.
Hauling on 1-3 does suck, and DEFINITELY use the lower anchors to haul on top of 9, instead of the tree. Even then you have to watch that your rope doesn't get sucked into deep grooves where the slab starts or your bag will get really stuck there too. Nov 4, 2015
Ouray, CO
can anyone confirm that it is an extra purple and not an extra grey? thanks. Sep 23, 2016
Chevy, Silverado
A good write up on this subject by Andrew Bisharat
eveningsends.com/when-do-ai… Dec 5, 2016
Utah
Ouray, CO
Yosemite NP
Stellar climb in a spectacular position!
M@ May 14, 2018
Fucken Zion
Broomfield, CO
For example, now that the N Face of Half Dome and The Nose are done in a day regularly, let's ban sleeping on the wall, because ultimately that leads to some trash and foul smells that build up over the season, which really harshes my mellow. Trying to climb past all of those campsites really slows me down on the route, too.
I also think that once a route is free-soloed enough, we should also remove all anchor bolts for belays and rappelling, because that degrades the route, too, as well as contributes to overcrowding that makes it difficult for free-soloists and reduces the purity of the climb.
I hate all of the newbies who are making Royal Arches their first trad lead. I remember the days when it used to be a convenient linkup to climbing North Dome, but now to make better time, I have to hike in from the road - GAWL! That's too much work and bulks up my legs, which makes it harder to send my 5.12 proj... And don't get me started with (Butt)cracker on Manure Pile Buttress, or Cathedral Peak - I mean, quality climbing routes are scarce, so I can't find empty ones and have to limit myself to the popular classics that are detailed to death in guidebooks and are on everyone's IG feed. People should learn to stay out of the way of those more appropriately skilled for such routes. Sep 18, 2019
Springdale / Zion UT / Moab
SLC
Please do your part to pick up your micro-trash from you and others. The NPS would be very disappointed if they were to see the mess to be found on this route. Remember: climbing in Zion is a privilege not a right. Thanks for the future effort to keep the park clean. See photos for reference. Jan 29, 2020
Broomfield, CO
Speaking of damage to the rock, in clean aid, cams will subject the rock to about as much force as body weight, which is about the same as a free climber jamming any part of the crack. However, free climbing falls are much more common than aid climbing falls, based on what I have seen on the route. Falling on a cam or nut, especially as far apart as a free climber might do so, will subject the rock to MUCH higher forces. Probably even enough to blow out the rock, such as what I saw plenty of on some of the upper pitches where placements that damaged the rock made more sense for a free-climber and the climbing is harder for them.
The last pitch also had a LOT of ugly rope grooves from rappels, which is probably from free-climbers rappelling in from the top in order to 'work' the route on top rope before 'sending their proj', as have encountered on the route.
So my recommendation as a licensed structural engineer, and ardent environmentalist, is to PLEASE stop free climbing this route! The best style to do this route is as a clean aid climb without hauling, or if you must, a totally on-sight free climb without chalk. Anything else is just ruining the rock. Feb 3, 2020
Pocatello, ID
Saint George UT
Burbank
Modesto, Ca
The rope groves are not from people rappelling the route, but from weighted lines with heavy bags being dragged up and over the lip. If you want to learn to wall climb do something harder, like Space Shot or Desert Shield or any other of the classic wall routes Zion has to offer. This route is too perfectly amazing to see if being destroyed by incompetent climbers doing their absolute best to ruin climbing for the rest of us.
Leave your ladders at home, and stop hauling the route. This has been free solo'd yall. Over 10 years ago. Apr 12, 2021
There is only one Moonlight Buttress, but plenty of C1 cracks for you to practice aid on. It is most certainly the aid climbers who are blowing out the rock on Moonlight. Apr 12, 2021
SLC
As others have mentioned, leave the haul bag and cam hooks at home, do it in a day. Helps to be at minimum a confident 5.9 leader to free/french free pitches 1, 2, and 9; a confident enough aid leader to leapfrog cams and french free as much as possible. Didn't see the name scratched in the rock Apr 26, 2021
Bruceton Mills, WV
Colorado
Marana
I do understand the concerns about rock damage and I believe we adopted a style that mimimised this: Clean aid (obviously!); IAD (sub 12 hours); no hauling; no hooks; and no bounce-testing. We certainly didn't "get in anyone's way" - I think we were the only climbers in Zion NP let alone on MB (climbing in 40C does have some advantages!)
Plenty of beta and pics in the report so won't add more here - I hope you can enjoy it without too much trolling! Cheers, Dom Oct 2, 2022
Boulder, CO
Coos Bay OR