PRINT: Rock Climb Balance Sheet, San Francisco Bay Area

Balance Sheet

5.10a, Trad, TR, 80 ft (24 m),

Avg: 1.8 from 48 votes
FA: unknown
California > San Francisco B… > S Bay Area > Castle Rock & S… > Western Additio… > Underworld Rock

Access Issue: Trails are closed from sunset to 6:00 am. Details

Trails close at sunset. Give yourself enough time to be back at your vehicle (or campsite if you're staying at one) before dark, or the rangers will fine you.

Always visit the Castle Rock State Park website parks.ca.gov/?page_id=538 for fairly current official information.

Description

Listed as a 5.9 in the Climbing Skyline Boulevard book, I think the first move of Balance Sheet is a little harder than that. After it, you have one bolt, then 50 feet of 5.3 huecos before another challenging move just above the second bolt.

Not a great route, but a decent warmup if you're here.

Protection

2 bolts for 80 feet. Cams easily protect between the bolts or the route becomes X rated.

The top anchor is either the two bolts at the top of the rock or you can use the single bolt atop Underpass (just to the right) and equalize it with the tree branch right there.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Kathy Dicker having fun on the "Balance Sheet" (5.10a). Photo: B. Morris

After the crux start on 'Balance Sheet'

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Blitzo

I thought it was hard for 5.9! Sep 12, 2006

Steve R.
Oakland, CA

Cool first couple boulder moves! Make sure your partner spots you on the start. Used a couple tricams to protect the runout in the middle. Apr 8, 2009

Jennifer H

5.10a X

This route has a very hard start but is extremely easy afterwards. Aug 3, 2009

Mark Fletcher
Clovis, CA

This would only have a protection rating of X if you did not bring some cams and slings. There are several places in the easier section to put in cams and sling hourglasses. Jan 14, 2014

vincent L.
Redwood City

There are a couple of cam placements between the bolts. I'm not sure it even qualifies as an 'R' rated route , let alone an 'X'.

The start felt a little harder than 5.9 , and very fun. Mar 16, 2014

Sergey Rurik
South Lake Tahoe, CA

Agree with protection comments: if you have supplemental gear (such as cams), it's not not X. But basically it's a one move wonder with a harder move just off the ground. Pretty dirty (sandy) too... Jul 23, 2017

Alan Duong
San Francisco, CA

Fun route, definitely rated X if you're not bringing any cams for additional protection. The runout is definitely long. Jul 21, 2019

Kazi Ahmed
Madison, WI

Gnarly start! But pulling it off gives the confidence to fly through the rest with ease! Jul 6, 2020

Paul Bakker
San Jose, CA

Getting on a climb without the required gear doesn't make that climb X rated. Every trad route would be X rated otherwise. Not a great climb though. Jul 12, 2020

Mike Toffey
Yosemite/Lone Pine, CA

I placed 1 cam at the top of the initial hand crack and then slung one natural arch on the long runout(40-50ft) between the 2 fixed bolts. I enjoyed this one! Nov 22, 2021

Jason Armstrong
SF, CA

Thin feet and good enough hands to a short sloper section to the bolt, run through the classic castle rock tafoni section and get gear in the horizontal crack, clip another bolt and slow down for the final moves to the top!
In order to preserve the rock, we should extend top rope anchors. There is a lot of rope wear at the top. Apr 17, 2023