Normally, Trip Reports cover our members’ trips to new areas. But sometimes, we get people like Adit Venkataraman, who was so kind as to write us a mini guide in addition! He wrote about Moe’s Valley, UT — a place we don’t hear about too often here in Chicago. You can find more photos from his trip on his Instagram, @aditje. Take it away, Adit!
Moe’s Valley is a sandstone bouldering area located about 15 minutes West of St. George, Utah. It makes for an excellent choice as a “pit-stop,” as it’s near Red Rock and close to the highway. I think it’s worthy of a little more than a pit-stop, though: some of the climbs are absolutely world-class and MUST be climbed! The rock type is desert sandstone with lots of interesting rock formations. The area is fairly concentrated with several car-sized boulders containing everything from roofs to slab. The hold types range from the tiniest sharpest crimps to the juggiest of huecos and all the good stuff in between. The grades range from classic V0 (Cornered) to V14 (The Beach). My opinion is that the best grade to find there is V6: you can find a ton of classics in the area. But there is phenomenal stuff at every grade and for every climber! The best time to go is late October to mid-March to maximize climbing in cooler temperatures — it can go up to triple digits in the summer.
Directions
To get there it is just a quick hop skip and a jump away from I15. As for some layman directions, one can take exit 5 (Dixie Dr) and continue to Tonaquint Dr, take a right on Curly Hollow Drive and drive past the middle school. At the end of the cul-de-sac bear right and continue on the well-graded dirt road up the hill and then take a right and go down the hill past the fence to park. The road tends to be quite rough here, but 4WD/AWD makes this a cakewalk — although it is possible to do it with a 2WD vehicle. It may be easier to just park near the top of the hill and walk the extra 10 minutes to avoid your car bottoming out. The first boulders you will see are the Sentinel Boulders (Sentinel area). Alternatively, the easier solution is to skip all of the above and use Google Maps to get directions to Moe’s Valley.
Important
Please, please, please wait at least 24 hours to climb after a significant rain as the holds are quite friable. You can go to the local outdoor store The Desert Rat to ask for local conditions or inspect the ground. The land is owned by SITLA so try not to camp at the parking lot at Moe’s. There is a camping spot at the Bear Claw Poppy Trailhead a few minutes away. Hotels and motels are relatively cheap in the area and would be the recommended option (this is what I did). One last point is to try to stick to the trails in the boulder field as much as possible: There is cryptobiotic soil in the desert that is quite fragile and is affected by human impact.
This micro-guide is not meant to be comprehensive. Definitely do some additional research before coming, but most importantly have fun!
Trip Report
Oh man! The last two days of my weeklong bouldering trip. My skin, muscles and mind are beat after four days of continuous climbing in Joshua Tree and Red Rock. That said: my mental psyche is through the roof since I have heard that the movement of the boulders is world-class and the rock formations are some of the most unique and aesthetic in the whole country. With that said, I set my alarm for an early 11 am on Friday (easy, partner….it was a “rest” day for me) and set out to drive to St. George. It’s an hour and 45 minutes from Las Vegas. The majority of the drive is on Interstate 15, which is very convenient. The highlight was driving through the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona right before entering the town of St. George. Thanks to the construction and stopped traffic, I was able to peer to the right and watch several climbers working some hard sport climbs on the Mentor Cave/Planer Earth Wall.
After that 10-second inspiration, I made my way over to St. George to The Desert Rat to get some beta, buy the St. George bouldering guidebook, and make my way over to Moe’s! My initial plan was to scope out the area and do a little climbing to get a feel for the area. Without further ado, I charged down (of course at the speed limit) the precarious dirt road to park! The first three boulders, the Sentinel Area, are right in front of the parking lot and the approach takes less than one minute. Like a kid in a candy store, I unloaded my pads and ran off to the first boulder: The namesake Sentinel Boulder. There are three high-quality lines on this boulder: Sentinel (V2), Huntsman Graffiti (V5) and Spray Lords (V6).
As the sun was already about to set I immediately threw down both my pads in front of Sentinel (V2), warmed up hastily, and started up the giant car-sized boulder above me. The boulder is quite tall, although the landing is perfect and I felt safe with my two pads. There was another couple climbing in the area so I just quickly asked for a spot near the top on Sentinel (V2). The movement was fantastic, featuring really interesting juggy sidepulls and creative foot movement, thinning out in the middle with some decent edges and a nice juggy top: managed to snag a flash here! Seeing as there was little daylight left I frantically started yanking on my flashboard to warm up the fingers to try Huntsman Graffiti (V5): the crimp line in the middle of the boulder. This line features an interesting insignia of HUNTSMAN spray-painted at the bottom and the line itself features four excellent varnished crimps all relatively far apart. I was able to fire it off second go and run a couple of laps on it since the lock-offs and grips were just that excellent. I had little energy to try Spray Lords (V6) but the feature and movement, so I have been told, is definitely worth returning for.
I then made my way over to the Pack Rat boulder featuring another great moderate: One-Eyed Willy/Taking it To the Ground (V3). It was quite dark and my headlamp had died, but I was too psyched! I was able to navigate and fumble my way up the left edges, turn the arête and compress my way to the chill top out: managing a flash! I then packed up, threw my pads back in my car and went to scarf some delicious food and get some much-needed shuteye!
I overslept my alarm on Saturday morning but this was probably a blessing in disguise. I was definitely glad to get the extra couple of hours of sleep. I was happy to link up with a friend who I met at the last Holy Boulders comp and climb with her for the day. We made our way over past the Sentinel area through the rocky wash towards the main boulder field where most of the climbs reside. I went to go try some of the “hidden gems,” aka the one-star classics and found myself getting spit off the rock.
After some flailing, we went to go try climbs on the Device Ignitor boulder. This small roof features three fantastic climbs with unique grips and very flashy movement. The problems are Device Ignitor Left (V6), Middle (V5)…and, you guessed it, Right (V4). What is unique is that despite all being part of the same roof each is unique and contains holds unique and movement unique to itself. They are in the same family but worlds apart. Device Ignitor Right (V4) was the most fun featuring several heel hooks and some thuggy roof compression and was able to send it in a few attempts. The middle (V5) featured a variety of holds from jugs, a very comfortable pinch, and small edges. I was not able to send but did all the moves and got one move away from the send! The left (V6) features some creative bumping and a really cushy undercling grip. These I will both have to come back for.
One of the main boulders I wanted to try was a compression bloc called Israil (V6). It features a dual sloping overhung in the shape of a pork chop and is one of the standout classics of the area. Hearing great things about it I decided to psyche myself up by downing some coffee and working out beta. I found the initial moves strenuous as it features a long reach to the other arête after a couple bumps on the sloper arête. This move, despite my lanky frame, was quite hard as was the next move which involved bumping left to another juggier slopey rail. I was a little dejected and wrote it off telling myself “Oh I will just come back and do it next time, I have worked out all the moves and can send it next trip”.
Another climber then walked up and asked to join. He was able to handily flash it using a very techy series of toe hooks and heel hooks while also trying really hard. Although my climbing shoes were off my feet and we were about to pack up I decided to try it a few more times. After absorbing some of the beta I was able to link all the moves, going dynamically to the first rail instead of static and found myself about to finish the climb! Now it was just the top out which featured a small but manageable bulge to just stand up. I started panicking and threw up my knee to reach over to the good holds. My fear overcame me and I came down. No! I was almost there! How could I screw up like that?!
Thankfully the other climber was very methodical (a local crusher from Salt Lake) and told me that the bottom moves were very casual for me based on my movement and that I should try it once more after a 10-minute rest. I heeded the advice and fired up again. The bottom was dialed and just needed to figure the top out! I was able to find a really obvious left-hand positive slot and right-hand edge and just needed a good foot and it was over. However, I was struggling and in the heat of the moment threw up my leg and started mantling. Since I was at my physical limit of being climbing several days in a row I decided to give it everything I had and pressed with all my might. Within a few seconds (seemed like hours) I was standing on top and had sent after 90 minutes of effort from working it! I was on Cloud 9! The direct (V8) seemed doable but decided to try it next trip, giving me all the more reason to come back.
It was approaching mid-afternoon and there were some classics I still wanted to try. The climber from Salt Lake was more than happy to join us and we tried two classic roof climbs called Pink Lady (V6) and Spectro (V6). They are adjacent to each other and very steep but again are worlds apart. Pink Lady features several slopey jugs and some incut huecos while Spectro just has three holds: one jug, and two edges. Both cover the same distance despite the former having 4x the holds of the latter. Pink lady had many foot moves featuring several heel hooks, toe hooks, and an exquisite heel-toe cam and a thoughtful top out. Spectro just has three longhand moves and another intricate top out. I got fairly close on both but could not salvage the send on either but our new friend from Salt Lake sent both in a matter of minutes.
Feeling completely gassed the three of us decided to hike around and scope out new projects. We wanted to go “Through the Hole” on Jabberwock Arete (V6): a unique top out, which involves squirming through a tiny hole. We just used it for photo moments and had a few good laughs here.
One of the main climbs I had heard great things about was Gription (V9): another exquisite sloper line just up the hill from Jabberwock. We decided to hike up and check it out. My mouth was agape seeing the line and seeing a couple of locals work it. The body tension, movement, and aesthetics of it was something that will 100% drive me back to Moe’s and gives me something to work and strive for. The sun was setting majestically over St. George so we decided to pack up and head out to go see Reel Rock 14 playing in the local theater. I bid farewell to my friend from the Holies and after Reel Rock said bye to my new friend from Salt Lake after a well-earned burrito meal! Next time I go to Moe’s I will definitely have someone new to climb with now.