Bloody Fingers 

Instead of liebacking try hitting all the handjams in the first 20 feet. Much more enjoyable (and secure). - BJ Sbarra

What a great route!
Liebacking the initial crack/flake would be scary and insecure IMHO! It makes for a reasonable finger/hand jam climbing.

What a great route. The best I have done at the City. Twin cruxes, variety of jams, good exposure. I definitely preferred the lieback start.

The lieback start is definitely more of a challenge when it is 40 degrees out and you can't feel your hands. This area is a bit of a wind tunnel from the western winds in the morning.

You can lower off and clean this climb with a 70M rope.

Technical and pretty. A very long single pitch for the area.

This route is reminiscent of "Rubicon" in J-Tree, wider and easier but fantastic. A must do!

if you like bloody fingers, try white lightning or double cracks. white lightning is for me the best 10.a crack climb i have done at the city. animal cracker is another good one.

There is a pretty good stance at the beginning to reach up and place gear that will get you through most of the crux, so the lieback didn't seem too bad. Outstanding route!

In my opinion Bloody Fingers is highly overrated. I lead it after reading all the great reviews and was disappointed. Perhaps if I had no expectations it would have been different, however, there wasn’t a single move or feature on the route that caught my attention. A much more aesthetic and enjoyable route is Thin Slice (10a).

Fun climb. Go with what you know for the start be it layback or jambs on the traditional start. Any ideas on the start from the right on the angled 'flakes'? Fun from the right but a bit dicey on the pro.

Nice route but easier than 10a. Use some nuts to spice up your ascent.

PERFECT hand and foot girl jams on the starting crack; lieback, what?!

You can lower off and clean with a 60 m rope as well--just have your belayer tie a knot at the end.


Edited later (2012) to add: the route poster states gear to 2, but I actually found a single #3 handy to have.

For those with #2 camalot hand jams, start is thin hands/fingers. Lieback seemed harder then just jamming the thing. Crux is definitely the start to the sweet ledge. I used .5 camalots to protect the start. The slabby face above the ledge is runout, but small micro-stoppers can be used if wanted. The direct finish is sooooooo sweet. 60m rope can get you off, or a hike off to climbers left.

One of the best routes that I've done at the City.

WOW! I agree that this is best trad line at the city. The route has one small rest about 15 ft up after the initial start, but 99% of the climb is amazing. I don't care if you call it 5.9+ or 5.10 - just a great climb that eats up gear. Climb the beginning like a jam crack!

Fairly easy to protect.

If setting up a top rope, probably best to leave 1 or 2 pieces in to protect against a large pendulum fall on the lower crux.

Face climbing the upper 3/4 isn't any harder than 5.8.

the right side start is pretty fun on TR, not sure about pro for a lead...

Like the first person to comment said, try jamming instead of liebacking. The start is a bit greasy and feels a ton more secure if jammed rather than liebacked, protects well. Not really sure why the guidebooks offers the warning of accidents on the bottom section as it protect well and can feel really secure.

Standard fist jams work just fine for the start. The top can be a little run out but just trust your ability and you'll reach the anchors.

For some amazing pictures have someone climb Twist and Crawl, the 5.8 to the right which is pretty fun. You'll get the climber coming up Bloody Fingers and the whole city in the background. The view is almost as good as the climb.

Just a bit of thin hands jamming at the start for the man hand set to provide difficulties. Nothing wrong with the climb, but it suffered from Pillowsoft Overhype Syndrome (POS) in my experience. A good time, a fun romp, but nothing mind blowing; not even a standout from several other trad 10a climbs I did at the City. Maybe I'm just the cranky outlier on this one, but I had more fun on several other climbs at the same grade in this area.