[Hide Comment] Very nice slab route. If you called the crux move 9-, you'd get no argument from me. Third pitch doesn't seem worth doing. Sep 11, 2007

[Hide Comment] I agree, .9- is about right for that second pitch. I did this as a second around the time I first started climbing and had a hard time. I could likely go back and ace it on lead now. I never saw the bolt line for the third pitch though, so we rapped down from there. Oct 18, 2007

[Hide Comment] Nice route. Solid 5.8 moves at the start of Pitch #2. After completing the 2nd pitch, ended up going out far right for the 2nd pitch of Dome Driver and Boston to create a fun 3rd pitch link up on MOTB. Nov 9, 2009

[Hide Comment] A great climb to introduce mult-pitch sport climbing technique with an experienced climber (if you can handle the single brief crux section that is). Jun 10, 2010

[Hide Comment] Is it possible to rap from P1 anchors to ground with one 60m rope? Or are 2 required? Aug 13, 2012

[Hide Comment] It is NOT possible to reach the ground from the P1 anchors with a 60m rope. You need two ropes to rapel safely. With a 60m you either go up and finish the climb or potentially traverse left and down to the anchors at the fat man flake (easier than it looks route) and rapel from there. You will just barely make it to the slab ledge left of easier than it looks. you can down climb from there (class 2/3). Nov 2, 2012

[Hide Comment] First bolt is rather run out, as with most bolted climbs at E-rock. First pitch is relatively straightforward. I carried an alpine draw that I clipped into the second belay station (which is somewhere b/w 30-40 ft above the first belay station) and kept moving. Like others, could not find the bolt line at a certain point high on the face, so I traversed right about 25-35 ft onto the black streak. There are bolts over there, and that's how I've done the route several times now. The traverse is poorly protected, but if you got through the first pitch, the moves over to the black streak shouldn't get you feeling too queazy. Can't speak to the descent of the route. I usually top out and find the rap station to the climber's right; it's well right of Sweat, as I recall. If you explore a few of the ledges on top of the main dome and you'll find them; they're in a safe location, so if you have to down-climb something sketchy, you've done something wrong. It's possible to rap from here with a single 70m (a 60m may work, but I can't say that I've tried it) and walk back to your gear at the base of the climb. Mar 2, 2013

[Hide Comment] From the P1 anchors we traversed climbers right, onto a ledge system that took us to the anchors of Boston/The Kracken, which are on the face behind a tree. From here we rapped with one 70m rope, and it was the perfect length to set us down at the left side of Cheap Wine Wall. Nothing less would do it without a downclimb. Apr 22, 2013

[Hide Comment] Just did this again a few days ago. The third pitch can be done with a short unprotected traverse to a line of bolts to the right. Not sure if this is the intended line, but it is a short pitch and fast way to the top. Climbing seems 4th class from the anchors at the top of pitch 3. I also noticed that the route is icy in the morning this time of year, making the first pitch feel much harder than what is supposed to be the crux on the second pitch. Feb 11, 2014

[Hide Comment] Finished this climb with my son yesterday - very fun and not overly difficult. Couldn't find the bolts for the last pitch (like many others here). The bolts in the pictures here, which are about 20-25 feet to the climber's right, belong to Dome Driver, after it connects with Hartford. Despite the guides saying there are two bolts above the last pitch, the actual route maps don't show any additional bolts on pitch 3 for Mark of the Beast nor for Harder than it Looks. As mentioned, though, it's an easy enough climb up the slope and over the top of the dome. There's a nice run out with plenty of small gnammas to keep your footing. Overall very fun climb and excellent for our first multi-pitch route. Aug 4, 2014

[Hide Comment] We just climbed this last weekend and I agree it's a great intro to multi-pitch. Like everyone else, we didn't see any bolts after P2 anchors. In fact, our guide book says it's just a runout/walkoff after P2 anchors. Instead of going right to what appears to be the Dome Driver bolts, we traversed the ledge left to the P2 anchors for Harder Than It Looks and walked up out from there (we were much less confident going straight up and definitely didn't see any rap anchors on this route). Sep 28, 2015

[Hide Comment] Can someone explain what stops you from just rapping back to each of the belay stations to do a rap retreat? Nov 11, 2015

[Hide Comment] Had a friend interested in a multi-pitch climb and suggested Beast as a good starting point.
The routes were dry, thankfully, with great weather.
This is a good climb, with plenty of bolts. For a beginner it's a good long climb with the option to top out on the dome.

If only going to P1, the following link is a good technique for a long rap with a short rope.

climbing.com/skills/long-ra…
Enjoy. GGS Apr 11, 2016

[Hide Comment] Tricky to see the bolts from the ground so take your time while looking for it. We topped out on this route and walked off the front side of the dome to end our day. With a 70m we were able to link pitches 2 and 3 with no problem. The crux is tricky but well protected. Jan 27, 2017

[Hide Comment] Just wanted to drop in and say (since it's a bit ambiguous from previous posts) that a 70m is also insufficient for rapping from the P1 anchors. Attempted to simul rap thinking the extra stretch would get us there, ended up about 25ft from the ground. You CAN pendulum to the formation to the left of the route and scramble down, but it wasn't terribly fun. Feb 24, 2017

[Hide Comment] Did this beauty today for the first time and it's now one of my favorites. Also wanted to add that in Sean O'Grady's guidebook he says the third pitch goes up and right off of Broadway through three bolts to two top anchors. And you can rap off this route with one 70m rope by rapping down to the pitch 2 anchors and from there down to the anchors directly next to the Fatman flake. These anchors will take you to the top of two giant boulders leaning against the dome, at which point you can hike down class 2/3 to bottom. As for the grade, for me, the first couple moves on pitch 2 feel just as hard as the crux on Ripple which goes at 5.9+ so I would call it a 5.9 Oct 15, 2017

[Hide Comment] Great route. Two solid slab 5.8 moves off the belay to start the second pitch--but every other move on the route is easier than Harder Than It Looks. This route is more closely bolted as well. Dec 2, 2018

[Hide Comment] Ty, sorry you didn't enjoy it. MOTB is actually well-bolted by E-Rock standards, but yes, the bolts are still more spaced than you'll find at a lot of sport crags in this country.

There are many "sport" routes here that are much, much more run out than this one is. I know of one 90' 5.8 that has just two bolts. So most of E-Rock's bolted routes are not really what most think of when it comes to sport routes. Reimers Ranch is a Texas location that has bolting more in line with what most are expecting.

The old-timers at E-Rock followed an old-school style of bolting only where they felt the moves were hard or where they could find stances to drill. I respect it and sometimes feel scared at the same time. Those guys were way bolder than I am.

And I agree about the anchors, which technically are not for MOTB, though most use them. It is the same with the top anchors for other multi-pitch routes here. The developers may have had in mind that most people would carry two ropes and rap that way, but many use just one rope and walk off, or they find the News Wall anchors to rap back down and do more climbs. Jul 10, 2019

[Hide Comment] Partner and I climbed this on Dec 31 2019. We did not have any issues finding the bolt lines - we followed the topo picture that is on this site showing all the Devil's Wall and Cheap Wine Wall routes. And then we scrambled and hiked off after pitch 3. We brought a second rope because of everyone on here saying they couldn't find the bolt lines, but we did not need it. This was my first multipitch, and while leading the first pitch was heady (there is more space between bolts than at sport crags), it was still a great introduction to multipitching I think. We placed a C4 #2 cam near the start of pitch 3, but probably not necessary as the climbing is all easy after the crux on pitch 2. The first anchors are kind of hard to see (very rusted) and suck to belay from. Jan 19, 2020

[Hide Comment] Very chill climb for ERock. Partner and I did it to warm up before trying some of the harder backside climbs. So glad we did because it was fun!

Linked P2 and P3. A lot of the climb felt like 5.6 with some moves that kinda seemed like 5.7/5.8. Jan 27, 2020

[Hide Comment] Any start this climb prior to sunrise? Wanting to beat the heat. Jul 23, 2020