If you are not familiar with Wall Street / Potash Rd in Moab, UT just know that you cannot find routes with a shorter approach. You drive up, you toss out your gear, you jump on the rock. Easy.
Today I want to highlight one area for kids – The Schoolroom Slabs
Directions: Take Potash Road from town and pass the Jaycee campground. School Room slabs are near the start of Wall Street, at the second pullout on the right after the campground. The main section of Wall Street starts immediately after these slabs. For more info visit Mountain Project.
What to Expect: The pull out for Schoolroom Slabs is large and spacious compared to most pull outs on Wall Street. That is why we originally chose it. When I said the approaches on Wall Street were “easy”, or rather non-existent, I didn’t always mean they were kid-safe. A somewhat busy road, with rock walls on one side and a river on the other side, invites the imagining of all sort of of kid tragedy. Especially if, like us, your kids are hovering around the toddler ages.
There are roughly 4 routes perfect for kids, newbies, or a large group of beginner climbers. Routes range from 5.2 to 5.7, and the anchors can be reached by scrambling a class four section, if you’d like to top rope.
This location is perfect for youngsters and right down the wall [left or right] are more difficult climbs for the advanced kid or parent. If you are new to desert climbing, or new to climbing at all -make this your first stop.
Now for the “eh” moments?
Honestly, not being overly accustomed to the area, we spent the largest part of our time trying to figure out what is what. Maybe we don’t have the right guide book, but the sheer number of routes matched with the endless wall that lacks any seriously contrasting landmarks, led to a little confusion.
Secondly, we were schooled, or rather proven unschooled, in teaching our kids slab technique. Trust your feet I’d say. To the boy who normally forgets they even exists during a climb. Let us just say there are was an adjustment period. Our kids had fun but were unsettled by the lack of handhold or footholds. At one point my daughter just hugged the rock and started screaming. My son went for the road-runner approach and it worked, till about the third bolt. Lowering off the rock was well…interesting, as the sit-back-in-the-harness thing was more mentally challenging. Not sure why, but it just was. So be prepared.
“At one point my daughter just hugged the rock and started screaming.”
Laugh out loud, seriously! I have been there myself. In fact, I think this is the reasonable person’s first response to climbing sandstone slabs. All other responses are just exercises in denial.
Oh my goodness. Until I enlarged the picture, it looked like your little one may have been lead climbing! He’s on a top rope right? Kids climbing is impressive, but lead climbing had my jaw dropping.
OH, no, not on lead. Yet:). We let him “clean” the route for the first time. And he loved it! Just got a little frustrated with some of the quick draws that were for difficult to unclip.
The rope clipped to the back was for a second adult to aid in the coming-back-down process, since the boy in the picture [actually friend of our family] was hesitant to trust his harness and walk back down.
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Looks like fun!! I plan to take my boys climbing soon, need to brush up on my skills first. What a great way to spend time outside!
Thanks for sharing. I’ve thought about taking the kiddos there, but every route I’ve been on there is literally right on the road so I didn’t think it would be the most family friendly. Next time we get down that way, I’ll check that little area out 🙂
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