Beulahs Book, Red Rocks Route Photo

Beulahs Book 5.9

Solar Slab Wall, Oak Creek Canyon

  • Beulahs Book Sun ExposureRoute quality:
  • Beulahs Book First AscentRandal Grandstaff, Dave Anderson, 1979
  • Beulahs Book Pitch InfoNumber of pitches: 4
  • Beulahs Book Approach TimeApproach Time: ¾-1 hour
  • Beulahs Book Climbing TimeClimbing Time: 1½-2 hours
  • Beulahs Book Descent timeDescent Time: 1-2 hours to base
  • Beulahs Book Sun ExposureSun exposure: Sunrise until mid-afternoon
  • About the Climb

    Beulah's Book is an excellent short classic on the lower tier of the Solar Slab Wall and provides an awesome start to Solar Slab (5.6). Although short, it showcases a great mix of face, chimney and crack climbing.

    Beulah's Book is located right next to Johnny Vegas (5.7), which is an even more popular start to Solar Slab. It is a good alternative if Johnny Vegas is too crowded.

    The chimney on the second pitch is the highlight of Beulah's Book and is excellent practice if you want to do Epinephrine (5.9). If you don't like chimneys, there is also a very nice bolted face variation that avoids the chimney. After the face variation you get back onto the main route just in time for some amazing and steep laybacking. The last pitch has some easier, but a bit runout, face climbing.

    The route finishes on the right side of the Solar Slab ledge. To descent you can rappel down Johnny Vegas (5.7) or down the Solar Slab Gully (5.3). If there are climbers on Johnny Vegas, it is best to rappel down Solar Slab Gully. The Gully can become in waterfall in case it rain, so be careful in case of inclement weather.

    Beulahs Book (Red Rocks) GearLoopTopo {Beulahs Book (Red Rocks) GearLoopTopo

    Low Resolution GearLoopTopo Preview

    Minimum order of 3 GearLoopTopos

    The GearLoopTopo

    Our GearLoopTopo for Beulah's Book contains all the information you need for the climb, starting from the Oak Creek Parking. This parking is located near the end of the Scenic Drive. If you don't want to take the Scenic Drive you can also park outside the loop on the 159, at a small parking 0.5 mile after the loop exit.

    In addition to the topo for Beulah's Book, our GearLoopTopo also shows the topo for Going Nuts (5.6) in case you want to climb some more fun pitches. The rappel routes along Johnny Vegas (5.7) or the Solar Slab Gully are both given.

    Possible Combinations

    The most logical combination is to keep going on Solar Slab (5.6) after Beulah's Book. However, Solar Slab is a very popular route, so it might be busy. If Solar Slab is busy, it's possible to bypass by climbing Going Nuts (5.6), a fun two pitch climb from which you can reach the second belay of Solar Slab. If you don't want to go to the top of the Solar Slab Wall, you can climb the 2 pitches of Going Nuts. traverse right to Solar Slab, and then rap down back to the Solar Slab Ledge.

    If you don't want to climb a route on the upper tier, but still want to extend your day, check out the also popular Johnny Vegas (5.7) which is just to the right of Beulah's Book.

    Similar Climbs

    Johnny Vegas (5.7) is a similar climb in length, but it doesn't have a chimney section. Another climb of similar length and difficulty is Refried Brains (5.9) in Black Velvet Canyon. It has a superb crux pitch up a really good crack.

    Frigid Air Buttress (5.9+) in Icebox Canyon is also similar in grade, but is significantly longer. It has a nice big ledge at almost every belay, and deserves to be climbed more. Despite its name, the route can get hot.

    If you liked the chimney section and want more of that, go for the super classic Epinephrine (5.9). It has 3 fantastic pitches of 5.9 chimney in a row. Note that this is a much longer and more committing climb than Beulah's Book.

    Beulahs Book and Oak Creek Canyon, Red Rocks Back to Red Rocks overview

    1. Black Orpheus (5.9+)
    2. Beulah's Book (5.9)
    3. Johnny Vegas (5.7)
    4. Going Nuts (5.6)
    5. Solar Slab (5.6)
    6. Levitation 29 (5.11c)
    7. Eagle Dance (5.10c, A0)

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