UKC

I went to Yosemite to try and solo a wall, I started off by attempting a hammerless ascent of North America Wall.. generally things did not quite go to plan!

I put a (fairly gratuitous) short vid together about the experience.. youtube.com/watch?v=pIihp7awxrI&

Enjoy. Feedback welcome!

In reply to natetan:

Nice one Nate. What was the route you bailed on, Washington Column? Just a month till I am in the Valley looking at the Nose with a partner, and have been doing some back rope soloing. Epically slow, 5% climbing, 95% faff, especially with trad belays. Did you sort out your hips re hauling? Mine are raw after one pitch of 2:1 hauling a big bag, and 31 maybe a show stopper. Contemplating getting a piece of foam mat to slip inbetween harness and hips, cheaper than another harness!

In reply to philhilo:

I thought best bit was at the end, where he admits that 'aid's not that great'. Some good footage and a very honest report.

In reply to natetan:

Great little vid, I enjoyed that

In reply to natetan:

I enjoyed that. The ending though... The endless stare toward the nose... Next up?

PS your helmet fits poorly wrong shape?

In reply to natetan:

Thanks for that enjoyed it. 'specially the bikinis ; )

In reply to natetan:

Fun video. Fair play.

In reply to philhilo:
I bailed on North America Wall (El Cap). Trad belays and solo is def more of a faff - bolted belays in Yosemite make that much nicer.

Re; sore hips.. it was me just being stubborn; I thought the Arcteryx trad hardness would be fine and I try not to buy more than I need to. Basically a stiffer harness should be fine - not had a problem hauling/jumaring with other harnesses in the past (which are not wafer thin). At any rate I broke the little buckle (stripped it/folded in two) in a fall so I took it back and now have a stiffer BD hardness that would probably be fine. All in all a bad choice for big wall!

If you suffer sore hips - maybe consider a big wall specific harness - those things are massive and should help somewhat. It would be money well spent - foam mat might be more effort than it is worth.

In reply to zimpara:
Not quite the ending that bit.. another few min after that. (NA Wall is on the nose - sort of up the not quite as steep section to the right of the nose)

More likley my head is the wrong shape.. tho I only noticed this during editing

In reply to natetan:

I'm glad I'm not the only one that talks to myself as I check my systems

In reply to natetan:

Pretty cool vid!

In reply to natetan:

How did you learn to rope solo?

In reply to natetan:

Nice one Natetan, I went over to Yosemite last year and soloed Washington column, had to bail as well, have a look at the link below if you get a chance. im thinking of going to the verdon next time. much closer!!!!

http://www.supertopo.com/tr/First-big-wall-and-first-solo-washington-column...