The first article in a series of three, Olly Tippett provides an introduction to his Big Wall Skills series, including a brief overview of the discipline, a quick look at the logistics of climbing in Yosemite, and a detailed list of the extra gear that you'll need to get started.

Introduction to Big Wall Skills

El Capitan is often seen as the final goal for many rock climbers. Few things are as outrageous as spending several days slowly scaling a kilometre tall face, sleeping on a portaledge, and climbing with so much air below you. However, there are a few misconceptions about big wall climbing that stop some people thinking it can be for them. 

The main example of this is the idea that you need to be able to climb hard to have a chance. In reality, for most routes you don't need to be able to climb any harder than HVS. Some are even possible climbing nothing harder than HS. Big wall climbing is definitely a reasonable short-term goal for anyone with a couple of years of multi-pitch trad climbing experience.

The other thing that puts people off is all the extra skills you need to learn. There's enough for it all to feel slightly overwhelming at first, but with a bit of practice anyone can succeed. These three articles are going to try to give an overview of the main things you'll need to know before attempting a big wall, and will hopefully give some tips to make things more streamlined. They are by no means a comprehensive guide.

There's a remarkable amount of literature on big wall climbing nowadays, and I'd strongly recommend further reading before embarking on a Yosemite trip. It's also vital to practice these skills before you go. 

If you prepare well, few climbing experiences feel as good as cruising up a big wall. However, if you fail to prepare, few places feel as scary.

Yosemite Logistics

Yosemite is by far the best place to get into big wall climbing. The approaches and descents are all relatively straightforward, it's easy to get there, there's loads of beta available on routes, the weather is predictable, belays are mostly bolted, and most importantly there are cafes and tax-free beer.

Its issues mainly stem from it being a hugely popular destination for non-climbing tourism. Camping can be a pain, and you only have a certain number of days a year you can stay there. These issues are easily avoidable, though the method by which you can avoid them is probably best not published online! 

A vehicle makes existing in the valley a little easier, mainly in terms of getting to and from walls when the shuttle bus isn't running early in the morning. It's also useful for storing gear if you don't have a campsite. They're not required though, and if you're looking to save money it's easy to get public transport to the Valley and go carless. 

Partners are a major part of your success at climbing big walls. For a first trip, it's best to train and learn all the skills with a partner and go with them. It's possible to find partners in Yosemite, though it's unlikely someone with a lot of experience will want to do a wall with someone with no experience that they don't know. Inexperienced partners you don't know are certainly a gamble, though once you have some experience, you can find some brilliant partners there.

Soloing walls takes away any issues you might have finding partners, but it also leaves you with no one to help if things go wrong or you don't know what to do. I soloed Zodiac as my second El Cap route and it felt adventurous, but I was confident in the practice I'd done to get myself to the top.

The more time you can afford to spend in Yosemite, the more you'll get out of a trip. If it's your first time doing big wall climbing, three weeks will feel like a very short amount of time to get up to speed and climb El Cap.

Extra Gear

You might not need to be strong to climb El Cap, but you do need to know how to place gear. If you're considering a Yosemite trip, you should probably already have access to a standard UK trad rack, and can hopefully cobble together a few sets of cams. The good news is that the easier routes require less gear, so can be done more cheaply.

Here are some of the things you might need to get your hands on:

Aid Ladders

These are webbing ladders, usually with around six steps. They are clipped into the gear you place and climbed to gain height. There are various methods of moving on anywhere from one to four ladders, but the simplest is to have two. If you are planning on climbing a more aid intensive wall, then it's worth getting comfortable ladders with wide steps as you'll be standing in them a long time.

Lanyards

I'd recommend using adjustable lanyards over daisy chains, which are now fairly outdated. They are used to position yourself on a piece and to stop you dropping your ladders. The most popular lanyards are the Petzl Evolv Adjusts, though the stock cord is too thick, making them a pain to constantly adjust. I'd recommend replacing the cord with something a little skinnier (8mm) straight away.

Alfifi

Whilst it isn't strictly necessary, an Alfifi saves a lot of time, and makes leading much more efficient. I personally wouldn't go up on a wall without one.

It's basically a fifi hook welded to a cam buckle with an adjustable webbing strap. This is used as the primary positioning device, bumped from piece to piece. The cam buckle can be released with one hand as you move the Alfifi, which means you don't need to spend time adjusting your lanyards. An Alfifi can also be released under load more easily, making it useful for cleaning traverses and roofs, and for top stepping. 

Jumars

Unless you're trying to free climb the route, you'll jumar pitches to second rather than reclimbing them. It's best for everyone on the team to have their own set of jumars as you won't have to pass them around and it gives you redundancy in case any get dropped.

Haul Bag

Haul bags are big durable bags designed to survive being dragged up miles of granite. In general I'd recommend going for the biggest possible as it's easier to underpack a big bag than overpack a small one. That being said, people with shorter arms may struggle to access the bottom of the largest bags.

Progress Capture Pulley (PCP)

You need a PCP for hauling your bags. It's perfectly acceptable to use a Micro Traxion (91% efficiency), though a Pro Traxion (95% efficiency) is slightly better. The Pro Traxion also has some other improvements, such as an integrated swivel and the ability to open it without unclipping it.

Ropes

Whilst you might be able to get away with the ropes you probably already have, an ideal rope for a big wall would be 10-10.5mm and ideally unicore. Having coreshot a cheap rope halfway up the Nose, I'm happy to invest in higher quality. A 60m is fine for most routes, with only a few harder ones requiring anything longer. 

As for haul lines, some suggest a dynamic rope is best as you can use it as a backup lead line in case the primary gets damaged. I use a static haul line as it's cheaper, more hardy, and hauling with it is slightly more efficient.

Many teams also carry a tagline, which can be a 60m section of skinny cord or old half rope.

Portaledge

Whilst there's a few routes that don't need a portaledge, having one allows you to sleep anywhere and eliminates the risk of turning up at your bivvy ledge and finding it full. If you want to go off the beaten track, a portaledge becomes an essential piece of kit.

If you are going to buy one, I'd highly recommend going with a small manufacturer over one of the big brands. John Middendorf pioneered portaledge designs, and made them all open source. Lots of independent manufacturers now sell their variations on his superior designs at a similar price to what the big companies sell their outdated designs for. I started using a Vision ledge recently and was blown away by how much better it was than the Metolius one I'd been borrowing.

Aid Progression Gear

Not much specialist gear is needed for beginner routes, though it does add up as the routes become harder. The guidebook should have a recommended rack for each route to help you know what you'll need.

Hooks

These are synonymous with aid climbing, though are probably more familiar to UK climbers as free climbing protection! They come in all different shapes and sizes, but for beginner routes you'll most likely need no more than a couple of each of the three sizes of BD hook. For more obscure routes you may need a bigger 3" and 4" hook. The Fierro Punkys (rated skyhooks) can also be nice to have on really hard pitches.

Cam Hooks

Cam hooks are interesting pieces of gear. They torque into thin cracks and allow you to climb clean through sections that otherwise may require a peg. Their issue is that you can't leave them for protection. They also don't work well in acute corners or in slanting cracks. I only really use them if all else fails, but normally take a couple with me in case.

Rivet Hangers

On all but the most popular routes you'll come across rivets. These vary in quality from being effectively hangerless bolts on routes like Tangerine Trip, to Harding's original aluminium dowels on The Wall of Early Morning Light. 

Wire hangers are good for progressing on. They come in a variety of cable widths for when the rivet head is more flush to the wall. I'll normally have one of these on each of my lead carabiners for the entire route. Plate hangers are better for leaving for protection. These slot over the rivets and can't come off once clipped. They'll often be stronger than the rivet they're attached to.

Offset Cams

These are really useful in pin scars and often fit where nothing else does. Totems are alright for flaring placements, but they're not as effective as offsets. They're a bit of an investment since they probably won't get much use in the UK, though you'll likely be happy to have them. 

Hammer

Although obviously essential on a nailing route, a small hammer is useful for getting stuck gear out on clean routes, especially nuts. For nailing routes, key features to look for when buying a hammer are a square striking surface for nailing into corners and a pick on the other side to get copperheads started and for more precise nailing. If you're looking to spend a bit more money but support an independent manufacturer then look up DAMMERRs, which have got some really cool features.

Beaks

These are the only real pegs I'd recommend buying. They come in three different sizes and are made by a few different brands. I'd recommend Moses Tomahawks as they're much easier to clean and feel more bomber than other brands I've used. BD beaks have an inexplicably weak (2kN) cable, which you should back up with webbing if you ever find yourself owning one. 

To some extent there's an art to placing beaks, but at the same time you are also just whacking a bit of metal with a hammer. Look for constrictions in the crack to wedge them in, as you would place a nut, and for any twisting or torquing action that would help lock it in.

Heads

In all likelihood, you probably won't need to place any. However, once you get off the most popular routes it is good to have the ability to replace missing heads.

Heads are basically swages of copper or aluminium that are mashed into flaring pods with a blunt chisel or circular punch. Whilst it used to be common to clean heads, this inevitably damages the rock, so nowadays they're left fixed.

Bolt Kit

Some of the rivets on El Cap are truly dire, so it is sensible to have an emergency bolt kit for the more adventurous routes in case you break one. The guidebook is pretty good at saying which routes you may need one for. 

Since power tools are forbidden in the Yosemite wilderness, you need to use a hand drill. In general, adding bolts to existing routes is a big no-no, but replacing broken rivets is fine.

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The next article in the series, focusing on Leading and Following, will be published on the 25th August.