UKC

I'm planning a trip to Yosemite next year, and figured that this route would make a good objective. I'm mainly going to be doing free climbs out there, so am going to buy (download) the Supertopo Yosemite Valley & Tuolumne Free Climbs guidebooks.

I don't really want to have to fork out the cost of the whole Supertopo Big Walls book in addition to the other two books just for the 1 route. Does anyone know if there is a way to download just this route, or if there is a good topo for free online somewhere?

I'm leading up to E1 at the moment, so will have to aid some of the harder pitches (although plenty of time to train before next year, so will hopefully be climbing a bit harder!). Anyone who's done the route - what sort of aiding gear would you need for a route like this? I'd like to go as light as possible - ie no portaledge etc, and just one bivi on the route. It would be good to have a look at the topo & description to figure out if it is a reasonable objective for someone climbing E1, and with no aiding experience.

In reply to Chris Sansum:

Here you'll get some beta and a free topo. It's quite detailed, too.

http://lamountaineers.org/NAC/browserf/climbs/halfdome/beta.htm

In reply to Chris Sansum:

You'll find a topo and beta here, half way down the photos: http://www.mountainproject.com/v/california/yosemite_national_park/yosemite...
Bivvy on Big Sandy. Aid the zig zags - straightforward on nuts - and the slab pitch at the top... maybe some others. You'd be able to climb it this way at E1, I'd have thought.

I'll come Chris! As planning an April/May trip to Yosemite myself.

In reply to Sheffield Sam:

Hi Sam. I'm aiming for the beginning of June. Probably 2 or 3 weeks. May is a busy time at work, so I can't take leave then. I think there is a good chance of snow on the approaches in April. I already have a partner arranged, but if you and a partner want to meet up with us out there that would be cool.

In reply to Chris Sansum:

It's a reasonable but tough objective for a competent E1 team. More important than lead grade is efficiency and general fitness: can you climb the ~17 pitches to Big Sandy in a day, then get up after a cold night and do the equivalent (less climbing but more walking) again?

You have the choice of going "big wall" style and haul or treat it like an alpine rock route and have the second carry a pack most of the time, climbing or jumaring as most efficient, perhaps just hauling the zig-zags. I think the latter is probably the better idea unless you anticipate taking several days.

Rack would as for a big UK trad. route: 2 sets cams (perhaps triples of mediums) to about Friend 4; 2 sets wires; 15 or so slings and QDs.
The only specialist gear needed on an semi-alpine style ascent would be one pair of Jumars and two pairs of aiders.

Early June could well be too early. This year there was snow on Half Dome in May that persisted into June. Late June-early September would be better for Half Dome (and Tuolumne) and make a lightweight bivi tolerable.

Half Dome 28th May 2010: http://tinyurl.com/2d9jxdu

In reply to duncan:

Thanks. That's a lot of snow! Although maybe the US had similar freak weather to us last year. Definitely not planning to take the crampons. I was going by the recommendations in the Supertopo guidebook (not specifically for this route though) - but you're right, it could be worth considering a slightly later date.

Why would you have 2 pairs of aiders but just 1 set of jumars (I've got those already!)? Sorry for my lack of knowledge on this - this is all new.

I've seen a couple of websites mentioning taking 'cam hooks'. Any idea what they are, and whether they are necessary?

In reply to Chris Sansum: Great trip and goal! To add to the insights above, a friend of mine just got back from attempting the NW face of HD. Though he onsights 5.11+ trad, and though his partner has completed 5 walls prior and leads 5.12 trad, they got a beating on HD. The big lesson they learned was the level of fitness required: 9 mile hike gaining 5,000 odd feet with packs, in v hot conditions, without being properly acclimated to the altitude really kicked their butts. They got a few pitches up and realized, even on 'easy' ground, that they weren't going to make it in the day-and-a-half they'd planned. They only had 6 days in the Valley, so didn't have a second chance. Next trip, better prep, etc...

So all-around fitness and a good plan for how long you want to spend on the wall (and thus how much stuff you need to carry up to the base) seems useful to think about.

Good luck - it sounds like a great adventure!

In reply to Chris Sansum:

A word of caution, I spent a night in a storm on big sandy, and it was a tad chilly climbing out the next morning! The forcast didn't predict it and like all good alpine storms it came unseen from over the back. It's a rock climb that can go 'alpine on yer ass' so to speak.

As others have mentioned it is the sum of it's parts, it's not a stroll to get to. If you don't take the water up with you then check the spring at the base is running.

Good luck,

Steve

In reply to Chris Sansum: One other idea if you're wondering about preparation climbs for HD - Regular Route on fairview dome in Tuolumne is superb - 11 or so pitches, 5.9 and easier. Would get you used to the altitude as well. Season dependent though - you'd be looking at July-Sept. Free topo at Supertopo.com.

In reply to Chris Sansum:

I tried an early season ascent many years ago. The snow slope at the bottom looked ok from the carpark in Curry Village but it was about 75m high and 60º when we got there.
The bergschrund was about 2m wide and about 20m deep.
I had to lower in about 2m using a piece of wood to stop the rope cutting through the snow, clip a peg about halfway up the 2nd pitch then start climbing upwards on the rock (imagine the rope drag)
By the time we'd done 4 pitches (aiming for Big Sandy) it was about 11am so we bailed

E

In reply to Chris Sansum:
NW face of Half Dome is on my lifetime hopes list as well, so I'll be really interested to hear how you get on. One thing you might want to check out is the Supertopo "Road to the Nose" download book - it takes a really good structured look at the way to build up to El Cap to give the best chance of success, and the last route on the "Road" before El Cap is Half Dome! So just throw away the last chapter! (or extend your aspirations!)

It's $14.95 to download, and the blurb says
"In our Road to The Nose guidebook, big wall master Chris McNamara takes you through a graduated series of 14 climbs of increasing difficulty to help you build skills, speed, endurance and comfort with big wall exposure. A SuperTopo for each of the 14 climbs is included, along with special tips and beta to help you. The program is split into five chapters:
Chapter 1: Overview of Your Road to The Nose
Chapter 2: Five Routes to Practice Aid Climbing
Chapter 3: Five Long Free Climbing Routes
Chapter 4: Five Classic Big Wall Routes
Chapter 5: Are You Ready for the Big Stone?
"

It has a lot of specifically useful info for big-wall novices, and topos/strategies/rack info/tech tips etc.

Cheers
Andy

In reply to Chris Sansum:


Leader needs one pair of aiders (on some pitches), second jumars (on some pitches). Jumaring set-up commonly uses a second set of aiders but you could get away with one set if you rig the jumars with slings. A second set of aiders is more flexible and gives the team some redundancy if you drop an aider.

Basic jumaring technique: youtube.com/watch?v=H8KRKWEMwyA&
(lots of other good videos in this series)


Cam hooks: http://mosesclimbing.com/cam-hooks/
I don't think necessary on Half Dome Regular Route.

Dave outlines a typical failure of a team with limited time. Even very strong climbers take time to get over jet-lag, acclimatise to the temperature and altitude, and many take quite a long time to adjust to the Yosemite style of climbing. Adverse weather and other teams on your route can further delay you. Your chances of success will be much, much greater on a >3 week trip than on a two week one.

In reply to Chris Sansum:

Just a comment about aiding, if you haven't done it before... you can potentially get into one hell of a mess. Be methodical and rack everything where you know where it is. It's usual (or it was... Duncan?) to have three aiders - what we also call etriers. On one route I once stepped into the one clipped to my harness, which is not exactly text book and ends in tears.

In reply to jon:

Im sorry Jon im sure it wasn't funny at the time but this nearly made me spit my coffee out luaghing, sounds much like something I would do.

Aid practice then Chris?

In reply to Sheffield Sam:

No worries... it was even funnier at the time.

In reply to jon:


Different folk use two, three or four (as two pairs) aiders and there are pros and cons of each system. For the straight-forward clean aid on Half Dome, I think most people would recommend keeping it fairly simple with two lightweight aiders like these: http://www.supertopo.com/review/Metolius-Alpine-Aider

A good point about practicing everything beforehand.

In reply to jon:

The aid section on N.W. Face Regular are VERY easy though, I remember two short bolt-ladders (they were actually 6" nails hammered into aluminium sleeving iirc) on vertical rock. 10 mins max for each section


Chris

In reply to duncan:

Does the regular route get soloed much Duncan? Or is there not really enough harder aid to make it worth while?

E

In reply to Chris Sansum:
Hi Chris,

Did this route last september. Can't really help with the topo but I was climbing at a similar grade I think our experiences might be of use. We hauled a small haul bag and the leader hauled whilst the second jummared. Climbing with a seconds rucksack would be difficult imo due to the amount of water you need to carry, and also climbing the chimneys around pitches 13-16. In terms of gear, the obvious jummars, etriers etc but no need for a portaledge or any specialist gear (apart from 2 cam hooks, i'll get on to that...)
Day 1, walk in and climb the first 4 pitches and leave fixed ropes. Possibly 1 or 2 points of aid on the first pitch, multiple points of aid on the 4th pitch (especially at the start). I would say it's worth taking the extra rope to be able to fix the first 4 as the 4th pitch is time consuming and would be a pain to be the first pitch of the long 2nd day. You can always just drop that rope and collect it later if you don't want to haul it up with you. Sleep at the base.
Day 2, Jummar first 4 pitches, free climb the majority up to big sandy (pitch 17). There's one easy bolt ladder (possibly pitch 11) with a pendulum but pretty straightforward stuff. Big sandy has plenty of room (8 ppl approx).
Day 3, the zigzags go at about E1 but for speed we pulled on the odd bit of gear. At the Thank God Ledge make sure you know how to lower out a haul bag (simple but worth practising). After TGL is the mandatory aid pitch. I reckon you might be able to do this with some RP's or possibly offsets but camhooks work really well and aren't very expensive, I'd say it'd be worth you picking 2 up(large and medium, maybe 2 medium). After that it's plain sailing and then a long walk.
There's some decent easy cracks low down in the valley (the cathedral?) which are worth having a quick go of aid on before you get on the wall, day 2 is long and you want to be moving well.
Hope this ramble is of some help!

In reply to PTatts:


WHAT? Since when has 12a, 10d and 12b been E1?

In reply to Chris Sansum: When we climbed the nw face as a previous poster mentioned we decided to treat it as an alpine climb... one pack ,mimimum food and water, one set of aid gear and a light(ish) rack....
Early start from the valley..started climbing at 10ish...bivi on pitch 11 bivi..topped out next day and walked down.
In retrospect we made things harder for ourselves....a very cold night!(only small overbag and no thermarests/matts)...and even seconding with a pack was a mission!!...the second having to jummar/ aid etc on a fair few pitches.
I would say...bivi and go for the light and fast approach( with food/water stashed for the descent...if the bears dont get it!..they got ours!)...OR take longer and do it in comfort and enjoy it over a few days...

In reply to jon:
I don't have the topo infront of me but don't remember it being that hard. I remember a couple of aid moves with mostly free climbing so maybe I just aided the 5.12 parts. I was pretty certain supertopo gave the middle pitch 10b but again my memory may be failing me.

In reply to PTatts:

Even my old Yosemite Select by Don Reid gives them 11d, 10b, 11d.
11d in Yosemite is E5 in English money. You must have pulled on more than you remember...!

In reply to jon:

hoping to do this in a few weeks (end of sept). we want to go light as possible, and will plan to do it over 2 days with a bivvi on big sandy.

how cold is it up there at that time of year generally? do most people just bring a light bivvi bag or do you usually need a sleeping bag?

In reply to jussy:
Did it around this time of year and took sleeping bags but reckon we could have got away with being a bit more lightweight. Essentially given yosemite weather it could be sweltering heat or a snow storm, until you're there and have an upto date forcast I wouldn't make the call.

In reply to jon:
Ah well! I reckon the 11d parts are shortlived or maybe I'm a massive sandbagger... otherwise I reckon my info could be useful!

In reply to PTatts:

The thing about most Yosemite cracks is the that the difficulty comes from how utterly sustained they are. Once you start pulling on a few pieces and resting on others is it destroys that sustained-ness. Nevertheless to suggest that the zig zags go at E1 is a HUGE sandbag. E5 or A0, take your pick... really easy aiding - that's how I did it, but that was so long ago. Shit, 31 years ago! That's why I suggested an E1 leader could manage it.

Thanks for all of the useful insights. I'm getting very excited about the idea of doing this route, and the trip in general. I'm thinking June will probably be too early, so maybe a 3 week trip starting around the 2nd week of July next year would be good. I went there a long time ago on a walking trip, and it was absolutely cooking in the valley in July, but the heat there will probably be worth putting up with to get the long routes done without it being uncomfortably cold high up. Also it sounds like Tuolumne is better around that time.

Going back to the original question, on reflection I may as well just buy one of the two books with the NW face route topo. As this route will be the main objective of the trip, it would be ridiculous not to spend the money to get the best topo and description available.

Has anyone downloaded/bought both books ('Road to the Nose' and 'Yosemite Big Walls')? I'm guessing that the topos and information on the Half Dome NW Face route are exactly the same, since they are both Supertopo books by the same author? In which case the Road to the Nose might be the better option as it is cheaper and has useful info on getting started aiding.

Thanks again for all of the info.

Chris

In reply to Chris Sansum:

If it hasn't been already suggested, visit the supertopo web forums. There's some up to date info on there.

Steve