UKC

Andy Kirkpatrick shares beta, tips and techniques for any mortals who wish to climb The Nose on El Capitan, Yosemite.

"How tough do you need to be..? The idea of being 'tough' is probably odd, as most people simply focus on 'how hard can you climb', but a route like The Nose (and many other world class routes) require much more of you than how well your muscles can contract..."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6505

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great article, just one correction, the chimney pitch you refer to is the Texas Flake, not the Boot flake.

In reply to UKC Articles:

"Andy Kirkpatrick has climbed El Cap twenty five times"


Difficult to imagine anyone better qualified to write this article. Brilliant stuff Andy - compulsory reading for anyone thinking of doing it.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Best time(s) of year to try it?

In reply to Graham Hoey:

May/June and Sept/October are best. June and Sept can be hot. Going after labour day in mid sept means you can get a two week stay at Camp 4, which makes things much easier.

In reply to Graham Hoey:


May or October are the conventional recommendations. I suggest June as the route is less crowded and there is more daylight. It's getting too warm on the valley floor for short south-facing routes but temperatures are usually ideal up on the wall.


This is a good article for people aiming to take 4-5 days. I'm not so sure about the clothing recommendations though. Light coloured pants? Tom Evans will not be impressed!

Anyone like Graham, who should be aspiring to go a little faster, might be interested in a different take on how to climb The Nose: http://tinyurl.com/qbel2r5

In reply to duncan:

It says in that link that you can free 80% of the route, if you can climb 5.10. Looking at the grade conversion chart, 5.10d equates to E3ish. An E3 climber could free 80% of the route? I know that's a pretty flawed way to look at it, but I've never seen an accurate estimate if how the pitches would compare to UK trad grades.

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

IMHO most of the Stoveleg pitches would be E2 on their own.
By far the most terrifying pitch on the route thpugh was The Texas Flake described in Andy's article, 5:8?????

Also I'd say if all your team are slick and experienced go with a 3 as like Andy says it's a great system. If not though you could have 3 clusterf*cks at every belay instead of 2.

E

In reply to Enty:
Ta. Not this year most likely, unless I get lucky with a strong partner who doesn't mind me making up the numbers.

The Texas Flake does worry me the most! :S

Maybe I'm reading the topo wrong, but it looks like the stove legs is 5.9. If 5.9 feels E2, what does the 5.10+ feel like? Eek!!!

In reply to UKC Articles:

I had a conversation a few days ago with someone who insisted that "no one" took a hammer on the nose any more and that it was now C2+ with some actually reasonably involved aid on it.

True?

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:



FWIW I have always found that you are better of using the US grade as a tech grade, 5.9 = 5b, so a 5.9 can be HVS to E3 depending on the style/gear,


Chris

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

Don't make the mistake that a lot of Brits do and directly translate the grades into UK grades. They are very different as Enty has said.

There are pitches which, on a straight translation, would seem pretty straightforward, but are quite hard. And others that are the other way around.

I found that the ability to move quickly and change from aid to free without a thought very important. When free climbing and a move / section becomes tricky and you have to slow down and really think about, just start aiding. It helps you move much more quickly. It is about getting to the top, not freeing every little move - not for me anyway as I am certainly not good enough.

It's an awesome adventure and I would go back and do it again or one of the other big walls in a heart beat if I had the time.

Don't worry about Texas Flake. Just work out the pitches so your partner leads that one!

Rich.

In reply to Richard White:

I did try to find a topo with a reasonable translation, but I couldn't.

Regarding the Texas Flake. Was thinking I could hang around at the bottom, get a top rope from another party.

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Comments like that make me really appreciate the UK grading system.

In reply to 1poundSOCKS:


There is that option, but you will feel much happier if you do it between you. From what my partner said, it's not too hard, just quite scary. Of course, it's easy for me to say, I didn't lead it.

Don't be tempted to take a stick clip as you will end up here; http://www.elcapreport.com/content/elcap-report-92313 winning the somewhat dubious "STICK OF THE DAY" award.

Rich.

In reply to UKC Articles:

I would also say hauling direct from the ground to sickle ledge by tieing all your ropes together is more favourable than trying to haul each of the first 4 pitches individually.

I would reccommend taking a ledge as you can stop anywhere and will give you the confidence to keep going even if all the natural ledges are crowded.

If your going as a three, iw would also invest in a 2:1 hauling rachet and learn how to use it before leaving the UK. You can also use this to haul past the knots when hauling to sickle.

I always go for 4 litres per man per day. At times I've emptied lots on the summit but the last time we had 2 litres left between 3 of us to bivi and get back down but that was in June.

Breakfast - apple pot plus cereal with milk powder in a zip lock bag.
Lunch - cliff bars and sweets
Dinner - powdered mash, spam slice out of a foil packet and cheese strings. Twizzlers for desert.

In reply to AJM:

No one takes a hammer, but I've lost a lot of nuts over the years by partners who couldn't get them out, so maybe having a very light hammer (like one from a DIY shop) for the second may be worth it.

Speed wise I know of very few climbers who have onsighted The Nose in a day, and most people practice it to death and have many attempts before cracking it.

I know E7 (8a) leaders who couldn't free 5.9 pitches on the Nose (you tend to be far from fresh), so don't head up there with too much ego or you will fail! Climb it once anyway you can, then climb it again to improve on it (most sub 10 hour ascents have climbed it 10 or more times).

Andy

In reply to UKC Articles:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=714500

This is how I cleaned the king swing which worked really well and fast.

In reply to andy kirkpatrick:

Great article ..i fell into every pitfall you mention !! not quite Arnold but I may be back !

In reply to death drop:

We'll be back.

E