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simzboardr
May 6, 2003, 6:14 PM
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I keep getting mixed opinions that are pages long about really technical stuff when i ask about climbing the nose.
I have been working on aid climbing alot and am going up to the Gunks just to aid as many cracks as i can and climb a bunch too for the nose.
What are the hardest parts of the Nose or big wall in general? I know im way into BWT but it takes the first time and there is no possible way that i am bailing off the nose in late July this year.
Im taking a ledge for a just in case kind of deal and so i can climb untill dark then just set up wherever.
If there was one piece of advice that i could snake outa you what would it be?
Get good at pendulums? Practice setting up ledge? ---
Anyone that is a super big help and maybe show me and my partner around this summer at Yosemite... well i'll hook you up with some of my God Biners if they get made... but thats still pending.
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atg200
May 6, 2003, 6:30 PM
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I would strongly suggest you consider your plans carefully. You will epic, suffer, and bail. The Nose is hotter than hell in July, and you are going to take a really long time since you don't really seem to know what you are doing. The Gunks cannot prepare you for El Cap - I was breezing through rope soloing all the Gunks aid pitches, and I got my butt handed to me when I jumped on El Cap. The people who succeed on El Cap tend to have done a lot of grade IV and grade V routes to get ready for it.
If you must go through with your plans, go in September or June. Go to New Hampshire and do the Prow on Cathedral Ledge - if you don't cruise it easily cancel your plane ticket. When you get to Yosemite, do some grade V walls like west face of the leaning tower and the south face of washington column. If they don't go pretty easily, don't bother getting on the Nose.
The climbing shouldn't seem that hard(or if it does you definitely shouldn't be there in the first place). Its the systems that will give you trouble - hauling, setting up belays, setting up bivies, etc. The enormity of the wall is also hard to deal with especially if you haven't eased in to it by doing a bunch of III, IV, and V routes first. Took me two humiliating failures to figure that out. Some people just jump right out and succeed on their first big wall without much training, but they are awfully rare.
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lambone
May 6, 2003, 6:47 PM
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Yeah, I'd more or less agree, but I wouldn't be so discouraging about it. You can do it if you want it bad enough, anyone can. But Practice, practice, practice. Not only leading aid pitches. Do lots of long endurance days, get yourelf stronger than you've ever been. This will decrease the chances of having to bail. Practice your systems so you can be effcient at the belays, get your hauling technique dialed.
Weight will kill you on the Nose. I'd say most people bail because they can't haul all their crap fast enough. Take Chris Mac's advice (from Supertopos) go light and fast, be able to free the 5.10 pitches. That means leave the portaledge behind. If you can't then pick a different route. You'll have more fun.
Personaly I won't do the Nose untill I am positive that I can do it in two bivi's. For me that is going to mean more wall experience and alot more physical training. Until then I will slog up the steeper routes.
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kevlar
May 6, 2003, 7:02 PM
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Check out this book on Yosemite... Chris MaNamara with some others...has created a good book...on Yosemite climbs...with some of the best beta I have yet to see in any other book...
retails for some 29.95...have a friend who bought it for less on ebay?? ;not sure... so good luck
cheers
John
:D
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wallrat
May 6, 2003, 7:43 PM
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Light and fast is a great idea, but not for what you're thinking of doing. Since you sound like this is your first wall, I can guarantee you several things; Firstly the hauling and rope management will eat you alive and slow you down to a snails pace if you haven't worked it out ahead of time ON A SHORTER ROUTE. What I mean is, if you go with the light and fast agenda, and then suck at it, you'll be going light and slow, ie: without the food and water to complete the route. Then you bail, or suffer mightily. In the summer in the Valley you'll need at least four liters of water per man/day. That's a mimimum, and a full liter less than I usually take.
If you can't lead totally solidly on steep 10's, you won't be fast. Plan ahead, and know your speed before you jump on the Nose...it's not the place to be learning how to jumar or haul. Not only will you wind up bailing (if you don't know these things already), but you'll slow up the 15 parties behind you.
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russwalling
May 6, 2003, 7:56 PM
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In reply to: What are the hardest parts of the Nose or big wall in general?
Keeping your lid on. Most failures are mental breakdowns. Get hard, suck-it up and keep going. Be able to climb 5.10 fist fast and easy. Take hardly anything. If you bring a ledge you will use it and probably fail. Bring extra headlamp batteries and skip the ledge. It will be hot as hell, so climbing at night might be nice. Fix pitches at the end of the day... no slacking. Get your stations ready to go as soon as the bag leaves.... you get two minutes max to get the F out of there and start cleaning the pitch. No sightseeing in your aiders..... test, and then right to the top... no molly-gagging in each step. Don't stop for lunch... eat at the belay if you must. Remember, days are 24 hours long.... this is a long time to get things done. Way slow??? start earlier.... scared? get some sack..... tired??? too bad.... get going. Hot??? pretend you are at the beach and pop a Jolly Rancher into your gob and don't Bogart the water. Don't get psyched out by looking up at the towering nightmare above.... just hit your daily goals.... like fix to Sickle... blast to El Cap Tower & fix the Texas Flake.... Blast to Camp 5.... Get off by 2pm.
Sounds like fun huh?
Best of luck!
Russ
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pbjosh
May 6, 2003, 10:22 PM
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The lower part of The Nose is mostly free and is mostly going to suck balls to haul, so I think you're crazy to take a ledge. July is going to be a million fscking degrees. I hope you comfortably onsight 5.10 trad. I think better first wall choices would be W Face Leaning Tower, S Face or the Prow on Washington Column or even Zodiac - easier hauling, half the pitches.
josh
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epic_ed
May 6, 2003, 10:34 PM
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Russ -- I'm going to print that out and laminate it. I have a feeling I'll need to bust it out more often than my topos once I'm on a route. Great wisdom.
Ed
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simzboardr
May 6, 2003, 10:57 PM
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lambone
May 6, 2003, 11:08 PM
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Dude, you asked for advice and you got some. Don't be so freakin picky...
You wan't to know what the hardest part of the Nose or Walls in general are...read above. You've got it all right there. What do you expect to hear, "oh the Roof is the hardest pitch, or the King Swing is the hardest." Fact is that if you are dialed then it is all easy, if you are not then pitch one is going to be just as hard as pitch 32.
Your post above is essentialy asking if you can do the route opr not. The first response was that if you've only aided som C1 pitches at the Gunks, henyou have no idea what to expect from El Cap. So there is your answer. How straight forward do you want it to be?
Bring a portaledge and 5 days of water if you want, but just don't be a dick when competent teams want to pass you, and don't blame your partner when it's time to bail.
Good luck. Don't expect much more advice from me...
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simzboardr
May 7, 2003, 3:26 AM
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Nooo... i haven't only aided a few pitches at the Gunks,....thast what im doing this weekend...ive been aiding for a while now bunch of stuff but no walls yet. And the stuff helps i guess but i was mainly looking for short tips not essays. Stuff like.... use a sky hook on the king swings second pendi point so you can flip the roap and keep moving. Stuff liek that
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pbjosh
May 7, 2003, 5:10 AM
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In reply to: Stuff like.... use a sky hook on the king swings second pendi point so you can flip the roap and keep moving
Ok, do that. Lemme know how it goes.
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lambone
May 7, 2003, 7:06 AM
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Then you should be more specific in your question. The Super topo has all the info you need. Download it from www.supertopo.com
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freeclmr
May 7, 2003, 8:35 AM
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Get comfortable with cam hooks, they are awesome and help you move fast by leapfrogging your aiders. Sets of cams on your aider biner also help you move along. Use rope bags for your ropes and keep your gear organized at all time.
You seem to have an attitude that because you have practiced on a multitude of one pitch aid climbs that you are ready for the Nose. That's like jogging on the beach to prepare for a hike across the Sahara.
It is amazing just how fast everything can go to hell in a handbasket real freakin' fast when your baking on a wall at 120 degrees, puking from heat exhaustion, the gear get disorganized, the bag gets stuck, your belay turns into a mess and five hours into it you are only 3 pitches up........
I've been there.......alot.
Start with lower sights like SFWC, the Prow, WFLT, etc. Those are great climbs with less potential for epic. The Nose will still be here next year or the year after, after you have succeeded on more reasonable introductory climbs.
.....and read Russ' advice ten more times....... :wink:
Brian
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glockaroo
May 7, 2003, 2:36 PM
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simzboardr:
I am one of the most positive people out here, and I love to encourage new bigwallers cuz I love to see people take on a challenge and succeed. But based on your comments and prep, plus the timing of your trip (July, Oh My God!), I will predict your chances of success at about 10%.
If you want to make it this July, you absolutely must:
1) have a freeclimber on your team who can handle Valley 5.9/10 all day
2) have an aid climber on your team who can smoke C1 with efficiency
3) have a rare tolerance for dehydration
4) have reasonable mastery of rope systems for belays & hauling
Otherwise I assure you, as others here have, that your time & money would be better spent on the SE Face or Prow of the column, or perhaps the Leaning Tower.
"...hook for the King Swing..."? Sounds like a hacked-up car wreck victim worrying about which type of Band-Aid the paramedics are using.
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brutusofwyde
May 7, 2003, 5:08 PM
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Want short advice -- Here it is.
Read Russ' post. several times.
Then read it again.
You might get lucky and have cool weather in July. It happens. Up high, the breezes can help out as well.
If you use a skyhook on King Swing, don't be surprised if you can't get it loose. Then your partner gets to follow on a hook that you've shaken the heck out of. Fun, eh?
Forget the portaledge. There's more than enough ledges on the Nose to make your goal for the day, even if you hafta share with another party. If you have extra time after you reach your ledge, fix. Wait, Fish already said that. Never mind.
We're back to: Read Russ' post. Several times. Sorry for the essay.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes!
Brutus
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dingus
May 7, 2003, 5:31 PM
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Here's the top secret, real-deal skinny on how others have sucessfully soloed the Nose as their first wall...
Travel to the Valley incognito. Scope out the route, pack the bag, hike to the base, bail before you get started. Hike back out. Travel to other end of Valley. Hire guide at concession. Travel back to big stone and jug monkey behind guide all the way to the top. Takes lots of scenery pictures. Write up a cool trip report where you refer to the guide as your partner and make it seem as though he's of the Silent variety.
Hah!
Oh, I'd say if a rope happens to be fixed on either of the penji's... just pay out some slack in your lead system, clip the fixed rope and go for it. If it holds you save some big time. If it fails... well, ya go for the big ride!
DMT
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simzboardr
May 7, 2003, 9:40 PM
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wow wow soloing.....no way... not this time. Two people on this journey the other jsut as pumped as me
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grigriese
May 7, 2003, 10:21 PM
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http://fishproducts.com/...s/yostopos/nose.html
The previous link was for Native Son TR - the above link is for The Nose TR.
One of my favorite things to do at work is to read Russ trip reports! Makes me wanna donate a beer to his worthy cause.
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sspssp
May 7, 2003, 11:23 PM
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Simz:
You seem to want little details about the route in specific, as opposed to big wall advice. Fair enough, but I am with most of the other posters.
Getting the general system dialed fast enough is what generates success.
I would recommend doing a lot of climbs "big wall" style even if you have to make it up. Find the longest crack in your area (I'm not familiar with the East coast) and climb it wall style, complete with hauling a heavy pig. You might want to break the pitches up shorter. Instead of climbing a 200 foot crack with the standard 2 pitches, set up a belay and haul every 50 feet. Do 2 or 3 pitches, set up your ledge and spend the night, and finish in the morning. Repeat. Over and over.
It will slow you down, but I would take a lot of water. If you have water and iron determination, then you can get up the nose (although it might take a while). But please be considerate of other parties.
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brutusofwyde
May 8, 2003, 12:03 AM
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My first big wall was El Capitan...
East Buttress.
It took two attempts.
It wasn't as busy then as it is now.
Brutus
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iamthewallress
May 8, 2003, 12:12 AM
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Fundementally I would really like to see this guy succeed. Based on his previous posts, he's clearly been getting really psyched about this adventure. But also based on his posts, he really has no idea what to expect up there. Young ambiton might get him far. Inexperience might get him up Pine Line.
I feel this little devil in me fighting the urge to start a pool... :twisted:
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simzboardr
May 8, 2003, 2:21 AM
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Hey man i do have a clue, i know its gonna hit me hard when its up there. But i get myself into things like this all the time... I know there is huge room for epic, and it doens't bother me, theres plenty of places to bail. Its just july is the only time i could go untill next year, and the nose has been my dream ever since climbing, so why not get a taste of it even if i dont' get the whole way its worth it.
And the advice about aiding short pitches with big wall style...damn i do that all the time. I get hugely ridiculed for doing a 3 pitch 80 foot climb, but hey it works out the kinks with belays and rope management dealing with that much slack.
But for the pool.... personally, it would be fun. Shoot lets see how many doubts and how many encouragements.
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epic_ed
May 8, 2003, 2:21 AM
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I'll bet it's a learning experience, if nothing else. ;-)
I'm pulling for them, too, but I think they're going to be shocked at how many things they haven't worked out yet. With a streak of cool weather and sheer stubbornness, they just might make it.
Ed
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