Other than my day climb on Nutcracker with the Brazilian ladies in October of 2006, I had not climbed anything at Yosemite. Yes what a shame on somebody who truly enjoys crack climbing... Andrew had been telling me for a long time that I needed to go to the Ditch for real crack climbing and invited me on his annual trip in May with the rest of the gang. What better opportunity to climb with good friends and excellent climbing partners. So over the long rainy and cold winter months when we went to the gym and climbed routes back to back often exceeding 25 some pitches at night to build endurance and strength, Yosemite was always on our minds and our motivation. Andrew would psyche me up with all the excellent crack routes like Sacherer, Outer Limits, Serenity and others. Would I be ready for the challenge as I always hear how hard Valley ratings are. There is only one way to find out.
Time came and we loaded the Subaru for the long drive to Victor's place in Midpines, CA. We arrived late after midnight on a Friday and crashed on his floor. Next morning we had a slow start and tried to figure out Victor's home network problems without success.
We finally rolled out of the house and went to Pat and Jack Pinnacle. Andrew led Sherrie's Crack (5.10c), which was kind of hard, he slipped couple times but recovered without falling and pulled through the crux. I didn't do well at all and fell several times as my feet slipped repeatedly. I whined about the slippery granite but didn't let the bad start dampen my spirit. Next we climbed the two pitch route Knob Job (5.10b). A very talkative lady kept telling it was the best route in the Valley, ok. I took the first pitch, nice crack but the big granite grains started to bite my tapeless hands. Despite one slip I was able to pull the 10b section and Andrew led the second pitch which had an exciting mantle move. We rappelled down and continued on to the Apron to climb a slab route called Grack Marginal (5.9R). We noticed the darkening skies suddenly but before I could put my shoes on Andrew flew up the approach pitch. As Andrew was starting the first roped pitch it started spitting rain and the wind picked up. We looked at each other and decided to just go up the first pitch at least. Andrew placed a piece and easily mantled over the roof and disappeared. I thought it must be easy but when I got to the roof it was actually a hard committing move followed by more hard slab moves. Welcome to Apron fun. I made it to the top but it was blowing hard and the slab was getting wet so we bailed and called it the day and drove back to Victor's. Not a bad day.
Sunday we were supposed to get our camp site in Upper Pines campground. On the way in to the Park we stopped at Generator Crack but two guys were already on it so we watched a guy struggle his way up it. After claiming the camp site we set our circus tent under again darkening skies. We saw Craig and Ujahn walking by Curry Village. We picked them up and went to climb Reeds Pinnacle (5.9). Andrew led the fun first pitch quickly and handed me the rack. The second pitch looks just awesome. After a wide awkward start I got into the crack but the crack had wide pods with nice constrictions where I nicely jammed but also blocked my pro. Cams weren't working well either so I kind of grunted my way up until the final offwidth section. Andrew had told me to escape to the left on the face but I walked the #4 camalot up and went for the wideness. It was fun and felt good. I started bringing up Ujahn and Andrew on the same rope until the rope got heavy as Ujahn blew the wide section "bzzzzt" where he unclipped and left the #4 as a gift for Andrew to pick up as he escaped happily onto the face. Ujahn was experiencing strange "bzzzzt" sounds in his hands. We brought up Craig who was in visible pain because of the tight shoes he was stretching out for Stan. It again started raining lightly. We rappelled down as steady rain came down. We went back to camp and met Stan and Steve. It would rain all evening and night and I thought we had left the wetness back in Oregon...
We woke up to a nice sunny morning, aah California and decided to head for Cookie Cliff. It was show time for Outer Limits (5.10b). I have a picture of this incredible crack hanging in my cubicle at work and have been looking at it for a long time. But two Swiss guys were climbing it already, with typical German discipline. We watched one of the guys took three falls and several hangs on the upper part of the crack. Hmmm, I don't think I needed this drama. Finally it was my turn, the lower part is harder with an off-fingers part but the upper part was pure joy with sinker hand jams. What a hoot, loved it. Everybody took a run on this great route. On the way down we looked at Waverly Wafer, Wheat Thin, Butterballs all hard but very sweet inspiring routes to work up to for the next time! We thought of climbing Beverly's Tower but instead Andrew led the somewhat stiff 5.9 first pitch of Meat Grinder. We rapped down as ice chunks started falling from the sky. In the mean time Steve and Stan had put up couple of hard 5.11 sport routes, but the looks of Catchy (5.10d) was catching our interest. Andrew cruised until the hard and reachy move where he came off flying but on the next attempt he stick the move. Nice lead on another great classic crack. Finally, I gave Pringles (5.11) a try but couldn't pass the third bolt on TR my excuse being slippery rock and trying to save the soles of my shoes. Cookie was good to us, what a great cliff.
Next morning we wanted to do a longer route and Steve suggested we should do the Serenity and Sons of Yesterday combo. If it was too crowded we would go to the El Cap base as plan B. With Stan, Steve and Andrew we went to Royal Arches but first we got lost finding the route. When we got up to the base we saw 4 people waiting to start and another 4 people at the top of the first pitch, not looking good. Steve suggested to climb Maxine's Wall (5.10a) a slab route to the right of Serenity Crack, while we were waiting. So he quickly led it and Stan followed him. We pulled the ropes and Andrew led it again and I followed him. It was a good route and beats sitting around and waiting. Our turn on Serenity Crack (5.10d) was getting closer. I had seen pictures and heard horror stories about the notorious first pitch which is a manufactured crack with many pin scars with no reliable pro until the first bolt 30 feet up. But now I was standing in front of it and about to start leading it. I was hoping Stan and Steve, who are much better climbers than me, go first and trail our rope and clip the bolt 30 some feet up. No luck, they encouraged me to go for it. Getting started was the hardest part, finally I did a lieback sidepull move to get up where I could pinch the first decent pin scars. I was already high enough and could not reverse my moves so the only option was to go up and not fall. The pin scars were getting bigger and I jammed my toes hard in them so I wouldn't fall, man it hurt a lot. About 20ft up I crammed in an uninspiring #1 camalot and gunned for the bolt another 10ft up. Great relief to clip it. Finally the pin scars turned into a nice crack and the going was really fun. Once I reached the anchors I realized I had forgotten my camera in all the excitement, it would have been great shots of Stan and Steve leading right behind us. Andrew led the second pitch which involved switching cracks on a blank face. For a while I couldn't figure out how he did it, finally I leaned out and I could reach the right crack and pulled myself over, no sweat. I started the crux pitch (5.10d) using the double cracks mainly jamming the left one and pulling on the right flake. Going was fun but I could see the thin crux section. Andrew had told me to place a good nut and just go for it. I had hard time getting to the good spot to place the nut and my feet slipped and here I come off. Try again same thing, and again. My fingers were taking a beating at this point and I was getting frustrated. I heard the guys at the belay "Go Haydar Go Go" so I go with an all out effort barely making the belay ledge and yell out a "F..k". From the belay I watched how Andrew and Stan climbed this section. They made it look easy demonstrating good
frogging technique, which I need to learn. Now we were at the base of Sons of Yesterday (5.10a). Andrew led the first easy pitch and brought me in. The next long pitch(10a) didn't look too bad but once I started it was actually pretty stout with many off fingers and hands sections. I was going slowly and finally the crack got wide enough and I went on the face. Higher up I ran in the traffic jam. People were rappelling and belaying so I had to hang out on the face for a while. Andrew led the next dihedral thin hands pitch (5.8) it was a fun pitch but my feet were hurting badly at this point. When I got to the belay, I offered Andrew to continue because of my foot pain. But he told me the next pitch was great, so I dig in deep and go for it. The start had a wide pod and the left wall slick as glass. I slammed in a green camalot and tried to jam but no good and was about to peel. I yell back falling and saw Andrew telling me "Go it is a crack". So I curse at myself "dam'it its a crack you know how to do this" and off I went. It was simply a great straight in hands crack, didn't even feel the foot pain, glad I did it. The next and last pitch (5.10a) was incredible. The nearly horizontal crack had a small offset that you could walk your feet on it while jamming your left hand in the crack at your foot level, with breathtaking exposure. The crack than turns back right and gets wider but easy. Andrew belayed me up. Steve cruised up right behind me and soon we started the long rappels down the route. They taught me the rappel signals without yelling back and forth. After we came down I stared at the route for a while and I couldn't believe that I just climbed one of my best routes ever. Walked away proud and very satisfied.
Next day Steve and Stan were planning another big day climbing Royal Arches and Crest Jewel. Andrew, Steve and Stan have climbed Royal Arches in about 2 hours by soloing the easy parts and simulclimbing the rest. We were not sure if I was up to this speed especially after the long day yesterday. So instead we decided to go visit the "Base" and Steve and Stan blasted Royal Arches and Crest Jewel and down North Dome gully. With Craig, Ujahn and Andrew we went to the El Cap base. Walking across the meadows and looking up the sheer size of the Big Stone is just overwhelming. We were having a slow day and the views were not helping either. Finally, we made it to the base and went up to La Cosita Right (5.9). Andrew led this very polished finger crack. I realized my fingers and feet were sore from yesterday. After all of us took a run on La Cosita it was my turn to look at Sacherer Cracker (5.10a). This is another amazing looking crack very long and it goes through all the sizes. But all I knew was that many get shot down by the offwidth before the anchors. Listening to stories of Gent cartwheeling out of the OW head first wasn't helping either. After taping up ankles and putting on all the armor I jump on the wide start which is rated 5.7 but of course felt harder. A #5 camalot was good to have for this section. The fingery purple camalot section was the crux for me. Andrew was telling me not to worry placing so much gear so close together and just keep moving to better spots. I can only hope to be as confident some day, much to learn. The higher I got the wider the crack became and the climbing was fun, but I was eying the OW. It didn't look all that long to me. Finally I got at its base and slung the bomber chockstone and off loaded all the extra gear. I got my right side in with heel-toeing my right foot, arm bar my right arm and pushed myself up with my left foot which was bridging the crack and banging my shin with each move. After few groveling moves I reached and grabbed the top of the pillar and soon was at the anchors, wow I was in great joy. Andrew put his long sleeve USSR hockey team shirt and started cleaning the route. I wish I had a camera up with me. With the extra rope and all the gear hanging from him, the OW moves were harder but he pulled it without problems. We tied the two ropes together and rapped off. After Craig and Ujahn had their run at Sacherer, Andrew and I took another lap on this beauty. As we started packing up a cheat stick came flying down from higher up the wall. So we left looking up at the number of teams on Salathe and Nose. Worthy goals, maybe some day...
As every morning while discussing what to do, we remembered with had left some unfinished business on the Apron. So we walked over to finish Grack Marginal (5.9R) which we started but bailed on our first day. It was a beautiful sunny morning. There was a line for the Grack (5.6) but nobody on the Marginal. We quickly hiked up the approach pitch and again Andrew made quick work of the first pitch over the roof and belayed me up. The next pitch was easier and the granite slab was nicely textured. I clipped two pins and made it to the anchors. Andrew did a little variation on the last pitch wandering into the harder and somewhat dirtier section. The this turned out to be a very fun slab route. Stan and Ujahn were right behind us and we simulrappelled to the base. Then we walked leisurely towards Goodrich Pinnacle (5.9R) on the Apron. There were two guys on the route but they were not moving and we thought they were off route. Finally they gave up and bailed and the route opened up to us. Andrew took the lead and cruised up the first two pitches with a little simulclimbing. Again Stan and Ujahn were right behind us. The third pitch was on slick granite and slippery cracks but not very hard. The fourth pitch started with a thin crack and deposited us on the expansive upper slabs. This was perhaps the best pitch. For the next pitch I went up and then traversed right and clipped a bolt halfway across the traverse and after a final hard move landed at the belay. I felt like getting in the groove a slab climbing. Andrew started the next slab pitch. There were 3 bolts closely spaced, going to the left seemed harder and his shoes started squeaking and lost their friction and slid down in slow motion. He made through the hard section on his second attempt. When I followed, I also lost friction and came off and couldn't progress. Finally I went further to the right and then cut back left. The last pitch was a weird chimney and it was safer if you stay in it but the upward progress was harder. Staying to the outside edge provided faster progress. There was plenty pro but stacked up flakes caused us some concern. I couldn't see the bolts in the topo instead stopped at the webbing at the end of the chimney. We watched Stan and Ujahn have their share of fun in the chimney. After some deliberation we decided to rappel the route and not to the left as suggested in the topo as we couldn't know for sure if there were stations. The setting was incredible surrounded by Yosemite Falls, Royal Arches, North Dome and Half Dome. But it was getting cold and windy so we went down quickly. At the base Ujahn gave us liquorish candies which we quickly turned into fangs and made goofy faces. Another fun day at the Apron.
On our last day in the Valley Victor was came to climb with us again at the Base. In the mean time we broke down the tents and packed up all our stuff in the car. Earlier in the week Andrew had spotted somebody climbing a route called Mr Natural. Later I learned that he would climb this route on every trip but had not climbed since 1998 after the major rock fall on the Apron. As we all started driving out of the campground, Andrew started showing anxiousness to get on Mr Natural before we leave but at the same time couldn't decide whether to disband the group. As we got to the turn where we had to make a decision I decided for him and turned the car. We left the others and went to the Apron parking. Andrew got me on many excellent routes and I thought getting him on a route he wanted to do so badly would be the least I can do. At the parking lot we stashed all our food in the bear boxes and went for Mr Natural (5.10c). I had no idea what we were going to climb but at this point I was fully trusting Andrew's taste in choosing routes. As we got closer the crack and the white streak started to looing increasingly inviting. It was going to be a great climb, but first we needed to surmount the snow bank at the base of the wall and climb the somewhat dirty 4th class approach pitch solo to the belay tree. From the tree Andrew traversed horizontally and then downwards to get to the base of the crack. Finally he started the ever thinning crack. It is a beauty on a slab and affords good finger locks between long reachy moves. Right before the anchors you had to leave the crack and do couple slab moves. Andrew did a great job on lead with his trademark of using minimum of the essential gear. It simply was a great finger crack. We rappelled off with big smiles on our faces, still in awe what we had just climbed. I was incredibly satisfied. We took showers in Curry Village and went to the El Cap meadows for the most scenic lunch ever. After sitting on the grass for an hour and watching El Cap we went looking for the gang and found them done climbing and just about coming down.
We all spent a great evening at Victor's having a huge pasta and salad dinner and drove back home the next morning. What an amazing trip and great introduction to Valley climbing. Several days after coming back I would still think about all the climbs we did and look at all the pictures.
What techniques did I learn:
- Rappel signals without yelling back and forth
- Climbing/belaying without visual or audible signals
- Frogging technique on thin cracks
Climb Summary:
Sherrie's Crack (5.10c) 1P
Knob Job (5.10b) 2P
Grack Marginal (5.9R) 1P bailed
Reed's Direct (5.9) 2P
Outer Limits (5.10b) 1P
Meat Grinder (5.9) 1P
Catchy (5.10d) 1P
Maxine's Wall (5.10a) 1P
Serenity Crack (5.10d) 3P
Sons of Yesterday (5.10a) 5P
La Cosita Right (5.9) 1P
Sacherer Cracker (5.10a) 1P
Grack Marginal (5.9R) 3P
Goodrich Pinnacle (5.9) 6P
Mr Natural (5.10c) 1P
Pictures from the trip are
here.
