El Capitan in Winter?

So I am looking into going to the Yosemite this December and have had my eye on El Capitan (sadly the only other time I have off is in July and I really don't feel like dealing with the heat.) I have been to the area many time before but am totally unfamiliar with the valley during winter. Would an ascent of the nose be a foolish endeavor, or would one of the other routes be more manageable?

I really appreciate any input.

-Kerr

If there's snow on the rim, the nose will get icefall over the early pitches (don't know about the upper pitches because we bailed) that can be rather large and rather fast and rather frightening. You can check the webcams and weather reports to see if this is an issue.

Weather's ben weird the last few years and there's a possibility that the valley will be okay snow-wise, you'll have to roll the dice.

People will tell you that Zodiac is a great winter walls, but if there's snow on the rim, you'll get rain melt over pitches 2-6 of ZOD in the morning and the afternoon. It's only protected from snowmelt and rain after that point.

Also, if you've never done the East Ledges descent, there's more than a few spots that will be very hard to follow if under snow and a few frictiony slab spots that will not be cool if wet.

Otherwise, should be great! I'll be up there on most weekends as will many others from the bay area. Winter yosemite is kind of an open secret as the best time to bigwall and climb without dealing with the crowds during the high season.

As long as you don't use X4's, an ascent of El Cap in the winter is totally doable ;)

it really depends on the year. As previously mentioned, the last few years have been quite dry. Other years the valley has been filled with storms and snow.

You can always come, see what the weather is like and then decide to either do a big objective or any of the world-class cragging found at lower elevations in the valley

Personally, I'd rather try to climb it in July than December. It'll be hot (though it's much cooler once you get a few pitches up), but it's doable and you won't have to deal with the prospect of gnarly winter storms punching your card. People have died from exposure during winter/spring storms. Plus, my recollection is that many of the recent winter ascents are pushes, not several day ascents. Unless you're a Pole or Russian and are built to potentially suffer, I'd stick to the summer or fall.

csproul wrote:As long as you don't use X4's, an ascent of El Cap in the winter is totally doable ;)

Kerr Adams wrote: Not even the sexy new offset ones?

Gah you're no fun ;)