RNWF 3 Man Team

Hi all,

Working on planning out a 3 man team on RNWF for our May visit...

As I see it here are the options:

1. Climb like hell before sunrise and into the night and do it in a day. I'm no hero speedster so I see us bivying somewhere with no gear, not my ideal choice.

2. Haul, Haul, Haul...etc I don't want to hike it up, spend the energy, and get the bag stuck 8500 times...too much work!

3. After reading a TR from a couple guys that ran up it this way...2nd and 3rd climber both wear a "larger" pack/haul bag and jug lines with the leader fixing. Allows bivy gear to be brought for big sandy but doesn't add in hauling into the equation...seemed like it worked alright for a team of two...but what about 3?

Thoughts?

I was in the same boat as you about a year ago. After doing the route, I really recommend #1.

#3 is tempting though. Some issues you might want to think about:
There are numerous chimney pitches, and at least one belay inside of a chimney... two people jugging and belaying in chimneys with huge packs will be super, super annoying.

Some of the traverses would be super annoying to jug too. Robbins traverse, getting up to big sandy, and especially the thank god traverse.

Take a LIGHT RACK. The route has a lot of fixed gear. Take fewer nuts and cams and more draws.
You only need 1 each of #1, 2, and 3 camalots. People told me that I needed singles, but I brought doubles anyway... I really only needed singles.

French freeing will be way faster than fully aiding the zigzags and bolt ladders. I brought no daisies, no ascenders, and one etrier. I thought that was perfect. Pull on fixed crap, pull on your own crap, tension off the rope...etc. Most of it isn't as steep as the Nose or anything like that.

Have you done other long routes?

I'd recommend Arches to Crest Jewel and NE Buttress, Higher Cathedral. Or stuff in Red Rocks... Levitation 29 would be great.

Is the RNWF ready in mid may? Any run off from the summit?

Hard to say what would be best without knowing your experience. If you go light enough then jugging that many pitches with a pack on could be okay. It could also suck which then prompts the question of why you wouldn't go for it in a day. It's a pretty quick wall to do but it depends on your experience.

Forget who said it, Chouinard or Robbins, but "if you bring bivy gear you will bivy."

Also, depending on the season and the time in May your going it could be wet. Would want to check on conditions for sure.

We did it a three man team and spent two nights on the wall. We had followers with two big packs and jugging the lines. I do not recommend this. Next time I do this I will be trying for a day but most likely sleeping on big sandy with minimum amount of gear. I got to lead most of the pitches but the pitches I did jug past I wish I was climbing. If you can lead 5.10 fast then you can do it in a day. All the 5.11 parts and easy aid parts typically have fixed gear you can pull on and keep up the pace. Enjoy this climb it is amazing. Dont underestimate the approach/time needed to do this thing. Bivy spots at the base are great.

Do not haul. I saw guys trying to haul and they bailed because of the traversing nature of some of the pitches and bags getting stuck.

If you do decide to jug you do not have to jug the traverses, they are typically easy enough to free climb even with a heavy pack, but that being said you will need to know how to lower off a fixed point on the robbins traverse and the second to last pitch. It is a easy concept but look up "lowering out" I think that is the term.

Good luck.

Concerning hauling, I did this route as one of my first walls (3rd ever) and we hauled but we went very light and had no problems hauling. We fixed a few pitches on the first day and then blasted to Big Sandy where we spent the night. We got there before dark and easily topped out the next day. As with any hauling, it's all about how big and heavy your bags are which is going to determine if it's hard to haul.

Also remember that the slab approach is sketchy. If you're bringing stuff for a night at the base and a day climb it's not so bad.

...bringing a pig up and down would suck pretty bad.

Thanks for all of the responses so far...

To answer some of the questions most of the big stuff i've done in Yosemite hasn't involved moving too fast, WFLT with 1 night, and then the SW face of Liberty Cap fixing to 5 and then firing to the top. So this route involves a different skill set than those.

All three of us can lead 5.10 but I think where we haven't had much experience is in french freeing. I wouldn't expect us to switch into full on aiding mode at all i'm just not sure how well we'll be able to transfer back and forth.

We definitely could try fixing to 4/5 and then going for the top...worst case scenario we are moving slower than expected and have a crappy night on big sandy...

And for the questions of when its definitely late May, our time there is the 27th of May through June 5th so not exactly early May.

Thanks again for all of the responses guys!

Go light (small rack, 20 draws) and go fast and you will have a blast. This route can easily be done in a day by most teams. With a team of 3 you better be short fixing and leading in blocks otherwise you will 3 guys hanging at belays with a cluster of ropes, gear, ect with slow change overs. Plan your changeovers where you have big ledges for everyone to stand, not hard on this route. Don't haul, 2nd and 3rd climbers jug with small packs or free climb self belaying on a gri gri (some of the pitches are easier/faster to free climb than jug. A good warm-up to workout systems would be a blast up the SF of WA column.

TDog wrote:May, HAHAHAHAHA How will you get down? The cables will not be up and not enough snow to ski. Plenty of snow to question what you have done to yourself when you want to go down.

Have you skiied the cables then?

No, you haven't.

Travis, don't listen to this guy. Even if you got there in early May there wouldn't be any snow on the cables. "The cables are down" just means that the poles are taken out -- the cables are still there, you just gotta pick them up. Anyway, by the 27th they'll be up and super clear.

You will probably encounter a big snowfield on the way down though, between the base of the cables and the base of the face. It isn't hard to cross, but if you did slide you could eventually go over the cliff.

If you've done WFLT and Liberty Cap, you've done plenty of aiding. What long free routes have you done though?

Out of the first 17 pitches, 13 are 5.9 or less. I would go up Freeblast, or to Dolt Tower on the Nose and see how you do. If you can do em fairly quickly, you'll be set on half dome.

Aaaaaaw, another 22yo know it all. And from Boulder. How wonderful. I like the way that you can see into the future. From your massive amounts of knowledge, how many people have died on The Nose from freezing during the summer? Nice to have such a Yose expert here.

You know where I have "skied"? Please do tell. I haven't kept a whole list and would like to fill in some blanks. And fill out my MP tick list too.

Thanks again carly simon.

You're right -- I was a bit harsh on TDog. I should have followed guideline #1(don't be a jerk). At the same time, TDog didn't either. If he's talking about skiing the cables, he really doesn't know what he's talking about.

Also, I might only be 22, but I know a thing or two about the valley.

MichaelClimbs wrote:Aaaaaaw, another 22yo know it all. And from Boulder. How wonderful. I like the way that you can see into the future. From your massive amounts of knowledge, how many people have died on The Nose from freezing during the summer? Nice to have such a Yose expert here. You know where I have "skied"? Please do tell. I haven't kept a whole list and would like to fill in some blanks. And fill out my MP tick list too. Thanks again carly simon.

He gave better advice then you or "T-dog".

I did RNWF in early june after a HUGE snow year. We did it IAD.

The cables were "down" but that's no big deal for a climber. If you're sketched just tie a prussic to the cables and slide it down, it's a pain to move around cable joints etc. but its safer.

My recomendation is to find a fourth and do it as 2 parties of 2 IAD.

If you climb with 3 short fix.

josh

MichaelClimbs wrote:Aaaaaaw, another 22yo know it all. And from Boulder. How wonderful. I like the way that you can see into the future. From your massive amounts of knowledge, how many people have died on The Nose from freezing during the summer? Nice to have such a Yose expert here. You know where I have "skied"? Please do tell. I haven't kept a whole list and would like to fill in some blanks. And fill out my MP tick list too. Thanks again carly simon.

Are you a rep for wiredbliss? You being a jackass on the internet doesn't make me want to buy your gear.