Big Wall Bivying

How warm a sleeping bag would you suggest for a doing yosemite wall early-mid june? I see lows of around 50F in the valley; is it much cooler on the walls at night? Also, thoughts between a foam style pad vs a thermarest. I know the foam one lines the haul bag nicely, but the thermarest packs up nice and small.... What do you use?

+1 on this question. However... I'm planning a first trip to El Cap for mid-late Sept. Looking at a -7 synthetic bag + foamy + bivy sack. Hoping that'll do the trick along with a thermal layer. My party is looking at a 4-5 day wall. I'd prefer to do my suffering during the day and sleep well at night. Would love to hear about your light/compact/dialed system. Cheers.

You should be fine in a synthetic 30F bag (a bigwall bivy always adds about ten degrees to your bag). You will be so tired you will sleep well in just about anything- that's certainly how I felt!

I go with a zero degree synthetic bag on all my walls. If I'm too hot I unzip and if I'm too cold I layer up. The key is ALWAYS use synthetic, never down, even in your jacket. Say no to down on a wall.

As far as a pad goes, right now I use a foam 3/4 length foam pad. I'm thinking about going with a blow up style to add comfort. One thing I did go away from is using my pad to line my haul bag. It sucks to dig that thing out and put it back in. Right now I either line my sub bag with it or hang it under my haul bag with velcro keeping it rolled up.

Here's a link on better ways to line your haul bag. I use core a plast...

bigwalls.com/forum2/index.p…

Some great info on this site too...

Zac

Zero degree bag and some massive earplugs for when your buddy is pushing one out into a bag less than a foot from your face in the same place you rest your head at night.

Temps in mid-June can be warm, or not. I would NOT take a zero degree bag though, way too warm. I usually take a 20-30 degree synthetic bag that time of year. Warmth will be a bit different sleeping on a ledge vs a port-a-ledge. I don't usually bring a bivy sack unless there's bad weather forecasted, or I'm not bringing a port-a-ledge - make sure to always bring a rain fly for your ledge though if you are using one.

Remember, everything you bring you have to carry down - and getting down with a monster haul bag that carries like c#$p is the crux for many. I see no reason in the world to bring a Thermarest. As was said below, usually you are so tired sleeping in marginal conditions isn't an issue. I cut a blue ensolite pad to line the haul bag perfectly, so there isn't any overlap. And while yes it sucks to take it out of the haul bag (more so putting it back from a hanging stance), unless I'm climbing in the winter, I rarely use a pad under me on a port-a-ledge. And if you are on a regular 'ole ledge, it isn't that difficult to dig it out and put it back while your haul bag is sitting on the ledge.

My best advice though, after being prepared, is - be PSYCHED and live in the moment. Walls require a massive amount of psych from the bottom to the top.

Have fun!!

Paul

Thanks for the responses folks... appreciate the beta. Earplugs and pysch; got it!

Plan on the temperatures dropping by about 3.5 degrees per 1000 feet of elevation gain in Yosemite, plus a little extra cooling from a bit more wind. Insulation from the rock is key for maintaining warmth. If you have room in your haul bag, an ultra thin foam mattress is well worth it. I'm kind of a minimalist and just use the lead rope(s) / tag line carefully spread out on the rock as insulation. That said, I think I pushed it a bit too much using a 45 degree bag on Big Sandy Ledge on Half Dome when the temps dipped into the 20's at night.

+1 on synthetic over down for walls.

mobley wrote:Zero degree bag and some massive earplugs for when your buddy is pushing one out into a bag less than a foot from your face in the same place you rest your head at night.

LOL. What...the.....fuh.

mobley wrote:Zero degree bag and some massive earplugs for when your buddy is pushing one out into a bag less than a foot from your face in the same place you rest your head at night.

Fer God's sake...it ain't that hard to wait 'till your partner's at the other end of the rope, or at least the opposite side of a (natural) ledge!

csproul wrote:Fer God's sake...it ain't that hard to wait 'till your partner's at the other end of the rope, or at least the opposite side of a (natural) ledge!

I was thinking the same thing but was reluctant to comment. Who am I to judge what this fella enjoys? To each their own.

csproul wrote:it ain't that hard to wait 'till your partner's at the other end of the rope, or at least the opposite side of a (natural) ledge!

Might be if you're a wake-n-pooper.

Hey Brandon Adams,

Didn't we talk about this once?

I seem to recall speaking with Brandon - or one of the climbing rangers - at the telescopes by the El Cap Bridge within the last few years. I recounted the familiar and classic tale of the Austrians who were rescued from the Shield Headwall during storm back in the day, and then CHARGED for their rescue by YOSAR because they had brought insufficient storm gear including down sleeping bags! So going back ten to twenty-five years, it was pretty much expected that everyone on walls was supposed to use a synthetic sleeping bag, and not down. I always had.

The problem with my synthetic bag is that it is bulky AF, and a total pain in the arse to stuff into its compression sack each morning, and takes up so much space even when squished down that I have to hang the damn thing off a catch line below my pig! But the climbing ranger [Brandon?] told me that these days, it's considered OK to bring a down sleeping bag up on El Cap, as long as you have rain gear, a bivy sack, a sleeping pad and a modern rain fly that will keep you dry. Note that modern flies made by D4 or Runout Customs actually WILL keep you dry, but flies made from old school technology like BD or Metolius can be fairly leaky. I recall the time in 2017 on Waterfall Route when Horsetail Falls opened up on us - in the BD fly next door, my partners Ryan Sheridan and Paddy Mcredmond were on their knees in water bailing for their life, meanwhile under my Deucey D4 fly, I was so dry, I didn't even feel the need to put my camera into a ziplock bag. They had to make a special trip to the employee clothes dryers the next morning!

Anyway, the purpose of bumping this post is to get confirmation that down is now OK if you have the other stuff.  This is huge, because in the past I had always purchased a special synthetic sleeping bag only for use on the wall, because I use down on all my other outdoor adventures. Synthetic is nowhere near as warm nor as compressible - I can't stand the stuff.  

Cheers, eh? 

Stuff whatever sleeping bag you own into the haul bag and set sail! 

Weather in Yosemite is perfect and the NOAA point forecasts are really reliable. 

It is incredibly unlikely Yosar will fine/charge you

Do not over look your sleeping pad. Suffering due to an inadequate R value from your sleeping pad is a rookie mistake.  I use and ultralight Nemo pad with a 3 or 4 R value.  It’s insane light and packs down smaller than a Nalgene bottle.  

Lance Colleywrote:

Stuff whatever sleeping bag you own into the haul bag and set sail! 

Weather in Yosemite is perfect and the NOAA point forecasts are really reliable. 

It is incredibly unlikely Yosar will fine/charge you

Since I got back into wall climbing, the forecast has changed for the worse 1/3 of the time and I have spent 23 nights under my fly.
A dry sleeping bag will save your life. A wet one won’t. 

Love this thread.....only thing I would add is for sure go with the 20/30 degree bag regardless of the forecast because you can always sleep in your puffy if you need more warmth......I did an ascent of T Trip with a mexican blanket bitd in a hot stretch, but might have slept in my puffy.....+ many for the folks saying 'you'll be so tired you'll sleep like a baby', if you're worried about that bring a couple light beers to put you down, lol - if you're over 30 substitute Miso paste for the beers but it's all good haha

Cheers, E

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