Guide for Matthes Crest/Yosemite first timer advice plz!

I'm visiting Yosemite for the first time this summer, in early August. Will be camping in the Valley with family but hoping to get out for a day of climbing.

A friend recommended the Matthes Crest and it looks awesome! That said if you have other recommendations I'm all ears. I'm also looking at finding a guide or a non-sketchy stranger so advice on that would be great.

I've been climbing for ten years but nothing too hard, mostly below 5.10. Very solid second but not a whole lot of experience leading. I do tons of hiking/backpacking though and lead wilderness trips for Outward Bound. Based on all this a long easy ridge traverse with a guide seemed like it might be the way to go.

Feel free to respond here or send me a PM, cheers! Simon

Mark Grundon.

That is a cool feature ... and unusual.

My sister and I did Matthes Crest a couple years ago in the usual manner. Three hour approach? After the starting pitches, we simulclimbed until the last couple pitches to the peak that one usually raps from (i.e., it was not the full traverse). Long day but not too long.

I understand free soloing most of it is the way to do it efficiently.

I'm pretty sure Yosemite Mountaineering School (YMS) is the only guide service that legally operates in the park:

yosemitepark.com/rock-climb…

Keep in mind that Matthes Crest is a long approach, 3-4 hours each way!

Cathedral Peak is only about an hour and a half approach, is a great, easier climb and has the crowds to prove it (so start super-early).

Have fun.

A guide sounds good. I wonder if they would first want to get out with you on something that is more straightforward with some scrambling and not as committing.

Simon42 wrote:I'm also looking at finding a guide or a non-sketchy stranger so advice on that would be great.

Matthes Crest is not a good choice for a first (or second) climb with an unknown partner. There are so many different styles and strategies for climbing on it. And its terrain features and overall configuration are so different from most other roped climbing that most people do: lots of horizontal, even significant downward sections (if include the more intersting northern half).

A significant percentage of people who try it as a Traverse come away disappointed. One reason is that the south half is less interesting, but they run out of energy and/or time) from the approach and unusual climbing before they ever get to the north half.

Hiring a guide? Options are limited, and as someone else pointed out, most experienced guides will insist on doing something else with you first to see how you do, before taking you into something as ununsual and complicated as the Matthes Crest. And then they still might refuse to take you on M.C.
- (I'm not sure M.C. really that committing, since there's lots of places to rappel off one side or the other).

Ken

P.S. Might be better to try the North Ridge of Mt Conness first. It's a rather fun (non-difficult) climb if you try to stay as much on the crest as you can the whole way - (but many parties try to save time by doing easier less interesting climbing down on the W side of the crest).
There are also a couple of fun ridge traverses (with shorter approaches) in the high Sierra farther south on the Eastside -- but much farther from Yosemite than Mt Conness.

Just guessing here, but I don't think there would be any problem with a guide taking a new person up Matthes Crest. The climbing isn't difficult and most of the day will be spent hiking.

Of course, you'd have to contact YMS and ask them.

Do the shortcut that takes you by Budd Lake, not the JMT. Well marked with cairns, and about half the distance. Its a sandy but well marked left turn about 10 minutes up JMT

Simon, it sounds like you have lots of advice on how to safely get out there and get after Matthes Crest. Since you aren't leading too much, a guide would be a good way to go for sure. If you get out there and make it to the Matthes Crest, I recommend the full traverse. Why rappel from the middle of the climb if there is a ton more to go? The second half is very enjoyable (south to north).

Have a blast!

kenr wrote: A significant percentage of people who try it as a Traverse come away disappointed...

From where do you derive this conclusion? Rating is 4 of 4 stars (199 votes) on MP. If you're expecting sustained climbing, sure you might be disappointed, but this trend is hardly reflected in the ratings.

Matthes is completely manageable C2C if you're solid at the grade and in reasonably fit shape for the hike/altitude.

@Simon42
If you do the second half note that the second will need to be solid at downclimbing short sections of 5.6-7 crack and slab.