New Bolts on the Nose, El Capitan: one 60m rope rapping from Sickle and Dolt

Yo Gang,

We've got it pretty much set up from Sickle for one rope rapping with a 60m rope, and are planning to move over to Dolt Tower raps next. Tons of folks have been helping out, which is super cool, but everyone is kind of surprised at how much work it is, hahhaha, so they suggested I come on here and ask for donations, at least for beer and green gummy bears (stainless steel quicklinks would be awesome too ;).

These new stations are going to go miles toward relieving the ever present Nasal Congestion. The rope is always changing too, so feel free to email me for an updated topo.

You can send cash to me via paypal at yosemiteerik@gmail.com

Give Generously - We Love You!

Woot Woot!
Erik
Yosemitebigwall.com

Incoming 20 page hate thread. At least y'all get to see my pretty mug before you get to type your pissed off messages!

I love sport climbing

I'm not a fan of Erik Sloan, but I don't see a huge deal about this.

There is already a rap route down the nose-- I see no ethical problem in converting it from 2x ropes to 1 ropes.... If you don't have a problem with the rap route that exists now, it's hard to have a problem with the re-design.

Thanks Erik! I'll throw you some cash and or quick links in a few weeks when I get to the valley. I assume the old 50m raps remain, so what does the rap situation look like? 30m to new bolts, 20m to old bolts and repeat this 4 times to the ground?

How would doing twice as many raps help with congestion? And why would anyone choose to not at least bring a tag line with them unless you know you are going to the summit in under 6 hrs anyway?

Maybe we should put a ladder in instead?

There isn't enough popcorn in this city to sit and casually follow this thread to the finish.

Agree, how does doubling the number of raps decrease rapping traffic or speed up bailing ?

Like was stated , most parties go up the Nose with a lead line and haul line , and maybe a tag line .

I guess single rope raps make things more 'convenient' ? We all know Eric loves convenience ....

Maybe the vision is for everyone to still do double rope raps but alternate stations. Brilliant! Now really fast, experienced parties can pass other, slower parties... while bailing.

Erik Sloan wrote:...so they suggested I come on here and ask for donations, at least for beer and green gummy bears...

Wow, I will have enough reading material for the throne for my next several dozen bowel movements. Woot Woot!

Yo Gang,

Thanks for your interest.

Yes it is now 25m rap to new station, 25m rap to old station, so the old 50m stations still remain.

The best part is there are now stations at 60m and 120m from the ground, so you can haul to Sickle in three hauls, instead of four.

Taglines and haul lines don't speed things up. In my 22 years of climbing every year on El Cap I would say people messing around with the tag/haul line, coiling, getting it up stuck, etc., is one of the main reasons that people go so slow at the beginning of the Nose.

Now the Niad teams can practice their Sickle and Dolt runs with one rope, which will really speed things up, and the hauling teams will get to Sickle easier, and will have less folks clogging up their scene (the fixed ropes from Sickle gets insanely dangerous in season, with several sets of lines all clipped over the top of each other.

'Dolt runs' are super popular now (people hoping to do Nose in a day often climb once to Dolt Tower and rappel, to suss out the lower, slippery and strenuous sections), so getting dedicated, one-rope raps from there will seriously reduce congestion on the route itself, and will lead to people have more fun, and hopefully moving more smoothly, on the Nose!

Interesting that folks are surprised that doing more one-rope raps is faster than less two ropes raps....ever notice that the pros set up all their routes for one-rope rapping? How about Royal Arches, I've done it dozens of times and rapped with two ropes a bunch before it was set up for one rope rapping, and I can assure you it is much faster to rap with one rope than with two.....but try it out, see for yourself!

Thanks for the Love gang! Keep the quicklink and beer money flowing!

Woot Woot!
Erik

Seems like a solution looking for a problem.

If you really want to keep traffic moving efficiently on The Nose, eliminate hauling altogether by constructing hanging huts at various points on route. ECT. Camp 4. Camp 6. Completely stocked with food, water, malt liquor. People ski tour hut to hut all the time. Time to apply that idea to El Cap.

Erik, is your intention to make the Dolt Run a Yosemite Classic, similar to the Free Blast? Which BTW has a fixed rope descent from Heart Ledge.

people do "sickle runs" and "dolt runs" all the time, don't pretend like it is a new thing...

Yeah the Nasal Congestion on the first 8 pitches of the Nose can be fierce. This should go a long way to keeping folks moving, both up and down.

Still chuckling to think that folks who were willing to post on this thread did not know that single-rope rapping is safer, faster, and in all ways better than two rope rapping....this is part of the reason I post things like this - because people tell me all the time 'I didn't realize I could practice the pitches to Sickle before I went up on the Nose', etc.

And really, people are climbing El Cap with only one rope all the time. Like there were three niad parties last week and no one had a second rope - The Nose is windy so it is hard to keep track of one rope, let alone two, at times.

to place convenience bolts on a wall where so many first ascentionists made such an effort to have a hole count at the end of the route, just seems direspectful.

even if it is faster to use just one rope, i think it is okay to clog the route, go slower, in reverance to the rock.

i also think it is incredibly cocky to then ask for money. i personally would rather this effort not be done.

my two cents.
jo-lynne

Yeah - I'm with jod. Already too many cases out there where increasing ease of access has actually been negative, especially in the wilderness.

Good on you for posting. Just wish it had come with the explicit support of the local community.

You know, Eric, it has been proven that Freeways do not improve congestion, but increase it. The perceived easier access actually leads to more people attempting the route that might not otherwise. This will lead to more unprepared parties on the route, increasing congestion, not solve any problem.

This is being done for YOUR convenience only, don't pretend otherwise. If you wanted to reduce congestion what you could do is remove bolts, not add them.

You are simply turning a Dolt Run into the Central Pillar of Freeway.

Next will be a justification of a Sky way Tram...