The Truth about offset cams and the nose

ShireSmitty wrote: Now that wasn't nice was it Eli? Not to mention unqualified, and wrong. Don't make ignorant comments on subjects you have no experience with. Those of us who know have spoken, you've been served.

Oh, cut him some slack. After all, the child is only 20, with a massive lack of life experience.

Marc801 wrote: Oh, cut him some slack. After all, the child is only 20, with a massive lack of life experience.

But he does have a ton of experience liberally giving advice on this forum. Someone needs to pick up where Bearbreeder left off right?

csproul wrote: Now do that with a double/triple rack, and throw in some hauling. Now, because you are drinking twice as much water, you're hauling twice as much water. And because it's bigwalling, and the OP (and most of the rest of us for that matter) is a bigwall noob and slower than they should be, you can double the water again. And because you're dehyrated from day one, by day three you're moving even slower. It is doable, but cragging in the heat is not at all the same as bigwalling in the heat.

I never said it would be easy, just that it is doable. If the OP wants to do it then, he may go slow and it may be difficult, but it's not gonna be unbearable and he's not gonna die of heat exhaustion. I'm just saying, if he's stoked to do some bigwalling in the summer then go for it. Just bring a lot of water.

I have only done the nose twice but I would suggest only bringing three or four of the smallest offsets and backcleaning them. Personally I really love the two smallest c3's. They are best for thin placements due to the internal trigger wires.

darrell wrote:I have only done the nose twice but I would suggest only bringing three or four of the smallest offsets and backcleaning them. Personally I really love the two smallest c3's. They are best for thin placements due to the internal trigger wires.

Real question: I haven't used c3's but think of them as 3CUs, not offsets. Do you consider c3's equivalent to offsets? Do they work well in pin scars and other offset placements?

eli poss wrote: If the OP wants to do it then, he may go slow and it may be difficult, but it's not gonna be unbearable and he's not gonna die of heat exhaustion.

Regardless of wether he really wants to do it or not, the heat could easily be unbearable and dying of heat exhaustion is not impossible.

eli poss wrote: I never said it would be easy, just that it is doable. If the OP wants to do it then, he may go slow and it may be difficult, but it's not gonna be unbearable and he's not gonna die of heat exhaustion. I'm just saying, if he's stoked to do some bigwalling in the summer then go for it. Just bring a lot of water.

Ok dude, just so we have it established that you don't know what you are talking about because you don't.

It can absolutely be unbearable and many parties fail on Valley Walls in the heat underestimating just how bad it can be.

Erik above is also absolutely right to say that with a good window it can be totally reasonable to proceed on the route of your choice IF you are truly prepared and are doing a route well within your physical ability. We also want to give the OP the benefit of the doubt and encourage him to give it a go, but to not underestimate how much more taxing climbing every available hour and hauling is when on a big wall compared to cragging on some local pebble.

Unfortunately, the more prepared you are, the heavier your bags and it can rapidly become a self-fulfilling prophecy when you start off with 50lbs of water for 3 days plus food and bivy gear and you are hauling near 100 lbs. etc.

Word to the wise: Don't underestimate Valley heat. It probably bouts more parties on El Cap than storms, if not *quite* as deadly.

eli poss wrote: You're right, I haven't been on El cap in the summer. What I have done is climb in direct sun on a day with a heat index of 116 degrees. You end up drinking twice as much water as normal but it is doable.

Basically, this kid has no idea what he's talking about and just likes to give bad beta to show how impervious he is to heat. Like in another thread where he was trying to convince someone to go the Chattanooga in the summer.

Well he's 20 years old so he knows everything right?

Eli's usualy more sensible than many posters on MP.
So maybe not this time.

JCM wrote: Basically, this kid has no idea what he's talking about and just likes to give bad beta to show how impervious he is to heat. Like in another thread where he was trying to convince someone to go the Chattanooga in the summer.

First of all, me suggesting to climb at T-wall in the summer was sarcasm. The point I'm trying to make is that, if the OP handles heat well (some people handle heat better, some handle cold better) and is smart about choosing what time of day to climb and what time of day to rest, then it's manageable. Like other posters previously said, it is completely manageable if you climb in the morning/night and during afternoon winds when it is cooler. But please, go on flaming me for trying to be encouraging.

Bad and uninformed advice is still bad and uniformed, even it it is meant to be encouraging. Climb a long route or a wall in Yosemite during the summer before giving advice to others about doing so.

eli poss wrote: please, go on flaming me for trying to be encouraging.

step back and think "do I really have something to add here" before posting "advice" is the theme here, not flaming the kid.

Word to the wise:

People have in fact suffered heat stroke on Yosemite walls in NOVEMBER and people have in fact frozen to death on Yosemite walls in JULY.

That's pretty much all that needs to be said, imho.

Mark Hudon wrote:Word to the wise: People have in fact suffered heat stroke on Yosemite walls in NOVEMBER and people have in fact frozen to death on Yosemite walls in JULY. That's pretty much all that needs to be said, imho.

And there you have it.

Given that weather forecasts are nearly perfectly reliable these days one can easily avoid the worst of extremes. Heat waves are predicted a week in advance and the same for the (rare) approaching storms mid-summer.

If you choose a week with below-average to average temps you are likely going to have a good time. If you choose a weak with a heat wave you are entering life threatening heat (albeit the Nose is not the worst for heat other than the base). Only idiots proceed into either weather extreme and it happens.

Consider all of this as being informative for any Yosemite newbie.

Part of the issue is that many people plan their big wall vacations from out of town and may not have a lot of flexibility with timelines. So they end up having to go regardless of conditions.

It's been a long time but hand placing sawed off angles on the pitches to sickle and other blown out scars worked like a peg board.

The first four pitches have surprisingly easy free climbing between the harder sections. There are so many times where you can place and stand on a questionable offset in a scar and stand on it in aiders, or fingerlock the same scar to pull a couple 5.9 moves. The first and second pitches in particular. Don't be scared into your aiders without trying to free/FF as much as possible.

The first 4 get a bad rap, and are actually really fun if you free as much as possible.

A single set of MC Offsets has always gotten me by on The Nose.

Good luck!

Jplotz wrote:A single set of MC Offsets has always gotten me by on The Nose.

Maybe the coffee hasn't kicked in yet.... "MC Offsets"??

Marc801 wrote: Maybe the coffee hasn't kicked in yet.... "MC Offsets"??

Mastercam Offset. Which will last one wall before the plastic trigger cover rips open and show the cable inside.