Super-Easy Yosemite Cragging Options?

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Your OP mentioned "....considering the valley". Are you thinking of other areas? Bishop might fit the bill, Pine creek is chock full of easy mods.
The crux on Grack is finding the damn thing. Swan slab is, uh, boring after an hour, and can be crowded. Manure pile is sweet as the hardest pitches of after six, after seven, and CS concerto are all the first pitch, and all are top rope friendly. As mentioned above, easiest is do pitch 1 of Concerto, walk over to pitch 2 of After 6&7, nothing hard after this. Sad to miss pitch 2 of Concerto, some consider it to be the best 5.8 in the valley.
Lover's leap? Tahoe?
The polish on after 6 is so...slick, that some people think after 7 is easier these days.
(ramble ramble ramble)

JCM wrote:

Yeah, no intention of going anywhere near Royal Arches. I've climbed it twice and know what the route entails. A good time would not be had by all on that route. Any given pitch, if it were at ground level, would be a fun outing. But the full endurance day of doing the whole route and then descending would be way too much.

Anyway, thanks to others for good suggestions. The Grack looks pretty ideal. Another intriguing option I found by looking through the route search feature gain was the Notch Route on the Rostrum. Rap into the notch, climb a 5.6 pitch to the Rostrum summit, rap back to the notch, and climb a 5.4 corner to return to the mainland. Could be a cool outing to be high off the ground, but with minimal effort. Anyone done that route?

I guess that other question is how is the climbing at Swan Slab? Polished to death, I assume? But is it still good and beginner friendly?

I don't think Swan Slab is much fun.  I think there is a lot at Church Bowl that is just as beginner friendly and not so climbed out.  Bishops Terrace was my favorite.

Also, even taking risk of rock fall into account, I would not skip Pine Line at the El Cap Base Routes.  It's nice movement and right in her range.   Great views and an exciting place to be.  If you want a bit of a workout, there a couple harder routes (10-11 range) to the right that can be TR'd from the Pine Line anchor.

I hope you guys have fun!

Sam Miller wrote: ^sounds like a quick way to break up if her comfort zone is 5.7 toproping. Munginella, the grack, or after six would be good, chill multipitch options.

Why I said don't start with it and see how she does. The grack (although I am not 100% sure which one I climbed we forgot the guide book and just started up one of them in the area) and after six are both harder overall than royal arches. They are just much shorter climbs.

ViperScale . wrote:

Why I said don't start with it and see how she does. The grack (although I am not 100% sure which one I climbed we forgot the guide book and just started up one of them in the area) and after six are both harder overall than royal arches. They are just much shorter climbs.

No dude, you honestly have no idea what you are talking about.

Its ok, you just are not truly familiar with what we are talking about.

End a day with Pine Line under el cap. 5.7 single pitch with a nice ledge to hang out on. Some random .10 top ropes off it too. Harder one pitches to try too if interested.

Oh, and Swan slab gully is a great beginner multi with giant, shaded ledges to relax on at all belays, zero exposure, and a truly plush walk off. Youre really missing out on yosemite if you stick to cragging only

I'll throw in for swan slab gully it was my first climb in the valley.  Very close to all the cool stuff and most of the pitches seemed way easier than the 5.6 rating.  I think I place only two pieces on the 2nd pitch and really didn't need any on the 3rd.  The view of Half Dome from the top makes for an amazing photo op.

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote: No dude, you honestly have no idea what you are talking about.

Its ok, you just are not truly familiar with what we are talking about.

If you say so these options are coming not just from me but someone else who had never climbed before outdoors that I took up all of these climbs.

JCM wrote:

Yeah, no intention of going anywhere near Royal Arches. I've climbed it twice and know what the route entails. A good time would not be had by all on that route. Any given pitch, if it were at ground level, would be a fun outing. But the full endurance day of doing the whole route and then descending would be way too much.

Anyway, thanks to others for good suggestions. The Grack looks pretty ideal. Another intriguing option I found by looking through the route search feature gain was the Notch Route on the Rostrum. Rap into the notch, climb a 5.6 pitch to the Rostrum summit, rap back to the notch, and climb a 5.4 corner to return to the mainland. Could be a cool outing to be high off the ground, but with minimal effort. Anyone done that route?

I guess that other question is how is the climbing at Swan Slab? Polished to death, I assume? But is it still good and beginner friendly

The only thing she would have a good time on at Swan Slab is the gully. Easy climbing but polished. Grants crack is out of her pay grade, Lena's Lieback too. Theres an 'approach' scramble up to the top of Grants Crack that people use to put up a TR on it. Think it's like 5.5 or something that you could put a rope on.

Has she ever tried crack climbing indoors or outdoors? Jamming can be really really frustrating for new climbers. Which is why I definitely recommend not doing Super Slide. 

JCM wrote: Planning a climbing trip with my girlfriend for a week in late October, and considering Yosemite as a potential destination. Looking for options for super-easy cragging for her. Climbing together is great, but a complicating factor is that our climbing levels differ widely. I tend to like to climb on 5.11-5.12 trad routes or 5.12-5.13 sport climbs, while her comfort zone is ~5.7 toproping. This is actually surprisingly manageable with good planning. We often alternate days climbing, or do split days. This works great is a place like Squamish; we can spend the morning TRing 5.7 cracks at the Smoke Bluffs, then in the afternoon head to Pet Wall and I can try a hard project.

Like someone else mentioned idk how open you are to other places ect.. or if at this point your focus is just to sort out the feasibility of Yosemite cause you like it there ... but Red Rock sounds like where you want to be. 

ViperScale . wrote:

If you say so these options are coming not just from me but someone else who had never climbed before outdoors that I took up all of these climbs.

If you think The Grack (and had ever actually climbed it) is harder than the Royal Arches you have no idea wtf you are talking about.

Stop. Period. End.

Both of you need to just go outside and measure yer wangs already.

ViperScale . wrote: I wouldn't put off royal arches just yet. See how she does out on the rock before just saying it is to long. Snake dike is a bitch from the like 15 miles of hiking and not alot of good belay ledges if you do it car to car in a day. The climb itself doesn't take that long but add in everything else and it can be tiring.

Royal arches on the other hand is park get out of the car and start climbing. So if she can climb a 5.7 on other things without problem you should be able to do it in like 6-8 hours car to car with tons of nice ledges to chill on for great views and belaying.

Definitely agree here.

Royal Arches is almost more scrambling than climbing.  The "approach" is about as comfortable as you can get.  (What other climb starts off within stones throw of a 5Star Hotel?)

Plus one for swan slab gully or Oak tree flake to Bay tree crack at swan slab.

 Caribbean cruise and secret agent dward are good climbs at Parkline slab if the weather cools off when you're there. 

The footstool on the south east face of el cap is a fun 5.4 with a second easy line to top rope. A 5.11 route is near it.

 Monday morning slab is another easy on glacier point with a nice view but not the best climbing.
Sloth wall and anti-ego crack are good 5.7's at knob hill.

Here ya go, OP!  These are some of the best climbs for beginners in the Valley and should fill up your easy climbing time.  I know you specified super-easy cragging, but these are all really mellow, comfortable, and go quickly.  It is way more worthwhile to do some of these classics than to hunt around for easy single pitch climbs, of which there are relatively few.  These are basically "cragging" for the Valley.

Multipitch:

Swan Slab Gully @ Swan Slab - 3 pitch, 5.6, easy and low exposure.

Bay Tree / Oak Tree Crack @ Swan Slab - 2 pitch, 5.6, easy and low exposure.

The Grack @ Glacier Point Apron - 2/3 pitch, best 5.6 in the Valley.  You can do the rap with 1 rope now, but I'd recommend you trailing a second rope if you have it because the raps are uncomfortable and this can remove 2/4 raps.  The route leans right and usually there is no one below it, so you can just let it dangle.  If you have a 70m, lead it in 2 pitches.

Munginella @ Five Open Books - 2/3 pitch, 5.6.  Awesome and casual fun, nice views and a walk off.

After Six @ Manure Pile Buttress - 5/6 pitch, 5.7.  The first pitch will probably be hard for her, but you can watch her and the rest of it is very easy.  All belays on nice comfortable ledges.  The last pitch will offer some manageable exposure and then it is all over.  An awesome way to introduce her to bigger climbs, and she can feel the gratification of having climbed 600 feet above the valley floor!  She would probably find this climb the most intimidating out of all of these, due to the length of the route and the difficulty of the first pitch.  I still would highly recommend working up to this one.  

Harry Daley Route @ Glacier Point Apron - 2/3 pitch, 5.8.  A step up in difficulty but very chill and fun. I'd recommend belaying her up the "3rd class" approach so that she is comfortable.

Sunnyside Bench Regular Route @ Yosemite Falls area - 3 pitch, 5.5.  If it is hot out, take her up this then walk left to the hidden pools above Lower Yosemite Falls and take a dip!  A fantastic time.  Descent is a bit of a dirt slog so only recommend it if you are going to take a dip in the pools.

Single pitch:

Jamcrack @ Yosemite Falls area - 2 short pitches, feels more like a single pitch.  Great, comfortable jamming!  It's graded 5.9 but is really 5.7.  Supposedly there is a 5.9 move at the very top but I didn't notice it.

Bishop's Terrace @ Church Bowl - 1 long pitch with a nice view up top.  Amazing climb.  Be prepared to wait in line for this one no matter when you do it.

Claude's Delight @ Swan Slab - 1 pitch, 5.7.  Fun and can also toprope "Lena's Lieback" 5.9 from the anchors.

Edit: if anyone is reading this post in the future, Knob Hill is also a great area with easy single pitch climbs.

M Hostetler- Wow, thanks! Great list. All of those look like good options, and could easily fill a week of her climbing. Thanks also for staying within the difficulty parameters.

Also thanks to whoever upthread suggested Pine Creek. It seems that we could do a good 2-week trip in October with a week in Bishop/pine creek and a week in the valley.

shuteye ridge

Mike Robinson wrote: shuteye ridge

Tell me more. Is there easy stuff and harder cragging in close proximity?