Continue with onX Maps
Sign in with Facebook
Yosemite Big Walls vs Yosemite Bigwalls
|
Kevin's got some of the reasons. Others include:
|
Matt Clay wrote: There are a few reasons those 4 routes get a lot of the traffic. First of all they are some of the easiest routes on El Cap. The Nose, Salathe and lurking fear are all pretty much C1 (a few bits of C2 on lurking fear and Salathe) and they are all clean. The Zodiac is amazing and while being quite a bit harder in terms of aid climbing compared to the other 3 it is still often climbed clean. The zodiac is a lot shorter (16 pitches vs 30ish on the nose) and the hauling is super easy because its so steep. There is kind of a second tier of trade routes that still get done but are harder and more involved. This includes routes like the Shield, Mescalito, Tangerine Trip, New Dawn, and the South Seas. These routes probably still get climbed several times per season and are often done with minimal nailing. After that you're getting farther and farther off the beaten path and may have to deal with old anchors/lead rivets, nailing, loose rock, and the need to be able to place heads. Dealing with these issues require skills that require more experience and tend to scare off less experienced wall climbers. These routes are often excellent too but much more involved. A lot of the more modern stuff that Kevin mentioned upthread may have seen only a few ascents and may still have a lot of loose features which adds to the spice. There's nothing wrong with climbing the classics. Another reason that the older routes tend to see more traffic is that they are the more natural lines and often have the best rock quality. The were the obvious plums to get picked when people started looking for new routes. My partners and I often joke that we are pretty cutting edge for what was put up in the early 70"s. These routes are popular because they are amazing and fun. just my 2 cents |
|
Easy walls are great, and even when you're crushing A4 you still enjoy them as warm ups (and they can surprise ya). Maybe as big for beginners as my new, more-detailed guidebook will be the release of the Pod, an inflatable portaledge that should come out any day now. Many have gotten to see them this fall, and it will truly blow your mind - imagine a 2 lb sleeping pad, 4" thick and plush for sleeping on during your entire trip, that also clips up and is rigid like a ledge. Crazy good news for the beginner routes, where not having a ledge (and other factors) cause bottle necks at the bottom of routes which is hard on beginners. The Regular NW Face of Half Dome is going to completely change with the Pod, as I imagine will Lurking Fear, Liberty Cap, and Mt. Watkins (routes where you only need a ledge for one night, so everyone sleeps at the base and then tries to have long days together but often doesn't work). |
|
That's interesting Erik, I'm currently looking at the second edition of the Yosemite supertopos big wall book, (You are the co author) that rates the nose at 5.9 C1. If you wear free shoes on the first 4 pitches I didn't find more than a move or so of C2 and maybe 1 or 2 more on the changing corners or glowering spot. And you only need to climb a route once to know how hard it is from my experience. |
|
Ratings change all the time, which in the case of the Nose was more about a sandbag being corrected. The Nose is closer to 5.10c/d C1 or 5.8 C2......or 5.14a, so just depeds what you're up for! |
Erik Sloan wrote: Ratings change all the time, which in the case of the Nose was more about sandbag being corrected. The Nose is closer to 5.10c/d C1 or 5.8 C2......or 5.14a, so just depeds what you're up for! Yeah I was thinking about those moves on the first few pitches and was like, "no way those placements are C1 or those moves 5.9" |
|
No doubt if you can free climb hard you do not need as much pro, or need to worry about tricky placements. I remember when I was making the Dawn Wall topo with Tommy, sitting in the mountain room bar before their free ascent, and asked 'ok, what about the rack? how many offset cams?' This was in 2014, a cool 15 years after hybrid Aliens revolutionized bigwall climbing for us aid climbers. Tommy's like 'none, I've never used those things.' I'm like 'really?' and he's like, 'yeah, no, I mean, you just climb until you get to the next good placement, right?' |
|
There's no doubt that the moves getting to sickle on pitches 3-4 are hard for 5.9 but they didn't feel like 10c/d and I definitely felt like I had good gear to whip on if I fell. I though the mandatory slab moves on the free blast were scarier and I did in fact fall on one of those pitches. Maybe I was in better shape than I thought when I did it. I also agree that offset aliens and totems are amazing. I often feel like they can turn C2 placements into fall stopping gear. I'm always amazed at how good some marginal looking placements can be when you really jump on them. Just like Chris Mac says in his description of the nose. "don't let the rating fool you, the Nose is huge and terrifying" and the exposure often gets to people in a way that they aren't really willing to free climb. Mandatory free climbing up there has definitely created some of my scariest situations in climbing. Runout with a huge rack, aiders flapping in the breeze, rope drag and the exposure are great ways to test your head. |
|
Erik's Yosemite Bigwalls* [SIC] Select is just coming out, and it's really superb. There is a TON of new information in it. I did the final copyedit, and you'd think a guy like me - who has climbed on El Cap twice a year every season since 1995 [except this spring!] - wouldn't be able to learn much of anything new. But Erik lives in Yosemite, and he has added some really great never-before-published information, and I learned tons of new stuff from his guide. Another great thing about Erik is that as soon as I come down off the wall, I give him the updated beta from my notes, and he immediately - on the spot! - enters my fixes into his working version of his guidebook. And he does this for everyone else, too, who brings him edits. So what this means is you always have the most up-to-date beta for every route. *The term "big wall" is TWO words, dammit! ;) |
|
The new books have finally arrived! Woot Woot! E |
|
See you next week for my autographed copy! What do you think about Hooking Up? |
|
Woot Woot! Hooking Up is Good! E |
|
Got my book yesterday! The new guidebook is tight! Get urs today! |
|
Thanks Alex! .....it takes a Village! |
|
Personally, I like the term “Bigwalls” and glad it is used to represent those big pieces of stone that fascinate many. |
Erik Sloanwrote: Preordered in February and I was out climbing last weekend and thought of the book, felt like it was about time to check in...and guess what showed up on my doorstep when I got home on Monday! Couldn't be more stoked on it, even though I've been through the ebook more than once. Looks great. The radiused corners are an awesome touch and should be on all guidebooks, really seems like it will keep it looking neat while it's kicking around in a duffle bag. |
|
Thanks guys! |
|
I got mine too. Totally digging it. Up to 57 years of Yosemite Guides now. 1964 to 2021 |
