If you had a year to train for Freerider...

Alright MP'ers here we go.

Amidst the adrenaline rush after buying a G7 pod a few weeks ago, my buddy and I set the lofty goal of climbing Freerider next May (after I graduate) ground-up, all free. Being located in Montana and not knowing many people who frequent (or have even gone to) the valley, I figured asking the internet would be a good place to start...well, because everything on the internet is true.

 So, if you had a year to train for the Freerider, what would you do? 

A little background on me and my partner's current climbing abilities:

1.  We currently onsight mid 5.12 sport at best (limekiln), and redpointed my first 5.13a three days ago.
2.  We've stayed below 5.12 trad, but have gotten quite a bit of mileage on long, moderate granite and sandstone gear routes.
3.  We FA'd a 7 pitch 5.11- granite route ground-up (mostly gear, bolted belays) recently, and did a bit of hauling and jugging, but that is the extent of our "big walling" experience.
4.  Never slept on a portaledge
5.  Never climbed an actual off-width
6.  Have never climbed anything as sustained as the enduro corner

As always, sarcasm, trolling, and all non-helpful jokes are more than welcome, but some actual help would be cool.

Spray away!

Harrison Schutt wrote: 

1. 
   
2.  We've stayed below 5.12 trad, but have gotten quite a bit of mileage on long, moderate granite and sandstone gear routes.
3. 
   
4. 
   
5.  Never climbed an actual off-width
6.  Have never climbed anything as sustained as the enduro corner.

As always, sarcasm, trolling, and all non-helpful jokes are more than welcome, but some actual help would be cool.

Spray away!

2. You need a couple of seasons (ie spring and fall) on 5.12 trad for this overall goal to really be viable. Physicality of the Salathe is gonna be a test.

5. Hahahahahahaha? What could go wrong on the Monster?

6. I'd worry about this when you get there. Its "only" 12b.....

7. Bouldering V8 Granite would probably be useful. As well as being able to run 10 miles with Mark Hudon on your back.

8. Adam Ondra could not OS the Salathe, Free Rider OS/ground up would have been a proud send for him or anyone.

This might be informative. They talk about getting ready for FR  enormocast.com/2019/05/epis…

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote:

2. You need a couple of seasons (ie spring and fall) on 5.12 trad for this overall goal to really be viable. Physicality of the Salathe is gonna be a test.

5. Hahahahahahaha? What could go wrong on the Monster?

6. I'd worry about this when you get there. Its "only" 12b.....

7. Bouldering V8 Granite would probably be useful. As well as being able to run 10 miles with Mark Hudon on your back.

8. Adam Ondra could not OS the Salathe, Free Rider OS would have been a proud send for him or anyone.

8. True. We just thought if some random yeahoo could do this thing without a rope, it must be soft for the grade... 

Harrison Schutt wrote:

8. True. We just thought if some random yeahoo could do this thing without a rope, it must be soft for the grade... 

Yea, you gotta study up on the wide. Don't underestimate the chimneys and ow on the Salathe.

You should be hiking around on the Rostrum ie Blind Faith and Astroman before ground up on Free Rider is viable, imo.

The RCTM has a helpful section on goal setting with the freerider "in good style" as example.

Bivy on a big wall and haul a bag

Onsight 5 5.12a granite trad pitches

Redpoint 10 mid 12 granite trad pitches

Redpoint 5.11 ow

And maybe:

Redpoint 13 sport

Free moonlight

And has been said, the boulder is v7 or 8. How many Yosemite style boulders of that grade have you sent?

I've been chipping away at these for awhile, and after climbing the salathe last year know I need work in the realm of stamina and just time on hard granite.

Many have prevailed with less prep I'm sure, but I'm not a very good climber and will stick to this.

This has been a goal set by a vast amount of climbers in the last year. Freerider was packed this season before the rain came. I would highly recommend postponing your goal for the following Fall season. Come out to the Valley next spring and climb some of the easier classics like Astroman, Boarder Country, Freeblast, Westie Face. Just get a lot of mileage in and figure out what you’ll need to work on throughout the summer. I ran into a team a couple days ago who were hiking down after spending two weeks on Freerider. They didn’t send and they look absolutely miserable. I know it’s THE climb to do right now but you’ll have a much better time if your prepared and sending. Yosemite has a lot of amazing climbs that’ll offer great practice for the grand prize. Baby steps!

Harrison Schutt wrote:

8. True. We just thought if some random yeahoo could do this thing without a rope, it must be soft for the grade... 

I heard Yosemite is sand bagged

i think it would be a much better plan to wait until october to do it.  this would give you a bunch of time to climb in yosemite and get a good handle on the rock there.  for example, you will likely find it a lot more slippery than the granite you have climbed on in MT.

Justin Veenhuis wrote:

I heard Yosemite is sand bagged

welp, I'd say the "moderate" wide is for sure! Helloooo DNB....

Brad G wrote: This has been a goal set by a vast amount of climbers in the last year. Freerider was packed this season before the rain came. I would highly recommend postponing your goal for the following Fall season. Come out to the Valley next spring and climb some of the easier classics like Astroman, Boarder Country, Freeblast, Westie Face. Just get a lot of mileage in and figure out what you’ll need to work on throughout the summer. I ran into a team a couple days ago who were hiking down after spending two weeks on Freerider. They didn’t send and they look absolutely miserable. I know it’s THE climb to do right now but you’ll have a much better time if your prepared and sending. Baby steps! 

Hey Brad, go do Tenaya's Tears please. We need some test runs to confirm the grades before the topo for the new guide is finalized.

Thanks and stay safe.

Brad G wrote: This has been a goal set by a vast amount of climbers in the last year. Freerider was packed this season before the rain came. I would highly recommend postponing your goal for the following Fall season. Come out to the Valley next spring and climb some of the easier classics like Astroman, Boarder Country, Freeblast, Westie Face. Just get a lot of mileage in and figure out what you’ll need to work on throughout the summer. I ran into a team a couple days ago who were hiking down after spending two weeks on Freerider. They didn’t send and they look absolutely miserable. I know it’s THE climb to do right now but you’ll have a much better time if your prepared and sending. Yosemite has a lot of amazing climbs that’ll offer great practice for the grand prize. Baby steps!

Listen to this man! Unlike most of us yahoos on the forum, he really knows what he is talking about on this topic. 

More generally, I think it makes sense not to rush the big goal. It is better to put in the time to be really prepared and have fun on a route like that, rather than be in over your head and barely scrape up it. There are a great number of amazing, classic long routes (in Yosemite and elsewhere) to do as you work your way up to Freerider. 
The real goal should be not just to get up Freerider, but to build a wide and varied skill set that lets you do all sorts of classic long, difficult free routes.

1. Boulder V8 in Yosemite
2. Climb the nose, wall style, free as much as is reasonable and dial in your hauling.
3. Climb the rostrum, astroman,  and border country or scarface
4. Moonlight buttress
5. 12+ enduro route in Indian Creek (hydraulic pump is a good trainer for the enduro on freerider).
6. Get dialed on OW or you'll shit yourself on the hollow flake and then spend any energy you had left on the monster. The big baby in Indian Creek should be do-able if you want a chance on the monster.

George Foster wrote: The RCTM has a helpful section on goal setting with the freerider "in good style" as example.

Bivy on a big wall and haul a bag

Onsight 5 5.12a granite trad pitches

Redpoint 10 mid 12 granite trad pitches

Redpoint 5.11 ow

And maybe:

Redpoint 13 sport

Free moonlight

And has been said, the boulder is v7 or 8. How many Yosemite style boulders of that grade have you sent?

I've been chipping away at these for awhile, and after climbing the salathe last year know I need work in the realm of stamina and just time on hard granite.

Many have prevailed with less prep I'm sure, but I'm not a very good climber and will stick to this.

Thanks for the feedback! Haven’t spent much, well any, time on hard granite boulders. I’ve been trying more steep, slopey granite sport climbs above my limit to compensate. 

Harrison Schutt wrote:

Thanks for the feedback! Haven’t spent much, well any, time on hard granite boulders. I’ve been trying more steep, slopey granite sport climbs above my limit to compensate. 

Low angle to vertical, hard granite routes will help more than steep climbing.

Brad G wrote: This has been a goal set by a vast amount of climbers in the last year. Freerider was packed this season before the rain came. I would highly recommend postponing your goal for the following Fall season. Come out to the Valley next spring and climb some of the easier classics like Astroman, Boarder Country, Freeblast, Westie Face. Just get a lot of mileage in and figure out what you’ll need to work on throughout the summer. I ran into a team a couple days ago who were hiking down after spending two weeks on Freerider. They didn’t send and they look absolutely miserable. I know it’s THE climb to do right now but you’ll have a much better time if your prepared and sending. Yosemite has a lot of amazing climbs that’ll offer great practice for the grand prize. Baby steps!

Much appreciated! This is definitely the kind of thing I think we need to hear. Freerider does feel like “the route” to do and is something we want a piece of like everyone else. While our long term goal is to send freerider, we know it probably won’t happen first go and would be psyched to just rope up at the base of el cap. At the same time we don’t want to end up like those dudes who put all the eggs in the freerider basket or just be two kids from Montana who clog up the route from being technically unprepared. Thanks for the route recommendations pre-freerider. Cheers!

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote:

2. You need a couple of seasons (ie spring and fall) on 5.12 trad for this overall goal to really be viable. Physicality of the Salathe is gonna be a test.

5. Hahahahahahaha? What could go wrong on the Monster?

6. I'd worry about this when you get there. Its "only" 12b.....

7. Bouldering V8 Granite would probably be useful. As well as being able to run 10 miles with Mark Hudon on your back.

8. Adam Ondra could not OS the Salathe, Free Rider OS/ground up would have been a proud send for him or anyone.

Is Mark available? I'd train with just a Hudon-equivalent weight vest, but somehow I think my skill will improve faster if he's actually there.

Brad G  I ran into a team a couple days ago who were hiking down after spending two weeks on Freerider. They didn’t send and they look absolutely miserable. 

To add some context to this, we spent 1 week on the route, dealing with atrociously wet conditions every day, and it was never our goal to send.  We looked miserable because we had been up for 30 hours and we both really hate hiking.  It was our first big wall and we were beyond stoked to get to the top of the Captain.

Tony Nichols wrote:

To add some context to this, we spent 1 week on the route, dealing with atrociously wet conditions every day, and it was never our goal to send.  We looked miserable because we had been up for 30 hours and we both really hate hiking.  It was our first big wall and we were beyond stoked to get to the top of the Captain.

Hell yeah! Sounds like quite the adventure

Tony Nichols wrote:

To add some context to this, we spent 1 week on the route, dealing with atrociously wet conditions every day, and it was never our goal to send.  We looked miserable because we had been up for 30 hours and we both really hate hiking.  It was our first big wall and we were beyond stoked to get to the top of the Captain.

Was that you? Sorry, Maison told me you had told him two weeks. Way to tough it out through all that terrible weather. Come back in the fall and send it! 

1. Reformed Troll wrote:

You should just start posting "Tenaya's Tears" and maybe the link to the climb on every thread.  Twice on the accident threads.

Hey man, try to stay on topic. This thread is about some young pups from Montana looking for their first Yosemite ass whipping.

Come to think of it, I know a couple they might get started on....

Ps thanks for the bump.