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Salathe Wall Beta
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Me and a friend are trying to get down to the valley this coming July. We want to climb Salathe wall, does anyone have some specific beta they used to climb Salathe? Did you fix to heart ledges and haul from there? How many days would it realistically take in early July? How busy would it be? really any information anyone has would be useful. Thanks! |
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There are often fixed lines from the ground to Heart, but they get beat up so be prepared to use your own/replace them. Don't try to haul the Freeblast. Have you climbed a big wall before? How long did it take and how does it compare to the length/grade of the Salathe? Good luck and have a blast! |
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The Ear: WAY easier than you expect (since you expect to die.) Hollow Flake: slightly easier than you expect. The 5.9 squeeze above EC Tower: much worse than you expect. The last 5.9 top-out squeeze: worse than you could ever imagine by a factor of several infinities. |
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July should not be very busy because July. I’ve actually done the freerider in july, don’t think we saw another party on the wall the whole time. It was very hot. We were young and didn’t care and have a ton of great memories from that trip. You should go for it and have a blast :) |
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Yes the Freeblast one day no haul bag /rap/come back jug/ haul to Heart has been the most common way to do it for about 40 years. How many days depends on your experience, skill, and how good you are at getting after it. Travelling light helps, and the Salathe is a good one for that. Plenty of ledges, some better than others, so no need for portaledges, just an awareness of where you are, where the next possible bivvy is, and judging if you can make it. No need for a massive rack, or long ropes. The above comments about OW/chimney pitches are ok. There's also slab, and finger and hand/fist cracks. Some real old school Valley climbing. If you have decent OW skills, the Hollow Flake, climbing wise, is casual. I believe an earthquake around 1980 widened it, making it easier. Years ago I knew a guy, whose name escapes me, who was climbing it or sitting on top of it when the earthquake hit! July can be very warm or even just too damn hot, but can also be very good. About half way up you normally pick up breezes to help. The Salathe sees less traffic than the Nose or Zodiac and probably a few other routes. You might even get it to yourself. Might be swarming with people. A true classic. |
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You did your first ever multi pitch in October? Good luck! |
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Eric I see you're from Santa Cruz. I assume the guy on the Hollow Flake was Kim Dao (Spelling)? Someone related the same story to me about him and the Earthquake widening the flake |
Zay in Monterey wrote: I am thinking it was Brock Wagstaff. Don't know Kim Dao. I first lived here a short while 1958, short time in '81, and sporadically the past 18 years. So I kinda am and kinda not from here. Might be 2 different earthquakes. |
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Finn, if your ticks are to be believed then you may want to make sure your systems work well on something smaller like Leaning Tower or the Prow. See how the Freeblast goes and use that to gauge how many days you'll need. After hauling to Heart and bivvying, I think most people go Heart > Alcove, Alcove > Block, Block > Long, Long > Summit for 4 nights on the wall. That being said, the Salathe was my first El Cap route and first wall route longer than 1 night. I aided the shit out of it, and having a really big cam makes the wide pitches less stressful (I had a Merlin 8). We did it in July and were fairly comfy thanks to shade and wind. We had hardly anyone on route but I've heard of huge line-ups now that everyone's trying to free Freerider. Oh and the usual pitch off of Long is allegedly way harder and more dangerous than the topo suggests. We were really stressed about it after hearing of someone breaking both legs a couple days before we blasted off. I opted to do the "5.11 bolted" pitch off of the left side of Long and it was absolutely incredible - you can pull through most of the cruxes as you're clipping bolts with all of the headwall below you. Be safe, have a good bail plan, and have fun! |
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Last time I was in the valley in July highs were in the mid 90s and the only climbers on el cap were NIAD parties who could top out by mid morning. If you really want to climb the salathe in those conditions your best bet is to get on an alpine schedule and and start each day at midnight and hope to hit a ledge before late morning when the sun hits. Bring a big tarp and make yourself a shade structure and hide from the burning orb that has no consideration for your life. Pop some melatonin and try to sleep by 4pm so you can wake up at midnight and repeat. Better yet, go cragging in tuolumne in July and come back for the captain in the fall. |
Eric Craig wrote: R D Caughron either wrote or featured in a piece in an AAJ about bailing off the Salathé during an earthquake; probably around 1980. Can't remember who he was with. |
Ignatius Pi wrote: RD Caughron, hadn't thought of him for a very long time either. I believe it was he and Brock. They definitely knew each other. |
Eric Craig wrote: Looks like it. Just found this:- http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=3065484&tn=20 (Not sure whether it'll present as a clickable link.) |
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The Salathe in July.... Do Steck-Salathe on Sentinel first or NE Buttress Higher. Far more reasonable shakedown cruises for Yose wide thrutching. If these are close to fun you are ready for Salathe, imo. Pull one of those off in July and this will be a convo worth having. TBH, that you are considering the Salathe as your first big wall in July is pretty much a guarantee you will fail, imo. It shows poor judgement to pick such a physical wall with hard hauling and free climbing in what could be the worst of summer heat. The only people doing much in the Valley in July are wilting euros that didn't know better or big wallers with beer and ice. Prove me wrong! |
Aaron K wrote: https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/200328601/why-two-ropes Same OP. Seems unrealistic to this reader. |
