Snake Dike Comparisons

I am trying to climb Snake Dike this June, I will be going out to Yosemite for a week and hope to climb it on the last day of the trip. Based on what I've read and seen, I need to practice slab a little more before this trip, but is there any comparison climbs in Yosemite that my partner and I could go to to practice Yosemite slab before we get on snake dike's pitch 1 and 3.

Also, my partner is pretty inexperienced climber, we have climbed a couple of 2-3 pitch routes, but based on my understanding, the follower should be completely safe throughout the climb except for maybe Pitch 3, is that the right thinking?

Thanks in advance,

Brandon

I would go do some slab tr or lead at Knob hill, Manure pile, Swan Slab, or glacier point. Easy enough leads or easy to set a tr. Will give you that granite slab feel. Or go boulder some slabs in camp 4. 

If you can make it out to Emigrant Wall a few hours north start on 5.6 and work your way up to at least 5.7 if not 5.8 and you'll be set. If you can lead Three Springs you will find the slab on Snake Dike quite chill. 

Some of the easier routes on Glacier Point Apron have some comparable slab. Fair warning, Snake Dike is not to be taken lightly. It's a massive day, with horrifically runout climbing. You need to be 100% sure you and your partner are mentally and physically prepared for it. Start hiking way earlier than you think.

All that aside. I climbed it 10 years ago with arguably less experience than you have now. My partner and I had climbed literally 2 multipitches ever. We got lost on the approach and eventually summited in a lightening storm. For some reason we both had massive backpacking packs on fully loaded with canned food and other random shit. We basically went car to car in a super epic 20hrs. 

Thank you all!!

John and Clark, I will keep that in mind!

Max - I appreciate it, we plan on getting some more practice in and I have been to the start of Snake Dike on my way to the "diving board" hike... Stressed about the climbing part! But we will make sure we are good!

I’ve been climbing in the valley since 99 and for some reason only finally did snake dike in 2019. I have done quite a few 10’s in the valley but I’m admittedly not a great slab climber. I thought the first 3 pitches of snake dike were pretty scary for 5.7 the first pitch traverse under the roof is slick and the gear is hard to see. Pitches 2/3 are a bit easier but very runout. The traverse over to the dike wasn’t too bad but I have heard of folks who went too high to traverse and it was much harder. The pitches on the dike itself are still very runout but much more positive climbing. The upper slab is still technical and almost no gear. Definitely not a route for a climber if 5.7 granite is near your limit.

I think the slabby bits on Nutcracker P4 are pretty comparable to Snake Dike cruxes.

Try to follow the Grack by just slab climbing sections of it.

The follower is safe for p3 unless you clip the intermediate anchor (you have to go out of your way to clip it).

Snake Dike is intense. None of this answers your questions, and you may know all this already, but maybe some of this is useful.

•  It's about 15 miles and 5000 feet of elevation gain from Curry Village to the top and back, round-trip. It's a very long day if you do it all in one push. If you want to camp partway you'll need to schlep the extra gear and stow it on your summit day. 
• The top of Half Dome is at 8800 feet. If you're not used to elevation, you'll feel it. 
• Whatever you take to the base of the climb, you'll want to take up and over since the descent is on the other side of the dome. It's miles out of your way to return to the base. 
• The roped climbing only goes about halfway up the dome. The rest of the way up involves a class 4 slog that gets gradually less steep, but you will be tired. If you or your follower are not used to being unroped on an exposed class 4 slab, there may be some freaking out. 
• You won't want to carry all the water you'll need for the whole day. Make sure you have gear and a plan for water filtration or purification. 
• The trail to the base of Snake Dike is not as obvious/well-marked as most Yosemite trails. Figure out which way you plan to go and know how to find the turn-offs. 
• There will be long parts of the journey where you have no cell reception, though you'll probably have reception on top of the Dome. It's advisable to carry a beacon or cellphone with satellite capability for emergencies. 

If you have a few days before, you could acclimatize in Tuolumne. Stately Pleasure Dome, maybe Pywiak and some others (e.g. east face of Fairview) will give you a feel for slabby 5.7 without perfect gear, but you can work your way up to 5.7 from easier, perhaps less committing things. Tenaya Peak could be a good Snake Dike precursor in terms of acclimatization and lots of miles on slabby 3rd/4th class; don't do this is there is a snow shoulder above you which seems likely in June with this year's snowpack; if Tuolumne is open at all when you're there.

There are some TR lines to the right of the Grack. Hit those up. Cold Fusion is near by. Well protected.

The month of June can get hot. As mentioned above, spend a couple days up in Tuolumne if you can. If you can handle even mildly spicy Tuolumne leads you’ll be fine.

Decades ago I used to regularly climb on the Apron, and loved the Grack area.  I was talking to some friends about going back there this year, and was told the rockfall is now much worse and it is very dangerous.  Given that people in this thread are suggesting the Grack, are those rockfall concerns ungrounded (is the rockfall now worse than it was 30 years ago?)?

The rockfall always occurs at GPA but the closest I’ve had was at least 200ft away - had one 15-20ft away (softball sized, 3-4 chunks) a week ago at base of EC, so is that saying EC is worse? I dunno, but we all still climb em (both). YGD and YMMV, etc. etc.

It may be helpful to see some of the areas that  are usually done unroped. You can of course decide to rope up for any of it, though pro is sparse on the dome itself. 

1. Exposed traverse on the approach

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2. Video: Unroped on the slabs after the end of technical climbing. There are no more bolts after this, and very little pro. My first time on Snake Dike, my partner short-roped me up a couple of rope lengths (after the end of the traditional route) by hunkering/bracing in potholes and giving a hip belay. This was after I had been following trad for a couple of years and had many Tuolumne dome climbs under my belt. It's spooky if you're not used to it.

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3. This photo gives a reasonably good shot of the slab angle with a straight horizon at the point we unroped. This was our last anchor location.

Here is the traverse between dikes after the second anchor. There is one bolt above the anchor and the traverse pretty much follows a flatter angle across from there.

From the leader's perspective looking back:

to the OP, reference L Kap’s photo above and note where their leader is - *if* you want to protect your follower, do *not* clip that bolt/anchor on the dike, instead continue up the dike about 30ft of 5.easy and use the next bolt/anchor to belay from, that will significantly mitigate the follower swing risk. Of course you’ll need enough lead head to do so, but it *is* 5.easy, fwiw…

The traverse onto the dike (and the whole route) is on Street View. maps.app.goo.gl/rGgrUj7WTXQ…

Parkline slab is another option (although ewall is a better alternative). You'll have to start very early or very late because of the heat, but if you can lead 5.7 there, SDs crux will be child's play. 

Additionally, there's some slab bouldering near camp 4 which are much harder than SD. (Glass pyramid, etc). If you can do the cruxs on them, SD will feel like walking. 

Guys, thank you all so much, I really appreciate all the help!!... Based on the information, I think my partner and I will practice some more multi's and slab before our trip and then go to some of the places mentioned and see how we feel. Based on that, either do it or not!!

Thank you all again, this community is great!

Brandon Castillo wrote:

Based on the information, I think my partner and I will practice some more multi's and slab before our trip and then go to some of the places mentioned and see how we feel. 

If you have opportunity for a trip out to North Carolina for granite slab practice prior to your Yosemite trip, that would be an ideal way to prepare. After a few days climbing runout slab at Stone Mountain (or other NC slabby domes) Snake Dike should feel pretty OK. It is less about the technical movement skill, and more about the ability to keep it together mentally on runout smearing. 

This is a page from Basic Rockcraft by Royal Robbins. The drawing by Sheridan Anderson is an excellent depiction of balance over the feet while slab climbing.  The right hand if anything is stretched a little high. Getting some experience keeping your weight way back-away-from-the rock precisely over your lower foot, and making the transition to the upper foot with a subtle pulling of your upper foot, smoothly. When only one hand has a hold, the other might be best used low, fingers point down. Both hands can be used to keep the body weight out away from the rock, and unless a hand hold is very good,  you more push down on the hold to help propel (smoothly!) your body upward. It shouldn't take much practice to get a good feel for this. And getting that feel will help with your confidence to climb well above your protection, both on the smooth slabby parts of Snake Dike,  and the more featured big dike. 

You could also prepare mentally for the Snake Dike runouts on a climb or two that is less awesomely exposed, which is part of the great mystique of Snake Dike. 

Yeah, it's heady and the approach and descent are full-on...it's also an absolutely fantastic climb in one of the most beautiful places on earth and many, many people have successfully completed it. I'm betting that you can do it and have a great time into the bargain. Let us know how it goes!