How stiff are the grades in Cochamo? akin to Yosemite?

Planning a big trip and I'd love to spend some time in Cochamo, but trying to work out whether I can climb hard enough to survive there. 

(I'm from the UK and our grades don't convert simply to long crack multis.)

I did a USA tour a few years back, but found while I was leading 5.9s in Yosemite, we moved to Index and then Squamish and I was immediately on 5.10cs. I've heard Yosemite 5.9 can be a bogey grade, but just wondering where Cochamo lies on this? Routes there start at hard 5.10, which if that's Yosemite 5.10 then I need a new plan, while if it's Squamish 5.10 I reckon I'll get by. 

(Possibly my paranoia is just because I climbed way too many Yosemite 5.9s and actually the Yosemite grades track logically again after 5.10? I wouldn't know)

Prior to cochamo I'll be spending 2 months in Yosemite, 1 in Indian creek and 1 in Potrero Chico, so hopefully that will be on my side. 

Hi! 

I haven't climbed in Yosemite Valley (only in Tuolumne), but I did in Squamish and Index and Cochamó, and if you say you climbed 5.10 in Index, you will be find in Cochamó for sure :) 

Even better if you go there after a few months in Yosemite, Potrero and the Creek.

In Cochamó of course, the routes are long, and you have long approaches, and it's wild and remote, different and beautiful. 

Hope it was helpful!

We found Cochamo to compare in difficulty to Yosemite. Harder than Squamish, definitely. Approaches are doable, but by most people’s definition are massive endeavors before, yet, considering to climb. Plan time and length of stay accordingly.

It didn’t feel like the kind of place to push ourselves. It’s very remote. Not a place to make mistakes or twist an ankle. 

Double 70m ropes are standard there for many rappels on the bigger routes. A single 70m is bare minimum kit and double 60’s may limit what you can go up/down. 

Our biggest takeaway from the trip was food related. We really messed up what we got at the grocery store and had salt intake so high we lost a day of life to splitting migraines. We figured out the problem and adjusted with what we had left but choices were slim and repetitive.

If you have time in Yosemite, maybe try Regular NW Face of Half Dome, and if that feels good then Cochamo should have plenty for you to do. The approach up the Death Slabs to Half Dome is a reasonable comparison from Cochamo base camp to the start of the climbs in various Cochamo canyons. From the trailhead to basecamp is also 13Km one way.

One more significant logistic is the effort of packing around the equipment and food for an extended stay. Ultra durable baggage is required. If you’re using the horses they have weight limits. A 70L big wall haul bag is perfect per person, but it still can’t be too heavy to put on the horse. 

Alex Fletcherwrote:

We found Cochamo to compare in difficulty to Yosemite. Harder than Squamish, definitely. Approaches are doable, but by most people’s definition are massive endeavors before, yet, considering to climb. Plan time and length of stay accordingly.

It didn’t feel like the kind of place to push ourselves. It’s very remote. Not a place to make mistakes or twist an ankle. 

Double 70m ropes are standard there for many rappels on the bigger routes. A single 70m is bare minimum kit and double 60’s may limit what you can go up/down. 

Our biggest takeaway from the trip was food related. We really messed up what we got at the grocery store and had salt intake so high we lost a day of life to splitting migraines. We figured out the problem and adjusted with what we had left but choices were slim and repetitive.

If you have time in Yosemite, maybe try Regular NW Face of Half Dome, and if that feels good then Cochamo should have plenty for you to do. The approach up the Death Slabs to Half Dome is a reasonable comparison from Cochamo base camp to the start of the climbs in various Cochamo canyons. From the trailhead to basecamp is also 13Km one way.

One more significant logistic is the effort of packing around the equipment and food for an extended stay. Ultra durable baggage is required. If you’re using the horses they have weight limits. A 70L big wall haul bag is perfect per person, but it still can’t be too heavy to put on the horse. 

Thanks that was a really helpful comment. How remote it is is definitely on my mind, which is why i'm concerned I could turn up there with the grades not being as comfortable as they need to be in such a place. 

I appreciate the suggestion of climbing the regular NW face! I'd been considering that anyway so will double down on that as a test tick. Any other route suggestions to prepare/diagnose readiness are much appreciated.

I'm thinking that if I make it nearer the time and decide Cochamo this time round is reckless then I'll just still take the flight but make my way to the Frey instead. But ideally I'd liked bailing on Cochamo to be because I'm factually not ready for it, rather than just unfounded self doubt.  

Thanks for the tip about the food too! Sorry to hear of your migraine experience but cheers for helping me to avoid the same fate.

I would say if you can confidently climb yosemite 5.10 all day you will have plenty to choose from and if you can do that with yosemite 5.11 you will have loads to choose from. I just climbed lucky streaks up in tuolomne and it felt comparable to a lot of the classics (bienvenidos a mi insomnia, excelente mi teniente, al centro y adentro (that one's a bit harder)) albeit shorter. So if you're looking for a less pain in the ass test than Regular NW face, try lucky streaks and see how you'd feel doing it twice in a day.