Got trashed on NEB (Yosemite), any tips to help me suck less?

Hi Internet rock people,

I did NEB (North East Buttress of Higher Cathedral Rock, Yosemite Valley) yesterday and got tossed. I was looking through the opinions section and saw all the folks tick onsight and read some of the comments about soloing it. My question for those of you that showed up to this climb and cruised it, were you particularly fit or well practiced in wide before you did the climb? Do you have any wisdom for me? I feel like I'm getting better as a climber, but man NEB was tough.

My first time on the NEB I had sudden food poisoning from a pre made store sandwich and puked at pitch 4 and bailed. Second time came back and summited but still suffered a bit. I think the NEB is notoriously difficult because it just gets burlier the higher you get. The V slot pitch still worked me pretty hard. I'd bet very few people finish that route feeling refreshed. Definitely just get more milage on all the valley wide routes. Of all the valley 5.9 routes I've done, the NEB is the hardest in my opinion. A comparable route with slightly less wide would be East Butt of El Cap. 

Dude, NEB is legit hardest Valley 5.9 and probably middle 5.10 for pure physical day. Steck-Salathe was called 5.9 for years and is legit 5.10b.

NEB is harder and you won't find much argument (**edit** haha I guess there is plenty of debate).

If anyone says they cruised NEB they are either lying or otherwise are solid on 5.11 trad and 5.10 wide. Smaller and thinner types also seem to do better due to the squeeze that's impossible for fatties. Most would rather do the Rostrum than NEB (Rostrum might be technically harder but you don't get your balls busted on the approach). And at least you can easily pull on gear on the technically hardest parts...

Getting bouted on NEB has been a thing for 60 years and the FFA was done by some of the best in the world at granite wide at the time. On the other hand, all they had was pins for pro (which means none at times haha) and did it in hiking boots too. Frank Sacherer was no joke. If you think people today are fitter at chimneys than back then you are dead wrong.

The long V corner after the first left traverse is sustained, but you should be able to stem it in places.

For the short squeeze section above, nobody can fit in it the whole way, so you exit to the right.

But then it gets hard and you need to traverse back left.

When I first tried it, I was getting very pumped there and starting to let go.

But I realized I could pinch the big flake between my thighs and get a full rest!

Then you can pull up on some of the face holds on the arete of the flake.

The start of the next pitch is 5.10 right off the belay, but after you pull a few moves it gets easier and you can place pro.

For the upper part, the left most path (yellow line) is the easiest.  

I’m looking at your recent ticks and it seems like you spend a lot of time in the Gorge.  Maybe try hanging out at Arch Rock until that style feels comfortable and then hop back on the NEB.

*Edit: arch rock is of course closed for the birds so maybe check out Henley Quits and a few of it’s neighbors in the same way.

** what Clint said, and also Flatus, Cookie Right, Enigma-stuff like that

Good point at looking at the ticks.

You should be able to lead Bev's Tower, Outer Limits, and Gripper before doing the NEB.

Also you should be able to do the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral without getting very tired.

(It is much easier than NEB because it does not have many 5.9 pitches).  But the left finish to the East Buttress gets you more 5.9, so do that.

Braille Book should also feel pretty easy.

Those are some stepping stones.

Grayson Gwrote:

Hi Internet rock people,

I did NEB (North East Buttress of Higher Cathedral Rock, Yosemite Valley) yesterday and got tossed. I was looking through the opinions section and saw all the folks tick onsight and read some of the comments about soloing it. My question for those of you that showed up to this climb and cruised it, were you particularly fit or well practiced in wide before you did the climb? Do you have any wisdom for me? I feel like I'm getting better as a climber, but man NEB was tough.

just to give you an alternative story to solos and easy onsights: decades ago, a buddy of mine and i decided to give this route a go.  it was a spur of the moment decision, we're out of shape, supertopo didn't exist, but heck - it's 5.9 - something well within our reach (even by old school valley standards).  as we slogged our way up the climb in the middle of summer, more often than not guessing which way to go, we ground to a halt just shy of the top.  the left way looked heinous, straight up looked just as horrible.  it was getting dark and we were going nowhere.  fortunately, it was a rather pleasant night in terms of temps and the next morning we topped out.  interestingly, everything that had looked menacing the evening before changed to 'dang we could have done this yesterday' ;-)

i've always felt that getting spanked on climbs is part of climbing.  it helps you grow, it puts things in perspective, it's experience.

so, plug-away, you're definitely not the only one whose gone through that process....  

My first attempt on the NEB was on a wickedly hot June day in 1983 where I got heinously stoned on the approach and bailed after two pitches.

Two weeks later I swung leads on it with a new-found British partner as a training run for the Regular NW Face of Half Dome. We did Peruvian Flake and all of Maxine’s Wall the day before as our first route together, which did little to prepare us for the NEB. I was the more experienced climber on off width and led all of those pitches on the NEB; it took us 10 hours and we topped out at 6 pm. It seemed long but nothing stood out as terribly difficult; we were slow but it seemed comparable to many of the 5.9’s that I was used to in New Hampshire. On this attempt I paced myself better with the reefer, which helped.

Two days later we cruised the East Buttress of El Cap in 3 hours, which seemed easy by comparison.

Half Dome then took us three days at a casual pace, sleeping on the now missing Long Ledge the first night and Big Sandy the next. My British friend had no aid climbing experience so I took all of the aid leads and coached him on the spot how to jumar traverses, follow the pendulum, and haul. The NEB was great training for the RNWF. 

John Tuttlewrote:Most would rather do the Rostrum than NEB. At least you can easily pull on gear on the technically hardest parts...

Tut tut so you do tug?

Seriously though, probably just need to be tuned up more for the place your climbing. Also, route finding is challenging at the top of that one. 

Hey Grayson, one of my first trip to the valley I got absolutely waxed on nutcracker. Took nearly a full day and my wife cried several times, all around a very discouraging event considering I was breaking into 5.10 reasonably well at the time. When I got down my experienced friend had a good laugh and explained that this waxing is a requirement for those looking to become valley initiated. He told me granite is its own kind of climbing, and Yosemite granite its own kind of climbing within that that requires time and miles to learn. Now several years down the road I totally agree with that and still factor in a week or so at the start of each season to “re-learn” the valley rock and how to engage with it. You’ll laugh about this down the road when you’re soloing the same route. Stick with it it’s worth it!

Good morning Grayson,  a lot of good input already. The NEB is the burliest of the East Buttress Trilogy. The game is as much mental as physical/technical. So you had a hard day, it happens. To most of us. 

NEB is an old school route. Whether it's 5.9 or 5.10 is dependent on a combination how you climb and mindset (those 2 things are intimately connected). If you believe the climbing is going to be massively physical, then it will be. It doesn't have to be that way. 

Arch Rock, Cookie, Camp 4 wall suggestions above are excellent. Plus others.

East Buttress Trilogy, from easiest to hardest:

1. Middle Cathedral Rock.  5.10c.(easiest)

2. El Cap. 5.10a/b (?) 

3. Higher Cathedral Rock. 5.9/5.10a.(hardest)

Just the way it is.

People don't talk much about the mental part of the game, because it's hard. That's also why it's incredibly valuable. 

philip bonewrote:

Tut tut so you do tug?

Hell, yes. Like we all do when we can't send. Everyone grabs the gear at their limit.

As grayson's partner for the climb, I feel a bit more context may be needed. We picked this route because we both had done most classic valley 5.9 multi pitches already. We knew going in it was going to be a 5.9+ kinda day, but this was much harder than anticipated. Wide climbing tends to be a strong suit of mine, but I found the 5.8 chimneys to be very physical, despite having lots of experience and being tall and thin. This combined with strong morning sun, not enough water and having to wait over an hour for the parties ahead to get through the crux pitches multiplied the exhaustion. While we could argue about which grade this route deserves, I don't think anyone will argue that its soft or easy.

Overall the effort for this ascent wasn't much less than that required for my niad or on the rnwf, but felt more gripping since I approached this route as a free climber rather than aid. My takeaway is that the burly climbing on this route tests ones all day mountain endurance like a big wall than a typical multi pitch. It made sense to see in tact bail anchors all the way up till two pitches from the top.

But despite it being an ass kicking, it was the epic classic we hoped it would be. The quality rock and steep giant cliff was a pleasure to be on. While I used aid in the back half, I thought this route was great for pushing through. The pro is splitter, this is a good route to see if you're ready for big walls, but bring some webbing just in case... 

Others have made good points about how the valley takes a specific skill set to get yourself up the granite. This is especially true for a route that is know as an old school blue collar test piece. Another element that is important to take into consideration is your all-day fitness. The approach to HCR can be burly on its own, depending on how much bushwhacking you end up doing. The route can also be very hot in the full morning sun. This means there’s a good chance you’ll have a big heavy bag with lots of water, which in turn leads to even more fatigue and amplifies the ass-kicking. If you’re pushing not just your technical abilities but the limits of your physical fitness, you might consider some other strategies to spread out the manual labor involved in this climb. For example, you can hike up a day or two before and stash some gear and water to make the early morning hike a bit less strenuous, and to find the best way through the maze of bay trees in that gully. You could also have the follower jug with all your water and extra gear (a bummer to miss out on TRing some cool pitches but still might be preferable to topping out in the dark and starting the descent totally wrecked).

Just like the technique has to come back each season, so does the all-day fitness. If you’ve been cragging in bishop and Joshua tree all winter then your fingers might be strong but your legs probably need a few more big days like this to get back to proper form for big days in the valley. Keep on chugging. See you around the valley!

Clint Cumminswrote:

The long V corner after the first left traverse is sustained, but you should be able to stem it in places.

For the short squeeze section above, nobody can fit in it the whole way, so you exit to the right.

But then it gets hard and you need to traverse back left.

When I first tried it, I was getting very pumped there and starting to let go.

But I realized I could pinch the big flake between my thighs and get a full rest!

Then you can pull up on some of the face holds on the arete of the flake.

The start of the next pitch is 5.10 right off the belay, but after you pull a few moves it gets easier and you can place pro.

For the upper part, the left most path (yellow line) is the easiest.  

Who's that asian woman I met who was climbing with Skyler? She told me she can squeeze the whole thing lil' haxor.

Hey man! I climbed NEB the same day as you, we were the first group on the route I think it's just the good ol hard yosemite style ;) I had to take one time because I was struggling to exit the bombay squeeze chimney (with that said the next day I OSed 12- at Public Sanitation). I think the best beta for yosemite is to not pick a certain grade you wanna climb, pick a formation you want to get on; then pick the most repeated route on that formation, put in some elbow grease and enjoy! - Joey L

Mostly good advice here but just had to chime in steck salathe is way harder than NEB and RNWF HD is a completely different ball game (although less chimney climbing) 

+1 on the SS

Steck-Sal is a much meaner animal, and A+++, top tier valley route, a notch above NEB imo and that's saying something 

NIAD and Rostrum easier than the NEB?? 

Not a trilogy, it's a quartet: East Butt of Lower Cathedral belongs in that mix. Great route! More adventurous than the other EB routes, different type of challenge, harder than the others

Of course Steck Salathe is harder, look at it lol!

Joey Latinawrote:

Of course Steck Salathe is harder, look at it lol!

I’m climbing Steck tomorrow and yall are stressing me out lol