Yosemite Conditions Late March

I tried to find a thread for this but couldn't stumble across one. My buddy and I are planning a climbing trip for late March and are wondering what the Valley is like in late March. I would imagine that it is definitely climbable, but I also don't want to freeze too much. Which routes in the 10 range would be best this time or year? Would an attempt at the Nose be plausible, or just miserably cold?

Other options would be Jtree and Tahquitz, or even Red Rocks. I really want to climb in the Valley though!

Late March is super hit-and-miss. It could be gorgeous, but it's also pretty likely that it would be dumping rain.

Wait until last minute, then decide between the Valley and southern options.

yep, what greg said. ive been to the valley in march when it was freezing with a foot of snow, but ive also seen it 65 and sunny in march.

On top of the fact that it could be raining if you do get some nice sun, you'll also have snow melt/water run off so a lot of routes will be little waterfalls. Just to give you a heads up.

caughtinside wrote:So you guys are suggesting that spring weather in the mountains is unpredictable 2 months out? I had better write that down...

Cheeky. :)

I climbed the Nose in late March of 2010.

We had awesome weather, 65 and sunny every day. So sunny that it melted the 2-3 feet of snow on top of El Cap and snowmelt runoff nailed us every evening.

I had a down bag but a waterproof bivy sack. The runoff soaked the ledges and soaked the sack enough that my bag saturated. I started the last night by entering a wet sleeping bag and proceeded to shiver and cramp my way through the night on a 1-person ledge because Camp V was getting pounded by a tiny waterfall.

Leading through little rivulet waterfalls wasn't fun, but you can aid the entire upper part of the wall.

It was my buddy's first wall, and first longer than 5 pitches - fairly transformative experience for him.

This year, the snow will probably be gone a lot sooner. Weather is still very hit or miss at that time of year. Better be prepared to go as far as Red Rocks or Zion if there's a long storm forecasted for your stay.

My buddy wrote a trip report:
cheynelempe.blogspot.com/20…

Also Zodiac can be done in that time of year:
mountainproject.com/v/tr-gu…

That blog also has a trip report from Zenyatta Mondatta in winter.

It honestly is rarely severely cold in the valley. It's almost always warm compared to Colorado. If you've done anything in RMNP in winter, the valley seems incredibly pleasant. But be ready for wetness.

With this winter being light so far, I have this gut feeling that March is going to wet as sh*t.

Reviving this thread! Looking to put down a long A2 or A3 wall at the end of March. Suggestions on viable routes? Also, when is Watkins in season?

Mr. Anderson:

Conditions, conditions, conditions. And the weather forecast.

Worry more about rain than the cold in March. At least for anyone used to climbing ice/mixed.

March can be beautiful, or horribly stormy. If there is a lot of residual snow on top of el cap, then stick to routes that don't get a lot of runoff. Basically the far right side.

If it's dry and the extended forecast looks good, do whatever route you want.

Overall, if you are prepared with a portaledge with a good rainfly, synthetic sleeping bags, bivy sacks, and synthetic puffies, you can tolerate a lot of precip.

Also be prepared to alpine start and blast high. E.g. jug fixed lines and get towards the sheltered part of Zodiac before the sun hits and ice starts falling.

Thanks for the thorough response Colin.

I guess to rephrase my question slightly, what are the routes least impacted by inclement weather? I know that some routes will more or less turn into a waterfall in a rainstorm, some are fine up until the top out, etc. Specific routes to go for or routes to avoid would be appreciated! In other words, let's say that the forecasted weather is dubious but I got on a route anyways, which route would that be?

Sean,

I can't in good conscience just tell you to do some route, because those routes that are "better" in poor weather still need to be approached with a careful eye and a specific strategy. And I don't know what type of climbing you want to do, or how experienced you are with dealing with the elements, or wall climbing.

Zodiac is a good option, but if horsetail falls is running on the right side of El Cap, and the wind starts blowing, you can get really hammered. I've heard of teams who decided it was nice out so they didn't even put the rainfly on and they were under the gigantic Mark of Zorro roof. The wind picked up in the middle of the night and they got totally soaked at 3:00am.

Zenyatta Mondatta is a good option too. The first couple of pitches are relatively sheltered, but then around pitch 3-4-5 you get quite exposed, and then get more sheltered higher up. The top is a bit exposed too.

This means you might have to use a very specific strategy. If there is a lot of fresh snow and ice on top of el cap, and you are trying to climb ZM, you gotta time it so you are never around pitch 3-4-5 during the melting part of the day when falling ice is much more likely to hammer you.

This means of course you might be fixing pitches in the dark and then alpine starting at 3:00am to blast up high to a safe point before the sun hits.

Tangerine Trip is good, but has a more exposed topout, and I haven't done it.

Overall Native Son might be the safest from falling stuff, but it's not an easy route.

I have very little knowledge of North America Wall area so can't speak to that.

When I was getting hammered on soaking ledges on the Nose in March 2010, Tommy Caldwell was swinging around having fun on the Dawn Wall and then hiding in his big portaledge with a rainfly when the runoff started pouring down.

I also saw Steve Schneider on Genesis in January, and that dude knows what he's doing.

That part of the wall can get real windy though.

Only slightly offtopic, how are the heavy snows expected to fuck with things this spring? I'm looking to visit in mid-May, and remember reading somewhere that it's going to be way drippier than usual.

tangerine trip is totally dry except for the last 3 or 4 pitches. As a climb it really sucks though, monotonously boring and easy climbing.

Most stuff on the right side is good to go, but will require a good day at the end to top out. No matter what, if it's storming and you're trying to get on the rim you probably won't have a super awesome time.

NegativeK wrote:Only slightly offtopic, how are the heavy snows expected to fuck with things this spring? I'm looking to visit in mid-May, and remember reading somewhere that it's going to be way drippier than usual.

Anything that can seep, will seep, and seep hard.

For example Ribbon Falls will be raging, The Sewer Pitch on the Salathe will be mega wet, the Great Roof on the Nose will be sopping wet, and Horsetail Falls on the right side of el cap will be raging.

So for example I would not get on East Butt of El Cap this May. There could be no wind when you start climbing, and then it could pick up mid-day and blast you like a firehose.

Sean Anderson wrote:Reviving this thread! Looking to put down a long A2 or A3 wall at the end of March. Suggestions on viable routes? Also, when is Watkins in season?

Mt. Watkins is tricky being so far up canyon from the main Valley it can get weather that El Cap doesn't and is going to be very isolated in storm.

Other than that to my knowledge it doesn't have any munge or notorious wet sections, but is wide open to any storms. Combine that with with being incredibly hot in summer it typically has a narrow window of ideal conditions.

A strong party would have no trouble in any temps, but not a route to be on in a storm.

End of March is impossible to predict but this year is currently running at a record pace for precipitation. In such years it can be unstable for weeks in the Spring with heavy snow into April and wet in May.

Sorry, wish I could be more positive.

As Colin has very accurately pointed out it really needs to be decided right when you are ready to leave the ground to see what seems doable for your weather window and what may be in/out of condition. At any month in the Spring it can be very hot to very snowy, any year.

Also, be advised that the pass road to the eastern side will definitely not open until late May, possibly later which narrows your options for bailing for some fun cragging in the desert and limits access to the Park from the East.