Eastern Sierras

The all quartz corridor leading to the summit

              After spending so much time in Yosemite valley, it is a refreshing change to come over to the nearby Sierras. Much higher in elevation, the sierras are home to spectacular alpine climbing in cool temperatures. You won't find crowds over here as the approaches to the classics can take multiple hours. Basing myself from the small ski town of Mammoth provides great access to much of the regions climbing. Yesterday we got acquainted with the area by climbing crystal crag. The route was easy and wandery with a lot of loose rock, but the views were amazing and its a nice way to get yourself back into this particular style of climbing. This route gets it's name from the unbelievable amount of pure white quartz that makes up the summit. Its really strange to climb pure quartz like this as I have never experienced it any where else. Therefore I didn't really know its friction properties. It didn't much matter though because the climbing was extremely moderate. All along the route and at the base you find hand to boulder size chunks of quartz that look like snow; its really cool. 

Colleen with Mammoth lakes down below

Jerome and Bertha Climb Leaning Tower In a Heat Wave

Leaning Tower's dramatically steep face

        The morning of of July 16 found Yosemite Valley in the high 90's. Although most climbers had fled the valley for cooler temps, it did not detour the unlikely team of Jerome Smart and Big Bertha. In the early hours of the morning the audacious pair found themselves racking up at the base of the West Face of Leaning Tower (America's steepest wall). Jerome won the rock paper scissors and quickly took the lead. After 400 hundred feet of climbing the two arrived at the bivy ledge and struck camp. Bertha had committed to fixing the next two pitches that evening, but had a panic attack due to the steep and scary terrain above. Jerome, faced with the option of retreat or climb on..., chose to send. The next morning the team awoke to another day of hot temps and Jerome proceeded to take a twenty foot fall on the seventh pitch when the cam he was standing on blew out. Luckily, Bertha is a highly skilled belayer and arrested his fall without incident. Jerome took them to the top of the wall since Bertha was still timid to lead and a bit shaken up after Jerome's fall. When asked how Jerome felt about Bertha not pulling her share of the work all he could say is, "Well, I can't really be too upset with her, she doesn't have any arms or legs."

Bertha out in space engaging in her typical behavior of complete uselessness

A little history.. A historic first ascent

       In the 1950's and 1960's modern American rock climbing was being born. No place more than Yosemite valley California were the boundaries of this emerging sport being pushed harder. With the easy access to extremely high quality granite and some of the most enormous most impressive walls on the planet, climbers of this era were no doubt inspired. At the time climbers were using European pitons made of soft metal. However, it was quickly understood that the malleable iron and soft steel were no match for the hard rock found high up on Yosemite's walls. It is necessary to place, then remove the gear both for ethical reasons and also to use again higher up. These soft pins would mash and stick after only a few placements. Then the game changed. In the late 1950's and early 60's climbing legends John Salathe, Tom Frost and Yvon Chouinard pioneered new designs for various pitons in hardened steel. They would go on to use this new gear to conquer some of Yosemite's tallest most terrifying walls.

An old Yosemite grade piton typical of the 1960's

The top of El Cap (left) and Half Domes NW Face lit up (center)

        Climbing as in any sport, is sometimes fueled by egos and one upmanship. In the 50's and 60's this was no different. Two of the major players were Royal Robbins and Warren Harding. On June 28, 1957 Robbins along with Gallwas, and Sherrick stood atop Half Dome having climbed the sheer 2,000 foot face of Half Domes north west face. They had just completed the most difficult wall climb in North America. This would mark a historic first ascent in American climbing history and would even be the inspiration for the North Face companies logo. Warren Harding was devastated that he missed his chance to claim the first ascent on one of Americas most impressive monoliths and knew that the only way to surpass this accomplishment would be by claiming the first ascent of El Capitan. At this point, there had never been a technical rock climb of this scale or difficulty attempted. Although the face of Half Dome is huge and technical, it does not compare to the sheer magnitude of El Capitan. Using methods only previously found on high altitude expeditions, Harding used fixed ropes and stocked camps to link this massive features endless pitches. A mere six days after the first ascent of Half Dome, Harding would turn his team to El Capitan and begin their long struggle. The thin cracks found on Yosemite's walls were ideal for the pitons of the time and climbers of the day would bash one in and then pull on it to gain upward progress. This method of climbing is formally known as "aid"; where one uses artificial gear to gain upward progress. Today the more pure style is ''Free'' climbing where one uses his or her hands and feet to move up on the rock and places only removable gear as protection in the event of a fall. After three days of climbing the party reached the now famous 300 foot long  2 and 3'' cracks that appeared completely unclimbable. At the time there was no gear wide enough to place in these cracks, and therefore upward progress could not be achieved. Harding however, had foreseen this obstacle and had claimed four legs off a wood stove from a Berkeley California dump. He used these absurd tools to cover this challenging ground. This section of the route would be forever known as "the stove legs'' cracks. Today, with modern climbing techniques and gear, the stove legs cracks offer brilliant and exposed free climbing. Traffic jams increased as tourists on the valley floor gawked at Harding and his team high up on this impossible face. The next section of the route that loomed with impossibility was the boot flake. There is a huge white boot shaped flake of rock that hovers on the side of El Cap and marks the end to a crack system that the team was following. To gain the next set of cracks Harding would lower of "the boot" and pendulum wildly to his left 1500 feet above the valley floor. This was the wildest pendulum to ever be attempted and is known today as the "king swing". This is indeed one of the most... exciting... sections of the route. Harding cycled through many partners as the weeks dragged on and the climbing became more committing; eight to be precise. Harding pushed on and on November 11, 1958 arrived at the completely blank overhanging section of rock that would be their only path for reaching the top. they were 2,800 feet up the wall and increasingly battered. What Harding did next would become known as the most famous climbing episode in Yosemite's history. Starting that evening and working into the morning Warren Harding hand drilled 28 bolts in a row by head torch, an epic that would take 14 straight hours and leave him utterly broken. However at 6am he pulled the rim of El Capitan, changing climbing forever. Harding modestly named his new route "The Nose" and if you have ever stood below El Cap this seems appropriate. The route ascends the center of El Caps massive buttress. All in all the ascent took 45 days over 18 months and had re-defined what was possible in the vertical world.  

Harding on the Nose

Source: Super Topo

Lurking Fear

       When we finished the Nose I was pretty drained and a bit scared of El Cap. We had joked on the way up that when we topped out we could sell our racks and quit climbing. . .  Well that's just ridiculous. Climbing El Cap once kinda feels like you got away with something. If we could climb it again we would prove to ourselves that we were justified in our ascent. Also, once you have climbed it, it's all you can think about. So the day before yesterday we decided to climb another route up this spectacular wall. We chose Lurking Fear and planned for one night on the wall; climbing and hauling faster than before.     

Jerome on lead..

     Your nerves are always on end before a big or difficult route, but you get better at managing it. Learning to separate imminent danger from irrational fear is a huge part of success on big walls, and climbing in general. Also, learning to compartmentalize fear and simply focus on the individual movement in front of you is necessary. Highlights of the route were on pitch 11 when I had to make delicate cam hook moves through a roof traverse with all that space below.. or watching Jerome bump #4 and 4.5 Camalots into an 80 foot runout on pitch 8. A huge moon greeted us on the ledge that night and we woke up feeling hungry for what lay ahead. Feeling stronger and more confident than before we cruised along for two days and one spectacular night and reached the rim right before nightfall. Blahhhhhhhh!!!! El Cap, Again.... I'm reeling with excitement.



                      

Racking Up

Just Getting Started

Mountain Physics on top

                             

The Nose

          For the past six years the Nose route up El Capitan has consumed my thoughts. Every rock climber has heard of this famous route and most, somewhere in their minds, dream of climbing it. However, big wall climbing is a unique discipline that signifies the "next level" in anybody's climbing career. As much mental strength is needed as physical and commiting to multiple days on the wall is, well... difficult. I spent all winter pouring over route descriptions and stories from this enormous cliff. Although this stood out as one of my life goals, how would I ever pull it all together? First step, move there. If you have never been to Yosemite valley its time to go. El Cap stands over 3,000 feet tall and is remarkably sheer to the ground. Photographs will never do this cliff justice. Rising 3,593 feet from the valley floor and 7,569 feet above sea level this thing is big. Imagine three empire state buildings stacked on top of each other and you might have a sense of this wall's sheerness. Jerome and I packed the haul bag in minor disbelief. We had climbed some shorter routes to train and we had set a date, it was time. In early June we spent three days and two nights on the wall discovering exactly what it takes to climb a wall like this. El Cap turned out to be unbelievably flawless, Intensely committing, and relentlessly terrifying. I am humbled.

Alcove Swing

All children are fascinated with the sensation of swinging. As kids we hang out on swing sets. As we grow a little older rope swings (usually into water) are the name of the game. When we loose our minds a little and dedicate huge chunks of our lives to climbing... well.. Yosemite has some of the biggest and scariest swings you can find. A valley favorite and always in motion is the Alcove Swing. Walk the base of El Cap Scramble 3rd class up a slab and you will find a rope that extends a few hundred feet to the top of the alcove. Im pretty sure the anchor is equalized Rurp's and a copper head so its bomber... ;) The more elusive and trickier to set up is the Porch Swing. All that I will tell you is that its located up near the top of El Cap. The general beta is to lower off a GriGri until the rope pulls through. However as you can see, simply Jumping off the ledge is also effective... but not recommended. Its important to notice the 3,000 feet of sheer exposure under the swing.

          Porch Swing

Shane Houbart and Corey celebrate their ascent of Muir Wall with the pent up desire for a big fall.

   Pics of the results of too much swinging to come shortly......

Coooooookie Cliff!

Dan Oppenheim/ Cookie Monster 5.12a

After a short climbing hiatus spent with the family on the east coast, I returned to the valley to find temperatures tipping into the 90's. When temperatures soar in Yosemite, there are two options. 1. Crack a cobra and float the river in some type of whole made duct tape contraption, or. 2. Seek out the hottest crag in the valley and sweat it out on the rocks. We chose the latter, and the result was a great afternoon of cheering each other on at this infamous crag. Cookie cliff is host to some of the most famous and difficult cracks in Yosemite. Classics; established by climbing ledgends such as Henry Barber (Hot Henry), Jim Bridwell (The Bird), Royal Robbins and Kurt Smith. Highlights of the day were watching Alfredo grunt like a gorilla as he suffered to earn a redpoint on Outer Limits. Or valley local and big wall vet Dan Oppenheim working out the delicate and steep moves of Cookie Monster. Thanks to Jerome Smart for hanging on the line to snap these killer shots.
Alfredo/ Outer Limits 5.10b
Matt Tosi/ Outer Limits 5.10b