Training for a Yosemite Big Wall

[Sol]

The DHLA, Green Dragon, and Town Crier link-up is a great way to train and should definetly be part of your regimen but will not get you the rope and hauling skills that so often slow down and shut down parties on the big stone.

 

Really learn what you need to bring up the big stone. Don't beleive the hype,after 3-5 days of serious work, every ounce counts, and it will be so much easier without sorting through a big bag of bullshit.

 

Pack for the wall then bring half the food and double the water.

 

Get your pig docking and un-docking skills dialed (old yates adj. daisy back-up with 6 or 7 mil 30-50 ft docking ninja cord for munter mule, use for your lower outs, cleaner keeps a hold of the line to help the bag along on possible problematic pitches).

 

Ditch the etriers and get ladders, use only one set.

 

Yates Adjustable Wall daisies for the leader.

 

Learn to lead efficiently in blocks (short-fix, when to re-fuel, what blocks work for your team, specialize: free climber aid climber, off-width climber face climber, morning stoke night stoke).

 

Get your penji's honed.

 

Get top-stepping dialed to where you do it a couple times a pitch at least.

 

Try a yosemite speed ring.

 

Quit yer aiding and free that shit (learn how to transfer from fee to aid and vice-versa quickly and efficiently).

 

Cam hookery.

 

Learn what runout 5.9+ squeeze in the valley is all about (i.e. go to the valley and climb runout 5.9+ squeeze).

 

Have fun, work hard, and don't kid yourself, you don't have to bail on the captain the first few attempts, you have to be ready. Do some smaller walls, you should know when the time has come to bite off the big one.

 

Good luck!

 

[billcoe]

yosemite speed ring

 

Sol, what is this?

[BlackRock]

For my partner and I, big link up days at Index have been key but we usually aren't planning to haul. Those days are what prep us for speed up the big stone. Aid to free is important, short fixing is important and learning to lower out I think is more important than doing a penji for the leader. Crack jugging is also important if you are going for speed and learning to simply jug really fast helps too.

 

Cam hooks are definitly key, heck they never leave my aiders when I'm solely aiding. I don't like Yates adjustable daisies though, in fact I hate them. They are just too slow for me, but one of my partners just loves his, so I think it's a personal preference and climbing style. They are nice however for harder aid, but thats not really a problem for most of what you'll probably get on.

 

Same goes for etriers vs ladders. If I'm speed climbing something like the Nose then I only take a single pair of etriers with one on each daisy, but if I'm just aiding something like Zodiac then I'd prefer to have two pair of etriers or ladder style aiders. Again, a preference in my mind.

 

A good trick my buddy taught me was the sling around the wrist trick for the follower. You girth hitch a super thin sling, like 7mm or so, around your wrist. It's usuall best if you can do it over your glove though too. Then when you get to a traversing pendulum while cleaning you feed the sling through whatever piece of permanent gear is there like a pin or bolt, etc. You feed it through then grab the other end which allows you to pull up onto that arm unweighting your piece or just the rope so you can unclip it. Then you simply extend your arm out and let go of the sling which gets pulled back through the piece and you go for a ride.

 

Another good one that I recommend is learning to use the double figure eight "bunny ears" as your anchor. It's a quick anchor when you have bolts at most belays and is a perfect setup for short-fixing whether you are speed climbing or just aid climbing and hauling. Here is a link to it: http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/BunnyEars.htm

 

I've got lots of other tricks for speed aid and speed climbing, but I think just going to the Valley and getting on some climbs is what will help the most.

[tomtom]

yosemite speed ring

 

Sol, what is this?

 

http://www.climbing.com/print/techtips/ttaid219/

 

[eldiente]

I'd second the mental aspect of it, all of my wall failure have been mental failures, not physical ones. The slow pace can be discouraging, but don't focus on it. Often you'll get later on in day and start thinking maybe we should stop for dinner or think about setting up the ledge as there is only a few hours of light left. Nope, don't even think about it, keep climbing until it is truly dark and you can go no further. Your belayer can work on cooking dinner and setting up the ledge while you lead one last pitch before sleeping. Don't worry about getting to that comfy bivy ledge, climb as high as you can and set your ledge wherever you end up for the night.

[RuMR]

Learn what runout 5.9+ squeeze in the valley is all about (i.e. go to the valley and climb runout 5.9+ squeeze).

 

Good luck!

 

Excellent advice...

[underworld]

or pick walls that don't have (real) free climbing...

 

[rocky_joe]

 

Another good one that I recommend is learning to use the double figure eight "bunny ears" as your anchor. It's a quick anchor when you have bolts at most belays and is a perfect setup for short-fixing whether you are speed climbing or just aid climbing and hauling. Here is a link to it: http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/BunnyEars.htm

 

I have actually found I prefer the bowline on a bight. But same idea...I use the bunny ears to tie a rescue spider for assisted rappels, gets me down fast. Thanks for the input.

 

Tom--that speed loop thing looks rad. I'm gonna give that a try sometime.

Edited March 26, 2009 by rocky_joe