SAC Trad Lead Climbing Class I
aus mowiki, der freien Wissensdatenbank
Trip to Yosemite, April 20th thru 22nd, 2007
We met Friday 7pm at the usual place, Tresidder Parking, to leave for the Valley. We had Darko's old VW van, so all six of us plus lots of gear fitted in without any problems. I'm not really into getting up early and I guess the same is true for Darko, Jared, Sharon, Ian and Clint. We rather bivy one night outside the park instead of leaving at 5am... After 4 hours hard work on the road - the Jeebus groaned under the mercyless right foot of Jared and Sharon but managed to pass at least one other vehicle - we arrived at the same secret spot Clint and I bivied last time.
The night was crystal clear and cold. My new sleeping bag proved to be well suited. Except for my lips and the tip of my nose I stayed warm. We got up at 8am, Darko served hot coffee and chocolate, and the blue sky and warm sun promised a beautiful day. We got packed and entered the park, where we soon met the party who left at 5am.
At Swan Slab we students started placing gear and building anchors and the instructors corrected and gave useful hints. I think we had a 2-to-1 ratio at that point. Instructors to students that is! The plan was to set up a few topropes for mock leading. So Jared and I went for some 5.7 which he lead and I followed. But the anchor turned out to be too high to set up a good toprope.
By the time, the other instructors had set up many other ropes, so the students were busy mock leading, and the instructors were busy following and checking the gear placements.
The hardest mock lead I did was
- Grant's Crack, 5.9 (UIAA 6-), mock lead Moritz
a nice finger crack which you need to leave at the right moment when it turns into face climbing. I managed to get up without any whipper. I wouldn't have guessed that judging from the fact that I couldn't do a 5.9 crack toprope whithout falling last time I was in the Valley with Clint.
The hardest toprope I did was right next to it, 5.10c, which consists basically of very tiny footholds and naily crimps and two finger locks. I think this might be a good example for a "Valley" 5.10c... When I got to the anchor it startet raining and also the sun was about to go down. So I cleaned it quickly.
The party left to the SAC camping site near Curry Village, where we set up our tents. Thanks Nat for the place in your tent! It was getting colder quickly, and we decited to go to the pizza place in the shelter in Curry Village, for some beers and pizza and probably more beers.
It was raining the whole night, and in the next morning we figured it was actually snowing. During the cold and wet breakfast the snow turned into rain which made it all worse. So instead of more climbing we went to the lounge in Curry Village and the instructors held indoor classes. After two hours the rain still hadn't stopped, but it was decided to give it a try at some overhanging and possibly dry climb (I don't remember which one it was).
Jared lead the 5.10b but not without taking a rest in the rope to warm up his fingers. Meanwhile Clint placed gear all over the base and explained to us the pros and cons of several spots. Finally Ian was fighting down the 5.10b and after he cleaned the anchor we left for the Jeebus.
We stopped at a Taqueria and were back at Stanford at 9:30pm.
things I learned on this trip
- there is an easy trick which turns a normal figure-of-eight into a version wich has two slings
- avoid biner-biner contact whenever it's feasable
- you can connect anchor pieces with a sling and clove fitches on it
- how to build an anchor with a cordelette
- you can build a belay device using two (or more) equally manufactured biners
- you can build a harness using a long sling
- don't yell "biner" if you drop a biner. Yell "rock!"
- tell your follower if you find and clip a fixed piece
