We survived Yosemite! - Part 2

One third of Team Minivan woke up at 5AM in the dark to get ready for the E. Buttress.  The other four members of the team were going to do Royal Arches that day, also a huge climbing day for them.

The funny thing is, I normally would have a hard time getting up that early to do anything.  But to get up early to do something you are so excited about?  It was much easier.

Team Biskrem came by to pick Max and I up.  The approach was extremely familiar from last year, except that this time we are in a car instead of hiking.  I'm still not sure what we were thinking of back then.  But no matter.

We hiked up this talus field to get to the start of the climb.  The rocks were a bit loose, but not too bad.  As we try to make it up as fast as we can with our headlamps, we noticed two other guys hiking up much faster than we were.  They looked like they knew where they were going, cutting to the right.

Shit.  I think they are heading towards the East Buttress as well!

They quickly disappeared into the woods on the right of the talus field.  We tried to pick up our pace so that no one else behind us would pass us.

After getting a bit lost, we eventually found the start of the climb.  There were already at least two parties ahead of us.  And actually two more parties behind us as well.  It was just like Nutcracker again, except that it is not even 7 in the morning.  The last party that got there decided after a while that they did not want to wait for the climb with so many people ahead of them.  So they wished us a great day and hiked back.

As the sun came up, we could see El Cap across the valley from where we were, with sunlight shining on the dawn wall.  The weather forecast was great for that day, and we were grateful for it.

photo by Max

Team Biskrem went ahead of us with the intention of linking some of the pitches together with their 70m rope.  We had a 60m so we followed behind them in shorter pitches.  The first pitch was an easy pitch, and I gladly volunteered to lead the start.  Lucky for me, one of the parties ahead of us had taken a morning dump on the first belay ledge.   Not even covered by anything, just wide open.  Come on people, that is just disgusting.  At least put a few leaves on top of it.  I belayed Max up, then also belayed him as he lead up the next pitch.  I hung out at that pitch for WAY too long.

Another party near us on the 10c pitch
 - photo by Carlos

Beyond that, the next few pitches were amazing.  Lots of great cracks - some of them I found relatively strenuous.  I think a lot of it was also quite mental for me since this climb was a lot more exposed than Nutcracker.  I might have also thought that it was so because we were doing so many pitches so fast.  Because we were under time pressure to get to the top (with parties below and the fear of topping out in the dark), Max lead most of the pitches afterwards. We moved in a relatively efficient manner up the climbs.

There was a 5.10c bolted pitch that was busy when the four of us go there, so Carlos decided to pass them on the 10a variation.  It turned out to be a great decision since the following pitch was an amazing 5.9 roof that we wouldn't have otherwise got to do.

Carlos at the 5.10a variation pitch - photo by Adrian

During this entire time, I was the only woman climbing on the route (out of about 10 people).  So I was surprised when I heard some female voices down below us.  I looked down and noticed that they were climbing relatively quickly.  They had started the climb at around noon, and by the time we were on the last pitch at around 4PM or so, they were right behind us.  It turns out the two women were simulclimbing, which means that they were very confident at that grade (and super strong!)  It was extremely inspiring to watch them climb.  I know I would never ever be that hard core, but at least it's good to see that there are women out there kicking ass!

the descent - photo by Carlos

The descent required some unroped 4th class climbing upward before heading down to a dramatic gully.   After that, it was three rappels down.  We had lost Team Biskrem on the last few pitches because we were stuck behind the two Brits that were ahead of us (the ones that had passed us on the approach earlier that morning).  When we finally found them again on the descent, they were really thirsty and begged us for water.  Team Minivan apparently just don't have the habit of drinking water or eating, so we had both to offer.  

We decided to forgive the two Brits for passing us and let them rappel down on our rope, though the two women found them a bit rude as well and were reluctant to let them use the same rope.  

The gully was pretty narrow at first and it sounded like we were talking in an old cathedral.  Our voices reverberated through the gully and beyond.  At the end of the day, all the tension dissolved and everyone was relieved to be descending in daylight.  

When we almost reached the bottom of the descent, we noticed that the YOSAR helicopter was flying around the Nose of the El Cap.  The helicopter noise filled up the valley, as we watched intensely on what they were trying to do from across.  

After returning from the trip, we found out that YOSAR had done an incredible rescue where the helicopter flew extremely close to the cliff to save two Austrians.  The leader had taken a fall and severed his thumb on a sling that was wrapped around.  Lucky for him, the detached thumb landed on the belayer's ledge.  The helicopter was so tiny that we could barely see it on El Cap.  Here is the full report from YOSAR, definitely worth reading.  RESPECT for YOSAR!

Following our successful day, we celebrated with pizzas at Curry Village.  It was the best food EVER!

By the end of the week though, we were so sick and tired of eating pizzas.  And I almost overdozed on PB+J.

to be continued...

  

We survived Yosemite! - Part 1

photo by Carlos

I've been back from Yosemite for a week and a half.  It's tough to be back after being in the valley for just a little bit over a week.  I cannot imagine how difficult it is to adjust back to normal life if I stayed any longer.  But I did want to stay longer.  It's just that amazing of a place.

I wanted to remember as much as I could, so I got myself a journal to write everything down at the end of the day.  The thing is, I can't seem to find the journal in the apartment anymore.  It's strange how that works.  It doesn't matter though, because it feels like everything just happened yesterday.

It's going to a long post.  More realistically, a series of posts.  So read on if you have time... let the adventure begin!

* * * * * * 

photo by Keith

Team Minivan consisted of the same characters as last year: Keith, Aaron, Kristian, Carrie, Max and I.  Many of you may remember that our trip to the valley last year was an emotional disaster because Mother Nature wouldn't cooperate and it rained and even hailed while we were there.  We cried and sobbed as we left the valley in search of dry rocks 8 hours away in Joshua Tree.  

Undeterred by the mishap last year, we set our goal of going to the valley again this fall.  After all, what are the chances of having bad luck two years in a row?

The sky was cloudy the first day that we arrived in the valley from San Francisco.  

The entire time, we kept our spirits up and told ourselves that the overcast is just temporary.  No one wanted to hear anything discouraging at the time.  So we avoided the topic of weather our entire way into the valley.  I put my headphones on and tried to just enjoy my music and get psyched about climbing.

It started drizzling in the afternoon.

Then rain.  

Fuck, not again, I thought.  But I didn't say anything.

It's okay, we knew that there is going to be 20% chance of rain.  Aaron said to the group in a very calm voice.  As the guy that booked the camp site and car, he felt responsible for keeping all of us in good spirit.  Having 6 adults in the same minivan is tough.

* * * * * * 

Team Biskrem must have arrived in the valley around the same time from San Francisco.  Because this is one of the first photos that Adrian took of Carlos.

Who said it never rains in Yosemite???? - photo by Adrian

I love it.  They still tried to go climbing even though it's raining.  That crazy white dude and his sherpa.*

* When Adrian and Carlos went to Bugaboos last year, one of the guys climbing asked Adrian (who is white) whether Carlos was his sherpa.  Come on, people.  So since then, Carlos is the sherpa.

For the rest of the trip, sherpa Carlos along with his master Adrian would send a lot of amazing 5-star classics in the valley.  We were lucky to witness some of these ascents.

* * * * * * 

Team Weneedananny also came and joined us in the valley.  Yes you read it right, Brian and Nancy brought their baby and super-nanny Yvonne along.  It was Yvonne's first time camping, along with baby Autumn.  Thumbs up to Team Weneedananny!  They would get up at 5AM so that they can climb early in the morning and come back for Autumn by around noon to spend time with her.  It's tough being parents, but they make it work and still climb!

photo by Keith

* * * * * * 

As I mentioned in a previous post, Max and I had a few climbs on our tick list.  The main climb that we really wanted to do was the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral.  After talking to Carlos and Adrian, we found out that they were also interested in doing the same climb, so we planned to climb E. Buttress on the same day and reduce the number of ropes both parties need to bring.  They also got us really psyched when they mentioned that we should also do the East Buttress of El Cap with them.  

If we do both E. Butts and also Snake Dike, then we can say that we climbed three major peaks in the valley!  Said Max with a lot of excitement.  I was really looking forward to the long days of climbing as well.  After all, that's what we are here for.  Every day should be an epic day!

To warm-up on something a bit shorter, we hit the classic 5-star Nutcracker on the first day.  It was a nice sunny day following the rainy one, so the climb was packed with at least 5 parties.  It made me a bit nervous and not as relaxed to climb.  Having so many people all around trying to summit the same peak on the same route can be stressful at times.  I cannot imagine what it's like to summit Everest, where some parties are going to be slower and the faster parties trying to pass you.  Nevertheless, it was a great crack climb.  Max got to lead all the fun pitches, and I did one of the easier pitch.  

Feeling a bit cheated by that deal, I wanted to make up for the lack of leading by going up After Six.  Not paying real attention to the start of the climb (typical), I lead up After Seven instead.  The crack just looked a lot more inviting than the dihedral, so I'm glad that I did After Seven instead.  I'm not sure how After Seven is counted as 6 pitches, but we ended up doing it in 4 pitches.  In fact, I was trying to do it in 3 pitches... I kept going after what I thought was the end of first pitch, and as I was continuing up on a more sustained section, I was suddenly stopped by my rope.  Being the queen of drag from my experiences at the Gunks, I thought that was the problem initially.  I tried to pull the rope up real hard.  

YOU HAVE NO MORE ROPE! Max shouted.  

Apparently he already tried to tell me earlier but I didn't hear him.  

Whoops.  Had to set up a hanging belay.

At the end of the first day, we actually did 11 pitches.  So much for a warm up day!

The following day, we would plan to do the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral.  Also 11 pitches, but more difficult than the 11 pitches we did the day before.  Team Biskrem came by our campsite to plan out the meeting time so that we can start the climb together.  We were going to be picked up at around 5:30AM for the adventure. 

We went to bed early in preparation for the big day.  Max was studying the topo like a bible.  

I was not looking forward to the ascent and the descent, which is the same as the one we did last year for the Regular Route of Higher Cathedral Spire.  

At least this time, I knew what to expect.  I was ready.

to be continued...

self help

No, I'm not talking about AA sessions or visiting the shrink here.  I'm talking about learning how to get myself out of a tough situations while climbing.  (Perhaps I need some other forms of help as well, but that should be discussed in another post, another day).

Max is starting to push himself on trad closer to his real climbing limit.  Two weekends ago at Cathedral he and Andreas went up Airation and I don't think I have ever heard Max make so much desperate noises before.  I was too tired to try it on TR, but I really didn't want to TRonsight it anyways.

With him pushing closer to his limit, I worry.  Not because I do not believe in his climbing abilities.  I think he is a SOLID climber.  But it never hurts to learn things that can prevent disasters from happening. The chance of me belaying him while he is climbing at his limit?  Extremely high.

So when the opportunity came through MITOC to take a self-rescue course with Mark Synnott, I signed up immediately.  How is it possible, that after climbing for all these years, that I never thought about taking this class?  I encourage any trad climbers to take it, because you just never know when you may need the skills.

We spent the whole weekend working on the basics, such as the munter-mule hitch, which looks extremely difficult in the book that I have.  But once we tried it a few times at the crag, it made a lot more sense.  I tied the hitches repeatedly until the muscle-memory kicked in.  Hopefully it will stay there as I go on my next adventure this afternoon to Yosemite!

It's going to be a big group of 10 climbers.  I think we are going to have a blast in the valley.  Carlos and Adrian will join the Eastcoasters (A1, Keith, Kristian, Carrie, Max, and I).  Brian and Nancy from SF will also climb part of the week.  Hopefully the weather will be much better than last year, so that we can try all the climbs on our tick list.  I think we are hopeful and there are lots of excitement with all the emails going around.

As A1 says on FB, "Even if we have to do Royal Arches 8 days in a row we're getting it"  
I hope that you guys can do it this time - in a day!

The best part, is to be away from it all and just focus on one thing and only one.  Climbing!

See you all later.