Free In a Day

Three weeks, two trips up the Freerider and a load of great day routes into our time in Yosemite and I was still hankering for one more big challenge. Climbing big walls isn’t something I could do all the time, I find it both mentally and physically exhausting, and after 3 or 4 weeks I start to lose my drive. But at this point the weather was perfect and I had maybe just enough mojo to try one more wall. At the top of my wish list is the Pre-Muir, the free variant of the Muir Wall, which Caff, Hazel and Ding Dong climbed a couple of years ago. The last dirtbag, James Lucas, mentioned a friend of his who was planning to give it a go this autumn. I paid Madaleine a visit one evening to see about teaming up, but Mad already had plans and so this wasn’t to be.

The arrival of a storm forecast in a few days time changed things, Mad postponed her Muir plans and I got a text suggesting doing a climb during the next few days. I don’t know who suggested doing Freerider in a day, but El Cap free in a day was also pretty high on my wish list, especially since James Mchaffie and I had narrowly missed out on freeing Golden Gate in a day a few years ago.

I already had plans on some of the other days and we had hardly any time to get things ready, such as, making advanced stashes, prepping food, water and rack, planning our strategy or even climbing together! Mad managed to rap the route, leaving a few litres of water here and there and checked out the crux pitch. The day after, I jugged up fixed ropes to Heart for the third time in three weeks to leave food and water and a spare rope for the awkward down climb. Back at camp, Mad and I finally met up to talk about gear and planning with about 8 hours to go before we were to start climbing!

At 1am I set off climbing in the darkness up slabs I had gotten to know fairly well over the previous few weeks, using a Duck for the first time to protect me as we simul-climbed the first four pitches. I retrieved the rack, and the trusty Duck, and we stopped again six pitches later at the Heart ledges. It had taken us three hours to get to Heart ledges, half the time it had taken me previously, but this is still presumably quite slow if you’re Alex Honnold. Mad took the lead and on the next pitch climbed what I have heard called... “the hardest move on rock”, a sandbag 11b slab move. This slowed us down briefly but then we were moving again, simul-climbing past notorious features like the Hollow flake and up to the Ear. Having seventy meters of rope between you is not well suited to simul-climbing we now know. Both Mad and I had been dealing with painful rope drag most of the way, but on the final stretch through the Ear the drag reached epic proportions. Chimneying in the dark, run out, with a helmet, a harness load of gear and heinous drag to top it off, Mad was screaming in pain and frustration. We took a rest below the Monster and enjoyed the beautiful sunrise.

The Monster!

Sunset from the round table

I really dislike the Monster Offwidth, but despite this, it does seem to be becoming my party piece and that day I climbed it for the sixth time – surely nowhere near as many times as James? Fortunately, it does seem to get easier with repetition and we were relatively fresh at this point due to not having done any hauling. We had a brief rest at the Alcove, where I had previously made camp for the night and then continued upwards, pitching the rest of the way now. It wasn’t long before we hit the Teflon, the hardest pitch on the route. I had previously flashed this pitch and was hoping that this wasn’t a complete fluke. I was a bit concerned when, on my first attempt, I was suddenly and unexpectedly ejected from the corner when a foot slipped. I got back on and with much relief did it on the next attempt. Mad’s turn to follow coincided with the hottest part of the day and after a few frustrating attempt, she came up to the belay for a breather.

After what amounts to about 25 pitches of burly climbing, we were starting to tire and Mad had expended considerable energy on the corner already, I could see she was struggling to stay positive. I offered as much encouragement as I could and lowered her down for another attempt. The rest had done some good and Mad climbed to within a move of easier climbing, but made a mistake on this last move. This was tense as we knew that a free ascent was hanging in the balance. Mad told me to stop shouting so much useless beta at her and went down for a final shot at the corner. She got it and it was awesome, we were psyched, it was on!

Onwards and upwards, we climbed terrain familiar to me after two recent ascents and less familiar to Mad who had last climbed the route two years ago. At the enduro-corners, we’d been on the go for about 14 hours and were starting to get seriously tired. Mad led the first, an utter sandbag at 11c, and my follow of this pitch must have been a disgusting piece of climbing to witness. Whereas I had previously climbed this pitch on finger-locks with moderate finesse, this time I could only layback. I skidded and sketched my way to the belay and apologised to Mad for what she had to witness. The next section, a 12b, is fortunately much easier and I’d actually say felt ‘easy’ on my previous ascent. My confidence quickly disintegrated when I realised the state my arms were in. Somehow, with fingers uncurling, I got this pitch out of the way. Watching Mad follow I got to see what a skilled crack climbers looks like. Finding jamming where I’m certain there aren’t any, Mad casually made her way up this final corner. Only when she was near the top and she looked me in the eyes did I realise she was fighting just as much as I had!

A tricky 12a traverse later and we were at the Round Table, essentially having done all of the hard pitches. The last 17 hours, however, was taking its toll. Mad led off, but had to sit on the rope due to a lack of gear and utter exhaustion. I lowered her down and, taking gear from lower down to protect the upper section, finished the pitch. It was a sad moment, when Mad confessed she had used up her reserves and would need to jug from here on up. We had been sustaining an extremely high level of psych, had been climbing since 1am and it was now 8pm. We climbed the remaining pitches in this way and summited after 22 hours of continuous climbing. Mad congratulated me on a free ascent. I was very pleased to be at the top after such an epic and amazing day, but I didn’t feel the elation that I might have imaged after freeing El Cap in a day. I had hoped we would both free all the pitches and without being able to share it with Mad, it didn’t quite feel like a success. It actually feels more like unfinished business! I hope we can get back on the wall for another day ascent someday.

Skills on the second enduro-corner

Morning after the night, the day and the night before that

Photos from some other great routes

South By Southwest
The Lurch
Romulan Warbird

The Vortex

Wildlife

Bob cat vs squirrel

Deer taking a leak

Coyote

Freerider Round 2

Reeve’s arm narrowly avoided getting gangrene and the temperatures dropped from high 80’s to the more tolerable mid 60’s. In the meantime our big wall mojo had started to grow back and we started talking about getting on Freerider again for go at doing it without falling off so much. It was, once again, time to go shopping for Cliff bars, get all our cams out, pack our bivy gear and to stop playing Frisbee with the lid of the poo tube. We hauled our bags to heart again and were initially thinking of setting off the day after but were dithering over whether we had enough tips. In the end we agreed that a free route on El Cap is basically a once in a lifetime objective and therefore shouldn’t be rushed. We took an extra rest day, enduring another day of the dreaded big-wall dread and the nicest man in the world (Neil Dyer) gave us sleeping bags so we didn’t have to freeze our asses off.

Just when I fancied a beer, one appeared!

Reeve trying standing on a rock trying to clip

Psyching up for Monster round 2

Round 2

We started up a little later than last time now that it was cooler and the sun would be coming up a tad later. The Freeblast went off without a hitch and, with it being fresh in our minds, we were quicker and less tired when we reached our haul bags. Our strategy was the same this time as the last and so it was my block to the Monster, where we would switch in order for Reeve to face his demons on the Monster. We arrived at the Monster with a couple of hours of light, enough time to chill for a while, eat a bagel and rehydrate. With the lower temps and smoother climbing thus far, I think we were both feeling a lot better than at this point the first time around.

Reeve made the tricky descent into the Monster and started grunting and leg bar-ing up the first section. The first bit is tough and I could tell Reeve was seriously tense about this lead. Although it only gets 11a this is one of the hardest pitches on the route and most people will only get one go at it because, if you fall off near the top, you’re likely to be utterly destroyed. I’ve heard of a few mega-wads who have freed every pitch on the route except for the Monster. After this fall I think Reeve was a bit psyched out and I suggested I have a go. I’ve been a few rounds with the Monster now and have the techniques for this specific crack fairly well practiced, and I manage to squirm up it shortly before dark. Reeve could now take the pitch on without having to worry about sliding a number 6 above his head every few moves. He made it, resisting the temptation to layback on a few occasions, and with huge relief we arrived at the Alcove and celebrated with a couple of brews and some mashed sweet potatoes – didn’t have time to rustle up a lamb moussaka this time.

The next day started well and we didn’t feel too bad on setting off. Higher up we reached the crux, where last time we chose to take on the boulder problem. This time, however, we thought we’d have a look at the Teflon corner for a change of scene. I don’t know why this never occurred to me before because bridging is possibly my favourite style and I don’t mind stemming either. I managed to fluke the pitch on my first go and was dead chuffed. Reeve was having problems on it and after a while yarded up for a rest and some water. While discussing beta, I gave Reeve my left shoe which was a worn out slipper and good for nothing except smearing. Whether it was this or coincidence I don’t know, but he sent the pitch on his next attempt. Things were coming together.

We had a good bivy on the very slopey ledge of the block, enjoying the extra water we had with us this time and not having butterfingers dropping their rack on us. With a free ascent to motivate us this time, we were ready to give it everything we had on the final day. This includes pitches that I think I’ll find a struggle no matter how many times I do them – the endure-corners in particular. But we got through them without any falls. Later, I belayed at the start of the Scotty-Burke off-width and insisted Reeve lead it for making me do the Monster. On these upper pitches we were climbing in and around fixed lines that got in the way and were a nightmare for hauling. These lines were being used by, I’ll be honest, a bunch of pricks, to climb the route on a mini-traxion. After a short delay, during which some guy climbed in and out of our ropes and then over the top of my belay on a mini-traxion, Reeve got the Scotty-Burke out the way and it was plain sailing to the summit.

American tough guys climbing Salathe in a day

Warming up on the last day

Enduro corner number 1

Enduro corner number 2

Awefully exposed belaying

This bit is steep

It was awesome to climb this route in good style with Andy, who I climbed with on my first trip to the valley at a time when we didn’t have the confidence to take on an El Cap free route. We both agreed it had been three brilliant days of climbing on the wall, there are so many good pitches – I may be repeating myself but it’s true! I assumed that this would be the last time on this bit of wall for me for some time, and that thankfully I wouldn’t be leading the Monster again anytime soon, but as it turned out I was wrong...

Ralph leading the final pitch

Happy top out

Yosemite Part 1

Back in the Valley! 

I arrived in Yosemite towards the end of September and was lucky to bump into Calum and Gabby and to grab a spot on camp 4 an hour later, without having to get up at 3am to queue! During my first couple of days, I joined C&G for some cragging at Swan Slabs and realised to my dismay, as my feet were skidding around uncontrollably, that I’d forgotten how to climb on granite. I also teamed up with Ausie Jack for a spot of bouldering around camp. Andy and Lindy arrived a few days later after crushing the Needles and we all managed to wangle a spot at camp 4, to which we later added John and Chris, and honorary Brit Karina from Alaska for some good camp scenes over the next few weeks. After talking big in the pub many months ago, me and Reeve felt an obligation to get on with things and kick off with Freerider at the first opportunity. So, after a few days and a rain storm later, we were getting geared up, hauling to Heart Ledges and suffering from a good dose of big-wall dread. 

Freerider – Round 1

We opted to climb the Freerider in what is now considered the old-fashioned way, which is to start from the ground and climb to the top, using mini-traxions only for hauling our bags. This was partly for ethical reasons and partly because we don’t posses 24,000 inches of static rope. We did, however, make use of fixed lines which lead to the Heart Ledges, that the route passes at about pitch 12, to haul our bags up a couple of days earlier. So, setting off at around 4am on day one, we could climb the Freeblast (first ten pitches of Freerider) fast and light until we met up with our big bags at Heart. Andy, having never been on these pitches, took the sharp end so that he could enjoy climbing these awesome slabs on-sight. Doing much of it by head-torch and linking pitches, he did a brilliant job and we arrived at Heart about 6 hours later.

I then took the lead for the next block which would lead us to the start of the infamous Monster Offwidth. These went well, but a lot slower now that we were hauling and the sun was on us and it was hot! So hot - temps were into the 90’s, which I gather is hot. After the scary Hollow Flake pitch we noticed another party above us and also a steady stream of climbing equipment whizzing past from time to time. 

Butterfingers...

A couple of days earlier, when we were on the wall pre-hauling our bags, we had nearly been taken out by a falling mini-traxion within minutes of arriving at the base. There was another party above us hauling their gear and setting off on the Salathe. We descended later that day leaving this team to their bivy on Heart Ledges assuming that we wouldn't be seeing them again because they were two days ahead. So it was a bit of a surprise when we saw them the next day in Curry Village, and even more so when they told us they'd accidentally dropped their entire rack (minus the number 6 cam) into the Hollow Flake! 

However, this team were determined to climb El Cap and, more importantly, had a spare rack. So it transpired that we'd be setting off on the same day and it was team Butterfingers who were dropping bits of rack on us as we approached the Monster.

The Monster

The legendary Monster Offwidth was definitely Reeve’s lead since it was his first time. He was psyched but also filled with a dread that I can easily sympathise with! It kicks off with a tough and super exposed 11d downclimb which Reeve busted out easily. It then continues with 50 meters of off-width crack climbing... One tricky section leads to a ledge and a rest, then another slightly easier section to a bolt and another rest followed by another harder section to an overlap and a final rest before the final stretch. Reeve had pushed through up to here and I thought he had the techniques dialled, he had a final rest and drank his remaining water before pressing on. The last section is slightly more sustained than previous bits and I could hear Reeve hyperventilating from 40 meters below. “NOO!!... “ followed by a endless stream of expletives, and Reeve had narrowly lost his battle with the Monster, after around 12 hours and 20 pitches of climbing.

Reeve following the Hollow Flake pitch

Getting psyched before the Monster

Getting amongst it!

The Rest

We continued to our planned bivy in the Alcove, arriving about 9pm. After dinner we realised that we had only 8 hours to lie down and rest before we had to get up and do it all again! The next day we woke feeling terrible, achy with sore hands and feet, mainly from the heat the day before. The next crux was the boulder problem/Teflon corner. We opted for the boulder problem because I’d done it before and figured I’d have a good chance at doing it again. When we arrived it had just come into the sun and proved unclimbable, by either me or Reeve. We didn’t persevere for long, in the heat it felt like my fingertips were on fire. Nor, for some reason, did we consider looking at the Teflon corner, which would have been good thinking in hindsight. We did get to spend quite a bit of time chatting with Butterfingers though, which included one conversation where I decided to tell them that tonight I'd be cooking up a Lamb Moussaka on the jetboil and also a baked Alaska. To which Butterfingers 1 replied: "Are you kidding me!?",  I didn't know what to say...

We arrived at the ledge and planned bivy at the Block a bit later, at about 2pm, with an afternoon to relax. Butterfingers, who we had overtaken that morning, now overtook us and the afternoon became a lot less relaxing.  Soon a cam came flying past, then a glass pipe and a lighter (explains a lot) and finally later, they pissed on me, twice. From what we’d seen, they must have been getting low on rack number 2 by this time, because of the amount of items we had seen falling past us on the wall, some of which we actually managed to return to them! We really liked these guys, but liked them a lot better while they were below us. I certainly admire their perseverance.

Reeve enjoying the Monster

The damage!

First enduro-corner

The next and final day went well enough. Although, now that we had both failed to free a pitch or two, we didn’t give it much fight and were mainly thinking about the summit. The endure-corners went fine and so did the 12a traverse, but I didn’t free the Scotty-Burke off-width higher up. Topping out felt good and although we were disappointed the route didn’t go free, it had been a good time on the wall and we’d done many superb pitches. Later, we both agreed we had been a bit overeager getting on the route in those temperatures and our time would have been much better spent trying routes in the shade, such as Father Time. The next week, I climbing with various partners on some great day routes while Reeve waited for his severely mauled arms/elbow to spot oozing. By which time the weather had cooled off significantly and we felt we had probably missed our window for Father Time, but things were looking a lot more promising for a potential re-match on the Freerider..

Where Butterfinger should be, below us

Summit shot!