The North Palisade Saga Part III

And so another May arrived in the Sierras which meant it's time to go after the North Palisade (14,249'). The those of you tuning in, Russ and I have been summiting all of California's 14er peaks. The "North Pal" is the classic peak of the High Sierra. It is striking from a distance, and it has routes that will challenge climbers of all abilities and preferences. This one peak has denied us of its summit two years running.
What's up with May you ask? Well, the U-Notch...that's why.

You see the U-Notch is a 700 foot 40 degree snow/ice climb that leads to the notch (center left) in the picture above. From there the "5.6 Chimney" takes you to the ridge where one traverses to the summit. The combination of the U-Notch + Chimney = The quintessential high sierra route. OK with that being said, the bergschrund itself is frequently impassable. Most snow bridges collapse by late June. In dry years they can collapse must sooner. Since we have had many dry years in a row, to make sure the snow bridge was safe we've choose to go in the spring.
Why not go in the winter? - Well, beside for the normal winter hazards (avalanches, etc) the snow in the U-Notch has not been consolidated yet by the thaw/freeze cycles that happens in the spring. Consolidated snow is the key for good and safe climbing conditions. The chute also begins its transformation from consolidated snow to alpine ice starting as early as May so the WINDOW to climb this route is SMALL.

Previous attempts:

1. May 2012 - We made it to the top of the U-Notch. However we summited Mt. Sill (another 14er) the previous day and both our paces were slow that day. We arrived at the top of the notch too late in the day to continue a summit attempt.
2. May 2013 - High winds (30mph) at camp and "Gale Force Winds" along the crest we opted to not attempt the route that day.

The Plan this year:

• Day #1 - Drive the 6 hours, crash out in the Pilot.
• Day #2 - As in the previous year make the hike all the way to high camp (12,500').
• Day #3 - Climb.
• Day #4 - Hike out, drive home.

Wednesday May 21st
The our trip was postpone 48 hours due to a late spring storm moving through the Sierras. The forecast called for clearing weather by Wednesday, partly cloudy Thursday, and clear on Friday (summit day). Winds seems to be OK and the temps for Friday's summit were normal for this time of year. We split from Fresno late afternoon and drove the 6 hours back to Big Pine and up the road to the trail head. Once we reached the southern end of the Owens Valley I could tell the weather wasn't clearing out of the high country like the forecast had predicted. In fact, The Sierra's and White Mountains has many large thunderstorms.
We arrived at the trail head parking around 7:00pm to find fresh snow near by.

After a pleasant night's sleep in the Honda Pilot we awoke and found it now sleeting at the trail head. So yeah, not "Clearing Out". I switched to shell clothing, muscled my heavy pack and began the now familiar North Fork trail.

 

 

Sleet eventually turned to all out snow which slowly accumulated on the ground as the morning went on.

 

We worked our way up the North Fork trail to the Glacier Trail turnoff in just 4 and a half hours. My trail shoes were officially soaked so I switched to mountain boots. In previous years the trail up to Sam Mack Meadow is where we have encountered the first snow and I found big drifts under the fresh power this year. We crested the Sam Mack meadow and meat two guys who had camped there the previous night in full conditions.

 

The fresh powder made the uphill climb slippery at times. As the afternoon progressed the sun started to come out and I felt like perhaps this was the beginning of the clearing weather. Better late than never but when it was all said as done there was about 6" of fresh snow on the ground.

Around 3:30 we made camp on a pretty marginal flat spot. I was hoping like last year to find water but with the fresh snow there was none to be found. In fact the next hour was spent melting snow for water (a very time and fuel consuming task).

Storm clouds could be seen across the Owens Valley moving our direction so we secured camp and moved inside the "3 season tent" and awaited a 4th season storm.

 

All evening and into the night it continued to storm dropping more and more snow. I had a restless night and at the time didn't notice I wasn't drinking enough water for the altitude. I was more focused on the weather and keeping my stuff dry than taking caring of my body.

 

Thursday May 22nd

At 4:30am the alarm went off. It was a cold but a clear morning. Close to a foot of fresh unconsolidated powder was on the ground. We geared up (everything was frozen and was encrusted with snow) and began our trek up to the Palisade glacier.



It was extremely obvious that conditions were terrible not only for climbing but even approaching the U-Notch. Underneath the fresh powder were huge boulders which make for very slow going. As we approached the glacier the full U-Notch route came in to view.

It was clear that the North Pal wasn't going happen for us this time. Fresh snow meant the U-Notch was going to be extremely hard to climb and possibly dangerous with alpine ice underneath it. A quick decision to turn was made and we returned to our tent. I however started to not feel well. I laid back down to nap and around 9am got back up to break camp and hike out. For the first time in a long time I really felt the effects of altitude sickness. It wasn't until I descended below 11,000' that I started to feel slightly better. My appetite came back and I rehydrated bouncing back for the hike downhill. Along the way stellar views of Temple Crag were to be had!

Though bummed, we both knew that it was out of our hands. We couldn't be faulted for not giving it an attempt. We weathered all day snow and an all night storm. When I do stand on the top of the North Pal I'll remember ALL the hard work and effort to that got me there!



A Foray in to Big Wall Climbing

Prelude:

Vacation time for my job is a complicated topic. The inner workings of airline crew vacation bidding polices is worthy of it's own blog. With that been said, let just say I screwed up and forgot about 2 FRIGGING WEEKS OFF. There was no way around it, I was going to take some paid time off from work in May. Once I made my peace with that concept I asked myself what, "What to do?" Well, after two consecutive trips to Paris in the spring I was broke, which by default meant a trip to the mountains. So, where to go in May? I took about 2 milliseconds to figure that one out, the one and only Yosemite Valley. With two weeks off I decided to dedicate 1 full week to Yosemite and another week to the on going North Palisade saga with Russ. One full week during prime spring conditions meant only one thing... Big Wall.

Big Walls:

"A big wall is a steep multi-pitch climb that takes most people more than a day to climb. Big walls are all about vertical exposure; climbing and sleeping with thousands of feet of air below you and thousands of feet of rock above you. There is nothing else like it." - SuperTopo

It's important for the reader to know the difference between aid climbing vs. free climbing. The short story is that all rock climbing goes "free" at a certain grade level. The harder the route the more gymnastic type of climbing is required. It is possible to "aid" through these very hard sections. By using aid type climbing equipment one can move pass what would normally be blank or near impossible climbing.

All my climbing to date as been free type climbing. That means I've always used my own hands and feet to get me up everything I've come across. To be fair, I've pull on my fair share of gear to get through hard spots but never have purposely gone in to a climb to aid it.

With about 5 weeks before my trip, I began the process of teaching myself the basic aid climbing sequence and acquiring additional climbing gear. I picked up the two essential books...

The learning curve was steep but with but there is no shortage of help from books to the Internet on aid climbing skills.  The general aid climbing sequence is the leader will climb the pitch with the use of gear to help aid through hard sections (could be the entire pitch), reach the anchor (or build one) and the "fix the line". The second climber is not on belay unlike traditional climbing. The second uses ascenders to move or "jug" up the rope while cleaning the gear. While this goes on the leader hauls the vertical baggage (camping gear). This process is repeated, possibly for days....This how El Captain is climbed.

First a few pieces of new equipment needed to be added to my arsenal of climbing gear.

• Aid Ladders/Daisy chains
• Ascenders
• Haul device
• More small cams and micro nuts.

April 2014:

I wanted to arrive in Yosemite in May with at least a basic understanding of aid climbing. This meant getting up to the hills before hand and practicing my lead and ascending a fix line technique. Squarenail is the closest rock crag to Fresno. 50 minutes from my garage and with a 10 minute hike, make Squarenail an idea quick escape. Also Squrenail is home the the large "aid boulder" with a 25 foot vertical face where someone was kind enough to make a bolt ladder on it.

3 separate times I came back to the aid boulder throughout the month of April to practice each time getting better. My first attempt to aid (top rope solo) was a complete disaster in that the bottom 8 feet or so are completely overhung and I just kept spinning around in my ladders. As time went by I began to figure out balance in the ladders and techniques to take weight off my arms. On my last practice lap I could climb the boulder in 7 minutes compared with 31 minutes my first time up.

(Did I mention I was able to practice at Squarnail while I was on call for work!!)

Throughout April I started looking for partners to climb with as well. I got a few responses but no one could commit to a full week. On the plus side, anyone can find a climbing partner in Yosemite during May. Now armed with my new aid skills what was I going to climb?

South Face Washington Column V 5.8 C1

"The South Face is the easiest and most crowded big wall in Yosemite. The aid is straightforward and the 80% of the route goes 5.10a or easier, but almost every pitch can be aided if necessary." - SuperTopo.

Photo Credit: Mark Thomas

A lot of first big wallers jump on south face or West Face of the Leaning Tower. Parties can bail from almost anywhere and just rappel the route which makes it a safe option for new aid climbers.

With just two days before I took off to the valley I got a message from a college kid named Ben who was also looking for a partner to jump on the South Face with. He had previously been up the the "dinner ledge" and bivyed for the night. However that night a rain storm came in and soaked the rock forcing them the retreat. Perfect for me, in that Ben was tad more experienced than me in that all mistakes he had made on his first trip I could learn from... or so I thought.

Tuesday May 13th:

Spring and summer in Yosemite is peak tourist season and there are NO camping spots that haven't been reserved 6 months before hand. That leaves the first come camp ground Camp 4. I arrived by 7am to the line for a campsite well all ready formed. The ranger arrives around 8:30 and will issues camp site until the camp is full again. It's a pretty communal setting with 6 tents sharing one site.

I settled in to my site meeting my fellow campers. Half of the people in the campground seemed to be families who couldn't get a normal campsite, another quarter were European college kids, and the last quarter where climbing bums. With Ben not getting in til the following day I sought out a partner for the day. It didn't take too long and I was approached by a couple from Portland who wanted to get on on the rock for the day. That had basic rock experience I was eager to just get my legs stretched. We spend the rest of the day climbing After Six (5.7 - 6 pitches) on the Manure Pile Buttress. I lead the whole route for them and we topped out with great views of the valley.

  

Wednesday May 14th:

When I woke up Ben had arrived. We sat down and hammered out our game plan. I wanted to practice aid climbing and get our team communication down before heading out to the wall the following day. Ben agreed and off we went for the day...

• La Escuela C1 (5.11B)

• Kor Practice Aid Ladder A1

(Not my pic)

Thursday May 15th:

 "More practice? Naw...let's just do this!"

The Plan:

• Day #1 - Approach hike, climb to Dinner Ledge (a top pitch 3), drop our bags, climb to pitch #5 and fix the rope back down to Dinner Ledge.
• Day #2 - Jug the rope back to the top of pitch #5 and climb all out from there to the top. Rappel to dinner ledge and grab our bags, Rappel all the way to the ground, hike out.

Around 9:00am we found we were racking up for the climb in the Ahwahnee hotel parking lot.



The approach hike was hot and steep but after an hour we found the base of the Washington Column. Parties could be seen higher up not only on the South Face but also on The Prow. Temperatures were expected in the low 90's for the next few days which meant really hot climbing on the rock.

By 11am Ben was racked up for lead and off he went for pitch #1 out of 11.

This first pitch goes free at just 5.8 so Ben and I kept in free climbing mode.
So... we didn't own a haul bag between the two of us. Our ghetto solution was to tie off both our backpack to another rope and haul them up. As you can see from the picture below, it was not only sad looking but SNAGGED at every lip and edge on the lower angle rock.

By the time I freed the "haul bags" and climbed the pitch myself, the time was over and hour since Ben had left the ground. Our pace was pretty slow and it was extremely hot.

It wasn't until 5:30pm that we arrived at the Dinner Ledge (a top pitch #3)... 7 whopping hours later. WTF had happened? Well, we just moved very slow for some reason. Mostly we aided through pitch #2 which we were not expecting. That took both of us some time and then there was the "haul bag". It would get stuck on everything requiring me to constantly babysit it as I moved up the rope. We did climb pitch #3 that went free at .7 but again due to the blocky terrain the haul bag was just a cluster!

Anyhoo, both of us were pretty tired from mostly being in the really hot sun all day. We decided to scrap the plan of climbing to pitch #5 and fixing the line from there since it was late in the afternoon.

The dinner ledge was a pretty cushy ledge was far as rock climbing standards go. When you've spent all day hanging on nothing, all of a sudden a few foot wide ledge seems like the Taj Mahal.

Unlike backpacking where you have access to water to drink and cook you food, we had to haul all our own water. Water was strictly for drinking, so all my food had to be canned food. Canned fruit, sardines, and tuna was my dinner which turned out to be very good after a long day.

Surprisingly, we didn't have to share the ledge with any other parties. The evening alpine glow started to come out and the afternoon wind died making for an amazing evening for my first night on a big wall. I awoke around 11pm to the sound of climbers coming up to the ledge via headlamp. Turns out it was just a guy hauling his girlfriend up to the ledge to hang out. They cheered us on the next day.

Friday May 16th:

The sun came up early but we didn't rise early. To say we overslept was an under statement. We both didn't get up until at least 7:30 and then took our sweet time having breakfast. I could sense we were both pretty intimidated by the massive over hanging Kor Roof. You see Layton Kor was the man who first bolted up and over this roof in 1964, pretty bold to go where no man had gone before.

OK, the next two photos are NOT mine. I'll give credit to Fresno climber Micronut. Unlike me, he knows how to take good photos during the "action sequences" instead of just boring rock. Pitch #4 is the crux of the entire South Face. It was involves climbing a .7 crack for about 30' to the base of the roof. Roof is overhung and has I believe 4 bolts to get over it. From there a 5.11a crack takes off up and right for about 50 feet of so. This combined sequences while aiding are pretty challenging to the new aid climber. Did I mention the 500' of air below too?

(Not my pics - His trip report here...)

Without going in to elaborate detail about what happened, it just needs to be said we MADE EVERY NOOBIE MISTAKE. Ben got sketched out on lead as far as I could see. The key to aiding is to place a piece of gear and then step as HIGH as you can in the foot ladders attached to the piece of gear. This gives you a much higher reach to place the next piece of gear SAVING GEAR! As far as I could tell, it looked like he might of been having a problems high stepping in his ladders thus blowing through all our gear. Once he started getting low on gear I would have to lower him some to back clean. The problem as you can see from the picture above is that this crack is not straight up and down, it traverses. One can not just simply "lower down".  He did eventually arrive at the bolted belay but the pitch had as taken well over two hours.

OK, my turn: The rope had been fixed so I could just use my ascenders to jug up and over the roof. Once I arrived at the roof the first thing I noticed was how overhanging it was. The key here is to UNCLIP the top ascender (Don't worry, I had a backup system) from the rope and pass it around the bolt. Not and easy feat while balancing in your ladders hanging over 500' of air. While pass it over? - It is literally impossible to clean the carabiner from the bolt due to your full weight hanging on the rope. One must create slack on the rope to clean... this is a fundamental concept of the follower for aid climbing. How one creates this slack can be interesting to say the least when there is NOTHING to hang on to.
Up and over the roof I go! Now it's time to clean this crack, but wait there is more! Ascenders don't ascend sideways, this causes a twisting action on the rope and they can pop off. So at a certain angle one must switch from using ascenders and re aid the climb. Since my practice the previous day and all my time spent at Squrenail did not involve this sequence, I had to learn it on the fly... with the 500' of air below me. Other classics noobie mistakes included constantly getting ladders twisted. The wind was whipping 30MPH at times making communication impossible. It was quite the experience seeing my rope not drape below me but off at 90 degrees to me from the wind blowing. After what must of been over an hour and a half I arrived at the belayed. It had taken us close to 4 hours to do just one pitch. There would be no sending of the Washington Column today. We both knew that our pace was just too slow to keep going. We elected to rappel from our belay back down to the Dinner Ledge.

With our bags packed and shouldered we started off on our journey back down the 3 pitches that were climbed the previous day.

It was hot and I could tell we both were a little blown away by the exposure. However we both laughed it off and realized that it was all part of learning to big wall climb. We definitely were not the first and won't be the last to bail of the South Face.
We arrived on the ground passing this UK guy who did a 3 day solo trip up the South Face.
Pizza and beers pretty much sums up the rest of the day...

Saturday May 17th:

I decided to take a day off from 4 days of climbing. In all my years in Yosemite I'd never hiked the Yosemite Falls trail.

So I did that...It is a steep and hot hike but the views of the upper waterfall and valley are worth it!

Sunday May 18th:

Ben and I meet up with another solo climber from Camp 4. We headed off to Glacier Point apron and climbed Harry Daley Route (5.8 -2 pitches). We drove to Reed pinnacle and jumped on Reeds Pinnacle Direct (5.10a - 3 pitches), however I wasn't feeling it and bailed after the first pitch.

Monday May 19th:

I rallyed with another climber in Camp 4 from Mexico named Nacho Queso (SERIOUSLY!). He was more of a sport climber and had never lead a traditional rock climb placing gear along the way. I suggested The Grack (5.6 - 3 pitches). I'd climbed this route too many times to count. We had a very enjoyable time and Nacho did an excellent job on this first trad climbing lead.

...and so ended six days spend in paradise and my first trip up a big wall rock climb.

Afterthoughts:

Turned out the learning curve of aid climbing had just begun on the Washington Column. Now that I had a frame of reference I've gone back an reread some material about the aiding climbing sequence. Since my trip in May, I've made two return day trips to the valley to solely practice aid climbing. My times and technique are improving greatly.  I've also since bought a big wall haul bag:

The plan is to return to the Washington Column this September/October to make another attempt on the on the South Face.