Lost Arrow Spire Tip

This was a big adventure that we had been working up to - an iconic Yosemite climb.  Lost Arrow is a pillar of rock detached from Yosemite Point.  The tip is about 800m above the valley floor and 40m away from the main face.  The plan was to abseil in from Yosemite point, climb the tip and then set up a tyrolean back to the main cliff.  This required much reckoning!

The climb itself is quite tricky - beyond our climbing ability, so we had to aid it.  We bought all the gear we needed (now on first name terms with the folks in the mountaineering shop), and the day before, we consulted Simon's book on aid climbing and practiced ascending, cleaning pitches, abseiling passed knotted ropes and setting up a traverse.  All set then!  Nothing to it!

Up early for the epic 3 hour walk in.  We were carrying 3 ropes and a lot of gear.  The sun beat down on us as we made our way slowly up the gully, passed the dried up Yosemite falls and on to the Point.  Here we looked across at Lost Arrow, and I felt slightly sick!  The abseil in was longer than our longest rope so we tied one end of one rope to the in-situ bolts, backed up with a convenient tree, then tied the other end of this rope to another rope and threw it over the edge.  Si disappeared and I was left alone to double check we had everything.  A voice drifted up from the void "Maz, can you bring the guidebook!" - oh yeah - that might come in handy.

Soon we were both in the gully between the tip and the cliff.  Si got his aid climbing gear ready and I tied the end of the abseil rope to the back of my harness.  Si set up the third rope as he ascended the Arrow.  Most of the placements involved ancient rivets (which we had to tie off with the wire tips of nuts), bashies (hammered in bits of metal with wire hangers), dodgy cams placed in peg scars and the occasional bomber nut.   When Si was at the top of a pitch, he tied off the rope and then I jumared up it, collecting our gear as I went.  Halfway up pitch 2 I discovered that jumaring  along a traverse and cleaning the gear at the same time wasn't as simple as the description in the book!

A couple of hours later, we were both stood on top of the spire.  The abseil rope was still connected to the main cliff (good start) and I had hold of the other end.  We fixed this to the assortment of battered bolts and faded slings at the top of the tip so that the rope was taut and Si set off back to base (you didn't think I was going to go first, did you?!).

The wind was quite strongly through the gap and the ropes were being sideswept in a big loop.  After much swearing and cursing, Si made it back to base and I re-threaded the rope so that we could pull it through.  Then it was a quick check to make sure I'd collected all our stuff before I launched my self backwards and began the arduous task of jumaring up the rope back to Simon.  Much relieved self congratulation and a long hike back to the village for some well-deserved beer followed.

Later, Simon told me that this aid route had been high-lighted as unsuitable for beginners!  Oh!!

The Gentle Art of Thrutching

The climbing in Yosemite has so far been crack-heaven. "Thin fingers" to "flared Chimney" and every width in between. Learning the necessary techniques has so far been an on-the-job affair, and mandatory training at that. Our first Yosemite "offwidth" was about 30cm wide, 30 metres into the pitch and several metres out from the last good protection! Sustained fist jamming was consolidated on the very same pitch.  (Sacherer Crack 10a, El Cap Base).  Our chimneying has been learnt on the flared featureless chimney of pitch 6 of East Butress on Middle Cathedral Peak, (below).  The Americans have several descriptions for the techniques required - arm barring, leg bar, back and footing and a few more.  However, I find our British word "thrutch" describes the whole range rather nicely and more realistically.

One thing they've definitely got right over here is "taping-up".  (The practice of covering the back of the hands with climbing tape to protect the skin whilst crack climbing).  My initial scoffs have turned to a very real interest into how to make these "tape-gloves", after increasingly trashed skin on my hands. S

Crack- tastic Domes!

Sunday 22nd - Friday 27th August - Toulumne, Yosemite National Park

View of Half Dome

On the Sunday morning we drove into the Park and headed to Toulumne Meadows.  Here we managed to get the equipment we needed and 5 nights in the campsite - awesome!  In the afternoon, we headed off to do our 1st route:  West Crack on Duff Dome.  60m pitches of crack on pristine granite - wow!  Felt the altitude kicking in as I puffed my way to the top!

Simon marking the summit of Daff

Next day, Regular Route on Fairview.  A classic American climb.  Team Jones were hot on the heels of the American team above and speeding along above the Taiwanese team below!  Think I've got the hang of hand-jamming now!

That's Fairview Dome.  Our route went right up the middle

The bottom of Regular Route.  The crack goes on and on

The descent off Fairview, you just walk down the Dome.

Back at camp, we cooked ourselves a tasty meal and put all our food in the bear box as instructed.  Unfortunately, we can't have closed it properly:  Si got up for a midnight pee and discovered the bear box doors to be wide open and most of our food scattered across the ground or gone!  Yogi had eaten our bran flakes, biscuits, trail mix, tortillas, muesli bars, bagels and banana flakes. He had mauled the apples, had a scratch and sniff at the jerky and rice before making off with our montgomery jack cheese (but left the crackers).  To make matters worse, he had summed up his opinion of us, by leaving a large, brown present in the middle of our camp!

Lost My Heart in San Francisco

Well - it's a pretty windy day here in Lee Vining.  I'm sat on a wind swept veranda in the Sierra Nevada, having almost lost the will to live after several cups of coffee and multiple failed internet connections.  So here's a brief overview of what we've been up to:

Thursday 19th - Saturday 21st August.  San Franscisco
Epic day of sight seeing.  Hanging of the sides of cable cars (like old fashioned trams, but connected to a cable moving under the road), views of the painted houses, a be-fogged bridge and lone Alcatraz, and sleeping sealions.  I dragged Simon to SF MOMA under protest, but he was reconciled to modern art by the remains of an aid-climbing performance art piece.

Saturday, we went to collect our Minibago - the campervan we've hired for this trip.

The Dark Star!

After a disappointing trip to REI (Sports Shop) we had to scrap our itinerary as our plans were foiled by a lack of guide books, so we decided to head to Yosemite and hope for the best.

Leaving, on a Jet Plane

So this is it, we've finished work, sold the car and van, moved out and had a number of leaving parties to say goodbye to family and good friends.  We've re-packed and re-weighed our bags several times so that they're just under the weight limit and now there's nothing left to do except double-check we've packed our passports and book the taxi for the airport.

12kg of climbing gear inc 23 cams!

We're taking 55kg of gear each to the States and shipping another 100kg to New Zealand, and there was still enough stuff left behind to fill this removal lorry!  What is it all?!

Another rained out leaving party!