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NIAD TR

Original Post
Scott Bennett · · Western North America · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 1,265

Hey, I thought this would be sorta interesting for some folks, so I'm posting it up. Here's at trip report I wrote from our climb of the Nose yesterday:

"Yeah, I'm super excited!! Yesterday my friend Scott (of Canon city, CO) and I climbed the best rock climbing route in the world, the Nose on El Capitan. We climbed it pretty fast, starting at 2:45am, working hard through sun-up, all morning, and into the afternoon, and topped out at 4:51pm.

Climbing the "Nose in a day" was our main goal for the Valley this season, and it's a big goal for many climbers (those of us in the know just call it the NIAD). Scott and I had climbed the Nose last year for my second big wall (Scott's third) in a more traditional style: We spent one day climbing the first 8 pitches (to the base of the Stoveleg cracks) and fixing ropes down to the ground. The next day we came back and "blasted off", ascending our fixed lines and climbing another 6 pitched to El Cap Tower. One more day took us to Camp Six, then the next brought the summit. The climbing was super-enjoyable, and I loved camping out on the ledges, but the task of hauling all of our gear for a multi-day trip was physical and draining. We figured that, if we didn't have to haul any stuff, we could climb much faster.

So this year, we went back with a much different mindset. Instead of a huge bigwall that would take a protracted effort, we looked at the route as simply another long day climb. We took one day to go up to Eagle ledge (about 14 pitches up) to relearn the first half of the route and work out a good system for climbing fast. We rappeled back down after our "practice run", confident that we were moving well enough to try the big push.

After one rest day, we were psyched to start, but the weather was iffy and we delayed one more day. So, Monday morning, mega-early but not yet bright, we woke up and committed ourselves to getting up El Cap!

The first 4 pitches were my leads, and they felt much trickier by headlamp than they had a few days previous. There's a bunch of slippier 5.10 climbing here that's pretty hard to aid, to I just had to commit to the friction and get moving as fast as possible. The system we were using, called short-fixing, has the leader lead up a pitch, and upon reaching the first set of anchors (usually about 100-150' up), pull up all the slack and fix the rope. The second can then start to jug (using mechanical ascenders) up the fixed line, while the leader leads out again on the remaining slack (usually quite a bit, since we were using a 235' rope). The leader belays himself with a gri-gri, which is kind of awkward, until the second reaches the previous belay, unfixes the rope, and puts the leader back on belay.

By short-fixing, we were able to partially eliminate all of the wasted time spent sitting at belays and enable both climbers to be moving most of the time. It's way more fun, since as the leader you are continuously climbing for 4-6 pitches.

So, the pitches were flying by, and sunrise saw us working our way up the Stove legs. It was now Scott's lead, so I could relax a bit and simply enjoy the position and beauty of the sun hitting the Cathedral rocks, across the valley. Scott quickly got us up to Dolt tower, and it was again my turn to lead. Another key to short-fixing and climbing fast is going as far as possible between gear placements, both to speed up leading and following, and also to conserve gear. When the terrain was easy, I would try to go entire pitches without leaving any gear, which wasn't as scary as it sounds since you can always aid through harder moves and backclean your gear.

Near the end of that lead block I was in the Grey Bands approaching Camp 4. The Grey Bands are the chossiest section of the Nose, where the normally immaculate white granite is intruded with less desirable grey crap. Since the climbing was loose, I was already on edge. I decided to try and run out the entire pitch, since it follows a C-shaped path, first traversing left, then up, then back right. I figured that if I could skip enough gear, Scott could simply jug staight up to the belay and avoid following the tedious traverses. So, I fixed my rope at the anchor, left out a huge loop of slack (not even bothering to clip in my gri-gri) and begain traversing left. It's easy for a while, and then you have to go straight up. It gets hard here (maybe 5.11), so I started aiding. Having already led 4 pitches, I was pretty low on gear, and I didn't have the right size cam (green alien) for the crack in front of me. I plugged a yellow alien a bit lower, and then tried to work in a stopper up high. I got one in (the wrong size) and pulled on it. It popped immeadiately, and I came off. Luckily I had placed the yellow alien below, and it was at waist level, but I still had a good bit of slack in my rope and no belayer. My instict was good though, and I reached out with my right hand and grabbed the rope, quickly stopping my fall. It wouldn't have been too bad if I'd taken the fall, since there was only 20-30' of slack out, but I was shaken up regardless.

Starting back up, I took my time, worked in a better piece, and finished the section, ending my lead block. Scott quickly joined me, and took off up the Great Roof. (Nice work on that, man!) Our progress at this point was a bit slower; as the wall got steeper, much more aid was needed (not to mention we were pretty tired). But steadily we moved upwards, and Scott took us all the way to Camp 6. My turn to lead again, and this would be the final lead block. The Changing Corners pitch, which is the free crux of the route at 5.14a, went really quickly on aid, and from there it was only 3 pitches of amazing 5.10 climbing leading up to the final bolt ladder. I especially enjoyed these last pitches, free climbing when I could (and the limits of short-fixing allowed). The very last pitch is the perfect ending: a bolt ladder up and over the ridiculously steep final roof. Though I was tired, I monkeyed up it with a draw in each hand. Pulling onto the slab at the top felt wonderful, and I let out a huge yell. I fixed the rope and Scott started jugging furiosly, spurred on by my calls of "Double the Power!" (imagine a Schwarzenegger accent). The last frantic run up to the tree at the top and a rush to stop the clock: 14:06:22 !!!"

Thanks for reading, and if you want to read more, I'm posting up a bunch of stuff about my roadtrip on: thebigwidewest.blogspot.com

-Scott

Jordan Ramey · · Calgary, Alberta · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 4,251

Nice job!

EMT · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 205

Great job man! nice write up too.

Scott Bennett · · Western North America · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 1,265

Here's a photo from Tom Evans (visit his awesome site at ElCapReport.com for hilarious daily updates of all the happenings on the Big Stone)


Scott E. (of Canon City) leading the Great Roof. He did a really good job on it and backcleaned all the gear so that I could simply do one big lower-out.
Yes, Scott is using a clip stick, and that's the only time we broke it out all route. I guess aid is aid, but I don't think we'll bring it next time.

-Scott
Shawn Mitchell · · Broomfield · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 250

Great climb and great story. A little horrifying. If third-classing pitches and back-cleaning whole stretches of aid (trusting weighted single pieces against huge falls) is what it takes, well, I guess I'm a hauling, bivuacing gumby. :)

Jason Kaplan · · Glenwood ,Co · Joined Jul 2005 · Points: 3,370

Nice job indeed!
I can't even imagine how hard that is.
Thanks for the TR, we could use more of those around here instead of political debates.

Scott Bennett · · Western North America · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 1,265

Hey, thanks guys.

What I should've added, though, is that we didn't think it was that hard, and I think it's well within the reach of average climbers. The stuff about running out whole pitches and sketchy short-fixing falls is kinda extreme, but I was getting overzealous.

I'm just a 5.11 climber, and my buddy Scott is more like a 5.10 climber, and we still had ten hours left in the day. I feel like most 5.10 climbers could do it, if they get their systems worked out, maybe do the route once or twice multi-day style, and are really motivated.

Even today, as my partner and I are still sore and beat up from the effort, we're talking about getting back up there and thinking about ways that we can do it faster. I think one more attempt is in the cards this season, so maybe a sub-10hour run is possible.

Anyways, get after it and climb safe,
-Scott

Calirado · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 0

Proud! Thanks for writing it up.

Jay Knower · · Plymouth, NH; Lander, WY · Joined Jul 2001 · Points: 6,036

Nice writeup Scott. Congrats on the NIAD, a very proud accomplishment.

Marc H · · Longmont, CO · Joined May 2007 · Points: 265

Great TR, Scott. Thanks for posting.

Did you encounter any others parties on the route? How did the passes go, if so?

--Marc

scott e. tarrant · · Fort Collins · Joined Mar 2007 · Points: 250

NICE!

Scott Bennett · · Western North America · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 1,265

Marc-

We were really lucky on the route, in that it had rained a bit for the previous two days and it was mostly empty. We did pass one party while they were sleeping on Sickle ledge at about 3:30am, and then one party on the pitch before camp 4.
The guys (Chris and Jeremy?) near camp 4 were super chill, I think it was their 5th day on the wall, and we had actually passed them two days prior when we did a practice run up to Eagle Ledge. We had talked then, and then we ended up carrying down some trash and a piss bottle for them while we were rapping. I guess good karma from helping them out then allowed us to pass without any delays.

-Scott

Shawn Mitchell · · Broomfield · Joined Mar 2008 · Points: 250
Scott Bennett wrote:we didn't think it was that hard, and I think it's well within the reach of average climbers. *** I'm just a 5.11 climber
Yup, an average 5.11 climber...who skips the bolts on a fully bolted 5.12 test piece. :)

But seriously, thanks for the perspective and encouragement. Think I'll shoot for NW Face of Half Dome in a day.
Karsten Duncan · · Sacramento, CA · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 2,571

Great job,
I did the route in similar style a few years back and agree that 5.10 climbers can easily do the route in <24 hrs without super-sketchy and dangerous tactics. I did run out a few pitches on little to no gear when I did it but you could protect and still be very fast.

Great job on a proud accomplishment. At the time I did NIAD I didn't think it was too big of a deal but that seems to be the way alot of big routes and accomplishments feel. Getting the right partner, weather, being injury free, having no hiccups, and being in the same place at the same time are all factors that seem inconsequential until you are foiled by climbs where they don't work out. Savor this effort good luck on your future efforts.

Sirius · · Oakland, CA · Joined Nov 2003 · Points: 660

Scott, thanks for posting this up. Enthralling to think and daydream about, but somehow I think you're being modest in saying it's no big deal. NIAD is an elite accomplishment, no two ways about it.

If you feel like answering, I'm curious about

-your rack? What'd you take? How'd you decide?
-water, how much, cached, or just suffering through thirst?
-did you each bring two aiders and two jugs?

Somewhere on-line there's an outstanding TR of a father-son team doing the NIAD. Maybe Peter Mayfield and his son?

A photo I've always wondered at is of Hans and Yuji at the bridge after their record, just down from the East Ledges. What struck me most about the photo was that neither of them had a single scratch on their fingers or hands. What better evidence of literally flawless technique? I couldn't put my hands into pockets for a week after El Cap was done with me.

Scott Bennett · · Western North America · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 1,265

Thanks again, here are some answers:

-Our rack: Purple C3 to #4 C4, with doubles Purple C4 to Blue C4 and triple Green C4, and a set of Aliens Green to Red. One set stoppers with micros (although I don't think I really used the small ones, but Scott might have on the Glowering Spot).
Maybe 12 draws, plus a bunch of extra biners (really helpful). Probably 8 extra lockers (for fixing the rope at every belay).
I think we had a cordalette, but I don't think we used it.

With this rack, the leader only had to tag up more gear once, and that was on the Stovelegs. All the other lead blocks went just fine, with some healthy backcleaning and clipping all the fixed gear (there's tons, and it's all "bomber"...)

-As for water, we did have 4 liters stashed at the end of the Jardine Traverse, from our practice run a few days previous. We just carried a 2L camelbak (on the 2nd), and a 1/2L water bottle for the leader. This was more than enough water, and when I do it next time, we probably won't have stashed water, so we'll take maybe 4 liters.

-We had one set of jugs (the new BD ones, they're great) and one set of stirrups for jugging. The leader carried one metolius pocket aider, and we just used it on the Great roof, Glowering Spot, and Changing corners. Everything else went with french free and some standing in slings.

I haven't read the father/son TR, that would certainly be an outstanding way to do the Big Stone!
As for Hans and Yuji, they're mega bad-ass! We both had burly tape gloves, and the second traded off leather wall gloves, but I still managed to bleed.

Climb safe,
-Scott

slim · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2004 · Points: 1,103

great job scott b, glad to see you are hitting on all cylinders again. also great job scott e, can't wait to hear more gory details!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northern California
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