first big climb in yosemite

me and my partner have been looking at yosemite for a couple of years now and have decided to drive out there and do a couple routes. we both lead up to 5.8+ with a couple of 5.9s and are looking for route suggestions. we have already been thinking of snake dike. and other suggestions?

After 6, Nutcracker, and Royal Arches are my favorite moderates in the Valley. Snake dike is a great route, but you really want to be solid at basically soloing 5.7 slabs before making the hike up there.

You might want to spend a few days cragging and getting used to the rock before embarking on the longer routes. Yosemite has a unique style to it that takes some getting used too.

Commitment and the routes near it are really fun multi-pitch outings as well.

Braille Book?

supertopo.com has a trad guide to yosemite and covers a lot of routes at those levels.

Aunt Fanny's Pantry will help you with your slimy Ditch Offwidths
I like going to Manure Pile Buttress - There are two sick classics...if you cant pull those off... then you may want to reconsider Royal Arches...
More people get hurt going to Yos and relizing that the rock is different from their "home crag" where they pull 10's all day - the climbing is not all burl and might... imho

hmmm. I actually don't like After 6 very much. First pitch might as well be glass. I think Munginella is a much better entry level 5.6. I would do some shorter stuff first to get used to the rock and then move on to longer stuff. It may take some patience and a bit more time, but you will probably enjoy the longer stuff a lot more if you are feeling comfortable.

Shorter routes:
- Munginella 5.6
- Reed's Pinnacle Direct Route (first two pitches) 5.9
- Commitment is a great 5.9

Others:
- Braille Book 5.8
- Royal Arches 5.7 (you definitely should do this...there is a hardly a better way to climb a 1000 feet of casual 5.7)
- Nutcracker 5.8 (good, but busy)
- Central Pillar of Frenzy (5 pitches of flawless 5.9)

ohh yes, and one should hardly go to the Ditch without sampling the most classic of Valley techniques, the grovely and thrutchy offwidth. Luckily you can taste this at the end of the day with an easy toprope of The Generator Crack 5.10c.
Enjoy.

Shiloh wrote: I like going to Manure Pile Buttress - There are two sick classics...if you cant pull those off... then you may want to reconsider Royal Arches... imho

I would disagree with this statement. I think the climbing on the Manure Pile is very different than Royal Arches and I don't think climbing there is required before doing Arches. There isn't anything on Arches that is as hard or sustained as the "classics" on Manure Pile. Arches just requires that you move reasonably fast and get an early start if you are unsure. Just do some shorter routes first and get comfortable and Arches will go fine.

Check out the Five Open Books Area:
Commitment
Munginella
Salginella

Church Bowl Area:
Church Bowl Lieback
Bishop's Terrace (highly recommend one long 60m pitch)

Sunnyside Bench Area:
Jam Crack

Glacier Point Apron:
The Grack

After Seven is a good one too.

A longer route that might be challenging: East Buttress on Middle Cathedral (study the descent info..rappel anchors are a little dicey, so bring extra webbing to back up)

Royal Arches is a classic, but beware of the descent (its not so straight forward as the topo appears it to be)...many have epic'd.

Any further questions, just ask..I was there for 2 months this past summer.

You'll love that place, and don't forget Tuolumne Meadows too!

Cheers

ahhh Jeff is right!! Don't forget Jamcrack!!

...and the descent on Royal Arches...don't do it. Rap instead.

East buttress of middle cathedral is a fun route. It's about 10 or 11 pitches long and you easily pull your way the bolt ladder which is about .10c but the rest is about 5.7-8.

If the weather is good, go up to Tuolumne Meadows and try West Crack and/or Blown Away on Daff Dome, SE Buttress of Cathedral Peak, Hobbit Book, Regular Route on Fairview Dome, just to name a few.

One of my best days in the Valley was climbing nothing harder then 5.8. If you are fast you can climb Royal Arches (start very early)then walk up to N. Dome and climb South Face of N Dome.

mountainproject.com/v/calif…

All trad pitches with nothing harder then 5.8! About 22 pitches in total.

However, you will have a long decent so plan that into your timming. As for the walk off from Royal Arches check out the decent info on the link above.

Pretty good suggestions from most folks. A good but short (2 ptiches) 5.8 nobody's mentioned in the Harry Daley Route. Really fun and on the 'new to the Valley' ticklist.

A couple of comments on earlier suggestions:

Royal Arches is way overrated in terms of quality. The best thing about that route was the Rotten Log, which fell off years ago. It's long, but it's just OK. If you do climb it, the descent isn't bad. I've never had any problem finding the proper descent down North Dome Gully. Those who epic usually do so before of their own poor route finding skills, which usually means they didn't go far enough before descending.

The Commitment is a fun 5.9. But keep in mind that it's probably the softest 5.9 in the Valley.

Snake Dike isn't that dicey. It's got some runout sections, but it's only 5.7. Given all the fledgling leaders who have done this without serious incident, it's clear it's a pretty managable route.

I think your best bets in terms of quality are:

Nutcracker
Snake Dike
Bishop's Terrace
Jam Crack Route
Central Pillar
E. Butt of Middle (you can always pull on the bolts on the .10c)

BTW, Tuolumne is awesome but it's getting cool up there. In a couple more weeks, it'll be pretty darn chilly.

Have fun and be safe.

Royal Arches is very casual. Most pitches felt like 4th class with one or two moves of fifth class, up to 5.7. The cool thing about it is being able to climb such an apparently steep and large wall at such a moderate level. And the views are great from the route as well. I can't comment on the descent, since we did the rappels (which were straight forward, 7 double rope raps plus a little 3rd class downclimbing if my memory is correct).

After warming up with a couple shorter slab routes (after 6?) you should be able to do Snake Dike without a problem. The major runnouts are not on the 5.7 pitches. Not that you can sew the 5.7 pitches up, but the protection is reasonable. The major runouts are 5.3 or 5.4, and follow positive holds up some really cool dikes. 75 foot runouts look a little scary, but you'd have to trip over a shoelace or something to fall there. Plus having only one bolt to clip on a 150' route and having bolted anchors makes the climbing go really fast! It's a great way to get to the top of half dome. Plan on a 4 hour approach (unless you know where you're going), and if you don't mind jogging a little, a 3 hour descent back to pizza and beers at Curry Village.

Have fun!

A lot of people get sketched out by the rockfall issues on Glacier Point Apron but the climbing is a great Yose intro. Thin runout friction and really fun cracks. Little bit of everything and almost the easiest approach in the Valley.

Oh, and Snake Dike is super fun but can be a little bit of a head game. Definitely want to be comfortable on moderate friction for the first few pitches.

Another vote for West Crack on Daff Dome - one of the funnest 5.8 pitches anywhere and Regular Route on Fairview.

South Crack on Stately Pleasure Dome (?) is another route with a spicey 5.7 pitch right off the road, zero approach time.

I found that nutcracker was good, but would be super-heady for someone leading at that grade--falling at the first crux would be a long swinging fall over a small roof to a slab, and the second crux is a guaranteed ankle breaker if you don't pull the mantle. This is subjective of course. The climbing is moderate, but committing to some moves is not.

I definitely second Bishop's Terrace, and Commitment (a super-protected, 1-move, super-soft 5.9).

Don't be intimidated by the Valley-- the rock's solid, gear is bomber, and falls are (mostly) super clean. I came from Eldo though, so YMMV.