Additional Climbing Gear for Yosemite

Hoping to make it to Yosemite for the first time in the next week to climb some moderate 5.7 - 5.9 single pitch, multipitch routes. I have a full set of BD stoppers and a full set of BD cams .3-4 with doubles on .75, 1 and 2 and 15 draws. Is there any other protection that would be mandatory?

Thanks!

Might be nice to have a set of aliens or mastercams in the small sizes, they tend to fit better in the pin scars and shallow cracks you may encounter in the valley. Additionally a set of DMM offset nuts will be worth their weight in gold in the valley.

Bring your A game for crack, slab, and glacial smoothed granite :P

That rack will do. Nothing else would be considered mandatory. It might be worth investing in a #5 C4 if you want to get on some of the more classic (read: older and wider) routes. But really, blech.

Bring and trail a second rope for rappels.

And it looks like you need to bring your rain gear!

Oh one other thing--maybe tire chains or 4WD w mud/snow rated tires if this weather persists.

This is a sort of thread hijack but I'm locking at travelling around the USA and Canada next year. I'm also a 5.7 - 5-9 Trad climber but have no experience on polished glacial granite. Whilst i would love to climb Yosemite, it does seem a bit too 'serious' for someone like myself. Would I better spending more time on some other more friendly areas before hitting the valley? Or is there enough 'easy' well protected routes that we would enjoy?

Cheers

Don't sell yourself short.

Go down to Yosemite and up to Tuolumne. Climb Nutcracker, Sunnyside Jam Crack, Royal Arches, Snake Dike, almost anything on Swan Slab, Sunnyside Bench, and Five Open Books. Climb Fairview Dome, Southeast Buttress of Cathedral Peak, and maybe East Buttress of Middle Cathedral. Go have Sunday brunch at the Ahwahnee and look at the grand piano Ansel Adam played in his youth. Go to Camp Four and look at Midnight Lightning and the Raffi Bedayn memorial. Go down to Wawona's big trees.

You may never go home.

jasoncm wrote:This is a sort of thread hijack but I'm locking at travelling around the USA and Canada next year. I'm also a 5.7 - 5-9 Trad climber but have no experience on polished glacial granite. Whilst i would love to climb Yosemite, it does seem a bit too 'serious' for someone like myself. Would I better spending more time on some other more friendly areas before hitting the valley? Or is there enough 'easy' well protected routes that we would enjoy? Cheers

there's plenty to keep you busy in the valley, I don't even lead 5.9 and I've spent months there living and climbing. TWK gave alot of good ideas and there's always the chance of meeting up with someone who climbs a bit harder and can lead the harder pitches on a route, and if all else fails, there's always aid climbing. I know yosemite can seem like an intimidating place, I remember thinking I'd never be good enough to climb there, but go, climb, you won't regret it.

To the OP, I think that TCU's fit in the piton scars that you'll find better than any other cam, also I like having 2 number 3 camalots usually cause I hate climbing that size, but you're pretty well set for gear.

jasoncm wrote:This is a sort of thread hijack but I'm locking at travelling around the USA and Canada next year. I'm also a 5.7 - 5-9 Trad climber but have no experience on polished glacial granite. Whilst i would love to climb Yosemite, it does seem a bit too 'serious' for someone like myself. Would I better spending more time on some other more friendly areas before hitting the valley? Or is there enough 'easy' well protected routes that we would enjoy? Cheers

Nah you can still climb some great stuff there. Tahoe can give you a primer into some of the Yosemite style granite, that being said with the snow might be tad trickier at some spots.

Are you meeting up with someone that has a rack that's equal to or larger than yours? You definitely have some options, but for a lot of the classic 5.9s you'll probably want more hand-sized stuff than just you have (thinking Reeds, Central Pillar here which are both must-do classics).

John D wrote:To the OP, I think that TCU's fit in the piton scars that you'll find better than any other cam.

As someone who owns TCUs, Offset MasterCams, Offset Totem Basic Cams and climbs regularly in Yosemite, I would say that the offset basic cams (and thus, offset aliens) are best in piton scars, with Offset Mastercams coming in second, and TCU's coming in third.

But all of those are better than regular U-Stems and C4s

Bring all that you can get your hands on. You should be prepared to set your own anchors on the multi pitch stuff, your rack seems a bit slim, and you need some long runners. For the valley I bring 6 slings 6 draws
Doubles of tiny tech cams, then basically a set of doubles, more in the bigger sizes if its steep and burly. I like an extra .75 and an extra yellow alien, most of the time.