Regular Route Half Dome April 16-21, 2015

I am looking for someone who wants to climb Regular Route of Half Dome sometime between April 16-21.

I want to sleep on the wall for two nights (pitch 6 and Big Sandy) in order to take time to enjoy the climb and experience sleeping on the wall. No portaledge. I have a 140L haul bag and Petzl Micro Traxion Pulley so we can haul 5 gallons of water, food, and bivy gear.

Last fall I climbed the first 6 pitches of Regular Route and had a blast (no hauling).

I am a confident and experienced 5.10b/c trad leader in Yosemite.

It should be an amazing experience!

-Bill

Assume you're talking about the RNWF. I'm sure you've done your research and probably don't want my 2 cents...but I can't imagine much worse than hauling on this route. The chimney pitches alone would make this really unpleasant. If you do end up hauling, I'd be interested in how it goes in case I ever go up there again!

I appreciate your honest opinion csproul.

Yes I have been told by multiple people who climbed the route - both that climbed it in a day and hauled - that hauling is difficult on the traverse pitches and the chimneys. It requires work between both the leader and follower to lower the bag and bring it out onto the face. Often the follower needs to push the bag free from a snag.

What I do know that two nights on the wall with hauling has been done many times before. I am willing to undergo this challange just to have the experience.

I hope someone else is willing to do the same.

Bill Pasutti wrote:I appreciate your honest opinion csproul. Yes I have been told by multiple people who climbed the route - both that climbed it in a day and hauled - that hauling is difficult on the traverse pitches and the chimneys. It requires work between both the leader and follower to lower the bag and bring it out onto the face. Often the follower needs to push the bag free from a snag. What I do know that two nights on the wall with hauling has been done many times before. I am willing to undergo this challange just to have the experience. I hope someone else is willing to do the same.

Please post up a trip report after you do it. I did it in two days (Big Sandy), the 2nd jugging with a pack. It was a lot of work, and I imagined that hauling would have been even worse. I know lots of people have done it that way, and I'd like to hear 1st hand how it goes. Since the way I did it seemed like a lot of work, I do like the thought of either a) getting strong enough to just do it in a push or b) making it a bit more leisurely by spending two nights. Good luck!

csproul,

It sounds like every option has its own set of challenges: (1) get in shape for a day push, (2) manage a backpack for one night, and (3) hauling a bag for two nights.

I will definately post my experience (the good and the ugly) of hauling a bag up the North West Face of Half Dome - with some beta - if I do this next month. It would be good info to share with the climbing community.

The reason why I want to do this in April is to avoid the large crowds which will appear May-Sept. I hate to be the one to slow down many one-day accent parties during this time. I expect to see fewer in mid April and have a better chance to enjoy the view.

-Bill

Bill Pasutti wrote:csproul, It sounds like every option has its own set of challenges: (1) get in shape for a day push, (2) manage a backpack for one night, and (3) hauling a bag for two nights. I will definately post my experience (the good and the ugly) of hauling a bag up the North West Face of Half Dome - with some beta - if I do this next month. It would be good info to share with the climbing community. The reason why I want to do this in April is to avoid the large crowds which will appear May-Sept. I hate to be the one to slow down many one-day accent parties during this time. I expect to see fewer in mid April and have a better chance to enjoy the view. -Bill

Awesome. Good luck. With the dry year, April might just turn out to be a good time. FWIW, I know this has a reputation for crowds, but I did this on the weekend after Labor Day a couple of years ago and there was nobody on it.

Here's a good read for those of you wondering whats it like the haul on the route. supertopo.com/tr/Half-Dome-…

To add my 2 cents, as someone who has done the route in a day, and passed people who were doing it in the style proposed by the OP.

It's not just that the hauling is absolutely terrible (and it is).

The route is relatively loose, and hauling puts everyone below you at considerable risk.

You want to sleep on a wall--that's great! I would recommend doing it on a different objective

yeah, terrible idea. The P6 ledge sucks and big sandy reeks of piss. It'll be super cold at night in April. The route is basically all 5.9 or easier except for P1, and the Zig Zags are incredibly straightforward and can be death looped really quickly. If you want to wall something out do El Cap, where the short approach lends itself to bringing a huge kit, and the steepness of the right side allows you to haul without hating life.

Keenan Waeschle wrote:yeah, terrible idea. The P6 ledge sucks and big sandy reeks of piss. It'll be super cold at night in April. The route is basically all 5.9 or easier except for P1, and the Zig Zags are incredibly straightforward and can be death looped really quickly. If you want to wall something out do El Cap, where the short approach lends itself to bringing a huge kit, and the steepness of the right side allows you to haul without hating life.

They're all 5.9 except for P1...and 4 (arguably), 10, 12, 18, 19, 20, and 22. FWIW, when I did it, doing it in a push was outta my league (probably still is). Spending one night on BS worked out fine, and I didn't think it smelled all that bad. Now the belay alcove on the Zig-Zag pitch, that smelled horrible. We had the 2nd jug with a pack. If it hadn't of been for the fact that I had not really done much jugging before that, this would have worked pretty well. I think it is a relatively good tactic for those not able to do the whole route at once. But we also went pretty light as we did it in a warm September and slept in a light puffy and a bivy sack.

A few years back my buddy and I did the RNWF in late April, hauling a pig as well (fixing to pitch 3 the first evening, and then spending one night on big sandy). I can confidently say I will never do that again (haul on RNWF or climb the route in April). Way too much like work. Climbing in a day or a cold bivvy on Big Sandy would be preferable options, in my estimation. But your plan will certainly make for an adventure.

Here are a few things to expect from an early season run at it: The chimney sections were full of snow and ice that came crashing down every now and then (nothing serious, just exciting); the melting ice kept the chimney walls coated with water (I was soaked by the time we hit big sandy). We had to aid pitch 24, which is a mellow 5.7 slab traverse, because of the water streaming down from the snow melt running off the top. Pitch 25, the last pitch of giant blocks, was a smooth snow ramp that I had to kick step up with no reliable pro (other than a number 4 cam set as a deadman).

Not only will you likely be alone on the route, you may be the first on the route for the year ... we were. Big Sandy will have been rinsed clean and smell as fresh as it ever does. Have fun, and keep an eye on conditions starting now.

C Runyan wrote:A few years back my buddy and I did the RNWF in late April, hauling a pig as well (fixing to pitch 3 the first evening, and then spending one night on big sandy). I can confidently say I will never do that again (haul on RNWF or climb the route in April). Way too much like work. Climbing in a day or a cold bivvy on Big Sandy would be preferable options, in my estimation. But your plan will certainly make for an adventure. Here are a few things to expect from an early season run at it: The chimney sections were full of snow and ice that came crashing down every now and then (nothing serious, just exciting); the melting ice kept the chimney walls coated with water (I was soaked by the time we hit big sandy). We had to aid pitch 24, which is a mellow 5.7 slab traverse, because of the water streaming down from the snow melt running off the top. Pitch 25, the last pitch of giant blocks, was a smooth snow ramp that I had to kick step up with no reliable pro (other than a number 4 cam set as a deadman). Not only will you likely be alone on the route, you may be the first on the route for the year ... we were. Big Sandy will have been rinsed clean and smell as fresh as it ever does. Have fun, and keep an eye on conditions starting now.

This year, not likely. I'd wouldn't be surprised if people were up there already. Look at the webcam. It's pretty dry.

Conditions do look pretty dry, which is why I am considering April. Sleeping on the ledge in April will be very cold, which is why I would bring a down sleeping bag. In warmer nights I would go lighter and just try to sleep on Big Sandy, but I have experienced sleeping on top of a climb in Yosemite during early May, without a sleeping bag and I shivered with no sleep.

Bravo c Runyan for hauling and doing this climb in April. It sounded like a miserable and memorable experience :)

Yet the dangers of causing rock fall due to hauling on this route does concern me.