I was fortunate enough to convince my Engineer Management professor to allow me to develop a plan to climb The Nose as my final project in his class. I need to get some feedback from climbers who have done the route. If you have a second, please answer the following questions. Thanks in advance!

1. What was included in your rack? Were there any items that you could not live without? Items that were of no use?
2. What did you pack in your haul bag? Were there any items that you could not live without? Items that were of no use?
3. What was the maximum grade of free climbing you did?
4. How long did the route take you?
5. Did you fix pitches? How many? Where did you haul from?
6. What advice on hauling can you give?
7. If you have climbed at Seneca Rocks, WV/Old Rag, VA, how do the grades compare to Yosemite?
8. What do you wish you would have known before starting?
9. What aid techniques were valuable to know well?
10. What techniques were used to increase the speed of the ascent?
11. What suggestions do you have for bivying?
12. Did you bring a portaledge?
13. Is there anything else I should know?

I picked the wrong place to go to school.

To summarize your post:

"Hey, I want to climb the Nose. What do I need to know to climb it?"

Lame. Try that approach in any one of your classes and you'd flunk for sure.

I'm betting that reading, like, all the books that cover big wall climbing in Yosemite, starting with Camp 4 by Steve Roper, would be a pretty good start to your education.

That said, I haven't climbed The Nose. Maybe if you exercise every single climbing connection you can make - people that work at the gear store in your city, all the friends of the friends of the friends you have, etc... - you might find someone who's done it and could answer your questions. It doesn't seem like you've attracted much help - maybe a request to meet up for a beer (all expenses paid) might draw in some action.

I've climbed it a few times, but I'll answer the questions for my most recent go.

1. #000 C3 to #4 C4, with doubles #0 C3 to #3 C4 and triples #0.4 C4 to #0.75 C4. Many draws, tons of loose biners, and extra lockers. 2 easy daisys, a pocket aider for the leader, 2 jugs and stirrups for the second. That seemed just right.

2. No haul bag, Bullet pack with windbreakers, a few liters of water, sandwiches, candy bars, a headlamp, lighter, etc.

3. 5.11, but would frequently pull on gear on stuff as easy as 5.9. Whatever seemed fastest.

4. 10 hours

5. No fixed lines

6. Pack light, use a straight 1:1 system with a mini or pro traxion.

7. Never climbed there. Valley climbing can feel hard if your not used to enduro cracks and flaring pin scars.

8. On my first time up the route, I would say I wished I knew how good the 5.10 climbing would be. It's stellar!

9. French Freeing, high stepping, placing gear in pin scars. Short fixing/aid solo leading are good to know, even if you're going multi-day and hauling. Often, the leader can finish the haul and lead out onto the next pitch while the second is still cleaning/jugging.

10. Run it out more. Do longer lead blocks. Get a stronger partner.

11. All the main bivies are OK, ECT is the best. If you have to stay at camp 6, have one person sleep there and one rap down about 40' to another narrow ledge.

12. No portaledge.

13. Practice following traversing aid pitchs (i.e. lowering out). Practice jugging. Find some 5.10 cracks and do laps. Find some 5.11 cracks and practice french freeing.
Fill up a haul bag and practice hauling, especially bringing the pig up to the belay and docking it.
Bring the right amount of water. In May, before it gets super hot, people often bring too much water and leave jugs of it on ledges, so maybe ask around when you get to the valley. If there's a good amount up there, you can probably go light.

Sounds like a cool project, college can be fun, eh? I did a whole English term paper on The Big Lebowski once.

Good Luck,
Scott

PS- Wear bright colors, and you just might get your fifteen minutes of fame on the El Cap Report!

If you are you looking for cliff notes, check out the beta on Supertopo.com. Realize that the flunk out rate on the Nose is about 50%, so you had better make sure your partner is as psyched as you are. There is an inverse relationship between your probability of success and the weight of your haul bags, so plan accordingly. I would guess that more people bail due to inefficiency than lack of skill. When a single pitch takes you 3+ hours you know you are probably in over your head.

The easiest way to climb the Nose is in a day. Three days requires you to be on your game, but is pretty comfortable. You will probably fail if you try for two days or plan for 5 or more.

Start studying, I hope you get an A.

Thanks for the info.