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North Yak Rock Climbing

Climbing Area Map

Routes in North Yak

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Northwest Face S 5.10a 6a 18 VI+ 18 E1 5a

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Elevation:	1,994 ft	608 m
GPS:	36.47044, -121.18155 Google Map · Climbing Area Map
Page Views:	765 total · 16/month
Shared By:	Bruce Hildenbrand on Dec 27, 2020
Admins:	andy patterson, Aron Quiter, Bruce Hildenbrand, Mike Morley, Adam Stackhouse, Salamanizer Ski, Justin Johnsen, Vicki Schwantes Page Updates (admin only)

See Weather Forecast

Access Issue: Seasonal Raptor Closures Details

Always check this web page before you visit for current conditions and nesting closures:

Current Raptor Advisories for Pinnacles National Park nps.gov/pinn/planyourvisit/…
and
pinnacles.org/climbing_info…
Closures effective as of the day after Martin Luther King Day- July 3. Check closure website for details on closed areas.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Condors have been establishing nests at the Pinnacles National Monument. Since condors develop to fledgling more slowly than raptors and vultures closures due to condor nesting is extended past the usual Martin Luther King Day to July 3rd. Again, please check the "Current Raptor Advisory" section of the NPS website and/or the Friends of Pinnacles website for current closures.

As of July 2024 there are three active Condor nests at Pinnacles National Park.

The Machete Ridge area is closed from Pigeon Crack on west face then west around the south side to The Hideout including the popular Old Original.

All climbing routes at Crowley Towers are closed.

All routes on the Yaks and Yaks Wall plus Marauder.

Description

North Yak is a distinct pinnacle found just south of Yaks Wall. The North Face route is an excellent way to reach this rarely-visited summit. Dave Hammack, George Larimore, Alice Ann Dayton and Manford Samuelson made the first ascent of North Yak in June of 1951 via Tyrolean traverse from the summit of South Yak.

Getting There

See the excellent description one page up for the entire Yaks area to get to the formation, but you aren't there, yet! To actually access the routes on the north face, you have to get yourself into the corridor between the North and South Yaks and the wall to the west.

The southern entrance into this corridor looks very improbable and I have never found a safe or reliable way to climb up into the corridor from there. The northern entrance consists of tunneling between talus boulders. You may or may not have to take your pack off to get through some of the constrictions. It's a real adventure.

The third way to access the routes on the north face is to walk to the top of the wall to the west and make a 100-foot rappel from the anchors atop the route Beast of Burden into the corridor. If you plan to go back that way, you need to either climb Beast of Burden or one of two other routes, Clint's Escape or Bruce's Escape which were climbed specifically to provide much easier ways to get up and out of the corridor.