What to Expect?

Hoping to climb Direct Northwest Face on Half Dome guided this summer 2022. I have experience climbing 5-9 (max) outdoors, and I am now on sighting some indoor 5-10s. Is there anything I should specifically train for or expect on this climb? My dream has been to do a big wall out in Yosemite. Just looking for any tips in general. Thanks!

EDIT: Thank you for all the replies so far. However, many seem to think i want to train for RNWF. I just want to reinstate that this is for DNWF

EDIT 2: I realize that a Half Dome climb isn't something I can just hop on and do with my current experience level. What I am asking is what things should I learn, what my max grade should be to climb said route, etc. I also understand that with improper training, I can hold back others on the route or even my guide. This is why I want to know what to train. I have about 9 months to learn the skills needed, and push my grades. Saying that I can't do it with my current experience level does nothing for me. I know that I can't as of now. But again, I have close to 9 months to train for this climb, so please give try to give advice and not opinions. Also please remember this is for DNWF not RNWF!!!

EDIT 3: This is DNWF on the Porcelain Wall! 

Also thinking of training for The Nose. 

Edit: Which is definitely not happening this summer; or probably the next lol

You should have experience on long outdoor multipitch climbs before you ask to be guided on Half Dome.

Have you ever climbed a multipitch outdoors?

FrankPS wrote:

You should have experience on long outdoor multipitch climbs before you ask to be guided on Half Dome.

Have you ever climbed a multipitch outdoors?

Yes, it was a 6 pitch route in Montana. Should I aim for longer routes?

Christian Schlee wrote:

FrankPS: Yes, it was a 6 pitch route in Montana. Should I aim for longer routes? 

You should have multiple multipitch routes under your belt before you attempt the RNWF of Half Dome.

Have you researched the RNWF route? It is much longer than 6 pitches.  Is the six-pitch climb your longest? If so, do some 10-15 pitch routes first.

Not trying to discourage you, but to make sure you are adequately prepared for such a major outing.

Edit: I have not climbed that route, but wouldn't attempt unless I had sufficient experience on long routes. Also, if a 6-pitch climb is your longest, it's unlikely a guide would take you up the RNWF.

A good way to train would be to do increasingly difficult classics in red rocks over the winter. There are many good guides who would gladly take that gig if you want to hire one.

Practice traversing on aiders and ascenders. Learn about hauling.

I dont know why anyone would haul on the RNWFHD and certainly not if a guide were taking you up it. But you’d definitely need to know how to jug/clean

This sounds trollish, but if the question is honest, I’d be surprised if a legit guide would take you up the RNWFHD at your current level. Climbing experience and ability aside, you’d have to be able to quickly follow and clean pitches free up to about Yosemite  5.9 and then be able to quickly jug and clean all of the pitches harder than that. If you’ve not learned to efficiently jug/clean, it can be quite strenuous. If you’re not doing it in a day, then hauling in that route is a bad option and the follower ends up climbing/jugging with a lot of extra weight for a 2day.

Edit: you said Direct NW face, I’ve not been up that, I have been up the RNWF, so my comments were directed toward that. I’d guess that the jugging recommendation would stand.

It depends on whether you want to swing leads, which means you should know how to set up a hauling system, aid climb efficiently, build anchors, etc.

If you’re just along for the ride, you just need to dial in your rope ascending technique. Big difference in required skills. There is a long traverse out of The Crescent Crack which would be tricky to follow without a little practice. And of course the Thank God Ledge traverse. Most of the route is straight up and straight forward.

Also, preparation depends on how many days you plan on, in conjunction with all that. More days means less pressure to move fast and efficiently, but you have heavier loads on the approach, and for hauling.

FWIW, I did the route in 1973 at age 18, we took 4 days, which was pretty standard then. Second night on Grand Terrace, last night on Big Sandy Ledges, one of the more iconic bivis in The Valley. I had done The Salathe Wall, and Quarter Dome before that, and I never felt under skilled on the route. The Salathe was more challenging than The DNWF for me.

One of the best lines in Yosemite!

I got stuck behind a pirate guide and his woefully incompetent client for many, many hours on the RNWF. It sucked, he wouldn't let anyone pass. The client periodically took out a piece of paper that had positive affirmations on it to read before resuming the most inefficient jugging I have ever seen. I led 5 feet behind the client for the top 10 pitches of the route until they let us pass on the bolt ladder after thank god ledge. We made it back to the base in time to hear the client screaming "take!" at the top of her lungs on the 5.7 last pitch.

Only solace was we heard a few days later a varmint had gotten into their gear at the base, eaten all their food, and shit in their sleeping bags.

Go with a legit guide, or better yet, build up your skills first and go when you're good and ready. There's no rush or glory in clusterfucking a trade route.

It might help if the OP were to come back and confirm whether the intended route is the Direct, as originally stated, or the Regular. Some posters appear to be assuming the latter, and to be honest that probably makes more sense; as a free route the Direct is obviously some way above the OP's level, and as an aid route it's somewhat mundane - particularly as the guide would probably do all the leading so for the OP it would mostly just be a prolonged jugging and cleaning exercise. And it would involve 'that' chimney up to Big Sandy!

Christian Schlee wrote:

Hoping to climb Direct Northwest Face on Half Dome guided this summer 2021. I have experience climbing 5-9 (max) outdoors, and I am now on sighting some indoor 5-10s. Is there anything I should specifically train for or expect on this climb? My dream has been to do a big wall out in Yosemite. Just looking for any tips in general. Thanks!

Why the Direct Northwest Face?

Well, with your experience level, I’d say “expect” to get shut down. 

Shouldn't you be asking the guide what kind of training you need or they expect from a client?

Kip Kasper wrote:

I got stuck behind a pirate guide and his woefully incompetent client for many, many hours on the RNWF. It sucked, he wouldn't let anyone pass. The client periodically took out a piece of paper that had positive affirmations on it to read before resuming the most inefficient jugging I have ever seen. I led 5 feet behind the client for the top 10 pitches of the route until they let us pass on the bolt ladder after thank god ledge. We made it back to the base in time to hear the client screaming "take!" at the top of her lungs on the 5.7 last pitch.

Only solace was we heard a few days later a varmint had gotten into their gear at the base, eaten all their food, and shit in their sleeping bags.

Go with a legit guide, or better yet, build up your skills first and go when you're good and ready. There's no rush or glory in clusterfucking a trade route.

Sounds terrible. This is why I sent out my question - I don't want to hold back others on the wall, especially my guide. I have looked over routes though, and I can tell that RNWF would be too difficult for my current skill level. I hope to climb the DNWF, which has less pitches and hopefully less traffic.  

Gumby King wrote:

Why the Direct Northwest Face?

Less pitches, easier grades. It's a reasonable goal to train for in 9-10 months.

FrankPS wrote:

You should have multiple multipitch routes under your belt before you attempt the RNWF of Half Dome.

Have you researched the RNWF route? It is much longer than 6 pitches.  Is the six-pitch climb your longest? If so, do some 10-15 pitch routes first.

Not trying to discourage you, but to make sure you are adequately prepared for such a major outing.

Edit: I have not climbed that route, but wouldn't attempt unless I had sufficient experience on long routes. Also, if a 6-pitch climb is your longest, it's unlikely a guide would take you up the RNWF.

Thanks for the advice! I definitely want to train my endurance on longer pitched routes; also, I know that I will not be climbing RNWF this year. I will (hopefully) attempt DNWF. 

The Direct is harder than the Regular. Why do you have this backwards?

FrankPS wrote:

The Direct is harder than the Regular. Why do you have this backwards?

If you’re leading, definitely. If a guide leads everything and you jug and clean? Not  sure.

Christian Schlee wrote:

Hoping to climb Direct Northwest Face on Half Dome guided this summer 2021……..  I have about 9 months to learn the skills needed, and push my grades. Saying that I can't do it with my current experience level does nothing for me. I know that I can't as of now. But again, I have close to 9 months to train for this climb, so please give try to give advice and not opinions. 

Do you mean NEXT summer? 2022? Summer of 2021 is already over……

Get Chris McNamara’s book, “How to Big Wall Climb“ http://www.supertopo.com/packs/howtobigwall.html - and start at the beginning, on a bolt ladder. And learn how to jug efficiently.

Christian Schlee wrote:

Less pitches, easier grades. It's a reasonable goal to train for in 9-10 months.

5.7, A3(?)

Do you realize what that Aid climb grade means?  

Are guides willing to take clients up harder aid routes?