Bigwall climbing at YLE Urheilu

YLE (Finnish Broadcasting Company) did a nice article about my solo ascent of The Shield. I'm pretty happy especially because it’s not too often climbing news reach mainstream media in Finland. The article is pretty long, and in Finnish, but there are some photos and short video clips that might be worth to check out even if you are not yet fluent in Finnish.

http://yle.fi/urheilu/yksin_keskella_pystysuoraa_seinamaa__suomalaismiehen_henkeasalpaava_harrastus/8482704

Christmas greetings from Finland

Washington Column South Face V 5.8 C1

For me Yosemite has always been the place to push my climbing forward. But before committing into a big route, I wanted to do a warm-up route. In 2013 I warmed up with Prow at Washington Column. This turned out to be a good move, so I wanted to do something similar again. A small bigwall gives you some idea about how fast you are moving, which again helps when calculating water and food for a bigger wall.

I decided to climb Washington Column South Face, which is probably the easiest bigwall in Yosemite. I still had some logistical problems. I knew I could do it in a day, but it was not easy to decide whether to start early or very late.

I didn’t have a car, so I would need to rely on the buses. I could take the first bus and start climbing in the morning, probably reaching the top just after the sunset. And this is not very good, because then I would need to either sleep at the top, or hike down in the dark (the descent is tricky enough in the day light). And of course buses are not operating in the night time so I would need to walk back to Camp 4.

Another solution would be to start to climb late in the evening and climb through the night (no crowds, maybe not a bad idea...). But then I would need to climb most of the route in the dark and start to climb when I would already be quite tired. Actually very tired as at the time I was usually waking up at 5 am and went to sleep at 10 pm.

Third solution would be to sleep at the base, but it felt like too much hassle. So I decided to take the first bus in the morning and change my down jacket to a sleeping bag (the weight difference is only 350 grams) to be able to sleep at the top after the climb.

The first pitch was nice 5.8 free climbing

17 minutes later at the first anchor

 The next pitch is either a steep 5.11c dihedral or a nice 5.10b hand crack around the corner. I climbed the hand crack and linked the next pitch.

 Kor roof

 This is considered the crux of the climb, but actually the bolts are so close to each other you can easily skip every other bolt

As soon as I was over the roof, the wind was pretty strong

 Until this point it was nice to climb in a t-shirt

 But on the "headwall" I had to use all my clothes, and it was still pretty cold because of the wind

 Another team at the Kor Roof.

 I'm not sure what happened to them, but they never climbed to the top

 This is how it is in Yosemite: More than enough bolts.

 This was probably the hardest part of the climb for me, a roof traverse on pinscars.

 A very nice 5.12b crack (C1 for me)

 The same crack seen from above

 Seven pitches in nine hours, I'm getting tired

 Super nice 5.10a hand crack.

The guidebook shares a note from the first ascensionists: "Above them lay the crux of the climb, a difficult 5" crack. 'We handled this grim section with the well-known technique of struggling' ”. I’m not sure if this was the crack, but it was a good place to struggle.

 To be honest, I wasn't too excited about the chimney

 Jumaring on the last pitch

 Finally at the top, after climbing the route in 15h 14 min. Not as fast I was hoping to, but it was still "a day" -ascent. Usually the South Face is climbed in two days.

 Bivy at the top

Making of the bivy photo

My gear

-a lot of cams (2x#3 was good, I used #3,5 a few times but it’s not mandatory, I didn’t use #4. Link-cams were super nice to leapfrog while free climbing)

-4 offset nuts (not enough, yellow and blue were in use on every pitch)

-7 micronuts (more than enough)

-10 quickdraws (5x Ange, 5x Nineteen)

-8 extra biners (not enough)

-4 screw biners for anchors

-2x 120 cm sling

-2x 180 cm sling

-5x 60 cm sling

-2x 80 cm sling + screw biners for jumaring

-microtraxion + screw biner (I hauled the roof pitch, otherwise I jumared with the backpack and used microtraxion for backup)

-Edelrid Harrier 10.0 mm / 70 m rope

-Edelrid Rapline 6.0 mm / 60 m (a back-up rope for longer rappels)

-Edelrid Cyrus harness

-petzl aiders + biners

-peztl jumars

-BD Vapor helmet

-atc+ screwbiner

-5 prussics + biner

-TC pros (very comfy, half size oversized)

-Silent Partner + two oval biners (one screw)

-one cam hook? (probably didn’t use)

-40 lit rope bag, good for one rope

-Msr 6 lit water bag

-2 liters camelbak ( a small bacpkack with gear loops)

-30 liters backpack

-5 lit water with some sodium & potassium (I still had 1 liter at the top and I also left some extra water at the base)

-8 bars (I ate 6)

-6 gels (I ate 4)

-a few fructose tablets

-1 bag of dried meat

-jeans

-t-shirt

-thin fleece

-thin primalof jacket

-rain jacket

-sleeping bad

-Emergency bivybag

Notes:

- One grappling hook might be good to have if you need to climb in the rain

- smallest C3s could have been nice

- fleece or primaloft jacket could have been a bit warmer

- a small sleeping pad would have been nice at the top

- next time maybe more ange-draws instead of nineteens and more extra biners

How to travel to Yosemite by public transport

In Yosemite you don’t really need a car, at least if you are climbing on El Capitan or on other walls close to bus stops (the shuttle bus is free). So getting there by public transport is a nice way to save some money. And if you are travelling by yourself, it makes even more sense.

Information is quite scattered, so I thought that my experience could help someone else as well. So, here is an info package on how to travel from San Francisco to Yosemite without a car:


1) Take the BART metro from San Francisco airport to Richmond (9,85 $, about 1h 40 min).

In the metro, you have to change from the yellow line (Pittsburg/Bay Point-SFO) to a red line (Richmond-Millbrae Line) or an orange line (Richmond-Fremont Line). You can do this in many stations, check out the metro map. (On Sundays the red line is not operating, so then you need to transfer at 19th St/Oakland or at MacArthur to the Orange line)

Also, remember that it’s very difficult to get to Yosemite in the same day you arrive to San Francisco (unless you arrive very early), so I’d recommend staying one night in a hostel in San Francisco. There are many hostels very close to BART stops. For example “San Francisco International Hostel" is only 200 meters from Powell station and a four person dorm is 38$/night/person (+$10 in cash for room key deposit). The hostel is pretty shitty and the elevator didn’t work, but it’s probably ok for one night. Then continue early so that you can take the first train/bus combo to Yosemite.

BART website


2) Take the AMTRAK-train from Richmond to Merced (24 $ / 2 h 40 min).

You can buy the ticket from the station, or an e-ticket at AMTRAK website. It’s a good idea to buy a train/bus-combo e-ticket. From Richmond, CA (RIC) to Yosemite, lodge bus stop, CA (YOS) (35 $).

The first train from Richmond to Merced goes at 7:49 am and arrives at 10:31 am. Lines 713, 714 and 716 head to Yosemite.

AMTRAK website


3) Take the YARTS-bus from Merced to Yosemite (13 $ / 2 h 30 min)

The first YARTS-bus after arriving to Merced goes at 11:00 am - 1:25 am. A later connection from Richmond goes at 1:34 pm - 4:13 pm and the bus from Merced goes at 5:30 pm - 8:22 pm.

YARTS website.  You can buy the ticket from the bus, or at the AMTRAK website.


In all transfers, you need to carry your bags less than 50 meters.

When coming back, you just do the same other way round. It’s a good idea to book a late flight (departs late in the evening) back home. Then you don’t need to stay in a hostel again. The first YARTS-bus from Yosemite to Merced goes at 10 am, and you will be at the airport around 3:30 pm.

Remember, if using public transport, you will arrive to Yosemite earliest in the mid day, and then it’s very difficult to get a campsite from Camp 4. It’s possible to book campsites at Upper/Lower/North Pines (a campsite for six is 26€/night), and this might be a good backup for the first night. On the other hand, then you need to wake up at 4 am or so and hike to Camp 4 to wait in a line. You should be in the line latest at 6 AM. The first Yosemite shuttle bus starts at 7 AM so it’s not helping.

Until you get a campsite, moving around in Yosemite with all your stuff might be tricky. Everything is much easier if you already have some friends at camp 4. If not, you can ask if you could borrow someone's bear box (You can't leave any food anywhere) or maybe leave some stuff at camp 4. A six-pack of beer might help in negotiations.

Also, at least in 2015 it was ok to sleep in the Camp 4 waiting line, so this is also one solution for the first night. Sleeping in the forest is not allowed, but people do it.

And this is important: normally you can stay up to 30 days in the valley, but in the summer season (May 1 - Sep 15) only seven days are allowed. However, time spent on a bigwall is not included, though you can't leave your tent at Camp 4. To avoid extra hassle, most climbers arrive on Sep 15 or later.

Yosemite shuttle bus operates year round, but El Capitan shuttle operates from May 22 through October 12. So getting to El Cap might be harder after Oct 12 if you don't have a car.

You can find more info at Yosemitepark.com and nps.gov

Getting all the stuff checked in as one piece of luggage might be impossible. 

 I tried to pimp my belayseat by drilling some holes... Maybe a bit too light & fast.

Finally... British Airlines takes 72€ for the first extra bag (and 150€ for every bag after that...) The 35 liters haulbag was my hand luggage and the laptop bag didn't cause any problems, even though Virgin Atlantic allows only one piece of hand luggage.

San Francisco International Hostel

 The elevator didn't work

Not so sober american tries to lift the haulbag

So, before you decide to travel without a car, make sure you can carry your stuff.

BART metro map

Richmond station. Here you can by the train tickets 

Somehow I missed this one and used the stairs

Amtrak trains are nice and comfy, and have free WLAN!

YARTS bus time table

Sleeping in the Camp 4 waiting line was a big no-no a few year ago. Now people were sleeping there every night and rangers didn't mind.

Yosemite 2015 prologue

I just got back from Yosemite after five weeks in the valley. I did one of the best climbs of my life but had some bad experiences as well. Anyway, I managed to solo two bigwalls, which was nice.

I took plenty of photos and video clips, so I will probably put together some kind of trip reports. Stay tuned!

The Shield headwall

Haukkari goes mainstream

Ilta-Sanomat, the biggest newspaper in Finland at the moment, started recently an "After Dark"-section, which concentrates on extreme sports. The producer contacted me after the ascent of Zodiac and now they published my video with a small article.

I don't know how Zodiac became "a 1000 meter wall", but being noticed in mainstream media was pretty cool, especially as Finnish climbing media didn't report anything about my ascents in Yosemite.

Here is the link to Ilta-Sanomat: http://www.iltasanomat.fi/afterdark/art-1288630386215.html

Click the link above (and maybe even like or share) to see the video, but also if you would like to see more climbing related news in mainstream media in the future.

Also, as they compressed the video quite a lot, you may want to watch the video as a 1080p in here:

https://vimeo.com/78812123

Yosemite 2013, Leaning Tower West Face

My mission of the day was to get some ice from the store. That was enough action to fill my day with excitement. And I really wanted to keep my beers cold.

After Zodiac I found it hard to get motivated again. I had already done what I wanted to do, and getting up and do another route on El Capitan felt like a lot of work. Zodiac had been perfect, and now I just wanted to enjoy this rare moment of satisfaction.

The feeling didn't last too long, and soon I was reading the guidebook again. However, I wanted to do something easier and faster than Zodiac. Something I could do in a day. After a while I realized there was only one route left that I really wanted to do: West Face on Leaning Tower.

West Face (V 5.7 C2F) is not very long or hard. It's a bit easier and shorter than Prow. Actually it's one of the easiest Bigwalls in Yosemite. But it would be perfect for me. Something I should be able to do in a day.

I had already chosen a day to climb it, but as the weather forecast got worse I decided to get going right away. Something I had learned... storms in Yosemite can be pretty nasty in the end of September.

I also felt like I was starting to get a flu. Most of my neighbors at Camp 4 were sick and I actually was a bit surprised that I had been healthy so far. I didn't feel too bad, but by throat was already sore and I didn't want to wait until I was sick for real.

Later in the afternoon I got a ride to Bridalveil Fall parking area (Thanks Tommi!) and hiked up to the base of Leaning Tower. I had already walked up once before and carried some water at the base.

I saw a group of four that was just on their way down from the "chimney rappels". This is the descent route, eight rappels from the top, most of them inside a gully.

They had done the route in four days and looked a bit skeptical when I said I'm trying to do the route in a day. Actually, now when I think about it, my neighbors at Camp 4 had also done the route in four days...

I didn't really know what to think, it's always hard to know how fast or slow you are compared to the others. One of these guys said he had done Zodiac and Mescalito as well, but he still needed four days (and a huge cheat stick?) with West Face. And he was with partners. Well, maybe they liked to watch sunsets and drink beer like me.

I went to sleep quite early, but sleeping before a big day was difficult as usual. At first I woke up because it was so cold, then later because my sleeping bag was wet. No, I didn't pee in the bag but all my clothes and bag were wet from sweating. I had fever. Fuck me.

I woke up during the night as fever got up and down. At three o'clock I had had enough and got up. I wondered if I should start to climb or walk back to Camp 4. I felt like shit, but this was my last chance to climb something. I had only a few days left in Yosemite.

Of course I wanted to do the route. Maybe it would feel better when I was climbing? At 4:33 AM I started to climb the steep face.

Less than four hours later, at 7:14 AM, I was at the Ahwahnee Ledge. This is a big ledge where most parties spend a night. Of course there were some guys waking up. However, they had already fixed two more pitches and they jumared up as I started to climb the fifth pitch.

I linked fifth and sixth pitch and met them at the top of the sixth pitch again. I built up an anchor at the bolt traverse just below their anchor. I rappelled, cleaned and "hauled" (just a small backpack) and started to climb the next pitch.

Even though I had to build an anchor below them a couple of times, this wasn't really a problem. (except that I couldn't link pitches as I had planned) Usually the time I used for cleaning was enough for them to move higher up. I didn't really have to wait for them. And when I did, it was usually a good time to eat something.

Also, I was getting more tired and they started to climb faster. This was perfect, I was a bit afraid that I would need to pass them, and then I would be in their way for the rest of the climb.

By the time I reached the 10th pitch, they were already gone from my sight. I linked the last two pitches and when I finally had my backpack on the top, I took my camera and took a photo of my backpack. The reason was that my camera records the time of capture. This is pretty nice to keep track on how fast or slow I've been climbing.

The clock was 5:02 PM. That is 12 h 29 min of climbing.

I'm still not sure which kind of climbing is more fun. This time I missed a cool bivy on the wall, but I have to admit that topping out a big route when there is still a plenty of sunlight left was pretty special too.

 Leaning Tower

 Team rappelling down from chimney rappels 

 A four persons team and food for four days...that's four haulbags. Must have been nice in the chimneys 

 Starting the route 

 The view from Ahwahnee Ledge. I don't have any photos from the first four pitches as it was dark. 

 The fifth pitch is a cool traverse from Ahwahnee Ledge. 

Climbing was super nice, but I didn't feel too good. I know you shouldn't train while sick, but it's sort of hard to climb a bigwall without sweating.

 At the top of sixth pitch I built an anchor right next to the other team. Here they are about to haul and I'm rappelling down. 

 My turn to haul. You can see my backpack hanging at the end of the rope. 

 Seventh pitch, a very nice overhanging dihedral. Looked like superb free climbing. 

 Eight and ninth pitch. The free hanging rope gives some idea about the steepness. 

 I only got to climb in the sun at very end of the route. Here I'm cleaning the last pitches, just 20 meters below the top. 

 In the lack of better top shots: here is the picture of my backpack on the top. 

 I made two rappels (25 m + 60 m) to reach the beginning of Chimney Rappels 

 Down in the gully... 

 I used a 6 mm Rapline to pull the ropes down. I think you could do most of the rappels with just one 60 meter rope, but the last two are better with two 60 meter ropes.

Two hours and eight rappels later I reached the ground again, just at the sunset.

  It's definitely nicer to hike down with a bag like this.

 This is how I got back to Camp 4. (Thanks to a kind Indian family!)

 Happy Halloween!