"El Capitan "
I leave in six days. I have been training for seven weeks. Pavel and I will soon be en route to Yosemite Valley to climb The Nose of El Capitan.
I was planning to climb the route in May with Gary. However with my hectic travel schedule I hadn\'t been training regularly. Not that it mattered. I injured my knee in March and was unable to train, let alone climb a big wall, for about four months. By the way, the knee is working well now, thanks. Pavel attempted the nose over Memorial Day but turned around after some trouble with gear.
This time, we are ready.
For the benefit of all my vertically inexperienced readers, let me give you a brief picture of El Capitan. At 3000 feet, El Cap is the tallest vertical rock face in America. Have you ever seen anything 3000 feet tall? Unless you have been to Yosemite or the Grand Canyon, you probably haven\'t. To put it perspective, El Capitan is roughly as tall as three Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other.
It\'s a big freaking rock.
It\'s also the most famous route on the most famous rock in the most famous climbing destination in the world.
El Cap is usually climbed in 34 pitches. A pitch is loosely defined as a stage of climbing up a rock wall, usually a rope length between 50 and 150 feet long. It should take us three to four days to reach the top, although it has been sent in under five hours by the certifiably super human Peter Croft.
Any time I tell someone I am planning to climb the Nose, I get a whole host of questions. I figured I would save us both some time and answer them before you ask…
How do you get the rope up there? While one of us climbs, the other belays, feeding out the rope connected to the climber. When the climber reaches the end of a pitch, he will anchor himself and the rope to the rock, and the second will ascend the rope. While the second is ascending, the leader has to hoist the bag of supplies up the wall. When the second reaches the anchor, he collects the gear required to lead the next pitch, and proceeds upward for the next pitch. Like a game of vertical leapfrog. Unless you are world class or possess wings, this process is repeated about ten times a day, for three to four days.
Is it hard? Depends on your perspective. As climbs go, the Nose isn\'t that difficult. Hundreds of climbing parties cling to its granite skin every season. But 34 pitches and three days living on a rock is difficult for all but the burliest of rock hounds. Like running a marathon - on your hands. By the end of the day, hands, neck, back, feet, calves, spleen, inner ear, molars, etc, hurt. No problem though. Only three more days to go. Oh yeah, and the side of a cliff doesn\'t usually get a whole lot of shade.
Where do you sleep? The Nose has several large, relatively flat ledges along it\'s face. We will simply build an anchor, drop our sleeping bags, and sleep on the ledge.
What happens if someone is already on a ledge? I share their sleeping bag. If they won\'t share, I cut their rope and roll them off the side during the dead of night. Or I just find another spot or climb to the next ledge.
Can you actually sleep? Usually, after a twelve hours of climbing in 90 degree sunshine, it\'s no problem. You get accustomed to the vertical reality and any ledge becomes terra firma. Only with a better view.
Where do you…um…go? Baggie. Place baggie in sealed PVC. Place PVC in bag. When you reach the bottom, empty PVC and baggie in driver\'s seat of the truck belonging to the climber who did his business off the side of the wall while you were climbing beneath him.
How do you do this with your harness on? Old style pajama bottoms. Actually, the leg loops detach.
Is it dangerous? All climbing is dangerous. The result of falling 60 feet is usually the same as falling 600 feet. If you climb smart, it\'s remarkably safe compared to other adventure sports. Climbing just has a very narrow margin for error.
What happens if you fall? The rope catches me, and hopefully I don\'t bounce off a ledge. If the rope doesn\'t catch me, I leave my Mustang to my brother, my comic books to…
Are you scared? Well, not scared as much as nervous. Dangling in mid air on an exposed vertical rock wall nearly a mile above the ground does that too you. Regardless of how much time I spend on a rock, Yosemite is very big and very exposed and did I mention very big?
What happens if it rains? I get wet. Hopefully, we can reach a ledge and wait it out. If not, Pavel and I will be forced to rappel down. El Cap can become a waterfall in a storm, and at 3000\', in the clouds, in the fall, that waterfall can possibly become a sheet of ice. If it\'s bad, we will have to get off the rock as quick as possible without using a parachute.
How do you get down? Portable hang glider. Everyone should have one. It\'s quite a thrill. Actually, it\'s either a long trail walk, or a short walk and a series of rappels.
Why the hell don\'t you vacation at the beach like a normal human being? Cause I like to give my poor mother inordinate amounts of worry and grief. It\'s my payback for not giving me that pony. And I live on the beach already.
Is this why you are still single? It certainly doesn\'t help.
I\'ll be sure to take lots of pictures. And I\'ll try not to drop the camera.
