El Capitan viewed from Cathedral Spires. Photo: Chris Johns

Yosemite Big Wall Climbing Info

Yosemite is big wall paradise. The walls are enormous, the rock solid, and the weather ideal. Below I have offered a primer to help you plan a Yosemite big wall adventure. I have also included some personal tips and techniques and the gear I am currently using. Enjoy!

 Chris McNamara

P.S. email me if you have any beta that should be added to this page

Yosemite Big Wall Skills

Yosemite offers short practice aid routes, 3000-foot A5 nightmares, and everything in between. No matter what you plan to climb, you will need basic free climbing and aid climbing skills before you arrive in the Valley. Train in both a climbing gym and your local crag and read our How To Big Wall Climb Book. Consider purchasing Road to The Nose, a guidebook that offers advice on training for Yosemite big walls and also includes numerous topos for moderate routes. For a more complete selection of big wall routes, check out Yosemite Big Wall SuperTopos.



Good Practice Aid Climbs

Here are some El Capitan base routes to hone your aid skills and get you familiar with Yosemite granite. All these climbs are included in the Road to The Nose guidebook. Also, here are some Southern California practice areas



Good First Big Wall Climbs in Yosemite

Below are five moderate Yosemite big walls. None of these climbs is easy and you will need to have your aid skills wired before attempting one. Most of these climbs are included in the Road to The Nose guidebook.



Brief ad break: please help support this site by checking out the Yosemite Big Walls guidebook. There is a free sample download here

Good Long and Moderate Big Wall Climbs

After climbing a few shorter big wall routes, you may be ready to tackle the biggies: Half Dome and El Capitan. Listed below are some of the most classic Grade VI big walls in Yosemite. Take a look at the list of climbs to develop a good tick list of great Yosemite climbing routes. Check out our list of Yosemite's 40+ best big wall climbs

Climbing Safety

More than 100 climbing accidents occur every year in Yosemite. The two documents below include some helpful information to help you avoid an accident.

Staying Alive by John Dill, Yosemite Search and Rescue

Climbing Ethics

The document below contains a number of tips that all big wall climbers should adhere to in order to keep Yosemite the climbing paradise it is today. Also, here is a great thread on making a poop tube or big wall waste system and a discussion on big wall passing ethics.

Favorite Big Wall Links

OutdoorGearLab Big Wall Gear Reviews

Live El Cap and Half Dome Cams

Yosemite Climber's Information

National Park Service's Climbing Page

Chris McNamara's Aid Rack

Here are the two aid racks I use most often on Yosemite big walls (Here is the big wall gear list with links). I have also included a checklist of what to bring on multi-day walls. I did not include a rack for a sample A4 nailing route because nailing racks vary wildly depending on the route. Keep in mind that everyone prefers different gear and my rack not necessarily the best rack for you. Also, I tend to go light and you will probably carry more cams, nuts, pitons, etc. Here is a detailed description of basic wall gear and protection or a description of haul bags, portaledges, and bivy gear

Rack for all clean routes (Example: The Nose) Rack for mostly clean routes (Example: Zodiac) Misc. gear for multi-day walls: 1 ea DMM Offset Nuts

1 set DMM Peenuts

1 set DMM Brass Offsets #2-3, 2 ea #4-6

2 ea cam hooks (narrow)

2 sets of Black Diamond X4's to #5 or Aliens

1-2 sets of Black Diamond Offset X4's to #5

2 sets of Black Diamond Camalots #0.5-3

1 each of Camalots #4 and #5

1 medium Black Diamond Pecker (optional)

1 60m x 10.2mm climbing rope

1 60m x 8mm or 9mm static haul line

Petzl Micro Traxion or Pro Traxion

Ascenders

Light aiders

1 Daisy chain

Fifi hook

10 light quickdraws

50 light carabiners

10 light Dyneema slings

Harness

Gri Gri

Approach shoes

Climbing shoes

Helmet ALL CLEAN ROUTE RACK PLUS:

1 Cliffhanger

1 Talon

1 Grappling hook

2 ea of mid-sized cam hooks

4 keyhole hangers

4 wire rivet hangers

Hammer

5 copperheads (#2-3)

1 ea Moses Tomahawk

1-2 ea Black Diamond Pecker (med, lrg)

1 Knifeblade

3 Lost Arrow pitons (#1-3)

2 baby Angles (1/2, 5/8)

2 sawed angles (3/4, 1)

2 Metolius daisy chains

2 ea Yates Big Wall Ladder

Yates Big Wall Rack

tie-off loops

Comfy wall harness Light Portaledge

Metolius Dome Haul Bag

Metolius Quarter Dome Haul Bag

3/4 lengthfoam sleeping pad

Synthetic sleeping bag

Bivy sac (if expecting bad weather)

Metolius Big Wall Stuff Sacks

Metolius Waste Case or homemade poop tube

Wag Bags

Wet One's wipes

Headlamp

Mtn biking gloves or Metolius belay gloves

Rain jacket

Warmer belay jacket

knife

wide-brimmed cloth sun hat

duct tape

portable solar panel

cell phone

Stove



