By William Wright
> Here's a list of 5.8 and below Grade I and II climbs in the >Yosemite Valley listed in Roper's Climbers Guide to the Yosemite >Valley put out by The Serra Club. >Rtng G Location Route Name Page >---- - -------------- -------------------------------------------- ---- >5.0 I Yosemite Falls Sunnyside Bench - Regular Route 126 Very nice. Probably 5.4 >5.1 I Glacier Point Monday Morning Slab - Right Side 200 Okay. >5.3 I Royal Arches Aunt Fanny's Pantry 45 Fun, but not for long. >5.4 I Leaning Tower Rostrum - From The Notch, The 277 Way cool! Very short though and more like 5.7 >5.5 I Arch Rock Iota, The 53 Super cool route! Highly recommended. Start is very tricky and could be 5.8 unless you do it just right. Super runout. >5.5 II Leaning Tower Leaning Tower Traverse 272 Awesome position and views. You can continue up to the very summit of the leaning tower. The crux pitch is a bit loose, 160 feet long, and probably 5.7 or 5.8. Traverses the whole way. Wild! From then on it is not very continuous, but has a couple of 5.7 sections. >5.6 I Royal Arches Church Bowl Chimney 142 Maybe the most intimidating 5.6 I have ever seen. Difficult to non-existent pro in a vertical, wide chimney. Scary but cool. >5.6 II Cathedral Lower Cathedral Rock - Overhang Bypass 266 Three stars! Probably the best route in the valley at this grade except Snake Dike. It is 5.7. >5.6 II Yosemite Falls Munginella 117 Classic. >5.7 I El Capitan La Cosita - Left Side 72 Really neat. Steep face/chimney type climbing. Unusual. >5.7 II Glacier Point Grack, The - Center 194 Classic. Probably 5.6 with new sticky shoes. >5.7 II Glacier Point Point Beyond 202 Great route. A bit runout. I think it is rated 5.8 now. >5.7 II Leaning Tower Pulpit Rock - Improbable Traverse 276 Great route, but is really only a pitch. The approach pitch is rated 5.8 but is much harder and hard to protect and find. I wouldn't recommend it unless you are solid at 5.9 >5.7 II Three Brothers After Six 94 classic. >5.7 II Yosemite Falls Selaginella Wall 121 Nice route. >5.7 II Yosemite Falls Via Aqua 125 Very cool postion. Some great ledges and a great finish. But...some long runouts at 5.7 and the crux is probably 5.9 >5.8 I El Capitan Little John - Left Side 72 Only TRed this. Very wide, physical crack. Can layback it but very committing. Tough Yosemite crack. >5.8 I Royal Arches Church Bowl Terrace 143 classic. >5.8 II Arch Rock Elevator Shaft, The 48 Don't know anyone who has done this. It is the most intimidating and scariest looking thing I have ever seen (at this grade.) It is just left of Outer Limits and looks harder. I must try this someday. Scary! >5.8 II Cathedral Higher Cathedral Spire - Regular Route 238 Great route to an awesome summit, but it is 5.9. >5.8 II El Capitan Little John - Right Side 71 Cool route with a real struggle in a flare to begin with but easier and more fun higher up. >5.8 II Glacier Point Monday Morning Slab - Harry Daley Route 200 Classic. Perfect hand crack on low angle slab. >5.8 II Leaning Tower Pulpit Rock - Tree Route 275 This is the first pitch to the Improbable Travese Route. The crux is more like 5.10a. >5.8 II Royal Arches Arches Terrace 149 Very fun route with some runouts. >5.8 II Royal Arches Bishop's Terrace, The 144 Classic hand crack. >5.8 II Three Brothers Cid's Embrace 112 Fun. >5.8 II Three Brothers Jump For Joy 93 Okay. >5.8 II Yosemite Falls Surprise, The 117 I think this is 5.9 now. Fun route. Bill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: coomer@nuc.berkeley.edu (Eric Coomer) The below suggestions are pretty good. But some corrections follow. And some additions. > >You need to check out these climbs: >1. Nuntcracker (5.8) Manuere Pile Buttress After 6(5.6) is also good. Though not near as good as nutcracker. >2. Chinourd Crack (5.6) Monday Morning Slab on Glacier Point Apron Chouinard Crack I think is 5.7. Also Harry Daley(5.8) right near it is good. >3. After Seven (5.7) Manure Pile >4. Central Pillar of Frenzy (5.9) Cathedral Rock ? It's on middle cathedral. 5 pitches. Fantastic. >5. Selligenela (5.6) Five Open Books by Yosemite Falls The climb is Munginella. Haven't done it. But while you're there do Commitment(5.9) Only a few 5.9 moves on the third pitch. Do the 5.8 hand crack start instead of the lieback(much more enjoyable). Also check out Jamcrack(just follow the crowds!!!) 5.7(1st pitch) 5.9(second). Once the first pitch is done you can top-rope two 10 climbs(10c/10d) that are well worth it. Bummer and Lazy Bum. But like I said, the crowd factor can be HUGE! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: billw@netcom.com (William Wright) > >Don't forget the most classic of them all: Royal Arches (5.7). Its one of >the few moderate routes which scales the entire height of the rim. Start >early though (how does before 7 am sound?), the route tends to get crowded. > A great suggestion, of course! But is is super crowded so start around 6 a.m. if you want to beat most of the crowds. Another GREAT moderate route that won't have any one on it is Overhang Bypass (5.7). This route goes all the way up Lower Cathedral Rock. Highly recommended! Every pitch is solid and beautiful, great exposure. > >I am going to Yosemite for the weekend, and I wanted to do the Northeast >Buttress of the Higher Cathedral Rock and the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral >Rock. I have Reid's new book, so the routes are pretty straight forward. >However, I was wondering if I could get more specific beta on what gear will >be needed for these climbs. Also, I would love to get as much info as possible >on the approach and descent for these climbs. Anything that those of you who >have done these climbs could offer would be greatly appreciated. Also, I'm Both of these are great routes, but don't let the ratings fool you. NE Butt is MUCH harder than the East Butt. NE Butt is steep, wide, continuous, etc. The real climbing starts when you switch over to the left corner after 5 pitches. I would bring a number of large pieces for this route (#3.5 and #4 friends and maybe even doubles, but I did it a long time ago and am a chicken.) There is a tricky inobvious section up high where you face climb around to the right to avoid a heinous 5.9? offwidth. The descent off this route is easy and non-technical. The approach is a grunt, however. The East Butt is a "50 Classic" and attracts LOTS of people for good reason. The route is lots of fun. The first pitch has a very tricky 5.8 move on it. The bolt ladder can be aided or freed, but bring some wires to hook over the hangerless bolts (unless they have been replaced.) The descent off this one is tougher but still not too bad. Most people do two rappels from fixed slings (single rope), but these can be avoided with downclimbing. The approach is pretty short compared with NE Butt. >Presumably, I will spend 2-3 days in Yosemite Valley in the >beginning of May. I want to get an impression of the valley and >would also like to do some climbing. I will have shoes and harness >and maybe a rope and some runners but no other gear with me. > >Are there any nice top rope climbs or short bolted climbs that you >can recommend? I can climb around 5.10, my wife up to 5.7. Try Swan Slab, Manure Pile Buttress, Church Bowl. Five and Dime cliff offers a 5.8 and a couple 5.10's can be easily toproped and will give you a good idea of what Yosemite climbing is all about. Two offwidths that can be toproped are Generator Crack and the River Offwidth. Try Church Bowl Chimney and see if it isn't the hardest, scariest 5.6 you have every been on. You could climb the Iota (not a toprope, but no gear on it anyway - 5.6 chimney) and then TR Chingando (10a+ OW). Another super popular TR spot is Sunnyside Bench. You have to climb a 5.7 jam crack to set up the toprope though. This place is so popular someone up there could probably give you a belay or fix your rope for you.
| Home/ Mountaineering/ Yosemite Rock information |