friend climbs el cap! here is his story

[joysquirts]

hey i have a friend in squamish who has send an email out of his venture up el cap last week! he is a frenchmen and not great with english, its a little broken but the story is there!
i thought it was pretty inspirational!
hope you enjoy!


Hi everybody,
After 2 fulls rest days, my figner feel alive again, so I can spent some time on the keyboard to write another crazy epic that happend onthe nose. Good readding!!!


FOr those who don<T know the NOSE is probably the most famous climbing climb in the world by is size ( 31 pitch), is esthetique ( on the middle of El Capitan at yosemite et is accessibility ( C1 5.9 or C2 5.8..super sandbag yosemite grading for sure)

So the obsession for the nose born when me and Jake ( a dud I brefly meet in potrero chico in mexico this winter) decide to go climbing " Middle Cathedral east butress" ( 10-11 pitch ..5,10) situate just on front of EL CAP...after a very late start et because we get lost on the approche..we end up to arrive at the base of the climb at 1h PM...way to late to start it...mostly because we got advice that the decent is really sketch...but behind us we see for the first time ( face to face) the nose of EL CAP...and for long minute we can just not stop watching it.

At that moment..we have only one thing in head...doing it ( the nose)....WE know that neither of us have experience on aidclimbing and my partner know a bit of jumaring and hulling ( pull the stuff bag up)...but also neither of us have pass the a night on a big wall before...Big project for both of us have born inside us...it become almost a obsession...for the next week, all my time, my rest day, my tought go for the project

WE have a lot to do before...mostly for me...I pass from experiment freeclimber to totally incult big wall climber...everything was new...I got to learn and absorb so much new information for a short period of time that my night get pretty lite...just by getting absorb by everything I should do!!!

WE know that we will be slow and clumsy, but at least safety was primary for both of us...and at worst we come back down after a try ( the nose is equip of rap both from bottom to top for bailing)

The plan, do the 4 first pitch of the nose, to pratice, check how it go, find a good efficient systeme and be sure we understand for what we are going for!!...Well the night before my training for jumaring was in a rope hook in a 3metre tree high...so when I really need to do it on the first pitch I was so clumsy...a real gumby.!!!...that was (day -1)...we tought that if everything go well, we fix the rope and go for the somet the day after...but we get so spank....for 4 pitch it took us 8hour...totally exhausted .....way harder then we tought to just pull on the gear.!!!

But insteed to give up, we decide to leave the rope fix, take a rest day, make all the touch up for the prep, make a brainstorming to up date our strategy et systeme work.


(day 0)
Rest day: I look at the weather cast and it say sunny for the next 3 days but windy and cold ( under zero celcius every night) a bit worry I talk to Jake et we say that we will try and at worst we come down.

People have told us that the 4 first pitch was really hard and after in get better ussually...so Our plan was topping out in 3 days ( 2 bivy ( night on the wall))
PRep the food : Rich in protein, Carb and fat ( to keep us fueled and warm)
Water: @L per person per day so 6L per person plus 1L for luck so 7L per person by 2 person...which is 14L in total
( doesn<t seem alot but we play on the fact that is gonna be cold...and warm clothe is way liter the water ( is weather is hot)
Gear: 39 cams, 15 extender+7draws+15 biner; 3 jumars; 4 aiders 1 minitraction ( for haulling); 5 set of nuts and full of motivation.
Clothe: Enough to be sure we don<t get cold...but nothing against rain really much...we tough to bring a tarp...but not room....we have only one haul bag .

day 1)
wake up at 2hAM
start 3hAm

WE have 4 pitch to jumar and haul our bag...I<M so clumsy at it...that I take enormous amount of time and energy because nobody really teach me properly....and for the haulling...frig our haulling rope is 3 metre too short to reach the ledge, so we use crazy Mcguyver style technique to reach the high we need before start haulling...frig its hard and heavy to haul...we reach two of us and the haul bag on ledge at pitch 4 at 6h30-7h am....so spank and exhausted....I<m not sure anymore that we can do it.

The optimist plan was reaching pitch 14 (nice ledge) so 10 pitch to do)
THe pessimist plan was at least reaching pitch 11 ( smaller ledge) so 7 pitch to go

Days seem to go so fast and us seem to go so slow, mostly when our haul bag get stuck everywhere, me that jumar like a idiot and also me that for the first time lost a cam by overcam like a super idiot (3 1/2 camalot..my biggest) and I lost 30minute to try to get it out without succes : ((((.......before the nose I never left anything (gear) behind, and that piss me of even more that I know the we will need that cam futher up.

The rest when pretty good, crazy swinging to reach the next crack system ( stuff I never experiment before) and after a super push at 9h PM we reach pitch 14...Miracle...super big day start at 3h30 AM with headlamp and finish at 9hPM with headlamp...but we now at a awesome ledge. ( and almost half way up)

But for some reason, when hauling for the last pitch, Jake told me to hurry up because the bag was lleaking water...take of everything out ( our stuff get a bit wet, but nothing dramatic) but our biggest jug ( 4L of water) break et lost almost all is content (about 3L and a half)
SO from 14L for 2 person for 3 day we now at 10L and a half

Piss us of because first we have to be even more careful we the consomtion of our water et two because we frigging pull 3L and a half for nothing all day!!!

But magic moment, for the first time, both of us will pass the night on a Big WAll, the sky<s clear and when we get diner, the moon just rise ( the day before full moon)...sooooooooooooo coooolllllllllll

day 2)
Super cold morning, and because we exhauted from our first day we wake up at 6h30 and we gonna have to pay for it because insted to reach pitch 24 like plan and have to stop at a ledge on pitch 20 ( only 6 pitch on day 2)

day 3)
Question that we try to reach the top and bivy up there, Jake wake me up at 3h AM so we get more time...( push ourself to eat and start climbing but the aid pitch was so hard and take so long that we only have time to fix the rope on changing corner (pitch 27) and bivy at ledge (pitch 26) We already realize that the possibility of a day4 was probably possible so we save some food and water for day for.

day4)
I wake up jake around 4hAM because I want to reach the top around nonn, so we don<t get dehydrated by the sun
Because on the last day we aloud ourself to one sip per pitch and breakfast that morning was our last meal.

And finally around 2h PM (day 4) Big smile on our face...WE made it!!! 2 beginner, without experince get over all the complication and sommet at the top of pitch 31 of the nose.


Starving, dehydrated, exhausted we did a quick picture session and decide to hurry up to pack up and come down

I ask Jake to take out the map for the way down
ANd he answer me: ???I don<T have it???
me: What you mean you don<T have it????
Jake: Well I only have the 3 sheet you give me: the tops, the historic, and the approch.I tough you have it?
me: NO, you ask me to only print those 3 page..I didn<t even check what I print!!!

So Apparently we forgot one page!!! Miss communication I guess...SO we forgot Plan A...So still have plan B
PLan B mean walk 8 miles back to the yosemite Fall!!!

ANd NOW THE REAL ADVENTURE START!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The trail that probaly really popular in summer is totally not in spring ( we are at mid-april), that trail have no flag of any kind only some cain here and there on rock slab....but 90% is forest with tones of snow everywhere and under the snow the trail that we can<t see.

Usually if you follow the trail it suppose to take 5-6 hour...and we tough we can be home for diner time...shame on us...because we quickly realize that to just try to find clue of the trail was alot of work and a waist of time

Me with my stupid clown shoes (full of hole, the sole half sticking out and so polish by overuse,) I was not really weel equip to hike in the backcountry...mostly with that super heavy packback we have to carry.

So just to try to stay on the trail that we constently lose under the snow every 10 minute, we get up , down, back up , back down, follow the wrong path, come back, intense bushwack, slide, fall,solo schetchy wet rock and around 7hPM we get to a ridge that show us the waterfall we got to reach...but is so $%&^#%^ far...and its gonna get dark really soon.....Usually I won<t care to walk all night to reach home ( my tent) and our feet was sooking wet and wet snow have start to fall and the sky was all cover.

So we decide to play it safe and pass the night in the middle of nowhere under a rockcave...we quickly grab so wood to make a fire to warm us up and dry our stuff

Even if We<re starving, because for me it was probably the first time in my life that I will go bed involontary without diner, I was feeling ok and the moral was still good between me and jake...we was still laughing about it...and our cave was pretty cool too!!...Shysaw!! I didn<t pay attention for few second and when trying to dry the sole of my shoes..it just burn so quickly...that flowers burn pretty quick!!..at least now it match with the frig up style of the rest of the shoes!!

THat night I didn<t really sleep, first because it was bloody cold and windy et second because I was constently slidding down out of the cave ( yeah the cave was not really level!!!)

DAy 5)
In the morning the light wake me up and what I saw at the entrance of the cave will probably enjoy few backcountry skier, but not us #$^$%^& ( 3 inch of fresh snow and it was still snowing when we wake up)

I was getting really hungry ( and in french we have a proverb that said eat your hand and keep the other one for tomorow)
I look at my hand, and they was in really bad shape, first because they been destroy by 31 pitch of climb, some peice of rock get melt and jam under the nails, my hands was swollen ( I<m not sure why) a bit bleu because the swollen and chotck by the taping cloves, and maybe a bit also, by dehydratation and over exposure of the sun....so not tasty looking...so I keep both of them for tomorow!!!

But in fact for someone that haven<t been eating for 24hour after ultra intense physical activity..I was feeling pretty ok....but after I put my wet cold shoe on and I start hiking (mostly up hill) I wasn<t feeling really strong anymore!!!Jake also tough we can leave the gear behind...to go faster and liter...but I convince him not...at least for few more hour.

The sky was so pack of cloud that we couldn<t be sure of where we<re anymore until we reach a ridge and wait for a opening in the cloudy sky.

We hike again, exhausted, Up and down, so far back in the backcountry that the river ( that become yosemite fall) that we was suppose to cross as indication for our way out, was even only a multiple junction of little creek.

After we pose down and look where to go and hike up and down again and again, ehausted, so tired, without any energy left we end up to find the start of the river...which was the first sign to find our way out...we follow it for a hour and finally WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW two young tourist....I never been so happy to see tourist in my life!!! We<re safe...take the main trail that bring us direct to the campground...I thing that was that longest and harder 3.2miles in my life...so so so exhausted!!!

When we get down some tourist stop us to ask us, with all our gear on us, what we have climb and other ( totally exhausted by the way up of the waterfall trail, if they was still far from the top.....I look at Jake and start laughing knowing that nobody that we cross can realize what we just survive.

Morale of the story, I don<t know if we did or make some mistake on our journey, but whatever because everytime we find a obstacle, problem or difficulty, we always stay strong and positive to find the solution we need...and that the main key!!

And like the old monkey say: What don<t kill you make you stronger!!!!

We get back home, exhausted, dehydrated, and starving so bad, but miraclely without any injury...which will have play a totally different game.

It seem that I attract epic adventure...because since I<m in yosemite I pretty much get 3 on 3 on big stuff...I<m getting good with that I think...so for those who thing that they have a borring life and want to spice up they life...just take a number and come climb with me ; ))))



PEace and climb monkey of the world


TEE KUOCH

[mike]

Great story!

Mike

[chameleon]

Awesome trip report. (I liked the franglais too.) Thank your friend for us Adam.


S