How to Big Wall Climb

Chapter TitleAmmon McNeely makesthe first move on one of thecleanest corners on El Capitan:Pitch 13 of Horse ChutePhoto: Chris McNamara2FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

How toBig Wall Climbby Chris McNamara

WarningClimbing is an inherently dangerous sport in which severe injuries or deathmay occur. Relying on the information in this book may increase the danger.When climbing you can only rely on your skill, training, experience, and conditioning. If youhave any doubts as to your ability to safely use any information in this book, do not try it.This book is neither a professional climbing instructor nor a substitute for one. It containsinformation that is nothing more than a compilation of opinions about climbing. Theseopinions are neither facts nor promises. Treat the information as opinions and nothing more.Do not substitute these opinions for your own common sense and experience.Assumption of RiskThere may be errors in this book resulting from the mistakes of the author and/or the peoplewith whom he consulted. The information was gathered from a variety of sources, which maynot have been independently verified. Those who provided the information may have mademistakes in their descriptions. The author may have made mistakes in their conveyance of theinformation in this book. The author cannot, therefore, guarantee the correctness of any of theinformation contained in this book. The suggestions about equipment, technique, and othermatters may be incorrect or misleading. You must keep in mind that the information in thisbook may be erroneous, so use your own judgement when using information described in thisbook.DO NOT USE THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU [AND YOUR ESTATE] PROMISE NEVER TOTRY TO SUE US IF YOU GET HURT OR KILLED.Disclaimer of WarrantiesTHE AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER WARN THAT THIS BOOK CONTAINS ONLY THEAUTHOR’S OPINIONS ON THE SUBJECTS DISCUSSED. THEY MAKE NO OTHERWARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FORPURPOSE, OR OTHERWISE, AND IN ANY EVENT, THEIR LIABILITY FOR BREACHOF ANY WARRANTY OR CONTRACT WITH RESPECT TO THE CONTENT OF THISBOOK IS LIMITED TO THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE BOOK. THEY FURTHER LIMITTO SUCH PURCHASE PRICE THEIR LIABILITY ON ACCOUNT OF ANY KIND OFNEGLIGENT BEHAVIOR WHATSOEVER ON THEIR PART WITH RESPECT TO THECONTENTS OF THIS BOOK.4FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Mark Melvin on the RubberBand Man Pendulum, SouthSeas, during the first GirdleTraverse of El Capitan.Photo: Chris McNamaraFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM5

Published bySuperTopo2 Bradford WayMill Valley, CA 94941www.supertopo.comCopyright 2012 by SuperTopoAll rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic mechanical or othermeans, without permission in writing from the publisher.Design and Layout by David Safanda Design Solutions, Inc.Editing by Steve McNamaraAdvice by: Steve McNamara, Tim Parr, and Randy SpurrierCover PhotographyChris McNamara on a 10:58 ascent of The Shield, El Capitan.Photo by Corey RichCover Designby David SafandaSequence photos by Jerry Dodrill - www.jerrydodrill.comAll uncredited photos by Chris McNamara.McNamara, ChrisHow To Big Wall Climb: SuperTopoISBN- 978-0-9833225-1-1Printed in China6FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Table of contentsIntroduction 9My personal road to big wall climbing 19Master checklist 27Essential aid gear 35Basic leading technique 47Following – low angle 55Leading steep terrain 61Following steep terrain 67Clean aid protection 71Leading – placing protection 75Following – cleaning gear 81Building anchors 87Leading traversing terrain 91Following traversing terrain 95Hauling and the belay 103Bivy gear 115Rappelling with the bag, surviving storms, and retreat 119Wall Strategy: Crowds, passing, and teams of three and more 125Ratings 131Free climbing on big walls 132Speed Climbing 134Big wall gear checklist 13911 Clean Aid Tricks 140FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM7

AcknowledgementsSteve McNamara, my dad gets the most kudos for this book. He kept pushing me to finish itover the last decade and helped get it done by editing all the chapters. Mark Melvin got me intowall climbing, let me borrow all his gear for my first year, and was my partner for many of mysignificant ascents. Many thanks also to Randy Spurrier, David Safanda, Tim Parr, AmmonMcNeely, and Erik Sloan as well as well as…Dick DuaneJason “Singer” SmithMatt GerdesGraeme KnightJerry DodrillDavid DouganKay McNamaraMorgan McNamaraJoe PuryearEric CotteLita CollinsAll my big wall partners and all my friendsTom EvansHans FlorineBrian PoulsenCorey RichTodd OffenbacherWayne WilloughbySuperTopo Forum Members for all the helpful comments8FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Introduction

IntroductionIwrote this book because big wallclimbing has been the most rewardingsport in my life and I want to see morepeople succeed at it. The first time youclimb El Cap can be the hardest and scariestevent in your life. It can also be the mostadventurous, exciting, and memorable.Eighteen years later, I still clearly remembermy first trip up The Captain. And it’s stillthe single most memorable day of my life. Iwould give anything to relive that experienceagain with the same level of heightenedanticipation and adventure. But you onlyget one “first time.” So the next best thingfor me is to help other people succeed andto hear their stories. I love meeting peoplewho dream of climbing El Cap and whoexude that energy of half fear and half eageranticipation. You hear it in their voices. Theyknow big wall climbing will step up theirmental and physical climbing game – andthey are clearly excited about it. I hope thisbook becomes a starting point for yourown incredible adventure. And don’t forgetto email me your stories or post them onsupertopo.com so we can all live throughthem with you.What is a big wall?A big wall is a steep multi-pitch climb thattakes most people more than a day to climb.Big walls are all about vertical exposure;climbing and sleeping with thousands of feetof air below you and thousands of feet ofrock above you. There is nothing else like it.Big wall climbing is not about summit gloryor pulling a single hard move or savoringthe rush of adrenaline, although all three ofthose things will happen. The experience ismuch more complex and rich. You don’t flirtbriefly with gravity as you might while BASEjumping or doing a hard single pitch climb.You live with the pull of gravity and dauntingexposure 24 hours a day.Plus there are side benefits, plenty of them.All big wall climbs are in stunning mountainsettings. Usually you share the experiencewith a good friend. There is lots of timeMark Melvin on Pitch 3 of the Zodiac onthe first El Cap Girdle Traverse.10FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Introductionto contemplate, even read, and generallyexperience the slow life.On a more philosophical level, a wall like ElCapitan is just so much bigger than we are.It’s mysterious, massive, and unforgiving.While nothing is truly static, the surface ofEl Cap is about as unmoving as anythingcan be. Because the rock changes so littleit becomes a mirror. Every fear, doubt, andjoy comes right back at you. Climbing bigwalls is very hard, and that is exactly whatengages the people who climb them. A bigwall makes you dig deep, both physically andmentally.But isn’t aid climbing not muchfun?I have always loved the process of aidclimbing. But I am a little weird. Amongmost of the climbers who have neverclimbed a big wall, aid climbing seems likecheating, or simply not fun. I’ve heard, “Aidclimbing is like hitting your head with ahammer; it only feels good when you stop.”Unlike my case, for most people aid climbingis a means to an end. Few of them aid climbbecause they love the process. And even Iconcede that nobody goes “aid cragging” or“aid bouldering” like they would free climba crag or a boulder. Nearly everybody aidclimbs for one basic reason: to get up bigwalls. Aid climbing is the tool for ascendingthe most wild, massive, and inspiring facesin the world. And once you are up there, aidclimbing through the wildly overhanging lastpitch of The Nose, you won’t judge yourselfon whether it is stylish to aid climb. Youwill be too busy relishing one of the coolestlocations and experiences of your life.Sixty percent of Nose climbersbailFrom El Cap Meadow, photographer Tom“Ansel” Evans of elcapreport.com hasprobably watched more El Capitan ascentsand failures than anyone. He estimates thatabout 60 percent of the climbers who startup The Nose bail. Why? “Most climbersthink The Nose is Washington Column butbigger. It’s not. El Capitan is way biggerthan most people think,” says Evans. “Theyjump on The Nose without practice, sowhen the first glitch arises – and one doeson every wall – they just bail.” On a onepitchclimb or even on a 10-pitch climb likeWashington Column, you can make basicmistakes and still get your way up the wall.When you jump on a 30-pitch route, thoselittle mistakes and inefficiencies compoundand you have to bail. Anyone can climbThe Nose, but they need to master the aidclimbing basics and train hard.Two key pointsLike anything worthwhile, big wall climbingrequires hard work. However, unlikeclimbing 5.13 or bouldering V8, big wallclimbing doesn’t take heroic strength. It justrequires solid 5.9-5.10 multi-pitch skills andmaking thousands of easy moves efficiently.That is where this book comes in. It’s the firstHow To Big Wall book specifically organizedand clearly designed to address the processof building big wall skills, step by step.I’ve climbed more than 100 big walls andhave spent more than 400 days on ElCapitan. During my time I’ve seen lots ofpeople bail, myself included. In nearly allcases they missed the two main principles ofthis book:• Keep it simple.• Master the aid climbing basics.FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM11

1 212FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

3 41 Leader leaves the belay. 2 Leadernears the top of the pitch. 3 Leadersets up the belay and hauls the bagwhile follower prepared to cleanthe pitch. 4. Bags are hauled, pitchcleaned, and leader starts out on thenext pitch. Dawn Wall, El Capitan.Photos: Tom Evanswww.elcap-pics.comFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM13

IntroductionI believe in reducing everything to theessentials, so that’s all I include here. I offerthe techniques that I have found helpful andomit the rest. Here’s a taste of the sort ofclimbing myths I want you to deal with:• Don’t duct tape water bottles.• Don’t use four aiders (two work best).• Don’t use oval carabiners.• Don’t bother with 3-to-1 hauling systems.My technique for hauling up huge loads ofgear is this: don’t bring huge loads. Instead,climb light and efficiently so you don’thave to bring big loads. I keep the verticalbaggage handling to a minimum. I spendtime climbing lightly and quickly over therock and spend minimum time movingluggage. If every moment an aspiring wallclimber spent figuring how to set up a 3-to-1system was instead spent mastering movingin aiders efficiently and learning to set up asimple belay, they would not need a 3-to-1 inthe first place. And a lot more people wouldsummit El Cap and enjoy the experience ofgetting there.Wall climbing is easy…sortaTechnically speaking, big wall climbingis easy. Walking up a pair of aiders is notphysically or technically demanding.Jumaring is pretty straightforward onceyou get the hang of it. Hauling is not thatcomplex. Each component of big wallclimbing is surprisingly easy. The challengecomes in two parts:1. Big walls require putting together a lot ofunfamiliar skills and logistics.2. These skills must be put togetherextremely efficiently and everything muststay organized.These two challenges can be overcome byone simple principle: master the aid climbingbasics. That is what this book is all about, astep-by-step guide to mastering the basics. Ifyou do that, all the little aid climbing trickswill fall effortlessly into place.Don’t be a vertical baggagehandlerPersonally, I don’t just want to get to the topof El Cap. I want to enjoy the climb and wallexperience, spending as little time as possibledealing with haul bags and gear clusters.Maybe one day there will be a portable hotair balloon for wall climbers. All the gear,water, beer, and fish tacos you need will floatjust a few feet away from you and effortlesslyfollow you up the wall. But until that dayarrives we must deal with a brutal fact: weneed a lot of water to stay alive and water isheavy. Conservatively, we need a gallon perperson, per day when wall climbing and agallon of water weighs eight pounds. So on afive-day climb of El Cap:8 lbs. x 2 people x 5 days = 80 lbs.Add another two pounds per person perday for food, 20 pounds in bivy supplies andyour haul bag might tip 120 pounds at liftoff.Can you say Sufferfest?Beyond sufferingEven beyond the suffering issue of movingbags up a wall, there are other reasons toclimb efficiently• Climbing efficiently keeps you safe frombad weather. You will be better able to“turn on the gas” and summit before anoncoming storm, or at least make it to amore sheltered bivy spot. Most climberswho die on El Cap do so because theyget caught in storms, often just a fewpitches from the top. Weather forecastswon’t protect you because most weatherforecasts in mountain areas are only goodfor a few days. Read John Dill’s “StayingAlive” at http://www.supertopo.com/topos/yosemite/stayalive.pdf14FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Introduction• Climbing efficiently is more fun. You getto sleep on the ledge you want to, not theone forced on you by circumstance andvanishing sunlight. Or, worse, having tospend the night standing in aiders.• Climbing efficiently is taking the rightamount of water and food – not way toomuch or way too little.Sneak Peak: Examples ofefficient climbing covered in thebook• Use two aiders instead of four.• Aid like you free climb.• Spend your time at belays keeping thingsorganized and visualizing what to do oncethe leader is ready to haul.• When leading, always move to the top stepor second step.• Clean with two slings that can be handedto the leader, instead of handing over eachpiece one by one.Efficient climbing, not speedclimbingClimbing The Nose in two bivies insteadof four does not mean becoming a franticspeed climber. You don’t have to rush everymove, frantically scream at your partner tojumar faster, and take more chances whenyou’re leading. You just need to streamlineyour systems and have the aid basics dialed.If you read and practice the techniques inthis book, you will cut out the hours lost toinefficiency that the typical big wall teamendures and instead wonder why you everclimbed walls any other way.TWO CLIMBING SCENARIOS:Just to drive home this critical point, let’slook at climbing The Nose route on El Capunder two different scenarios.First the Sufferfest Way, thesurprisingly common way thatit’s donePrep Day – Climb slowly to The Sickle witha few parties nipping on your heels, tryingto pass you. Spend all afternoon and into thenight bringing up heavy haul bags.Day 1 – Get bogged down in the Stovelegsdue to heavy loads. You’re so tired from thehauling that you have to aid climb cracksthat you had planned to free climb. Bummer.Make it to Dolt Tower after dark with littletime to dial in a nice bivy, let alone kickback and appreciate the amazing ledge andlocation.Day 2 – Wake up exhausted with workedhands from all the hauling. So far the climbhasn’t been much fun. You and your partnereach hope the other comes up with a goodexcuse to bail, as 60 percent of climbersusually have done by now. Climb all day andbarely make it to Camp 4 by nightfall – anuncomfortable bivy site.Day 3 – The Great Roof takes forever andantsy parties stack up behind you. Youwanted to free the Pancake Flake (awesome5.10a) but when you made a hand jam yourarm cramped up, so you had to aid it. Nowyou have to let the party behind you passand you deal with some gnarly belay clustersin the process. The passing team offers to fixa rope and you accept. You had wanted toclimb every pitch but you are moving slowlyand don’t want to climb into the night again.You make it to a crowded Camp 5 and haveto take the lame bivy sites and hope the teamabove doesn’t pee on you.Day 4 – At this point the haul bag is gettinglighter but all the heavy hauling downlow has wrecked your hands and drainedyour strength. You have to aid everything,even the easy free climbing, which makesyou move even slower. The turd bucket isdangerously close to overflowing. You haveFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM15

Introductionto bivy on Camp 6 and another party catchesup to you, creating another cluster.Day 5 – You have to ration your food andwater, which just adds to your malaise. Youfinally top out. You are relieved and feelproud to have summited. However – becauseof the hauling, bad bivies, and belay clusters– your climb of what is probably the bestroute in the world was not much fun.Now, the Efficient (non-Sufferfest) way to climb El CapPrep DayStart early and zip up the first four pitchesin a half day. Return to the ground and haveplenty of time to haul to Sickle or just do“the El Cap Lieback” in El Cap Meadow.Day 1Blast off and pass a party in the Stovelegsby climbing variations around them. Witha light haul bag holding only three days offood and water, the hauling is easy and youhave plenty of strength to free climb theseclassic pitches. Get to El Cap Tower withplenty of time to kick back and enjoy theview.Day 2Cruise through the King Swing and theGreat Roof. With a light bag, easy haulingmeans you still have enough strength to freeclimb Pancake Flake: Oh it’s soo good! Andexposed! You have enough time to chooseCamp 5 or Camp 6 (whichever has fewerpeople). At this point the bag weighs almostnothing.Day 3Pass that suffering party I described above.You give them a little water because eventhough they started with 80 pounds ofwater, they are almost out. Three pitchesfrom the top you feel a potential afternoonthunderstorm developing. You step on thegas and blast through the final pitches,toping out before the rain starts. There isplenty of time to pack up, walk down, andstill buy a six-pack before the store closes.Three PathsSo there you have it, there are essentiallythree paths:• Get frustrated and bail low before DoltTower.• Barely eke out an ascent and not enjoy theprocess as much as you could.• Master the aid basics and climb The Noseconfidently and have fun.The basic equation of efficientclimbingA little time saved on an action, whenmultiplied by thousands of actions on a wall= giant time savings.For example, on The Nose:Lead a pitch ten minutes faster multiplied by31 pitches = 5+ hours.Save five minutes on a belay changeovermultiplied by 31 pitches = 2.5+ hours.Save three minutes when you lower out thebag and leave the belay multiplied by 31pitches = 1.5 hours.You haven’t done any fancy “speed climbing”and you have already shaved a day off theclimb.Now, imagine, after dialing the skills in thisbook you shave 20 minutes off leading eachpitch and belay changeovers that used to take12 minutes instead take two.There are other things that can’t bequantified in time: hauling with less effort,over 31 pitches = more energy for freeclimbing the classic pitches and more fun.16FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

IntroductionHow to use this book – TheMaster ChecklistThis book is intended to be “active reading.”Print or photocopy the Master Checklist inChapter 3 and take it with you on all yourtraining. Every time you get to a major stage,celebrate!Open up the first chapter on Aid Basics andgo out and practice, practice, practice. Makesure you check off everything on the MasterChecklist. Then you’ll move onto Chapter2 and get that dialed and so on. If you havenever aid climbed, you are lucky. You don’thave bad habits yet. If you don’t skip ahead,and instead master each section, one chapterat a time, you are on the path to cruising upEl Cap.OK, maybe skim through the entire bookonce. That’s allowed. But I encourage you toread this book slowly, dialing in each sectionbefore skipping ahead. Don’t skip around topick things here and there.Some folks out there may say, “But I alreadyknow the basics, I want to know how to stackpitons or set up a complex hauling system.”While I can’t call BS without actually seeingyou aid climb, the vast majority of aidclimbers I see on El Cap could still use a lotof help with the aid basics. So even if youare moderately experienced at aid climbing,please don’t skip ahead.Videos explain technical parts ofthe textI have free instructional videos available athttp://www.supertopo.com/gear/how-to-bigwallThere you will see chapter titles thatmatch the chapter numbers in this book.Chances are, if there is a confusing techniquementioned in the text, I put a free videoonline to explain it. If there is not a video,email me and I may be able to go shoot andupload it for you and everyone else.About the gear in this bookThis book has many gear photos. I am notsponsored. At the time of publication, thegear shown is the gear I like to use. But whileI like the products you see in the book, othergear might work better for you. The onlyway to know is to experiment for yourself.On this page http://www.supertopo.com/climbingareas/bigwalls.html is the gear Icurrently use. In addition, we have writtena number of reviews on popular aid gear athttp://www.outdoorgearlab.com/big-wall.There you can also see what other climbersfind works best for them.Before you start - get psyched!Big walls are a big undertaking. If you arenot genuinely psyched to wall climb, thenyou will suffer. If you just want to say youhave climbed El Capitan but are not thrilledabout the idea of being on the wall fordays on a time, don’t bother. Wall climbinginvolves a ton of work. If you are just halfheartedabout the endeavor, then all thatwork feels like suffering. If you are trulypsyched, then all the work just feels like partof the adventure.In addition, if you are not amped to be onthe wall, you will get scared. Probably reallyscared. You’re more likely to bail when thefirst challenge arises. On my first El Capascent I was scared. But I was so pumped onthe adventure that the fear just added a littlespice to the experience. Compare that to anascent seven years later when my heart wasnot into climbing El Cap at that moment.Despite having done 60+ El Cap ascents, Iwas actually more scared than my first timeon the wall because I didn’t REALLY wantto be up there. A year later, I had my psycheback and suddenly El Cap was a quarter asscary and four times as much fun. It’s all inthe head.So before you get too much into this bookFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM17

Introductionor spend too much money on wall climbinggear, go to Yosemite or Zion or your closestbig wall area. Spend a day walking theentire base of El Cap or your local big wall.Bring a book or watch a movie from thelist at SuperTopo. Go to the back of El CapMeadow with a pair of binocs and watchclimbers up on the wall. If you can’t get toa big wall area, read even more from myreading list.If you are genuinely psyched, keep chargingon this path of learning to climb a big wall. Ifyou are not yet truly psyched, move forward,but maybe put off the purchase of thatportaledge.Winding upBy the way, this is the only section of thebook where I am quite so long winded. Afterthis rant, where I try and convince you to dothings as simply as possible, I’ll heed my ownadvice and write as simply as possible. I’mworking at it – the first draft of this book wasthree times as long. Then I pared it down tojust the essentials.PS: I want to hear success stories! If thisbook helped you get to the summit of ELCap, please email me: chris@supertopo.com.I would love to hear about it.Ammon McNeely below theStreaked Wall, Zion.Photo: Chris McNamara18FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

My road to big wall climbingChris McNamara, age 16, reaches theGlowering Spot on a one-day ascent of TheNose.Photo: Mark Melvin

My Personal Road to Big Wall ClimbingWhen tackling a new challengethere are two main ways togo about it. One is to find amentor and follow in his or herfootsteps. The other approach is to wing it,finding your way all by yourself or with apartner who also learning. I prefer the firstway – finding a mentor. That’s how I learnedto climb El Cap, although in the process Ialso tried winging it… with not-so-goodresults. Here’s how it went for me:I was dragged up my first few ascents of ElCap, thought I saw how everything worked,went back and trained hard, and eventuallystarted leading my share of the pitches.If they take the other path, climbers willconnect with a partner of equal or less ability,creating much more uncertainty plus betterstories about how unprepared they werebut pulled it off anyway. Their path will takelonger and involve more self-sufficiency butin the end it will take them to the same spot:the summit of El Capitan.I started climbing in seventh grade at afriend’s birthday party at a local climbinggym. My parents later said that five kids wentinto the gym, four came out normal and Icame out as a climbing addict. That’s aboutright. I started doing as many pull-ups as Icould manage and worked on the hardestgym routes I could handle. I could barelywait to climb outdoors. That was a challenge;my mom had to take me because I was tooyoung to drive.The first climbing magazine I rememberseeing had the story of Lynn Hill freeclimbing The Nose, the first person to doit. Such a big deal was made that I figuredthis was where the action was. So that yearon a family trip to Tuolumne Meadows Iasked mom to take a detour to see YosemiteValley and El Capitan. I jumped out of thecar and ran to the base with climbing shoesand a chalk bag. I climbed up about ten feetof what I thought was the start of The Nose(it wasn’t). I wanted to be able to say I hadclimbed on El Cap, never mind how far up.Standing at the base, the granite wall in frontof me overwhelmed my field of vision. I feltsmall. Only the Pacific Ocean rivaled El Capin scale. I had no thoughts of ever climbing tothe top of this wall. I knew people climbed it,but I didn’t see how it was possible, especiallyfor me. It was just too big!That was my start. Here’s my diary of how itwent from there, the point being to suggesthow my experiences can offer lessons for you.Photo: Justin Colsky.Age 14 – First big adventureclimb: Golden Gate BridgeA friend and I convinced our parents thatwe were camping in the Marin Headlandsabove the Golden Gate Bridge. That nightwe hiked down a hill, got on the bridge cableand walked/climbed to the summit. NOTE:This was pre-9/11. Try to climb the GoldenGate Bridge today and you will get a $10,000fine if you are lucky and if you are unluckymaybe get shot.20FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

My Personal Road to Big Wall ClimbingSuperTopo of our climbing adventure on the Golden Gate Bridge.Lesson:For me, climbing is about the adventurefirst. Doing a hard boulder problem or freepitch is fine. But for me, climbing techniqueand strength is for getting to the truly bigadventures in wild places.Age 14 – First aid climbThirty-foot sport climb at Mickey’s Beachnear San Francisco. On toprope I tie slingstogether to make aiders and place theoccasional nut to get between bolts. I aminstantly hooked on aid climbing. Notbecause I love it, but because this obscure arthas now been demystified and I feel I am onthe path to climbing El Cap.Lesson:Improvise! Eventually you will want the rightgear for the job. But at first make do withwhat you have. A few slings can be your firstpair of aiders. Don’t wait for the “perfectmoment.” Just go out and do it.Age 14 – Tree climbing daysI set up an aid practice course on mybackyard tree. Make two aid moves up, a freemove, then five aid moves horizontally out abranch. I time myself to see how long it takesto lead, set an anchor, and follow.Lesson:Practice the essentials over and over. Idon’t live near any good cliffs on which topractice aid climbing so with just a tree all Ican do is practice the basics over and over.This is a blessing in disguise. Most people’sproblems with big walls come from the factthat they never master the basics of movingefficiently in aiders, setting up an anchor,and jumaring. That is ALL I could do afterschool, so I quickly was able to walk upladders faster than I could free climb.FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM21

My Personal Road to Big Wall ClimbingAge 15 – First outdoor aid leadWinter rainstorm in Yosemite Valley. Headto the first pitch of Zodiac and find I amdry while rain falls just a few feet away. I’munder-equipped. I lead up, and after 30 feettake a whipper when a rolling nut (an extinctpiece of gear, like a sliding nut but lesseffective) pulls on me. Ten feet higher I takeanother fall. I have my friend Nick tie me offto a boulder, go into the trees, find a stickand I make myself a cheat stick so that I amable to finish the pitch.Lesson:Start the “real aid leads” with a better rack.With a poor rack I took whippers. But it wasgood to get on the rock and push myself.Also, if I hadn’t improvised a cheat stick andinstead had used a bunch of pins, I wouldhave unnecessarily nailed. If you are missingthe right clean gear from your rack, use acheat stick instead of nailing.Starting up Pitch 1 of Zodiac in a rainstorm(sheltered by the roof above). Photo by NickTelischak.Age 15 – West Face, El Capitan.First big wallAt a high school Outdoor Ed Club meeting,a teacher who knows of my climbingaddiction gives me a business plan for aproposed climbing gym: Mission Cliffs. Idon’t care about the investment merits atthe time; I just want a lifetime membership.So after meeting Mark Melvin, the climberbehind the project, and seeing the space hehas in mind, I immediately hand over mylife savings earned from years of working asa Little League umpire, grounds keeper, andsnack shack operator.Perhaps as thanks for investing in his gym,Mark invites me up the West Face of ElCapitan. I imagine that the preparation forthe climb will be a serious undertaking. We’llspread out all our gear and go through adetailed check, right down to rationing thenumber of M&Ms to take with us. Right?I am so wrong. After parking the car Markjust heaps a bunch of biners, ropes and otherclimbing gear into a backpack and we headoff for the West Face. I think this casualapproach is fun until we arrive at the base ofthe route and discover a big problem. Oneof us has forgotten his climbing shoes. Ona one-day ascent you try to slim down yourgear to move as fast as possible but you neverforget the climbing shoes! The only thingmore crucial is the rope.My first reaction: “This is great news.” I thinkthis way because when we get to the base ofthe cliff I’m terrified by this 2000-foot walland am hoping that something will go wrongso we won’t actually have to climb it. It lookslike my prayers have been answered. ButMark doesn’t see it that way. He just looksup at the wall and says, “Guess I’ll tie theshoes to the rope and zip them back to youevery 100 feet and then lead some of the 5.7pitches barefoot.”22FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

My Personal Road to Big Wall ClimbingAmazingly, this actually works. The first1500 feet go smoothly. However, with 500feet to go we run into another problem. Wehave brought only about two liters of water,not nearly enough. We run dry right whenthe sun hit us and the wall begins to bake. Ifeel sick but Mark just keeps on leading. Afew hundred feet from the top we find somewater that has been left on a ledge. It’s hotfrom lying in the sun and has insects floatingon the top. We pitch the bugs and gladlydrink it. Then, after eight hours and 2000feet of climbing, we make it to the top.It can’t overstate how much this climbchanged me. It’s the most intense, raw, andterrifying experience I have ever had. Thewall was vertical so there was often nothingbut a thousand feet of air between my feetand the ground. From that high in the air the200-foot trees at the base looked like littleclumps of broccoli. And because we wereclimbing so hard with little water or food Iwas having minor hallucinations. It was themost difficult and draining thing I had everdone in my life.All I could think about was doing more of it.Lesson:Get a mentor. Mark Melvin accelerated mybig wall career by years by showing me theropes and letting me borrow a lot of his aidgear for my first summer in Yosemite. Whilethere is a certain pride is doing everythingyourself and/or doing a wall with a climbingequal, you learn much faster and more safelyif you start with a good climber.Pulling up to the Glowering Spot on my firsttime climbing The Nose. Photo by MarkMelvin.Age 16 – First one-day ascentof El Cap via The NoseMark and I agree to trade pitches. Markleads the first four pitches. I lead the nexttwo and realize that I am in way over myhead. I hand the lead over to Mark and hetakes us to the top. While this is technicallythe first time I climb The Nose, I only lead afew hundred feet and jug the rest. I know Ineed to get better, return, and properly climbit.Lesson:Routes like The Nose are long anddemanding. At this point I was ready to takeon a short aid route, but not the 31 pitches ofThe Nose.FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM23

My Personal Road to Big Wall ClimbingAge 16 – Prow bailI ditch the last day of sophomore year ofhigh school and head to Yosemite for thesummer. I have little gear but Mark loansme his haul bag, Gramicci portaledge and abunch of other stuff. I don’t have a partner soI decide to solo The Prow. After two pitches Iget scared. The climbing is not the problem.It’s my head that is the problem. While I hadclimbed the South Face with a partner, theProw’s steep walls feel ominous and makeme wonder if I am really ready to be up therealone.Lesson:Take it one step at a time. While soloing awall early in your career is proud, it is notthe best way to go. I set myself up for failureby taking such a giant mental leap to soloing.Age 16 – First multi-day BigWall, Zenyatta MondattaMy dreams of big wall glory are crushedwhen I bail on The Prow. I make up a varietyof excuses, both to myself and to others: myportaledge wasn’t working and I didn’t bringenough water and it was too hot and… Intruth, I was plain terrified by that massiveexpanse of granite. Who was I kidding? Onmy first couple of walls I had been draggedup. I wasn’t a wall climber.My dreams having evaporated, I spend thenext day walking the base of El Cap to lookfor fallen gear and ogle routes that I wouldcertainly never climb. At the base of thesoutheast face I plant myself on a boulder,arch my head back and take in the infinitegranite ocean above me. I don’t have to climbEl Cap to feel its power.Moving my attention to the west I spot asoloist on Zenyatta Mondatta. At the timeit is rated A5. Fucking A5! That means thatwhoever is up there is either suicidal, an aidclimbing god or has just broken up with hisgirlfriend. Maybe all three. Then a strangething happens. For reason still not clear I yellup to the solist, “Need a partner?”Looking down at me from his height I’mjust a spec in the talus. He can’t tell thatI’m sophomore in high school or thatThe Prow has just humiliated me or that Ihave never climbed a true big wall. But asit happens this soloist is probably in the“zone of doubt,” that mental space whereone is equally torn between the painful andchallenging prospect of El Cap solo glory orthe readily available dip in the Merced Riverand pints of Ben and Jerry’s. After a momentof hesitation the soloist calls down, “Sure Icould use a partner. Go get your stuff andwe’ll start up the day after tomorrow.”Ecstatic but terrified, I feel like a T-ballplayer just drafted to the major leagues.Later, as I gather my stuff and walk to thebase, the gravity of the situation descendsupon me. What the hell was I thinking!?Blast off day. A fixed line leads to mypartner’s highpoint on the second belay.Staring up at the fixed line two words cometo mind: dental floss. The rope runs upwards,gradually getting smaller and smallerto where it seems so small it could slidebetween my teeth.For the next 30 minutes I delicately slide upthe rope, taking great care to bounce as littleas possible. Reaching the belay I prepare tohaul my bag. You would think I was handlingplutonium the way my hands tremble as Igrab a carabiner, open the pulley and placethe rope inside. One 60-meter rope stretchesfrom me to the ground but the exposure is sogreat that it feels like I am at least a thousandfeet off the ground. I tremble to think whatexposure is actually like an actual thousandfeet off the ground.24FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

My Personal Road to Big Wall ClimbingJugging up the STEEP first two pitches ofZodiac. The rope felt the diameter of toothfloss.My partner leads the next pitch and then Iface my first lead of the climb: Pitch 4, A3.Looking upwards, a few shallow cracks runupwards for 15 feet, then 15 feet of blanknessto the first good feature.I put in a nut for the first piece. Then I haveto place a pin. Ugh. I have never beforeplaced a piton on a real climb. My ineptitudeshines through as I give tiny little babytaps to the pin, like I don’t want to hurt itsfeelings. I do the same with the next pitonplacement and give it a few pseudo bouncetests where I don’t actually put any weighton the piece. I stand up on it…for a second.Then: PING! The distinct sound of janglingpitons and carabiners is followed by a jolton my harness. I look up and see that I’vefallen to ten feet below my belayer. My firstten minutes as a hard climber have seen meprogress negative ten feet.In a way I’m relieved. I have an excuse tobail on leading the pitch. After all, if I keepleading I’m bound to kill myself.Strangely, my partner sees it differently: “Yougot it, Chris. It’s no big deal, but next timetry bounce testing those pieces!”I regain my highpoint, placing the samepitons and this time wielding the hammerwith a heft that would make Thor proud.The pitons hold! Above, I move onto a seriesof hooks and feel my confidence grow.Suddenly I’m having fun as I gain morecontrol over the placements. After 130 feetI pull myself onto a ledge and triumphantlyscream, “Off belay!” Right then I just aboutlose it, jumping up and down like a fiveyear-oldon Christmas morning. My bodyfeels light and tingly and I wear a grin thatstretches from El Cap Tower to HorsetailFalls. I’m hooked for life.Lesson:Hang in there through the tough sections.Don’t get discouraged. It’s great to have apartner who knows what they are doing andwho can encourage you on.Age 16 – First El Cap routewithout a mentor, Zodiac, ElCapitanI convince my 13-year-old brother Morganthat I am qualified to take him up El Cap.This despite the fact that I have not evenswapped leads on an El Cap route. I teachhim to jumar in the same backyard tree Istarted on. We show up at the base of Zodiacand meet two Swedish guys. After dreamingof the proudness of El Cap, they are bummedto be behind a couple of teenagers. We laterbecome friends and they tell us their firstthought was, “Oh, no! The kindergartnershave beaten us!”FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM25

My Personal Road to Big Wall ClimbingOn the second pitch of the route, I don’tleave Morgan enough rope to lower out.I tell him to just cut loose and he takes aviolent swing. Somehow I end up moreshaken than he is. The rest of the climb goessmoothly until my brother is following andthe rope starts grating over an edge… I amterrified and so is he. But the rope does notget damaged despite some horrible noises.We top out after one night on the wall andeverything goes fine.Lessons:Protect your follower because he is often atthe mercy of how you run the rope. Havetape ready for sharp edges and be mindful ofthe rope on traverses. For me, it was best thatmy first big wall where I led my share of thepitches was like the Zodiac: shorter and withno time pressure to make it to a certain ledgeat a certain time. Even though we did it inone bivy, we had enough food and water foranother night, which lowered the stress level.Age 17 – First true Nose ascentThe next year I return to The Nose with mybrother. This time on The Nose I am leadingevery pitch so I need to have my skills dialed.No hiding behind a partner. After one day offixing, and a morning rainstorm, we cruiseup to Camp 4 for an uncomfortable bivy. Thenext day we top out, right as it gets dark.Lessons:All my aid practice in my tree had made mea solid enough climber to do the Zodiac anda few other walls. But it took two years untilI got the speed and free climbing ability todo The Nose. By traveling light the haulingis easy but the tradeoff is that we don’t sleepwell. A worthwhile tradeoff.Final Lesson:By committing months to wall climbing, andintensively focusing on it, I learned a lot fast.If you can move to Yosemite for a summer…do it! However, most people can’t committhat kind of time. So it’s possible to make dowhere you are. Just about anything can beaid climbed, even a tree in your backyard.My brother Morgan (age 13) jugging downlow on Zodiac. He’s using Jumars!26FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Master checklist

Master ChecklistQuestion: “How do I know when Iam ready to climb The Nose?”Answer: Complete this 30-sessioncourse over 4-6 months. That’senough time to have rests between practicedays but not too much time so that youloose momentum. It is important to not skipsteps. If you skip the low-angle environmentand go straight to vertical or overhangingterrain, you will get frustrated and developbad habits.How many times should youpractice each routine?When do you know if you areclimbing efficiently?Practice each skill until you have it so dialedyou don’t see any more improvement. Everytime you do your first lap, time yourselfto establish your baseline time. At regularintervals after that, time yourself andcompare yourself to earlier times. At firstyou will see big improvements. Over timethe increments will get smaller and smaller.If you can’t get any faster, you are probablygoing as fast as you can.You don’t have to do each activity the listednumber of times. However, make sure youerr on the side of over-practicing eachtechnique. Too many people get bored witha technique when the only have it 70 percentdialed. It can help to practice next to a friendand have friendly speed competitions. Orhave speed competitions with yourself. Thatusually takes out the boredom.Each session takes about 2-3 hours.1. Get Psychedo Get psyched. Read a bunch of booksfrom the recommended reading list inthe Appendix. Check out some inspiringmovies like “El Capitan” or “VerticalFrontier.” If you are not REALLYmotivated to climb El Cap, it’s hard toget through the inevitable challengingmoments on the wall.2. Acquire Basic Aid Climbing Gearo Use what you have, borrow, or if youare going to buy, check out http://www.supertopo.com/gear/htbw-list3. Leading 1: Low-Angle TerrainSessions 1 and 2Set up a practice bolt ladder on a low anglewall.o Aid it once, timing yourself to get abenchmark.o Now aid it five times. Focus on smoothbut consistent movement.o Time yourself on the fifth time. Aim to be50-75 percent faster by the fifth time thanon the first.o Now aid five times where you focuscompletely on smooth movement. Try tonever stop moving up the aiders from onepiece to the next. Remember, “Slow issmooth. Smooth is fast.”o Now go another five times, focusing onboth smoothness and speed. Try to get 20percent faster than your last timed lap.o Overall, aim to do at least 25 laps over thecourse of two days.4. Following 1: Low-Angle TerrainSessions 3-4Set up a rope on a less than vertical 30-50foot cliff.o Jug once, timing yourself to get abenchmark time.o Jug five times. Focus on smooth butconsistent movement.o On the fifth time, time yourself and try toget 50-75 percent faster than on your firstbenchmark time.28FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Master checklisto Now adjust the length of the daisy chainand go five times. Time the fifth one andcompare it to the time before. Go with thedaisy length that is most comfortable andgives the best time.o Now adjust the height of your feet in theaiders and go five times. Time the fifthlap and compare it to the time before.Go with the aider height that is mostcomfortable and gives the best time.o Once you figure out the best place foryour feet, do another five laps. Timeyourself on the last lap and try to get 25percent faster than your tenth time.o Overall, aim to do at least 25 laps over thecourse of two days.5. Leading 2: Vertical andOverhanging TerrainSessions 5 and 6o Find a 30-50 foot vertical cliff. Slightlyoverhanging is okay. A gym with a boltladder is ideal.o Aid once, timing yourself to get abenchmark time.o Aid like you free climb: Aid three times,trying to use as many face holds aspossible (and grabbing the aider as little aspossible).o Introduce the fifi hook. Do three laps withthe fifi at different lengths to figure out theright length.o Introduce the daisy chains. Do three laps.o Top stepping – do three laps where youtop step every piece using holds or featureson the wall for balance (when possible).o Top stepping – do three laps where youtop step every piece without using anyholds or features on the wall for balance.6. Following 2: Vertical andOverhanging TerrainSession 7Where: Set up a free hanging rope at a cliff,climbing gym or tree.o Jug once, timing yourself to get abenchmark time.o Jug five times. Focus on smooth butconsistent movement.o On the fifth time, time yourself and tryget 50-75 percent faster than your firstbenchmark time.o Now adjust the length of daisy chainand go five times. Time the fifth one andcompare it to the time before. Go with thedaisy length that is most comfortable andgives the best time.o Now adjust the height of your feet in theaiders and go five times. Time the fifthlap and compare it to the time before.Go with the aider height that is mostcomfortable and gives the best time.o Once you figure out the best place foryour feet, do another five laps. Timeyourself on the last lap and try to get 25percent faster than your tenth time.o Get a good arm pump.o Recover for two days.o Anchor a free-hanging rope 20-30 feet upwith rope length that is at least 200 feet.Build your jugging muscles so they won’tlock up with cramps on Day 3 of a big wall.7. Acquire Clean Aid Protectiono Borrow, buy or improvise whatever gearto enhance your free climbing stock.If you are going to buy gear, check outreviews at http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/big-wall-gearFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM29

Master Checklist8. Leading 3: Placing GearSessions 8 and 9Where: A 30-50-foot-tall C1 and slightly lowangle cliff.o Aid once, timing yourself to get abenchmark.o Now aid five times. Focus on smooth butconsistent movement.o Time yourself on the tenth time. You wantto be 50-75 percent faster than the firsttime.o Now try five times where you a littleslower but focus on fluidity. Try to neverstop moving up the aiders from one pieceto the next.o Time yourself again, focusing on speed.Try to get 20 percent faster than your lasttime.o Overall, aim to do at least 25 laps over thecourse of two sessions.9. Following 3: Cleaning GearSessions 10 and 11Where: A 30-50-foot-tall, slightly low angleC1 cliff.o Clean once, timing yourself to get abenchmark.o Now clean five times. Focus on smoothbut consistent movement.o Time yourself on the tenth time. You wantto be 50-75 percent faster than the firsttime.o Now try five times where you are a littleslower but focus on fluidity. Try to neverstop moving up the aiders from onepiece to the next.o Time yourself again, focusing on speed.Try to get 20 percent faster than your lasttime.o Overall, aim to do at least 25 laps over thecourse of two sessions.10. Building Anchors and Basic AidCourseSession 12Where: Any place where you can stand onthe ground and have 3-5 pieces at aboutchest level.o Build an anchor of 3-5 pieces of gear usinga cordelette. Break down the anchor andrebuild it a couple more times.o Now use different pieces and build andbreak down a few more anchors.o Build one more anchor with pieces thatare spread out (use shoulder-length slingswith the cordelette).Sessions 13 and 14 – Basic Aid CourseWhere: Ideally, you will have an 80-degreeroute that is 30-80 feet. I started in a tree.Not ideal. But work with what you got. Theimportant thing is to get out there as muchas possible.With the skills dialed, it is time to learn totransition between them efficiently. Thebest way to do that is to build a course andtime yourself. The course has five parts:lead, build an anchor, clean, break down theanchor, repeat.o Do the aid course once and time yourselfto get a benchmark.o Do the course five times or until you can’tdo it any faster.11. Leading 4: Traversing TerrainSession 15Where: Find a traversing lower angle cliff30-50 feet tall.NOTE: For this session, you need a belayer.o Lead up at least 20 feet, then build alower out point (1-2 bomber pieces), thenhave the belayer lower you 10 feet andpendulum over to a crack or face hold.Continue up to the top of the pitch or re-30FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Master checklistpractice the pendulum.o Repeat, the above but this time wearfree climbing shoes and practicetension traverses. Especially work oncommunication with the belayer.12. Following 4: Traversing TerrainSessions 16 and 17Where: Find a traversing lower angle cliff30-50 feet tall.o Before you get to the a cliff, slingingsomething at eye level and passing the leadrope through a carabiner connected to it.Practice lowering out five timeso Once you have the lower out dialed onthe ground, set up a traversing rope.Anchor a rope to the top of a cliff, clipit through a piece at least ten feet to theside of the anchor point, and at least tenfeet off the ground. Practice lowering outfive times.o Set up a traversing rope. Anchor a ropeto the top of a cliff, clip it through atleast five pieces that run diagonal up,hopefully at a 30-45 degree angle. Clean itfive times. Remember to tie backup knots.o Try to find a traversing crack that takes3-5 pieces in. Jug up to the first piece, thenswitch to re-aiding mode. Practice reaidingfive times.Congratulations, you are now an aid climber!You are about half way through the processof climbing El Capitan. And you are 95percent closer to achieving that goal thatmost climbers. If you have done all the itemson this checklist, you are proficient on thebasic techniques of aid climbing. Even someclimbers who have crawled and scratchedtheir way to a big wall summit can’t say that.FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM31

Master Checklist13. Acquire More Gear: Haul bagsand Hauling Gearo Borrow what you can or, if you are goingto buy gear, check out reviews at http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/big-wall-gear14. Hauling and Belay ManagementPlus Advanced Aid CourseSession 18Where: Ideally do this on your small practicecliff after first setting up the systems on flatground.o Set up a hauling anchor at least fivedifferent times (incorporate both the leadand haul rope into the anchor).o Space haul 15 times.o If you think you can do it safely, body haul15 times.Session 19 and 20 – Advanced AidCourseDo the Basic Aid Course on a longer, moresustained pitch (hopefully at least 100 feetlong). Each time try to set up the anchora little differently and alternate haulingtechniques.It is important to find a long and sustainedpitch so that you learn to deal with these bigwall issues:o How to maintain speed and fluidity over alonger pitch.o How to conserve gear by mixing upwhat size piece you leave so you have afull selection at the end of the pitch andextra for anchor.o Time yourself the first time to get abenchmark.32FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Master Checklisto Every ten times you do a lap on thecourse, time yourself and try to improveyour time 10-20 percent every ten times.o After the first ten laps, introduce haulingfor another ten laps. For the first fivetimes, use the body hauling technique.Once you can body haul safely, try outthe space haul first on the ground andlater on the wall. DANGER: Rememberbody hauling only works if your haulbag weighs close to your own weight.Otherwise: Danger!).o Do 20-30 laps total over two sessions.Congratulations, you are now a proficient aidclimber. If you took the time to master all thelessons, then you have the basics dialed. Nowtake your solid set of skills to the multi-pitchenvironment. When the exposure kicks in onDay 2 and your partner wants to bail because“it doesn’t feel right,” you can confidentlydraw from your mastered skill set and pushon through!15. The BivySession 21o On the ground, put the portaledgetogether five times.o Hang from a wall and put the ledgetogether five times.o Put the ledge together twice while using aheadlamp.o Try camping on the side of a cliff for anight (optional).o Set up the rainfly and turn the hose on fullblast. Spray it up from below the ledge. Seehow dry you stay.FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM33

Master Checklist16. Rescue and retreatSession 22o Practice rappelling with a haul bag.o Learn the basics of self rescue; how toescape the belay, etc. (material not coveredin this book).BONUS: The Road to the Nose– Free Climbing Skills1. Training at the CragSessions 23 and 24Where: After becoming a solid 5.10b tradclimber, go a crag with 100+ foot tall pitches.The El Capitan base is perfect but mostpeople only have their local crag.Congratulations, you are ready for your firstwall! If you have not skipped any sections, ifyou have checked every box, and graduatedto each level honestly, you know where yourweaknesses still lie…or you are ready tocharge.3. Climb 3 Grade V WallsSession 29-30Where: Yosemite, Zion, Black Canyon or anyother big wall area.o Climb two or more grade V walls.4. Climb An El Cap Grade VI!o Climb five 5.9 trad pitches carrying a Noserack [see page http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/route_gear.php?r=ybelnose].o Climb five 5.10 pitches carrying a Noserack.o Now add in a haul line and hang someascenders and a wall hauler off yourharness. If you still climb 5.10b, you arein good shape. Try to climb pitches longerthan 100 feet.o Practice moving from aid to free five timesclimbing out of your aider, and five timesclimbing out of a shoulder length sling.2. Training on the Big ClimbsSessions 25-28Where: Any place with long multi-pitchclimbs.o Climb five or more multi-pitch free routes.Key skills to pay attention to:o Fast belay changeover (2-5 minutes).o Rope and belay management (practiceseeing rope snags before they happen).34FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Essential aid gearBasic aid gear: two ladder aiders, twoascenders (with a light locking carabiner),fifi hook, two daisy chains.

Essential AiD GearBasic Aid GearTwo basic principles of good aidgear:• Use the best gear you can get. The right gearis essential. But buying brand new all at oncewould cost $5,000. Don’t be discouraged.Borrow gear and improvise where possibleuntil you fill out your rack with the best gearyou can get. I was lucky that my aid mentor,Mark Melvin, basically let me borrow hishaul bag, portaledge, and rack for my firstseason in Yosemite. See Dirtbag Options atthe end of the chapter for ways to improviseand the Do-It-Yourself Big Wall Thread.• Use the lightest and simplest gear. I usethe lightest gear possible as long as it doesnot compromise safety or functionality.Aid racks are heavy. If you compare thedifference between a standard rack and arack that uses lightweight biners and slings,the difference can be more than five pounds.Psychologically, I feel much better standingon marginal aid placements with a lighterrack. And when it comes time to free climbthe Stovelegs and Pancake Flake on The Nose,5.9 can feel like 5.11 if you have a really heavyrack.My exceptions to using the lightest gearpossible: ropes, cams, aiders, and harness. Iwill describe why later.WARNING: While I encourage usingwhatever you can latch onto at first, neveruse worn out gear, especially such criticalequipment as a harness, daisy chain orrope. Todd Skinner’s death on the LeaningTower when his worn belay loop brokereminded us all of how important it is tocheck your harness carefully and retire it ifthere is any question about its safety.AidersThere is no one-size-fits-all aider. What youbuy will depend on the type of wall you aredoing.Length and Number of StepsIf you are doing a wall with lots of freeclimbing, you want a shorter aider thatwill be less bulky when clipped to the sideof your harness. If you are doing an aidintensiveroute, you want a longer aider thatwill give you more bounce-testing options.More at OutdoorGearLab.comThis chapter features excerpts from ourBuying Advice articles at OutdoorGearLab.com. There is more detail, photos, andgeneral sweetness over at OutdoorGearLab.And while some of this info is timeless,some of it will be much more current atOutdoorGearLab when you read this.36FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Essential AiD GearWhen considering length, it is much moreimportant to look at the overall length thanthe number of steps. All manufacturerscount steps differently. For example, the PetzlWallStep 7 Step Etrier is the same length asthe Metolius 5 Step Aider because Metoliushas sub steps that are not counted. Moreimportant than the number of steps is wherethey are located. If possible, you want to trywalking up a pair of aiders with you harnessand fifi so you can see if the aider steps arewhere you want them when resting on apiece.This shows how the upper steps on theMetolius 8 Step Ladder (left) get squishedtogether when weighted while the Yates AidLadder stays open. This makes it easier to getyour feet in the upper steps of the aid ladder.Hopefully one day manufacturers will nametheir aiders by length rather than by stepnumbers. That will make it much easier forclimbers to compare and contrast them.Types of AidersThese aiders are all about the same lengtheven though their names imply otherwise.From left to right: 7 Step Petzl Wallstep Etrier,Metolius 8 Step Ladder, Metolius 5 Step Aider.There are three common types of aiders toconsider:Aid LadderAnd aid ladder has two vertical piecesof webbing down the sides connected byhorizontal pieces in the middle (so it lookslike a ladder). This is my favorite type ofaider for more aid-intensive walls such asZodiac, The Prow, or The Shield for threereasons:1) It is much less prone to twists and “goinginside out” than standard aiders.2) You don’t have to orient the aider step tothe correct side when you are steppinginto it. This is especially helpful forFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM37

Essential AiD Gearbeginners, which makes this style aiderthe best for climbers learning to aidclimb.3) Because the steps are closer together atthe top, you can often rest two feet in theaider at the same time.The downside for aid ladders is that theyare a little heavier than standard aiders andgenerally have more material, which meansthey are more likely to get stuck in the crack– which really sucks when moving from aidto free.When buying a ladder-style aider, try to getone with a beefy plastic spreader bar at thetop. Without a spreader bar the aider willbe difficult to walk up once you weight thebottom step. As you can see in the photo onPage 37, the upper step on the aider withoutthe spreader bar (left) gets compressed.Standard Aiders AKA EtriersThis is the most common type of aider. Iprefer it on walls with lots of free climbing(The Nose, South Face of WashingtonColumn, Touchstone Wall) over aid laddersbecause it is lighter weight and less bulkywhen you clip it to the side of your harnessand free climb. The downside is that it getstwisted, the steps get turned inside out, andyou always have to orient them properly(left foot into a step oriented left of center).That means more dealing and declusteringtime, which adds up over the course of awall and disrupts the “aid climbing flow.”Make sure there is a grab loop at the top. Iprefer models where the top and second stephave sub steps. The webbing should be atleast one inch wide and have some type ofreinforcement on the bottom of each step.Lightweight Aiders AKA Alpine AidersThis is best for mostly-free routes where youoccasionally need to use aiders. Very lightweight but uncomfortable if you are standingfor more than a few minutes. If I am doingThe Nose in a day, I will usually bring one ofthese and one mid-weight aider such as thePetzl WallStep. However, this is a bad choicefor learning to aid climb.Showing aider step width. From top tobottom: Yates Aid Ladder, Metolius Aider,Petzl WallStep, Petzl GradiStep.ComfortThe most comfortable aider is going to bethe one with the widest webbing in stepswith the most reinforcement that does notcrush your feet from the side. I find aiderswith urethane-like coating on the steps areusually the most comfortable because theextra structure digs into the bottom andsides of your foot less.Ease of use free climbingEverything that makes an aider comfortableand easy to walk up tends also to make itcumbersome with which to free climb. Thisis because the features that make an aidercomfortable also make it bulky and likely toget stuck in cracks. When doing a lot of freeclimbing, you want an aider that bunches upsmall on the sides of your harness.38FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Essential AiD GearIt is NOT necessary to have extra elastic tokeep your feet in the aiders when cleaning.Yes, at first when cleaning your feet willcome out more than you like. But over timeyou will learn to keep your feet in. Using theelastic takes extra time and makes it harderget your feet out when you want to.Daisy ChainsShowing a daisy chain with reinforced endShowing the bulk of aiders when bunch up(for clipping to the side of the harness forfree climbing). From top to bottom: PetzlGradistep, Petzl WallStep, Yates Aid Ladder,Metolius Aider.Features that are Important and NotImportantImportantIt is important in a ladder-style aider to havea spreader bar.It is important to have a grab loop up top(pretty much every aider has one).Not ImportantIt is NOT important for there to be a loop atthe bottom of the aider for clipping a weight.Many manufacturers design this for highwind situations. I have climbed in a lot ofhigh winds and never felt the urge to use thisfeature. And even if I did feel the need, it’salmost as easy to clip a weight to the bottomof the aider itself.What is The Right Length?All daisy chains I have seen work, so themost important thing is to get the lengthright. You don’t want the daisy chain to cometight before you get to your maximum reach.When shopping in the store, put one endat belt level and hold the other end as highas you can above your head with fingersoutstretched. There should be to four toeight inches of extra daisy beyond yourfingers. If between sizes, err on the size ofbeing too long. If shopping online, raise yourhand, measure from your waist to the tip ofyour fingers, and add a few inches. For mostpeople, 55 inches is the right length.DurabilityDurability comes down to how you use yourdaisy chain. If you are just free climbing,it will last for five-plus years. If you are aidclimbing and bounce testing a lot, it willwear out much faster. Unless you are unluckyand blow a bar tack, the point on the daisychain that wears out first is the point thatyou clip to the biner that you then clip to theaider and piece you are standing on. If youFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM39

Essential AiD Gearaid climb a lot, get a daisy chain that has thiscritical point reinforced like the MetoliusMonster Daisy Chain. If you don’t aid climba lot this does not matter as much.There is some debate about how long thebar tacks last on nylon vs. Dyneema. Thethought is Dyneema bar tacks rip out faster. Ihave not been able to test this but if you haveexperience, send an email.Dyneema or Nylon?I usually recommend Dyneema orDyneema/nylon mix because they are lighterthan regular nylon daisy chains. However,the nylon stretches more than Dyneemaand therefor will absorb more force duringa short daisy fall. How much does thismatter? It is very debatable. It is important toremember that a real world climber fallingcreates force equations much more complexthan simply dropping a weight in a lab test.I personally have only taken a handful ofdaisy falls in 100-plus big wall ascents andwhether it was nylon or Dyneema I wasconnected to my last piece with, it usuallyheld and I could never tell much difference.I am not sure how much difference there isbetween nylon and Dyneema in a real worldenvironment where your harness, your body,friction against the rock, “penduluming” andother factors add in fall absorption (read ourClimbing Sling and Runner Buying Advicearticle to learn more). If I was on a scaryhard aid route, I would go with nylon just forthe psychological value of thinking it wouldabsorb more force. But for most walls I do,lightness and ease of use are much moreimportant to me and I go with Dyneema or aDyneema/nylon mix.review. What I do find is that most of theadjustable daisy chains do not have verysmooth one-handed extension. The one thatdoes extend nicely is the Metolius AdjustableDaisy Chain. However, these are for bodyweight use only and I hear that they havebroken during small falls. Even if Metoliusfixed that issue I still find that regulardaisy chains are faster and require lessmanagement. With adjustable daisy chainsyou have to keep them untwisted or theydon’t slide as well.AscendersAscenders are often called Jumars or justjugs. Jumars were the first popular ascenderin Yosemite. Almost nobody uses the Jumarbrand anymore but people still use the term“jumaring“ or “jugging“ to describe movingup the rope with ascenders because the term“ascending“ is just too generic and “ascendinga rope using ascenders“ is a mouthful.Unlike a harness, where you can get a senseof how well it will work based on hangingaround in it, there is no easy way to testascenders in a store. The reason is thatascenders are not intuitive to use at first.They take practice to move efficiently andget on and off the rope. So more importantthan holding these in the store is asking theopinions of experienced big wall climbers.Left and Right AscendersAscenders are sold individually, not in pairs.So make sure you are buying one rightascender and one left ascender.Adjustable or Regular Daisy Chains?There are two types of daisy chains:adjustable and regular. I have always usedregular daisy chains and most aid climbersprefer them. I have only used adjustabledaisy chains a little so I can’t give a detailed40FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Essential AiD GearWeightWeight is not a big deal when you are usingascenders. But you will notice the differencein weight when they are clipped to the sideof your harness. Since big wall racks alreadyweigh so much, it is nice to have a lightascender on your harness when leading.Also, if you are alpine climbing, the lighterthe ascender the better.Belay DeviceBlack Diamond nForce ascenders on Wall ofEarly Light, El Capitan.Ease of sliding up the ropeOf all the features to look for an ascender,this is the most important: It is how easilythe ascender slides up the rope that willdetermine how tired your arms get overtime. If the device slides up effortlessly, yourarms will thank you.Ease of taking on and off the ropeThis is the second most important featurein an ascender. Remember that no ascenderis perfectly intuitive to use at first; it takespractice to be able to quickly get themon and off the rope. So if you are testingascenders head-to-head in a store, make sureyou use them a LOT. For example, at firstI could not get the nForce ascender off therope quickly and my friend Tim could notget the Petzl off the rope quickly. Then weboth practiced a lot. In the end, after lots ofpractice, we found them both about the sameto get off the rope.An auto-assist belay device like the PetzlGriGri 2 or Trango Cinch is mandatory on awall. There are times when you need to takeyour brake hand off the device to clear a ropesnag or dig into the haul bag. Also, it is oftenhard to stay perfectly alert during a multihourbelay. I have used the GriGri a lot andlove it, especially because it is also a greatbelay device at the crags as well. However, Iprefer the Cinch on big walls for one reason:it automatically slides up the rope when youare jugging up whereas the GriGri does notunless there is a ton of weight on the ropeand everything is aligned just right. Thismeans that between backup knots, you havea nice extra backup with the Cinch.CarabinersI only climb with lightweight wire gate biners.With a big rack and hundreds of biners, usinglightweight biners saves pounds of weight.My current favorite is the CAMP Nano 23because it is the lightest carabiner out there.However, many wall climbers want somethinga little bigger and easier to handle, in whichcase I would recommend the Black DiamondOz, CAMP Photon or Wild Country Astro.By the time you read this, there may be bettercarabiner options so be sure to check out myreview at http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Carabiner-ReviewsFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM41

Essential AiD GearNote: Stop Buying OvalsOval carabiners like the Black Diamond Ovalwere the old aid climbing standby. They arewhat everyone used on walls in the 60-70’s(there were not many alternatives) and theydon’t make the scary “biner shift” noise. Butoval biners are heavy and have some of thelowest strength ratings of any biners outthere. I don’t use them. FYI: the “biner shift”noise occurs when three biners are clippedto each other and the load changes betweenbiners. A biner can then shift position andmake a noise eerily similar to a piece pullingout. If you are using the simple systems inthis book, biner shift won’t happen muchand is not a big deal when it does. If you aregoing to use an oval biner, I would go withsomething lighter than the standard oval,like the Black Diamond Oval Wire or OmegaPacific Doval.Locking CarabinersI like to have four to eight locking carabiners.Again, light ones are best such as the PetzlAttache 3D. I also bring a few larger lockingcarabiners for attaching the haul bag to thehaul line and for using as the master point atthe belay. A good big locking carabiner likethe Black Diamond Rocklock is also goodto have. Again, my recommendations mayhave changed by the time you read this sogo to www.outdoorgeralab.com for the latestrecommendations.QuickdrawsI prefer six-inch or 10-inch Dyneema drawswith any of the lightweight carabinersmentioned above.Climbing Slingsand RunnersJust like carabiners, it is hard to bring toomany slings. I bring 15 lightweight shoulderlengthslings on a wall. The Dyneema onesare the best because they are so light, like theMammut Contact Dyneema. However, I alsobring 2-5 non-sewn nylon slings so that I canleave one behind at a pendulum point or justhave something more versatile.HelmetsIt is especially important to wear a helmeton a wall for two reasons: 1) If you get a badhead injury on a wall, rescue will be manyhours away. 2) When bounce testing, pieceswill pull and hit you squarely in the head.Most helmets made by major manufacturerswork. I use the lightest I can find with therequirement it must allow me to attach aheadlamp for night climbing. Two helmetsI have used and like are the Petzl Elios andPetzl Meteor III. (I take the Meteor on onedayascents and the Elios on ascents thattake more than a day. But there are a lot ofgreat helmets available. Read our completeBest Climbing Helmet Review to see howthe top helmets compare. http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Climbing-Helmet-ReviewsTip: To avoid bad farmer’s tan and skincancer, wear a bandana under the helmetso it covers your neck and ears. Or, formaximum ventilation, duct tape thebandana to the back of your helmet.42FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Essential AiD GearAmmon McNeely on the firstmove and anchor (!) of RodeoQueen, Zion.Photo: Chris McNamaraFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM43

Essential AiD GearFifi HookThere are a few different manufacturers of fifihooks. The important thing is the length ofthe half-inch webbing that connects the fifihook to your harness. The length is usuallyshorter that you think—usually about sixinches or just long enough to be able to girthhitch to your harness. If the fifi hook comeswith pre-sewn webbing like Black DiamondFifi Hook, you may need to cut off thewebbing and tie on your own in order to getthe right length.Big Wall HarnessGet a harness with decent padding thatis well padded at the waist and leg loops.Because I don’t like heavy gear, I don’t wearthe super-beefy wall harnesses like the YatesShield Harness but a lot of people love ‘em.Make sure there are two beefy gear loopson each side. Before you commit to a beefyharness for a mostly-free route like TheNose, make sure you are willing to sacrificethe extra weight for comfort.If I am going to spend multiple days ona wall, I will wear a “medium beefy” bigharness like the Metolius Safe Tech Waldo.Most of the time, especially on a one-dayascent, I just wear a trad climbing harnessbecause they are light. My three favoritesright now are Arc’teryx R320, the BlackDiamond Momentum Harness, and the PetzlSama Harness.We have a complete big wall harness reviewand an article How To Choose A Big WallHarness at OutdoorGearLab.com.GlovesI used to only use sturdy leather gloves likethe Metolius Climbing Glove. They are beefyand probably the best option for seriousnailing routes. However, they really onlyprotect your palms. After days on a wall yourfingers will be sore and black from handlingbiners and the rope. Then when you eatfinger foods with those black fingers… Youget the idea. I’m now a fan of bringing twopairs of gloves. I bring the Black DiamondStove Glove for leading aid pitches. I bringa full-finger Mountain Bike Glove forcleaning. The Mountain Bike Gloves protectyour entire hand, have great dexterity, andyou can do easy free moves with them on.The downside is they are a little expensiveconsidering they won’t last for a lot of walls.If I am going to do a wall with lots of burlyhauling, instead of the Mountain Bike GloveI bring Wells Lamont Leather Work Glovesor a pair of construction gloves if there aresome lying around.Wall ShoesWalking up and down in aiders maybe thesingle most destructive activity to a pairof shoes. “What shoes to bring on a wall?”is still a question I grapple with on everyclimb. I have listed all the different types offootwear with their pros and cons on thenext page. I usually use climbing approachshoes, but at the peak of my wall climbingactivity I would buy a cheap pair of hikingboots and cover the seams in Shoe Gooor Seam Grip. Even if you buy a pair ofclimbing-specific approach shoes, it maystill make sense to cover them in Seam Grip.Some climbers go as far as putting two tubeson each shoe! This will likely result in thefabric blowing out long before the stitchingdoes... which is what you want to happen.44FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Essential AiD GearAs for shoe fit, I err on the side of wearingmy wall shoes a little tight. That way theyperform better when doing free moves. Butbear in mind that tight shoes will hurt a littlemore on the descent.Approach shoes likeLa Sportiva GandaRegular hiking shoeslike Merrell MoabHiking boots likeSalomon QuestPros:Great for moving fromaid to free climbing.Generally low profile,so they move in andout of aiders efficiently.What I usually use onThe Nose.Pros:Reasonable supportand durability.Can be pretty cheapPros:Most durable option.Comfortable for longA3-A5 leads.Good for edging if fittightly.Cons:Expensive.Will only last for ahandful of wall climbsbefore blowing out—sometimes only for onewall.Painful for long A3-A5leads.Cons:Not as precise for doingthe occasional freemove.Cheap versions canblow apart fast.Cons:Generally prettyexpensive.Can be clunky whenyou move around inaiders.Bad for smearing.Tip: If you really want your boots to lastas long as possible and don’t care ifthey’re ugly, liberally apply Shoe Goo oran equivalent product to the seams mostlikely to blow out (mainly the area aroundthe toe).Big Wall Free Climbing ShoesFor free climbing on a big wall, I bringshoes that are one size too big. Big shoesreduce performance a little but make theshoes way more comfortable—a worthytradeoff. Wearing thin socks makes themmore comfortable, especially when you haveto haul. When climbing The Nose in a dayI wear a comfy pair of free shoes all daylong. If climbing The Nose over multipledays, I wear free shoes on all of my leads butswitch into approach shoes when cleaning.I prefer Velcro shoes so that I can take themoff at the belays. That said, lately I havebeen using the La Sportiva TC Pro becausethey are comfortable and edge very well.FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM45

Essential AiD GearUnfortunately, they cost $170. If you are ona budget, just about any free shoe will work.But in general, go with a stiff sole.Lead RopeYou want a 10.2 to 10.5mm rope with aperfectly intact sheath. Anything withsmaller diameter will wear through tooquickly and be scary to jumar on. The 11mmropes add an extra feeling of security but arereally heavy. I like a 60m rope. A 50m rope istoo short these days and won’t allow you tolink pitches as easily. In general, a 70m ropeis overkill and means you will have 30 extrafeet of rope to manage at the belay on everypitch—which can lead to more rope clusters.Right now the Maxim Glider is our toprecommended big wall rope and the MaximEquinox is our Best Buy recommendation.Check out the how to buy a climbing rope atOutdoorGearLab.com.Tip: Always carry climbing tape on a wall.There is nothing worse than being halfwayup an aid route and noticing a tiny bit ofwhite core poking through the sheath ofyour rope. It’s a personal call as to whena rope is so damaged that you should notlead on it and need to bail. In most cases,if the core is not damaged, I will wrap thedamaged spot in athletic tape and mainlyuse the “better half of the rope” the rest ofthe climb (this means switching ends of therope every time you switch leaders).Fifi hook: Biner or quickdraw (or nothing).Harness: Regular free climbing harness.Shoes: Old pair of running shoes or hikingboots.Haul Bag: check out this Do-It-YourselfBig Wall Thread for more inspirationhttp://www.supertopo.com/climbersforum/1340828/Big-Wall-DIY-ThreadIf you get serious about aid climbing, youwill want to buy the more specific aidclimbing gear mentioned above.PantsThe ideal pants are synthetic, have reinforcedknees and are loose enough that you canroll them up to the below the knee if you gettoo hot. I never wear shorts on a wall. Myfavorite is the Patagonia Simple Guide Pant- Men’s.Knee PadsI don’t use them because they get in the wayand make you sweat behind the knees. Buta lot of aid climbers, especially beginners,seem to like ‘em. On The Nose or any freeclimbing wall they really get in the way whenfree climbing. If you are going to use them Iwould use the lightest and most low profileones you can find. One problem with morebeefy knee pads is that they can get snaggedin the aiders.DIRTBAG OPTIONSWhen you start aid climbing you canimprovise just about everything you need offa regular free climbing rack.Aiders: Intertwine two shoulder-lengthslings or buy some one-inch webbing andimprovise an aider like they used to do in theolden days46FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Leading traversing terrainMark Melvin winds up for The King Swing,The Nose, El CapitanPhoto: Chris McNamara

Leading Traversing TerrainLeading traversing terrain is the mostexciting and tricky part of wallclimbing. There is nothing as coolas making a giant pendulum likeThe King Swing on The Nose and nothingas scary and traversing horizontally under aroof like The Great Roof. Traverses are headsup for three reasons:• If you fall on traversing terrain, you swingsideways which is the most dangerousway to fall. On a vertical fall you almostalways take the impact with your legs. Ona sideways fall you usually take it to theabdomen or hip after you first impact withyour hands. You are also more likely to hityour head on a sideways fall.• It’s harder to bounce test on traversingterrain.• You need to always be thinking about yourfollower and leave gear and lower-outslings in convenient places for him or her.Skills to learn:• Pendulums• Tension traverses• Placing and testing gear to the side• Projecting your followerGear you need:o Daisy chainso Aiderso Helmeto Gloves (optional)o Locking biners (lightweight if possible)o Two shoulder length slingso Lead ropeo Fifi hook.Where to practiceIdeally, you will have an 80-degree wall thatis 30-80 feet tall and has one horizontal crackor bolt ladder and one diagonal crack or boltladder. I started in a tree that had a sturdy20-foot-long horizontal branch. Anothergood option is a rafter that you can sling.Work with what you have. The importantthing is to practice as much as possible.PendulumsPendulums are my favorite part of wallclimbing. Nothing compares to running backand forth on El Cap with thousands of feetof air under you. Pendulums are also prettysimple: just lower, swing, and latch onto thenext crack. What is tricky about them is whatto do after the pendulum swing. It helps alot to have sticky rubber approach shoes orfree climbing shoes for pendulums. Not onlydoes it make the pendulum easier, it makesthe critical climbing after the pendulum feelmore secure and be potentially safer.Step-by-step guideto pendulums:1.Make sure your pendulum point isbomber. If it blows on you, you fall toyour last piece. If it blows on the follower, thefollower will take a dangerous swinging fall,probably onto their ascenders, which can cutthe rope. Back up the point with gear if youare unsure of how bomber it is. The followercan then decide for himself if he wants toleave gear or not.2.Make sure there is a convenient way forthe follower to lower off the pendulumpoint. If there is a sketchy lower-out sling,replace it with a good one. It is much easierfor the leader to clean up the pendulum pointthan it is for the follower. When the follower92FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Leading Traversing Terraingets up there the pendulum point will beweighted and harder to manage.3.Have the belayer lower you downuntil you think you are in position tomake the swing. Work out in advance whatcommands you will use. Usually the leader willsay, “Take. Lower... lower... lower... stop!” Itis VERY important that you can communicatewith your belayer for a pendulum. Keep thisin mind if you are linking pitches and willpotentially be far away from your belayer.4.Swing over to the crack or face holdyou are going for. Usually on the first goyou are too high so you have to lower down alittle. Its better to start too high than too low. Ifyou are too low then you have to find away toclimb back up or, if the wall is blank, you haveto jumar back up to the anchor point and startover.5.If you are making a pendulum tofree climbing, you can usually justswing, sink your hands into the crack, andstart going. If you are penduluming to an aidplacement, you should guess which piece ofgear you will need and put that on the end ofyour aider. Once you reach the crack, you canthen sink in the piece of gear and stand on it.6.Once you are done with the pendulum,you either tell the belayer to give lotsof slack in the rope by yelling “slack” or giveslack slowly to ease the transition to the nextmove by yelling “lower slow.” Often if you arependuluming to a free move, you will wantto have some tension for the first few freemoves, so careful communicating exactlyhow much slack or tension you want with thebelayer is essential.7.Now the crux of pendulums: where toplace your first piece of gear. The longeryour wait to place gear, the less rope drag andthe more exposed you are to a bad fall (andhaving to redo the pendulum). The absolutesafest and slowest way is to immediately startplacing gear after the pendulum. If the ropedrag becomes too bad later, you can alwayslower down and clean.Tension traversesUnlike a pendulum, a tension traverses doesnot involve swinging side-to-side. Instead,you typically have your belayer take, thenslowly lower you as you gingerly use frictionand face holds to traverse to the side andusually a little down. Communication iskey. Too much slack from the belayer andyou lose tension in the rope and usually loseyour balance and footing. In many cases, apendulum leads to a tension traverse. Forexample, with The King Swing on The Nose,a popular route has you swinging side-tosideuntil you can gingerly face climb withtension from the rope over to Eagle Ledge.All tension traverses are made easier byclimbing shoes or sticky rubber approachshoes.Ammon McNeely tension traverses low onHorse Chute, El Capitan.FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM93

Leading Traversing TerrainPlacing and testing gear tothe sideThe hardest part of leading traversing terrainis placing gear way to the side and knowingif it is bomber. It is very hard to test geareffectively to your side because to fullycommit to a piece to your side means thatif that piece pops during testing, you fallback and put a lot of swinging force on theprevious piece. There is no easy way to testgear to the side, but here are a few tips:• A little tension from the belayer will helpyou keep your balance if the piece you aretesting pops.• Use your foot like a lever (this tip wasmentioned earlier). With you foot in theaider of the piece you are testing, pointyour toe down a little and then try and useit as a lever.• Use cams instead of stoppers. I alwaystry to use cams instead of stoppers, butespecially on traversing terrain. It’s hardto tell if a stopper way to your side is anygood. And a stopper might be good whenyou are testing it, but then when yourweight shifts to the side, it might becomecrappy.• Use cam hooks. Cam hooks are greatunder some traversing roofs like the NipplePitch on Zodiac. You can generally tell howbomber they are by how deep they sink ina roof crack. The downside to cam hooksis it might then be harder for your followerto clean the pitch. This issue is solved bygiving your follower cam hooks or justmaking sure there is not too much distancebetween horizontal pieces.wrong spot, your follower may have no wayto clean a piece other than leaving it. It isimportant to think things through. Anytimeyou backclean a piece, ask, “Will the followernow be able to get the piece before it?” Inaddition, you need to make sure the followercan safely lower out from pendulum ortension traverse points. Is the lower outpoint solid? Is the webbing that will be lefton the lower out point solid? Remember, youare not just protecting the followers safety,you are also making sure you don’t put thefollower in a position where they will have toleave behind a lot of gear.Protecting your followerWhen leading straight up and downpitches, you don’t need to worry about gearplacements for you follower (except forprotecting the rope from sharp edges). Whenyou are leading traversing terrain, thingsare different. If you backclean gear at the94FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Big wall gear checklistBelow is a general list. Go to the link belowto see the latest specific gear I recommend.http://www.supertopo.com/gear/htbw-rackClean Aid Racko Nutso Offset Nutso Camso Offset Camso Cam Hookso Lead Ropeo Haul Ropeo Lower Out Line (optional)o Quickdrawso Carabinerso Locking Carabinerso Slingso Cordeletteso Hooks (optional)o Peckers/Tomahawks (optional)o Wire Rivet Hangerso Keyhole Rivet Hangers (optional)Personal Gearo Harnesso Belay Deviceo Climbing Shoeso Helmeto Gear Slingo Chalk bago Fifi hooko Nut Toolo Ascenderso Aiderso Daisy Chainso Approach Shoeso GlovesHauling Gearo Knot Protectoro Haul Bago Hauling DeviceBivy Gearo Bivy Sacko Synthetic Sleeping Bago Sleeping Pado Stove (optional)o Headlamp with space batterieso Poop Tubeo Portaledge and seam-sealed Rain Flyo Stuff Sacks with clip-in loopso Portable Solar Panel and Cell Phoneo Duct Tapeo Climbing Tapeo Water Bottles with clip in tie-offsClotheso Synthetic Pantso Synthetic Underwearo Synthetic Belay Jacketo Rain Jacketo Rain Pantso Balaclavao Beanieo Synthetic Layerso Bandanao Wool or Synthetic SocksFOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM139

Clean Aid and Hammerless Climbing -Top 11 TricksA big goal of SuperTopo is to inspire more clean ascents. Here are 11 tricks that I have found todo that. Please add in your own clean aid tips below the article.Carry lots of small camsIt’s impossible to carry too many smallcams (sizes .33-1”) – just try. They weighnothing and are the most-used pieces on anyaid climb. If you have too few, you have tobackclean, which means you are more likelyto get scared and reach for the hammer.Offset camsIn an earlier book, offset cams were“recommended” in the racks. Now we listmost racks as requiring 1-2 sets. Yes, youcan get up most walls without them; butoffset cams are usually the most bomberclean placement in a pin scar. The differencebetween a tipped out regular cam or abomber offset cam is often the differencebetween C1 and C2 or C3.From top to bottom, Black Diamond CamalotC3, Metolius Master Cam, Wild CountryZero, CCH Alien.Metolius Offset Master Cam in a Yosemite pinscar.Offset micro nutsThese little guys get in pin scars where nothing else can. Nonoffsetmicro nuts often won’t stick at all or are more likely togetfixed.A set of DMM Brass offset nuts.140FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

Cam hooksCam hooks not only save time, they are oftenthe only clean placement that works in a thincrack. They are scary at first, but if you “aidboulder practice” enough with them, youwill cruise C2 as fast as you free climb.Intertwine stoppersYou can make a two-foot mini cheat stick byintertwining three stoppers to snag distantrivets.Hooks and beak hookingOften you can hook a crack or fixed headeither with a regular hook or with a beak.Medium and large sized Black DiamondPeckers work especially well. A BAT hookcan also sometimes get in the eye of a RURPwith a broken cable. If you are going to nail,it is much better to use a beak, Pecker orTomahawk as they are much less destructivethan Lost Arrows, knifeblades and angles.Moses Cam HooksTop stepIncreasing your reach is usually the best wayto find an elusive clean placement. Gettinginto that top step gives you another foot ormore. There are top-stepping tips and othertips at the online “How To Big Wall” pagehere:http://www.supertopo.com/gear/tableofcontentsFree climbMany low-angle A2 sections can be easilyfree climbed. Sometimes a move or two of5.8 or 5.9 saves ten minutes of trying to geta shallow pin scar placement to hold. Evenpasting one foot on an edge and one foot inyour top step can help you reach a bomberclean placement. Wearing comfortable freeshoes on a low-angle aid pitch is a good idea.Leave the hammer in the bagOn a route that you might be able to doclean, leave the hammer in the haul bag. Justby having to tag it up, you are more likely topush your clean climbing as far as possible.The Tomahawk works as a regular hook insome applications thanks to the curved shaftthat wraps around edges for stability.Hand place pitonsMany pin scars take a hand-placed piton.For extra security, give it a few pounds withyour palm (leather gloves recommended).Sawed-off pitons often work the best if ahand-placed beak or Pecker won’t work.Cheat sticksI don’t use em. But if it keeps you fromreaching for the hammer, go for it.FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM141

More from SuperTopoDESERT ADVENTURE CLASSICSRED ROCKS CLIMBINGList Price: $24.95 Available at www.supertopo.comOur Red Rocks Climbing guidebook provides SuperTopos for thebest Red Rocks climbs—most in the 5.4 to 5.11 range. While theguidebook focuses on the most classic multi-pitch routes suchas Crimson Chrysalis and Epinephrine, cragging routes are alsoincluded. Most of the climbs are on the highest quality sandstoneRed Rocks has to offer and are well-protected with bolts or naturalgear. This guide is perfect for climbers making their first trip to RedRocks or returning climbers who want to tick off all the classics.THE MOST CLASSY WALLS IN THE WORLDYOSEMITE BIG WALLS: 3RD EDITIONList Price: $29.95 Available at www.supertopo.comYosemite Big Walls: 3rd Edition is the most current, detailed,and accurate guide to Yosemite’s most classic walls such as ElCap and Half Dome. This 208-page full-color printed guidebookincludes unprecedented route detail such as climbing strategy,retreat information, descent topos, pitch lengths, and gearrecommendations for each pitch.THE BEST TOPOS FOR YOSEMITE’S BEST CLIMBSYOSEMITE VALLEY FREE CLIMBSList Price: $29.95 Available at www.supertopo.comThis guidebook includes over 230 of the best routes in YosemiteValley, from 16-pitch trad climbs to one-pitch sport routes. Whilemany hard Yosemite testpieces are included, this book focuses ontopropes, crags, and multi-pitch climbs in the 5.4-5.9 range. Wealso include formerly obscure climbs to provide more options foravoiding crowds. As in all SuperTopo books, the authors personallyclimbed and documented each route with meticulous care to createthe most detailed and accurate topos ever published.142FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM

ALPINE ROCK CLIMBING PARADISEHIGH SIERRA CLIMBINGList Price: $24.95 Available at www.supertopo.comThis guidebook includes 26 of the best High Sierra alpine climbs,ranging in difficulty from 3rd class to 5.11c. Most of these climbsare well-protected, 10-15 pitches long, and ascend some of thebest alpine granite anywhere. Whether you plan to scramble upthe 3rd class East Ridge of Mt. Russell, climb the 5.7 East Face ofMt. Whitney, or ascend the epic 18-pitch Sun Ribbon Arête, ourguidebook will ensure you spend minimum time off-route andmaximum time enjoying the climb.OUTSTANDING PEAKS AND DOMES IN THE HIGH SIERRATUOLUMNE FREE CLIMBS: 2ND EDITIONList Price: $24.95 Available at www.supertopo.comTuolumne Free Climbs includes over 110 of the best routes inTuolumne Meadows from 14-pitch trad climbs to one-pitch sportroutes. This book focuses on topropes, crags, and multi-pitchclimbs in the 5.4-5.9 range. Includes formerly obscure climbs toprovide more options for avoiding crowds. As in all SuperTopobooks, the authors personally climbed and documented each climbwith meticulous care to create the most detailed and accurate toposever published.DESERT BIG WALL MECCAZION CLIMBING: FREE AND CLEANList Price: $29.95 Available at www.supertopo.comZion Climbing Free and Clean is the most comprehensive climber’sguide to Zion National Park, arguably one of the most beautifulnational parks in the United States. Inside you will find up-to-dateinformation on more than 250 free climbs and 25 of Zion’s bestclean aid climbs, plus pictures and directions to the park’s mostpopular bouldering areas.FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM143

About the AuthorClimbing Magazineonce computed thatthree percent of ChrisMcNamara’s life onearth had been spenton the face of ElCapitan – anaccomplishment thatleft friends and familypondering Chris’ssanity. He has climbedEl Capitan more than70 times and holdsnine big wall speed climbing records. In1998 Chris did the first Girdle Traverse of ElCapitan, an epic 75-pitch route that asks thequestion, “Why?”Outside Magazine has called Chris oneof “the world’s finest aid climbers.” He isthe winner of the 1999 Bates Award fromthe American Alpine Club and founder ofthe American Safe Climbing Association(ASCA), a nonprofit group that has replacedmore than 11,000 dangerous anchor bolts.He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and serveson the board of the ASCA and the RowellLegacy Committee. As a BASE jumperhe claimed a slice of the Golden Age ofWingsuit BASE first descents by findingand jumping 10-plus significant new exitsin the United States and Baffin Island. InSwitzerland he hiked and jumped TheEiger three times in one day. Chris is thefounder of SuperTopo and is its CEO. Healso founded OutdoorGearLab and servesas its Editor-in-Chief. And he also runsthe Lake Tahoe vacation rental businessRentSouthLake.com.What do you think about this book? Pleaseemail your reactions and suggestions tochris@supertopo.com. The second edition isin the works and needs feedback.Author Chris McNamara.Photo Mark Melvin.144FOR CURRENT GEAR INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SUPERTOPO.COM