steep and exposed. pitch three was my hardest lead. some hooking, many fixed heads, grey corner very estethic. mark of zorro had shifty blocks. cool, unexpected free climbing off peanut ledge.
more adventurous than the nose, and overall slightly harder. hollow flake way committing lead. headwall super awesome. good bivy spacing, no ledges needed. free blast overrated, only degrading feature on a stellar route.
Route Climbed: East Buttress IV, 5.10A Date Climbed: Memorial Weekend 1982
Miguel Carmona and I climbed the route in 1982, in some 6 hours with 2.5 hours to get down. The East Buttress is one of the classic early climbs in Yosemite and today it's a bit neglected. It should not be. It's a good route on good rock and in great location.
Route Climbed: Native Son Date Climbed: September 8-16 2002
Native Son is an amazing climb on the Southeast face of El cap. The route climbs the center of the Southeast face on solid golden Granite. The only Diorite encountered on the route is on the "coral sea" pitch. The climbing on this pitch is characterized by continious hooking on loose flakes. The Wing pitch is another memorable lead. An easy crack leads to a string of rivets and heads out a huge roof making for the steepest pich on el cap. For 100' your feet will never touch the wall!! Interesting aid that demands your attention characterizes most of the climbing on this route. This is great route on a great part of the wall. Enjoy!!!
Route Climbed: The Shield Date Climbed: 1984 VI, 5.10, A4
This was ( still is ?) the classic cool aid route. The great roof was scary ( fixed creaky crap ready to blow ) and the 700' overhanging headwall is amazing! My last trip up the Capitan!
Route Climbed: Zodiac VI, 5.10, A4 Date Climbed: 1983
4 days of excellent fun with Tim Winiarski and Roy Baker ( Roys 1st El Cap route ). I really enjoyed this climb, and we had the stereo and beer to boot! Some how, I got the 7 rurps in a row lead ( glad the fixed ones stayed fixed )! It's amazing how much easier the rating is today ( but there were no small cams in '83 either ).
Route Climbed: Muir Wall VI, 5.9, A4 Date Climbed: 1982
Tim Winiarski and I had the big wall epic of our lives on what we were told was the 10th ascent of the Muir Wall. Discovered an off route cul de sac and got rained on right below the summit. Ran out of food except for one pack of Tropical Lifesavers. 8 days of fun ( and I've got one hell of a slide show )! This route is a lot easier now than in '82, and Kullaberg is right - climb the entire route from the ground!
Route Climbed: New Dawn VI, 5.9, A4 Date Climbed: 1982
My 2nd trip up El Cap, a 7 day cruise involving lots of nailing and beer ( with Tim Winiarski and Craig Shaw ). Wino Tower is a fun bivy. Almost an epic!
Route Climbed: Dihedral Wall VI, 5.9, A3 Date Climbed: 1981
My first trip up El Cap, with Dana Brown. A big nailing route ( in 1981 at least ) with no ledge for the 1st 1000', I had a blast! Took us 5 days, and got me hooked on big walls for the next 5 years!
Route Climbed: The Nose Date Climbed: September 2000
Our second attempt to climb the nose ends with a
big (BIG !) fall near the top of the very first difficult pitch. The reason was something Chris McNamara called >>... little danger of failing except through pilot error ... << in his excellent book "Yosemite Big Walls".
May be an other time ... I'll come back .... Yes !!!!!
Route Climbed: Falls Creek Trail (and I call myself a climber?) Date Climbed: Summer 1997
Had no climbing partners, and a day to blow, so took off up the trail to see the top of El Cap the easy way. I 'summited' about the same time that Project Bandaloop finished The Shield. Since I acknowledged some expereince in climbing, they saddled me up with a fat haulbag full of junk (Steve Schnieder kindly relieved me of the peanut-butter jar full of shit) and off we trooped down the East Ledges descent. I was glad to share my gatorade and the load of gear. It was fun to rub shoulders with Steve Schnieder and Peter Mayfield and the Bandaloop folks. The most exciting part was a jerry-rigged rappel knot of my own making in the dark, and when their photographer dropped the zoom lens to his camera and we saw it sail off over the Wall of Early Morning Light. Thus did I touch greatness on El-Cap without ever touching it's storied wall. At least when I do go back to climb it, I'll know the quick way down!
Route Climbed: El Capitan Gully(ascent) - Eagle Creek (descent) Date Climbed: May 17, 2002
I'm no big wall climber, but there is great fun to be had on the outside routes scrambling in class 3-4 gullies. Weather was beautiful, took 9 hours roundtrip with a stop at Eagle Point (a much better view spot than El Cap's summit, imho). Trip Report
kullaberg - Nov 27, 2002 10:12 pm
Route Climbed: zodiac Date Climbed: sept 89steep and exposed. pitch three was my hardest lead. some hooking, many fixed heads, grey corner very estethic. mark of zorro had shifty blocks. cool, unexpected free climbing off peanut ledge.
kullaberg - Nov 27, 2002 10:08 pm
Route Climbed: salathe wall Date Climbed: june 89more adventurous than the nose, and overall slightly harder. hollow flake way committing lead. headwall super awesome. good bivy spacing, no ledges needed. free blast overrated, only degrading feature on a stellar route.
kullaberg - Nov 27, 2002 10:05 pm
Route Climbed: the nose Date Climbed: may 89enough said about this one
kullaberg - Nov 27, 2002 10:03 pm
Route Climbed: east buttress Date Climbed: may 89good pitches, bad pitches, some tricky routefinding, some vegetation. popular. better than the east buttress of middle.
asmrz - Nov 15, 2002 10:23 pm
Route Climbed: East Buttress IV, 5.10A Date Climbed: Memorial Weekend 1982Miguel Carmona and I climbed the route in 1982, in some 6 hours with 2.5 hours to get down. The East Buttress is one of the classic early climbs in Yosemite and today it's a bit neglected. It should not be. It's a good route on good rock and in great location.
mchristie - Oct 15, 2002 4:04 pm
Route Climbed: Native Son Date Climbed: September 8-16 2002Native Son is an amazing climb on the Southeast face of El cap. The route climbs the center of the Southeast face on solid golden Granite. The only Diorite encountered on the route is on the "coral sea" pitch. The climbing on this pitch is characterized by continious hooking on loose flakes. The Wing pitch is another memorable lead. An easy crack leads to a string of rivets and heads out a huge roof making for the steepest pich on el cap. For 100' your feet will never touch the wall!! Interesting aid that demands your attention characterizes most of the climbing on this route. This is great route on a great part of the wall. Enjoy!!!
Craig Peer - Sep 23, 2002 10:49 am
Route Climbed: The Shield Date Climbed: 1984 VI, 5.10, A4This was ( still is ?) the classic cool aid route. The great roof was scary ( fixed creaky crap ready to blow ) and the 700' overhanging headwall is amazing! My last trip up the Capitan!
Craig Peer - Sep 23, 2002 10:45 am
Route Climbed: Zodiac VI, 5.10, A4 Date Climbed: 19834 days of excellent fun with Tim Winiarski and Roy Baker ( Roys 1st El Cap route ). I really enjoyed this climb, and we had the stereo and beer to boot! Some how, I got the 7 rurps in a row lead ( glad the fixed ones stayed fixed )! It's amazing how much easier the rating is today ( but there were no small cams in '83 either ).
Craig Peer - Sep 23, 2002 10:41 am
Route Climbed: Muir Wall VI, 5.9, A4 Date Climbed: 1982Tim Winiarski and I had the big wall epic of our lives on what we were told was the 10th ascent of the Muir Wall. Discovered an off route cul de sac and got rained on right below the summit. Ran out of food except for one pack of Tropical Lifesavers. 8 days of fun ( and I've got one hell of a slide show )! This route is a lot easier now than in '82, and Kullaberg is right - climb the entire route from the ground!
Craig Peer - Sep 23, 2002 10:36 am
Route Climbed: New Dawn VI, 5.9, A4 Date Climbed: 1982My 2nd trip up El Cap, a 7 day cruise involving lots of nailing and beer ( with Tim Winiarski and Craig Shaw ). Wino Tower is a fun bivy. Almost an epic!
Craig Peer - Sep 23, 2002 10:33 am
Route Climbed: Dihedral Wall VI, 5.9, A3 Date Climbed: 1981My first trip up El Cap, with Dana Brown. A big nailing route ( in 1981 at least ) with no ledge for the 1st 1000', I had a blast! Took us 5 days, and got me hooked on big walls for the next 5 years!
kletterwebbi - Sep 18, 2002 7:50 am
Route Climbed: The Nose Date Climbed: September 2000Our second attempt to climb the nose ends with a
big (BIG !) fall near the top of the very first difficult pitch. The reason was something Chris McNamara called >>... little danger of failing except through pilot error ... << in his excellent book "Yosemite Big Walls".
May be an other time ... I'll come back .... Yes !!!!!
darinchadwick - Jun 17, 2002 6:09 am
Route Climbed: Falls Creek Trail (and I call myself a climber?) Date Climbed: Summer 1997Had no climbing partners, and a day to blow, so took off up the trail to see the top of El Cap the easy way. I 'summited' about the same time that Project Bandaloop finished The Shield. Since I acknowledged some expereince in climbing, they saddled me up with a fat haulbag full of junk (Steve Schnieder kindly relieved me of the peanut-butter jar full of shit) and off we trooped down the East Ledges descent. I was glad to share my gatorade and the load of gear. It was fun to rub shoulders with Steve Schnieder and Peter Mayfield and the Bandaloop folks. The most exciting part was a jerry-rigged rappel knot of my own making in the dark, and when their photographer dropped the zoom lens to his camera and we saw it sail off over the Wall of Early Morning Light. Thus did I touch greatness on El-Cap without ever touching it's storied wall. At least when I do go back to climb it, I'll know the quick way down!
Bob Burd - May 21, 2002 2:59 pm
Route Climbed: El Capitan Gully(ascent) - Eagle Creek (descent) Date Climbed: May 17, 2002I'm no big wall climber, but there is great fun to be had on the outside routes scrambling in class 3-4 gullies. Weather was beautiful, took 9 hours roundtrip with a stop at Eagle Point (a much better view spot than El Cap's summit, imho). Trip Report