Sierra Journal

Matthes Crest - South to North Traverse

Wow man, Matthew Crest is one seriously fun climb. The standard south-to-north traverse starts out with a couple of 5.6-ish pitches followed by a long sustained knife-edge ridge, then ends with 5.7 pitch up a tower on the north end. Most people call this the end of the climb, though some parties continue past the north tower to finish off the whole crest. 

The approach is a real bear, though. My climbing partner, Patrick, and I did the whole thing in an exhausting  12 hour day. The trail begins at the Cathedral Lakes trailhead, goes past Cathedral Peak, up and over Cathedral Pass, then angles off-trail to the west where you head for an obvious notch in the south end of the crest - the start of the climb. 

Patrick led the first pitch. There were three other parties starting at the same time, so we moved climber's left to a non-standard starting spot. This proved to make route finding a little more difficult than it should be. We eventually got back on route and swung the second lead. This leads to the top of the ridge where the traverse begins.

We un-roped at this point and free-soloed the rest of the ridge, making a brief side-trip up to the South Tower, an unnecessary but very cool spot for a breather. We then descended to the notch below the North Tower, where we roped up. Patrick took the lead. this pitch begins with a tricky hand-traverse, then eases up for another 100 feet or so to the top of the tower. 

I left this part for the end of the post so hopefully nobody's reading this far. I got stuck at the hand traverse - a mere 15 feet of foothold-less climbing - with two parties looking on. How embarrassing. I gotta get back in the gym I guess. Sheesh. Anyway, Patrick rappelled off the North Tower and we descended from the notch and hiked out the 5 miles back to the truck.

Awesome day - but aaargghh, I now have to make the return trip just to knock down that 15 feet.

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Tenaya Peak's Northwest Buttress

Two thoughts on Tenaya Peak's Northwest Buttress:

1. GREAT climb for beginners out there who are looking to learn the ropes on multi-pitch alpine rock.

2. GREAT early-season climb for working out the winter bugs.

I met up with my climbing partner in the parking lot on the northeast side of Tenaya Lake at about 7:00am or so. We got to know each other a bit (having met and made plans online via a climbing club), sorted gear and headed up around 7:30.

The weather was looking awfully sketchy. It even started snowing on us at one point just below the crux pitches of the climb, which gave us pause. We contemplated a bit, then said, "Eh, screw it, let's go." So we did.

We simul-climbed (used a running belay) for the first several pitches, then swung the last three leads. The terrain down low is very tame, but a ton of fun. The whole climb is mostly clean, slabby granite. There was some snow to negotiate, but it wasn't too bad. We had to move to climber's right onto slightly more difficult terrain. It never got stiffer than 5.6, though.

The top two pitches are solid 5.5 with some fun lie-backs and stemming moves. There's a ton of room up there, though, so you could go any of a million ways.

The bummer? I forgot my camera in the car, so no pictures (except the one above, which I took from the car after the climb). This is a double-bummer, because I just bought a new SLR and was eager to try it out. Oh well. I have some good pictures in my head, I guess.

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Tenaya Peak's NW Buttress this Weekend

I'm finally at a point where I can feel okay about the fast-approaching end of backcountry ski season. It's not here just yet - there's still a ton of snow out there. I might even try to get some in this weekend, but what I'm really excited about is a long summer of alpine rock climbing.

What's up first? Tenaya Peak's Northwest Buttress (12 pitches, 5.5). It's a nice, moderate, long route to work out the bugs and kickoff the summer. I'm a little worried about snow on the route (anyone have any beta on that?), and the weather is looking a little sketchy too, but you never know if you don't go, so...   away we go.

Trip report to come!

Slideshow of El Capitan's First Ascent

Here's an awesome slideshow and voice-over narrative of El Cap's first ascent narrated by Wayne Merry, one of the three climbers who accomplished the feat. The rudimentary gear they were using astonishes me - and scares the crap out of me. These guys had some serious cajones.

Via The Atlantic: 

Crystal Crag and North Peak's North Couloir

There seems to be some sort of stigma in the US attached to the idea of guided climbing. It must be something related to our collective sense of individualism (how's that for a conundrum?). Americans seem to think that hiring a guide is somehow a cop-out - like the climb doesn't "count" or something.   

I've never thought this way, and after spending three days in the Eastern Sierra over the weekend with a guide from the American Alpine Institute, I must say my feelings on the matter have only been confirmed.

I plan on hiring a guide for a weekend of climbing at least once a season going forward. Why? Mostly because I learn more in the span of a single day with a knowledgeable guide than I could learn in a year otherwise. It goes a long way to keeping your skill sharp. We all tend to get lazy and having a guide evaluate your techniques, anchors, rope skills and gear placements really helps you stay sharp. Plus, guides tend to be a ton of fun to climb with.

We climbed Crystal Crag via the north arete and North Peak via the north couloir. Both are moderate Sierra classics - and both very fun routes. We continued through the entire ridge on Crystal Crag and rapped off the far south end of the ridge. Then we did North Peak car to car - long day but awesome. See below for some cool shots:

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Rock & Ice names top 10 climbing towns

Of course I'm pretty sure that the actual top 10 climbing towns are all in California and Nevada, but here's a list of runners-up in the September issue of Rock & Ice. To be fair, they did include South Lake Tahoe. So they're not totally off. :)

New Paltz? Never heard of it. Favetteville? Nope. Man, I gotta get out to the East Coast more often I guess.

1. Chattanooga, Tennessee
2. Boise, Idaho
3. Ogden, Utah
4. South Lake Tahoe, California
5. Leavenworth, Washington
6. New Paltz, New York
7. Favetteville, West Virginia
8. Vancouver, British Columbia
9. Flagstaff, Arizona
10. Boone, North Carolina

Cathedral Peak, SE Buttress

My plan was to get out of the office early on friday night - say 4:30 or 5:00. Didn't work out that way. Some things went down at work and I ended up in meetings until aroun 6:00 or so. I grabbed the bus home and realized I had no idea where in the world the truck was.

Living in the city, we drive very rarely. I park the truck somewhere and leave it for days at a time, sometimes blocks away. So I walked around for half an hour or so until I found it. Drove back to our place and loaded it up with the weekend's gear.

I then drove over to east bay and picked up my climbing partner for the weekend. We didn't get up to the east side of Yosemite until somewhere around 12:30 or 1:00 am. This was a problem because our plan was to get up at 4:00 in order to beat the crowds to the base of our route, one of the more popular climbs in the area.

I set my watch, but I slept right through it. Woke around 5:00 and got to the trailhead at 5:45. It's an easy 1 1/2 hour approach. We organized the gear and talked about the climb. My partner hinted that he really wanted to lead the route. I had planned on swapping leads. Since I'm going to be up there with Pat next weekend, and because I had never climbed the route before, I relented and we decided that he would lead it.

This route has a bit of everything. Some crack climbing, some 5.7ish friction moves, a crazy chimney on the 4th pitch, some fun lieback moves, dihedral-type stuff. We did it in 6 pitches, about an hour a piece. The chimney and the climbing directly above it is the crux of the route. It's a very tight fit and I couldn't fit with my pack on. So I took it off and girth-hitched it with a runner to my harness, trailing it behind me.

About half way up the chimney one of the buckels on the pack got cammed into a small crack in the rock.  The chimney wasn't exactly easy climbing and down-climbing wasn't really an option. So I sat there, wedged in a precarious position, unable to move in either direction. Luckily, there were several other parties on the same route and a friendly Australian soon came along below me and freed my pack.

The summit is a tiny 10-foot-square block. About enough room for 4 people or so. The view is fabulous. You can see half dome to the west in the famous Yosemite valley. To the south, the summit of Mt. Dana looms large. Conness is somewhere in there.

It was one of the most beautiful days I've ever seen, so we lingered on the summit until a line formed below us and forced us to start the descent. Even the downclimb was a bit tricky. We finally got back to the car and I drove the 4 hours back to SF trying my best to keep my eyes open. I was going on 4 hours of sleep and had been climbing all day. Got home and went to bed. Phew...

Cheers!