How to walk off Royal Arches (aka RA rap non issue)

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kev

climber

A pile of dirt.

Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 18, 2015 - 04:34pm PT

Given all the apparent terror of the North Dome Gulley, henceforth refereed to as the NDG, I thought a little guide on how to get down might be in order.

First before you go climb ANYTHING you should probably figure out how to get off. Anyone thinking that 12-21 raps(depending on number of ropes raps and who you talk to) is gonna take less time than the NDG is probably clueless. Furthermore there seem to have been way more accidents rapping Royal Arches, henceforth known as RA, than the gulley.

If you're not sure how to deal with figuring out how to get off the route then go find a mentor outside of a gym to help you, and NO the internet is not a mentor nor is an internet friend. A mentor would be a living person with whom you would climb with that has more experience than you.

Okay first step: Research...I've been kind enough to do some for you and Clint's website (as always) has delivered.

The below topo is courtesy of Clint's website. As well as all the embedded images. I advise the furthest right route.

The words of advice that I was given go as follows: If you don't think your in the gulley (i.e. you're not 100% sure) THEN YOU ARE NOT IN IT. Keep going. You DO NOT NEED TO RAP TO GET IN IT. IF YOU RAP YOU'RE GOING DOWN TOO EARLY. I would agree with this advice (DMT's maybe?)

Next is a picture with the descent shown from the top of the column.

[url=" http://www.supertopo.com/rockclimbing/gallery.html?r=yoraroya&n=2"] http://www.supertopo.com/rockclimbing/gallery.html?r=yoraroya&n=2[/url]

Okay here's another from the top of RA. The upper part of the red Y is the trail to the base of Crest Jewel. The lower part of the red Y is the trail from RA to the NDG.

Here's another photo with overlay. See the place labeled "Death Slabs"? There's a reason why it's labeled that and a reason I have a bunch of stuff in all caps above. Please reread the words in caps if you're unsure what I'm talking about. Here you want the red line that zigzags down.

I'm not going to detail basic things like bringing a headlamp, starting early if needed (DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DO THIS AT NIGHT YOUR FIRST TIME?), having some loose cord in case you need to bail off a route (rain, injury, sickness, out of beer, etc), bringing enough hydrational Budweiser, etc.

I assume no liability for this advice - climbing is dangerous. You could die. And STILL you're looking for advice on the interwebs - perhaps you should reconsider climbing outside and stay in the comfy gym.

kev

EDIT

Furthermore for those of you that don't do like to figure out what your doing before you do it please see The Idiots Guide To Descending Lone Pine Peak for an example of potential consequences.

I'd give you advice on other things like...

1)Is there a spring for water on top?

2)How to sh#t in the woods, part 1.

3)When does it run? (No, the spring not the sh#t - i can't help you there)

4)When do you cut the rope if you're partner is annoying?

4a)What's a good route to do it on?

But I've done so much work for you already - you just need to do some things for yourself....And no I won't wipe your ass for you.

Larry

Trad climber

Bisbee

Feb 18, 2015 - 04:45pm PT

Step 1: Reach the top of Royal Arches.

Peter Haan

Trad climber

Santa Cruz, CA

Feb 18, 2015 - 04:45pm PT

Add: Do not do this at night for Christ's sake unless you have lights and are very familiar with the routine.

There is a terrific bivouac spot on top of the Column along the trail to North Dome Gully, by the way. A huge overhanging boulder up on the rim right along the obvious trail. It overhangs so much that it forms a very good protection from the elements. Many could huddle in there and have for decades. It is within a few minutes of the top of the Column on the way east to the Gully.

Onewhowalksonrocks

Mountain climber

Ventura

Feb 18, 2015 - 04:46pm PT

Ok, Here we go again...............

First thing I heard about doing the Death Slabs is don't go down to early. Keep on going until you can't any more.

The key for me is that you have to down climb a tree to start going down. If you don't down climb a tree you're off route.

The first time I had to do the DS was fall of 1986, there must have been a rescue from the top of the Column because the trail was marked with two different color tape. One color for staying right and one for staying left. BUT, DON'T GET ANY IDEAS FROM MY POSTING TO DO THE SAME.

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Feb 18, 2015 - 05:14pm PT

Looks good, but plenty of accidents have occurred in North Dome Gully, so no alternative is clearly dominant in terms of risk.
The NDG involves some exposed moves on the traverse where if you trip, you die.
And some downclimbing at the end of the traverse (at a tree, as noted above, and could be belayed),
and also downclimbing in a few spots lower down on the slabs.

Both the NDG and the rap route are hazardous with an inexperienced partner or at night. Maybe bring matches for a summit bivouac in case you have a late start, or to handle the common situation of many slow parties on the route that may be difficult to pass. Also fill your water bottle at the spring just after the slab traverse pitch (1 pitch below the top).

The first time I did Royal Arches (9/1977), my partner had more Yosemite experience, and he had heard the North Dome Gully was risky, so we walked up and *left* (a long ways) and hiked down the Yosemite Falls Trail.
I remember along the way we found some abandoned hiking gear (set of cookpots) - looked like somebody was lightening their load on an epic.

Years later I did Astroman in late October, but our headlamps failed at the top and we weren't sure we could get down NDG in the dark. So we did a shiver-biver, man-spooning, etc.

Since then I have been up and down NDG many times and can do it in the dark (with headlamp) now.

kev

climber

A pile of dirt.

Topic Author's Reply - Feb 18, 2015 - 05:18pm PT

+1 to what Clint said - you can slip and die, even on 4th class.

Clint,

Cool - glad you we're okay with me posting those pics :)

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Feb 18, 2015 - 05:23pm PT

It's good, kev - the photos and topo are meant to be shared.

WBraun

climber

Feb 18, 2015 - 05:25pm PT

The rap route down Royal Arches is piss easy.

What's with you people?

kev

climber

A pile of dirt.

Topic Author's Reply - Feb 18, 2015 - 05:27pm PT

Werner,

We like scenic hikes?

WBraun

climber

Feb 18, 2015 - 05:29pm PT

Yes

You like to visit orthopedic knee surgeons when you get older .....

kev

climber

A pile of dirt.

Topic Author's Reply - Feb 18, 2015 - 05:30pm PT

LOL - For the elbow yes but not for the knees yet, but it's hard to argue with you on that.

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Feb 18, 2015 - 05:38pm PT

I heard so many times DON'T GO DOWN TOO SOON for fear of the death slabs, that I screwed it up my first and only time going down that way- I went too far!

We made great time on Royal Arches (maybe 2 hours simul-climbing) in the morning, flailed at the beginning but found our groove on Crest Jewel, and were down at the summit of Washington Column with a few hours of sun to spare. Well, we had done zero research on NDG descent, just figured we would be able to figure it out. I did remember that key phrase "AVOID THE DEATH SLABS - DON'T GO DOWN TOO SOON." Well, I spied a huge white rock cairn atop the next major ridge east of Washington Column, and made a beeline for this. No problem. Kept going east to the point of tunneling in manzanitas, and ended up doing a shiver bivy with my buddy. Everything was cliffing out with no reasonable descent in sight.

The next morning we backtracked to the cairn, and saw that the cairn was *after* where we were supposed to descend. I saw an old rope fixed in the gulley, half-buried in sand and rubble. I don't remember down-climbing any tree, don't remember rapping at all, but it was steep and sandy/slippery as heck where the rope was fixed- but walkable. I think there was a bit of trail at first, but we basically went straight down a gully with some sketchy moves here and there, and were not on any switch-back trail. Maybe that was "Alt B" descent that we did? I've never been back there, rapped every other time off of RA quite easily (after you know the trick about not doing a full length rappel right off the bat because of the rope-sticking situation.

Edit: Looks like we mostly found the right way, but we didn't zigzag on a trail on the side.

kev

climber

A pile of dirt.

Topic Author's Reply - Feb 18, 2015 - 05:43pm PT

Nut Again,

When was this? I didn't mention the fixed line as I figured it was long gone (I haven't been down the gulley if at least 5 years).

I think coming off of CJ the path to the gulley is different, no?

Anyone know if that ancient fixed line is still at the start of the gulley?

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Feb 18, 2015 - 06:05pm PT

It sounds like NutAgain was on the upper version (which I call Alt A in my overlay photos). On Alt A, there is an upper dirt gully, which had a fixed rope a couple of years ago.
Alt A does not use the standard lower traverse which has the downclimbing at the tree. Alt A is the upper pink line in the photo below.

Here is a more detailed photo showing the start of the traverse (the arrows which stay high), plus a lower higher risk (harder downclimbing) "Alt C":

Here's an expanded version with the standard North Dome Gully descent route:

Onewhowalksonrocks

Mountain climber

Ventura

Feb 18, 2015 - 06:18pm PT

I know this is some what (OT). Didn't the park service install a rap route off the Glacier Point Apron?

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Feb 18, 2015 - 06:25pm PT

My experience was a while back, maybe 2005? We knew nothing about descent off of CJ, just came down the west side trying to stay in water run-off paths to avoid manzanita bushwacking. We were exactly on top of Washington Column with about 2 hours of sunshine left and still managed to epic because we didn't know where to go. But the advice of not coming down too soon was our only info, and that backfired for us. Still, spending a night man-cuddling is better than falling off a slab and dying!

Edit: My first thought was that Clint's pic with the high road didn't match what we did. But after jogging my memory, I recall going straight across from Washington Column, and maybe halfway through getting a bit sketched out and scrambling straight up to where it felt more secure before continuing the traverse. So maybe Clint is right. It was maybe a steep dirt slope with lots of loose rocks, and a bunch of horizontal parallel trails across? My memory for these sorts of details is bad.

Double-edit: I think we went somewhere halfway between the red and pink lines. Didn't get back up to the main monolith like that pink line shows. But we did definitely cross over the prominent ridgeline to the east that you see from Washington Column.

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Feb 18, 2015 - 06:25pm PT

The NPS did not create a rap route down Glacier Point Apron,
but Tom Rohrer installed a couple of rap routes down it.
Most people who rap from Coonyard Pinnacle use the anchors on one of his rap routes.

ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber

extraordinaire

Feb 18, 2015 - 06:36pm PT

I like how any smooth rock on relatively easy ground becomes ...

" The Death Slabs"

Spider Savage

Mountain climber

The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles

Feb 18, 2015 - 06:38pm PT

Thanks for this detailed beta.

The first time I took the scenic route from the top of RA through the forest of fir trees (bushwhack) up the steep west slabs of North Dome, left over into the forest, found the trail to Yosemite Point, visited that, then down the Yosemite Falls trail.

Tooks us 6 hours to do the route and 11 hours to hike back to the car sitting at the base.

Some day I might try the Indian Creek descent route. You know, just to be creative.

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Feb 18, 2015 - 07:37pm PT

I want more details on the man-spooning.

I recall something about teeth chattering and "enough of this pride, let's try it". Warmth is good.

This is about all I recorded:
http://web.stanford.edu/%7Eclint/rep/89oyaman.txt

Onewhowalksonrocks

Mountain climber

Ventura

Feb 18, 2015 - 08:06pm PT

Back in 1981 I thought that there was a rap route leaving the right side of the Oasis. I think I saw it in the Myers guide. I was told by the parking lot god that NPS had installed it.

I used something on that side during that summer to get off the Oasis. I could be wrong and often am.

KabalaArch

Trad climber

Starlite, California

Feb 18, 2015 - 08:32pm PT

We climbed the RA in the 70's. And other than the Rotten Log, perhaps, that last pitch was one of the most memorable of the whole shebang. After a full day in the summer sun, entering the shaded slab came as a nice walk in the park, dampness, pine needles and all. Hanging in The Jungle, to water up; such a rewarding finish to a route that reaches the rim.

For almost total beginners, I guess our time was okay: early summer Alpine Start at a leisurely 9 or 10 o'clock. Had the whole thing to ourselves, too. Finished the NDG early dusk. Just Roper's, green edition: “If you need to rappel or rope up, you haven't traversed east far enough” - seemed like plenty of beta.

Besides, there just aren't too many moderate Grade III's which go to the rim , and so any opportunity to go for a short sky walk right on the edge seems as rare as it beautiful. Especially that nice open reach below North Dome, right over the main Arch.

Wonder whose bright idea it was to establish a rap route in the first place? Topping out and hiking down seems like one of the major rewards of the RA.

Stewart Johnson

climber

lake forest

Feb 18, 2015 - 08:36pm PT

How about some solar garden lights down the gully
Chimpin!

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

Nothing creative to say

Feb 18, 2015 - 08:37pm PT

Might need to get my RA on this weekend and test this out.

crankster

Trad climber

Feb 18, 2015 - 08:39pm PT

Similar experience, Kabala. I don't see the sense in rapping that route.

Onewhowalksonrocks

Mountain climber

Ventura

Feb 18, 2015 - 08:47pm PT

Kabala asked "Who put up the rap route?" I would also like to know why?

Jan

Mountain climber

Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa

Feb 18, 2015 - 08:56pm PT

The first time I did the gulley I was already tired from all the chimneys on Washington Column and dehydrated. I climbed in a group with Chuck Ostin so of course we came down in the dark. (Sheridan Anderson had a cartoon of a girl saying to Chuck, "The sun is going down, don't you think we should get started?") as he was famous for nocturnal descents.

We came down the pink line I think until we were staring down the death slabs and had to go back up some and traverse over to the switchbacks. Loose sand on rock was what I remember everywhere. By the time we got down I was so dehydrated I was about to start hallucinating. I drank a half gallon of water in Camp 4, drank about four beers in El Portal, drank another quart of water before going to bed and didn't pee until the next morning. How you would get enough water up all those chimneys to not get dehydrated I don't know, but if I ever climb it again it will be in the fall, not mid summer.

Back in the day, I don't think it ever occured to any of us that it could be done without an epic as everyone had their own story. It was just part of the climb.

Daphne

Trad climber

Northern California

Feb 18, 2015 - 09:22pm PT

I've only ever descended by the gully. But with my shattered ankle, the descent is now going to take a long and painful time. In the dark it takes between 3 and 4 hours to get down and I've only descended in the dark. The last part, the flat part, feels interminable. I was hoping to try the rap route next time-- to save on the pain in my ankle.

Blakey

Trad climber

Sierra Vista

Feb 18, 2015 - 11:35pm PT

It's a long time since I descended the gully, we had little information
And just followed our noses, it didn't seem deadly at all. The most memorable thing g was passing the bivi Boulder some else mentioned.

Patrick Sawyer

climber

Originally California now Ireland

Feb 19, 2015 - 02:42am PT

I have done both. Rap RA and the gully (first time, 1972). Gully wasn't that bad, neither was the rap.

Now wasn't somebody going to "build" a replica of the Rotten Log and put it where the old log was?

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Feb 19, 2015 - 09:51am PT

One of the times climbing RA, with Joe Metz, we did like Clint's first time- going over to YPB and then down the Falls Trail. That was a great trip- hot and dehydrated while doing the dirt hills with two scrambles up and one slide down, and interminable slabs during the hottest part of the day , then some really cool canyons around Lehamite and Indian, with ferns and almost a tropical feel. And it's never a bad thing to hang out at Yosemite Point and enjoy all there is to see from there.

But the hike was clearly eh majority off the day, with the climb being the little bit to get the day started.

Here's my original report here,but with dead links to imageshack from before I kept my pictures on picasa (now google plus):
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=241060

brett

climber

oregon

Feb 19, 2015 - 10:14am PT

How do the folks lapping the route in 50 minutes get down?

kev

climber

A pile of dirt.

Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2015 - 12:21pm PT

Downsolo?

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Feb 19, 2015 - 12:33pm PT

I soloed it once (paradoxically with a partner), with a rope on my back, and rapped down. Raps took as long as the climb. We had the ropes with the intention to use them whenever either of us got sketched out, but we were feeling good that day.

BBA

Social climber

Feb 19, 2015 - 01:18pm PT

We went up the chimney on the Column and intended to go down the gully. Before guide books and the like, one asked Roper about going down and he said, "Go way over to the left or you'll die." So we did and didn't (die). The next time was when I hiked up North Dome for fun and decided to go down the gully solo - piece of cake except for fighting through the Manzanita to get to the Gully.

A worse way to go down from the Arches is Indian Canyon which I mention as matter of personal experience. At least there's water.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Feb 19, 2015 - 01:24pm PT

In the alpine world I do believe NDG would be classified as "HIP - hands in pockets",
unless you've a particularly bothersome booger.

the Fet

climber

Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La

Feb 19, 2015 - 01:52pm PT

For the car to car speed climbs my understanding is there is a another descent gully before NDG that requires some down-climbing.

Anyone thinking that 12-21 raps(depending on number of ropes raps and who you talk to) is gonna take less time than the NDG is probably clueless

Sorry Kev you are off base here. With one rope (two ropes just means more chance of getting a rope stuck IMO) doing the 15 raps takes me 2 hours. If you do the NDG instead you add another pitch of climbing (so maybe 15 minutes) and you add approximately two miles of hiking to the start of the NDG and back to the base of RA (maybe 30 minutes). So that leaves 1:15 to do the NDG, which is probably about what it takes.

Personally I have a bad knee and the NDG is the worst type of hiking for it. Downhill on loose ground, with big steps. So I'm going to move slowly and carefully. It would take me longer to do the NDG from RA than the raps.

I think the raps are probably more dangerous than the NDG on average, but we are talking about people who just did lead climbing up RA which is much more dangerous than either. I find it strange that people think rappelling is so dangerous but are willing to lead climb.

I'm not sure why so many people do the raps compared to the NDG. I would think most beginners would rather hike off than rappel. But I've done the NDG from RA once, and thought "this is dumb why am I adding two miles of hiking to a crappy loose gully descent". So ever since then I've done the raps. And that was before my knee got bad.

The only thing I miss when doing the raps is not the last pitch which isn't that fun for me, but the spring at the top. Anytime I get a chance to drink delicious, cold Yosemite spring water is good, but at the top of a climb it's sublime. The spring at the top of Middle Cathedral is another awesome top of the climb spring.

Clint Cummins

Trad climber

SF Bay area, CA

Feb 19, 2015 - 04:11pm PT

The only thing I miss when doing the raps is not the last pitch which isn't that fun for me, but the spring at the top.

It's easy to do the slab traverse pitch, drink from the spring,
then climb back across the traverse and do the raps.
That's what I did the last 2 times I did Royal Arches.

There is still one more (5.2) pitch after the spring.
It is a traverse left under the roof, on a sometimes slimy slab,
then you climb up about 30' on blocky rock.
There was a fixed rope across this traverse the last time I did it.

gumbyclimber

climber

Feb 19, 2015 - 05:55pm PT

How do the folks lapping the route in 50 minutes get down?

+/- 20 minutes on the climb and running NDG.

the Fet

climber

Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La

Feb 19, 2015 - 10:50pm PT

Thanks Clint. The one time I did the last pitch I unroped at the spring and free soloed the 5.2 early in my climbing career and thought it was kinda spooky. No wonder. I dropped the end of the rope down to belay my partner who was even less experienced.

The only thing I'd possibly disagree with on your topo is rap 15 and 16 seemed 4th class at most to me.

Darwin

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Feb 19, 2015 - 10:58pm PT

Also what Haan said in the 3rd(?) post in the thread, which is just plain commons sense: Don't do it at night unless you've done it many/several times before.

Wade Icey

Trad climber

www.alohashirtrescue.com

Feb 20, 2015 - 12:05am PT

One would think that someone so dedicated to SAR would actually think about things before he speaks. Pathetic.

one would think the same of someone claiming to have walked the Damascus Road.

WBraun

climber

Feb 20, 2015 - 07:45am PT

I used the words: "anyone competent can do the nose rappel."

With that:

I referred to how Steve Grossman used to do the rappels down the Nose leaving Camp 4 in the morning
going to the top rappelling solo with the intent for gear booty hunting and still returning
back to camp four in the evening as an example of a competent person.

I never encourage any n00b to do such a thing although a fool could easily misinterpret and project it as such.

Cragman in that nose rappel thread had a meltdown and had to delete his off cuff comments towards the op and apologize.

Since then the poor guy has been trying so hard to frame me, good job and keep trying.

Cragman is superman and the supreme master of all things sar and safety.

Keep up the good work Cragman .....

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Feb 20, 2015 - 05:35pm PT

Are there multiple reasonable ways to reach the rim after the slab traverse into the forest? I only topped out to the rim one time, and my experience was also spooky. I recall going straight up some wet blocky thing that ended up being steeper, slipperyer, and higher than I planned to be. Felt like I could have bought it on that part, and belayed my partner up.

Is that the part that folks call "the spring"?

the Fet

climber

Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La

Feb 21, 2015 - 03:56pm PT

Haha Nut I'm glad I'm not the only one.

That area is called the jungle. The spring is the actual spring that's at about chest height on the wall at the top of the jungle. I'm not sure but I would guess it flows the same times as similar springs in Yosemite so until approximately July.

son of stan

Boulder climber

San Jose CA

Feb 21, 2015 - 10:47pm PT

And yes walk off the R.A. Why rap off when you'll need to toss that
lead rope afterwards cause its now stretched out sh#t
that won't catch the 'big one'.

rbord

Boulder climber

atlanta

Feb 22, 2015 - 08:24am PT

Thanks kev! I've only ever walked off and enjoyed that but that was BITD. Whatever you're more personally comfortable with prolly plays a big part. Nowadays that probably includes snap chatting mid rap :-)

there is no shame in being humble.

LOL Cragman! Sorry, but that requires humility, oh self-proclaimed "lion among sheep" "men are sinners and I am amongst the greatest of these." What do your delusions tell you that you did - eat an entire class of first graders or something? Sure, humble is what you are, and praise Jesus!

Wade Icey

Trad climber

www.alohashirtrescue.com

Feb 22, 2015 - 09:18am PT

All hail the lion king. Hallelujah!!!111666

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Feb 22, 2015 - 11:05am PT

Tami, ya hoser, why not sit on the pizza deck and take a picture of NDG on
yer phone so you can pull it out of yer pocket to consult on yer way down
in the dark? OK, ya might have to walk over to Happy Isles, or someplace,
to take the pic. Better yet you could do it all nerdy like and do some sorta
GPS thang. My GPS is accurate enough to show me which room of my house I'm
in when I forget so it should be able to get you down NDG.

allanc

climber

Mar 11, 2015 - 11:32pm PT

I saw that anchor that D2R2 mentioned while sitting at the top of the 5.8 start pitch. It's on a small flat ledge to your left, and you might have to poke around the manzanita to find it. You'd never see it if you were climbing the chimney start.

BTW, haven't used it, but there are some nice bivy spots under some big boulders back in the woods near where you start the sandy descent into the gully from the overlook above the column.

I've done the standard descent a few times, and also tried to find Alt-A, doing something that was mostly traversing along a trail from that same overlook above the column (go left at the big rock there at the start of the sandy slope descent, past the bivy spots and then follow cairns to traverse). Not recommended--lots of dirt and a dirt shower rap at the end onto the trail.

Question is--
Years ago, when I did it first, a guide that we ran into with his clients at the top of the route showed us the route they take with clients. I seemed to remember it being a complete walk with nothing exposed and a minor tree climb down at the end (not the tree climb on the standard descent). Anyone have any ideas what that was? I'm considering taking my 11yo daughter (who just got her first 12a at the gym), and a couple of the spots on the standard descent traverse would be exposed for her.

I honestly can't figure out how people can get down so quickly. I've
gotten up in 2.5 hours with no simulclimbing or soloing, but I swear it's
probably taken me 3 hours down each time. (I try to avoid rappelling, there is far too much chance you'll run into someone halfway down tied up in their rope like a fly stuck in a spiders web, or with their hair/beard/jacket/nosering irreverseably stuck in their belay device.)

We saw a bear crank up the rock near those last 2 bolts in the gully. It ran across the slab 8' from us without even a glance at us.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Mar 12, 2015 - 07:09am PT

I've rappelled thousands of times but much prefer downclimbing/hiking when the option is available and not a horror show.

hobo_dan

Social climber

Minnesota

Mar 13, 2015 - 04:17pm PT

Been about 30 years, but I thought I remembered going down a bit too early into the first gully and I thought there was a sign that said something like "1000 foot cliff ahead- Abandon all hope- ye who enter here" or something to that affect. Well, the memory's the second thing to go

ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber

extraordinaire

Mar 14, 2015 - 11:32pm PT

I've heard of top-out artists just cruising it down Snow Creek trail.

mucci

Trad climber

The pitch of Bagalaar above you

Mar 15, 2015 - 08:49am PT

The speed record for RA was achieved by down climbing the route.

Rankin

Social climber

Greensboro, North Carolina

Mar 22, 2015 - 09:23am PT

At 21 yo I had been in the Valley for a few weeks when I soloed RA onsight. Still hadn't figured out that whole hand jamming thing and friction slabs were pretty foreign as well. But given that it's an easy climb I survived, although it did get a bit intense on the final friction traverse which was wet. When I got through it I punched my fist and screamed like I had just hit a last-second three to win the game and then I thought, "Oh sh#t, now I gotta find that gully."

I remember being surprised at how much distance I had to travel to get over to the top of the Column, and I was really thirsty. A lot of white rock up there and it was just so bright.

I was a Southern kid without almost no rock savvy in the Valley but I was able to sniff out the NGD without issue. At one point I thought about going down but my instincts told me that there was steep cliff below and I went a little further. Then once I found it everything went fine. I passed a bolt or two, which I assumed were used by people carrying heavy loads.

HighTraverse

Trad climber

Bay Area

Mar 22, 2015 - 03:26pm PT

The Old Wisdom in the '70's was don't go down North Dome Gully in the dark your first time. Which has been said on this thread.

So in the mid 70's (no one would dream of bolting in a rap route then) we got to the top of the Jungle at dusk. I'd had to lead every pitch on the longest climb I'd done. Also being the end of May back when Cali had real winter, the route was very wet in places. We were SLOW (the Rotten Log was fun for me to lead but terrified my partner).

The sandy, grotty, unprotected 5.4 traverse was spooky even for the follower but the route from the Jungle, up past the spring and the 5.2 was pretty easy and we had no trouble getting to the start of NDG except the sun was gone and in May it was getting DARK.

We had just made our first mistake of the day: above Washington Column there are great bivvy boulders with huge overhangs. We should have stayed there. It would have been a grand (if cold) night. We could have started a fire.

We were now on a rather steep sandy slope beyond the notch. We stuck our feet in a manzanita bush to keep us from sliding down, laid our rope on the ground, put on our wind shirts (our only extra clothing), spooned, and settled in for the night. (she was my g/f so spooning was OK). It was a LONG, restless, COLD night. We had filled a water bottle at the spring and had some scraps of food left.
At dawn the route across to the descent gully was obvious. I may have belayed her over one section. The far side descent was obvious. It's a steep brushy rib. It was also quite safe (even my g/f who really didn't like exposure was OK). I think I gave her a belay where it runs out onto the final slabs.

2nd time down I had to lead every pitch again but we made good time anyway. He also didn't like exposure but we had no trouble finding the route to/down NDG and arrived on the ground with daylight to spare. We still had the Rotten Log, it was mid summer and the route was nearly dry. It was also before the rap route. A fine day's outing.

3d time two years ago, with a strong young lad, we got a late start (dumb), the ramp pitches above Pitch 1 were RUSHING with water and had to be bypassed. We were pretty late to the first pitch off the ramps. This was also in spring (short days).
On one of his leads he got way off route and did the first 60 feet of the Cobra before realizing his error. Getting this sorted took some time. The pitch leading up from the end of the long ledge traverse was really wet and took me several tries.
When we got to the rap bolts the sun was approaching the horizon. OK, time to rap (my first time). We had brought a 2nd rope and headlamps just in case.

kev's sketch on page 1 is excellent.
Clint's Red Route on page 1 is what I took both times down. in DAYLIGHT: Easy to follow and safe.
If you get benighted on top, bivvy at the big boulders.

So here's the rap beta according to High Traverse:
The '70's mantra still holds: don't take NDG your first time in the dark.

1- Given good weather and enough daylight I'd rather take NDG. It's a great adventure.
2- Clint's rap route topo on page 2 of this thread is excellent
3- take two ropes if you think you might need to rap. Take headlamps.
4- with two ropes, you can double all the raps.
5- For raps 13, 14, and 15 you might want to coil 1 and rap on 1. The rope drag there sucks.
6 - Some of the rap stations are hard to find even at dusk. Especially Clint's #6, 7 and 8.
7- Also #15, it's further down than you might think. It took us some hunting to find it in the dark.
8- I suggest rapping 15 - 17 in one go. The 5.2 down climb is nasty, especially in the dark.
9 - #17 and 21 are HARD to find in the dark. You might want to stay on the rope while finding #17
10- the "3d" class down from #19 when the gully is a raging river is tricky. In the dark, we belayed it.
11- The rap took us about 4 hours. I'm very deliberate about setting up rap stations on steep walls in the dark even with headlamps. In daylight I'd guess it's 3 hours.
12- the only rope retrieval problem with two ropes was the pull #15 down to #17

AANM had a report a few years ago of a party getting stuck on the rap route when they were benighted pretty high up and couldn't find the next rap station. YOSAR helped them down the next day.

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

Nothing creative to say

Mar 30, 2015 - 01:52pm PT

The walk off to NDG is a pain, but it does give you some great views...

Ihateplastic

Trad climber

It ain't El Cap, Oregon

Mar 30, 2015 - 04:04pm PT

As a pubescent 14 year old I climbed the SFWC with Mark Blanchard who was one day younger than I. We did the route WITHOUT a topo; just Roper Green. Once on top we wandered over to the descent area and went down. WITHOUT a topo... WITHOUT hand-holding... and WITHOUT incident. Red Karrimor haulbag and too much gear.

Remember the days of adventure first?