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C-dub
Novice climber
LBC
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 2, 2002 - 03:32am PT
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Does anyone have information about a route named Via Aqua?
As far as I know it's a 5.7 near yosemite falls, FA by the Bird. Any beta would be great.
Respectfully,
C-DUB
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Copperhead
Novice climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 2, 2002 - 05:05pm PT
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It's dry (or almost ?) right now.
Ask the crystal psycho when he gets down.
He might have something to say.
(but beware...)
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Copperhead
Novice climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 2, 2002 - 05:13pm PT
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According to the Reid Free book:
Via Aqua-
FA Dave Rearick, Herb Swedlund, and Glen Denny, 4/60
FFA Dick McCracken and Steve Roper, 1960
There doesn't seem to be a topo in the book.
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Karl Baba
Novice climber
Yosemite
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I found this bit of beta on the web. Forget who it's from, but I hope they won't mind me posting it here. Do a web search on it and you may find their report and pix.
Peace
Karl
+++++++++
Aquamist - 5.6
from a point approximately two-thirds of the way up the last series of
switchbacks on the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail a sloping brush covered
ledge leads south a few hundred feet to a large tree near a rock with a
"window" in it. From this tree, walk toward the Upper Fall on an exposed
ledge. Shortly after passing behind a giant boulder, a large right-facing
open book/chimney will be apparent. This is the route.
Via Aqua - 5.7
Continue on the exposed ledge past the previous route to its end and
follow two moderate 5th class pitches up a series of broken corners. A
bolt on the 3rd lead protects climbing over two flakes. Above, high angle
face climbing leads to a large platform which is followed right to the
base of the last pitch, a prominent chimney. A short 3rd class section
leads to the railing overlooking the waterfall.
The approach is up the Falls trail and you go so far up the trail that you think
you are already at the top before you traverse out on a ledge system, go around
the corner and traverse some more. We roped up for the extremely exposed
traverse over to the base of the broken corners marking the start of the route.
It wasn't as bad as I had remembered it. I guess it all depends on your
expectations. The first time I was here I thought, "5.7. This can't be too
bad." This time I thought, "This baby is really exposed and scary." It is
really neither. An experienced climber (who posts to this net) did this climb
and thought it was runout and 5.9. I thought the climb had a couple of 5.8
sections on it and one wet 5.9 crux. The climb is bit "alpine" in nature in
that there is only two pieces of fixed gear (a pin and a bolt), some runout and
awkward sections, challenging route finding, and some broken areas.
I started up the first pitch and moved up and right following what I thought to
be the line of least resistance. The protection here is a bit sparse as the
cracks tend to be seams. I found tricams to be useful as I usually do on alpine
climbs. Near the end of my rope I was able to traverse back left a bit and
belay at a small stance on top of a protruding flake. I think I was on route
because 30 feet above me was a fixed pin.
The Loobster led up to the fixed pin and here he encountered the crux of the
route. A short overhanging crack that would have been difficult if it was dry
but proved to be quite a challenge being soaked. The Loobster placed another
piece high up and pulled on it to get by this section. I was able to free it
while following but wouldn't have liked trying on lead. Very dicey. The rest
of the pitch follows a flared groove that you climb like a squeeze chimney.
This turned out to be the most continuous pitch on the route. Loobster set up a
belay from an old bolt at the top of the chimney. These last two belays were a
bit cramped but they get better.
The next pitch proceeds straight upward over a couple of overhanging flakes.
This section is quite steep and exhilarating! The holds are large though and
the protection adequate. Once over the flakes I moved slightly left and up a
corner. Eventually easier climbing leads to a huge ledge and I belay the
Loobster up. The ledge is too nice to pass up and we take a break for some
water and food. The weather is perfect. We hauled lots of warm clothes up to
the base of the climb and carried some on the climb with us but all day we
merely shed clothes and never put them on. This climb isn't done very often and
probably less so in November and we had it entirely to ourselves. The views
were outstanding and I just didn't want the climb to end. Unfortunately I knew
there wasn't much left and hence we savored the experience on this ledge.
Eventually we moved on and the Loobster led a trivial traverse over to the base
of the last 5th class pitch: a 5.7 chimney. I got this lead and found it to be
quite enjoyable. Interesting stemming down below led to a classic back/feet
chimney that you follow for 40 feet. A couple of marginal pieces of pro protect
the climbing, but it felt pretty solid. This pitch ends on another huge ledge
and from here it is 3rd class to the railing at the lip of the falls.
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1 I'd
Novice climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2002 - 01:21am PT
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Thanks Karl,
Supertopo style beta... literally.
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Novice climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2002 - 01:22am PT
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... literately?
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C-DUB
Novice climber
laguna beach ca
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2002 - 02:24am PT
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Thanks Karl, You always have good info to give.
Jah Love,
C-DUB
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Falcon
Advanced climber
Colorado Springs, CO
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 7, 2002 - 12:02am PT
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The beta on Aquamist and Via Agua was taken from the book,
"Climber's Guide to Yosemite Valley". It was written by Steve Roper and first published in 1971 by the Sierra Club. It was all we had for climbing information before topos came on the scene. Just words.
Cheers.
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crystalpsycho
Advanced climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 7, 2002 - 10:00pm PT
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karl's rather lengy beta is pretty much right on.
many people moan about the approach but that sh#t is all relative, it can easily be done in an hour (approach hike).
the route is slightly dirty with some vegetation, no mandatory gardening though. route finding can be an issue, and don't expect any other climbers there, it very rarely gets done.
i've done it 3 times (once free solo), and will probably do it again.
oh yeah, a message to you ASCA retrobolters: DO NOT REPLACE THE BOLT ON THE ROUTE. IT IS A PIECE OF SH#T, NOT WORTH CLIPPING, BUT YOU CAN GET BOMBER CAMS RIGHT NEXT TO IT. ITS ACTUALLY COOL TO LOOK AT BECAUSE IT IS SOOOO OLD. IF YOU REPLACE THIS BOLT I WILL REMOVE YOUR NEW ONE. DO WE UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER?
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Novice climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 7, 2002 - 10:44pm PT
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crystalmethpsycho-
wow dude. ya know~~ if ya'd not yapped (or trolled, more likely..)..nobody woulda even thought about replacing that lonely bolt..
now it's gonna be a contest to see who does first!
i may spray in a dozen just to spite you..
seriously, tho.. it's only a very tiny piece of metal on a very. very big rock wall.... even in the sphere of rock police ethics, there are bigger issues to get yer gander up over......
or~~ if a bear shits in the forest, but nobody hears it~~ did it really sh#t?
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Karl Baba
Novice climber
Yosemite
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I always thought Commitment-Seleginella-Via Aqua might be a good linkup, particularly solo. I'm a lazy pos. Been down the falls trail a bunch of times but never hiked all the way up it.
Peace
Karl
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Mad Bolter
Novice climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 10, 2002 - 11:41am PT
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Here we go again... crystalpsycho, what gives you the right to tell the ASCA what they can and can not do? Why do you need to threaten to pull the bolt then ask if they understand you? With your attitude I hope they do replace the bolt just to piss you off....
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poop*ghost
Intermediate climber
SF, CA
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Sep 11, 2002 - 06:52pm PT
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Karl, that was Bill Wright's beta... Loobster gives that away!
Isn't there some 5.9 splitter cracks in the theatre there too?
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Mar 10, 2016 - 03:40pm PT
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Bump for a cool looking route. Fun little bit of old timey drama upthread too. Anybody done the route lately?
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Texplorer
Trad climber
Sacramento
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Mar 10, 2016 - 04:19pm PT
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I've done it twice, once when the waterfall was in full force. Even in the wettest conditions the route stayed pretty dry. We did get sprayed a few times on the lower pitches when the wind whipped up and a light jacket is not a bad idea.
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
sawatch choss
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Mar 14, 2016 - 09:50am PT
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I climbed it a couple years ago. Nice scenic tour. We took a 50m 9mm rope, singles and stoppers and things worked out fine. Happy to rope up for the step-across.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Mar 14, 2016 - 01:43pm PT
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AHey Micro, here is an updated trip report from 2005, lacking some detail for lost memories.
1. Attempt 1 we climbed Commitment to Selaginella, up the trail almost to rim, cut back on slopes to rock with window, then behind giant boulder, then came to what seems like an impasse. We hesitated, started the final ledge traverse, said screw that before even getting to Aquamist, then decided a path straight up before that looked good. Thus was born our FA "Aquachossy". That name followed the Aqua theme, but paid respect to the granite ball bearings on the slightly-wider-than-heel-toe giant flake, and after one of Ritwik's pitches where it was raining granite. When I got home I had a few almost fist sized pieces of granite in my underwear. We had one section of aid at an overhanging fist jam crux because we had already had a big day by that point near the end, and we were gassed. So I traversed out hanging on slings on shallow opposing horizontal nuts, groveled up some other gravelly gully and finished at the same big tree atop Aquamist. But by then we had dicked around so much it was well after dark, and instead of walking off the rim (we didn't know where we were) we rapped the Aquamist chimney and traversed in the dark the 3rd class part we didn't want to do earlier in the day. Probably stayed roped up but no pro. The coldest I ever remember being (my personal Bastogne moment, though less severe) was sitting on belay while Ritwik was sussing out where to go at the end of the 3rd class part in the dark, but everything was treacherously slippery with the near-freezing rain coming off the roaring Upper Yosemite Falls, little rivers emerging everywhere. I was so desperate to move so I could warm up, didn't have a good jacket, soaking wet, but we survived and back to the car by 3am, breakfast at sunrise at Denny's in Oakdale.
2. Attempt 2 the following weekend. We skipped the approach climbs and just hiked up the trail for efficiency, then made it out fine to the start of Via Aqua (no ropes for the traverse but very DFU) and the climb itself is pretty uneventful. We were mostly doing all-day 5.9 adventure climbs at that point, and no part of the climbing stuck in my mind as tricky. Exposure is awesome, looking down the vertical spine below you, the rainbows, the perspective on the middle/lower falls... But you can't see the uppers during the majority of the climb. You hear it roaring ominously nearby though. There is a moment near the top where you come over some edge or out of a chimney and BAM! You are staring almost straight across from short range to where the river shoots out over the lip. That is pretty damn incredible and amazing. If there were any people at the falls platform area, it would be cool to just pop up there and freak them out. But there will probably be nobody there when you top out and if there is, they will be too tired from the hike or too distracted by the world-class view to notice you.
I would say Via Aqua is a must do for anyone who seeks adventure climbs in the valley. Aquachossy is also must do if you like to add a little abuse to the adventure. Main issues there are the granite rained down on belayer, and a belay in a wet oozing mossy alcove that used many marginal pieces and my chest jam to create the anchor.
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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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Mar 15, 2016 - 10:13am PT
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No current beta. We enjoyed it in 1965. I doubt that it has changed much since then. Unfortunately I lost my roll of film from that part of the visit.
Another good but obscure moderate from the time was Pharoah's Beard. Anyone been on that lately?
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Ryan Tetz
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Apr 24, 2016 - 07:03am PT
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I've always been curious about this one.
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Let us know!