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Best way to train for Yosemite... All advice welcome! (Read 3720 times)

maybe_si

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So clearly this is a bouldering forum but I know there are a fair few people on here who are all-round climbing heroes....

It is looking very likely that I will be heading to Yosemite for the first time next September. My friend and I are both super keen to start training asap to ensure that we are both as fit as can be once we get out there. The main aim for the trip is to tick the Nose (with a healthy dose of aid!) with a few other lesser routes beforehand as warmups/to hone our big wall techniques and to generally get used to everything.

Unfortunately we are both London-based and so getting out loads over the Winter will be tricky. Generally the aim is to train hard over the Winter indoors, getting out when we can, learning/refining the best big wall/aid techniques we can and then doing as much crack climbing as we can over Spring and Summer.

So my question is.... what is the best/most effective way to start training right now? Other than general cardio fitness and building up as much stamina as possible? What areas should we be focusing on the most? What sort of training will see us the biggest gains etc?

I am fully aware that chances are once we get out there for the first week we will get shut down on everything we try until we get used to the rock/style of climbing, but hopefully the stronger we are, the more of the pitches on the big routes we can free and the faster/more likely we will be to succeed!

Cheers

Simon

:)

Paul B

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I haven't read it but maybe the book by Steve House might be worth a read? Get used to carrying big bags.

I bought the newest SuperTopo how to Big Wall book and it was a mistake. All of the information is covered in more detail (for free) on the ST website. Beyond that, the PDFs produced by Mark Hudon on hauling etc. are great. I ended up hauling 2:1 and although it's fussy to learn, for someone of my size it was optimum. I found his use of the apline butterfly instead of cordelletes much easier / quicker but each to their own. Again, I'd get your gear and systems (whatever they end up being) absolutely dialled. Time at belays just flies by. I was lucky enough to be working at a climbing wall and Nat and I spent a while (after hours) learning how to haul.

I'm not sure how to recommend training for the free stuff there. One thing that surprised me was the lack of friction on the Granite (compared to other places e.g. Mello & Squamish). I literally fell over multiple times on the first day there trying to walk over slabs that if they were made of grit etc. wouldn't be an issue. God knows how you train for the chimneys, if you find out please do let me know.

For general crack technique I was lucky enough to have just spent a fair amount of time at other USA venues. Starting out both Nat and I watched the WildCountry Crack School and found it to be really useful. I'm still Rubbish at cracks.

Having said all of this, we weren't so successful on our final wall but I'm putting that down to a number of factors, the 38'C heat on a South facing wall being the main one (and my inability to suffer too much after 7 months of van life). Feel free to ignore any part, or all of the above.

There are also far better people to answer your queries on this forum than I!

csl

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Duncan is your man for this sort of info, http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php?topic=24442.0

Although this is NIAD related, i expect its mostly applicable. Useful for you will be the section 'Training ideas in the UK and Europe' and 'Non Climbing Training'

duncan

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Living in London is not ideal, but as a Dutchman just free-climbed The Nose I'm afraid our excuses just disappeared.

I sneaked a look at your logbook in the other place and you onsight steadily at E2 but not on cracks. You've also done something called D10+. I presume that is that aiding with ice-axes malarkey? This is a good place to start from.

As Paul says, nothing in Europe can properly prepare you for the crack climbing and for this reason my strongest advice is to negotiate, beg, grovel, sell your soul or body (whichever gets the highest price) to make sure you have at least three weeks in Yosemite. Two weeks is unlikely to be long enough for a newcomer to The Valley with your skill level.

I like your general scheme, get fitter over winter and spring, then get lots of crack climbing done over the summer. I would focus your training on three things over the winter.

Firstly, mileage at the wall - 'aerobic capacity', 'continuity' - 5-6 grades below your onsight level, getting no more than mildly pumped and never breathing heavily. Do however many repetitions of a route to accumulate 50m of height gain or 10 minutes continual climbing, then belay your mate as he does the same. That's one pitch. You'll do 15 pitches on the first day on The Nose, so this is what you should build up to. You'll also find your stamina for long trad. pitches will get much better.

Secondly, do the same for your legs. This could be stair-climbing or step-ups. Again, below aerobic threshold, and lots of it, mind-numbing but effective. Step-mastering and cycling are not quite as good, you're looking to lift your centre of gravity. Running is not so good unless you can find a steep hill.

Thirdly, 'building site fitness'. The aim is to build a base of strength in the large muscle groups for the heavy living and baggage handling. So do low reps of high load compound movements: dead-lifts, squats, pull-ups and chin-ups, bicep curls into military press, sit-ups, etc.

The other things you can do over the winter are to practice clean aiding (pick a non-classic crack in some grotty quarry), jumaring, and hauling. There is copious beta online.

In the spring you start your crack campaign. Getting solid at climbing 5.10- (realistically, E2) cracks of all widths sets you up for a 3 day ascent. This gets you the prime bivi ledges (El Cap tower and Camp 5) and avoids the shitty ones (Sickel, Dolt, Camps 4 and 6, the latter literally). If you're aiding 5.9 you can still get up the route but you'll take 5 days. I can think of three Brits who did this, they were all super-competent, had done lots of alpine climbing and were all called Andy. If you're name is not Andy, you need to get better at climbing cracks.

In high summer, do some big days: long routes or enchainments. On The Nose, you'll typically be at it from 8am-6pm.

As well as the NIAD guide csl has linked to, this thread has some ideas.

Have fun, track your progress in Power Club and let us know how you get on.

TobyD

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As Paul says, nothing in Europe can properly prepare you for the crack climbing and for this reason my strongest advice is to negotiate, beg, grovel, sell your soul or body (whichever gets the highest price) to make sure you have at least three weeks in Yosemite. Two weeks is unlikely to be long enough for a newcomer to The Valley with your skill level.


The UK really doesn't have much in the way of anything that is worthwhile prep for proper USA crack, as Paul and Duncan say. My training for my best Yosemite trip was mainly
1) solo 20-40 routes at Stanage, and run back to Sheffield afterwards in the evening after work - at the time i worked in Hathersage. In London, you could do a massive volume wall session, and run home after, as long as its about 5 miles further than you want it to be it doesn't matter.
2) redpoint a lot on UK limestone, more applicable than it sounds to Yosemite, you gain fitness (for long laybacks) ability to stand on awful shiny footholds and pain tolerance.
 This 'plan' had no thought process behind it, but in retrospect the combination was probably much better training than going to Millstone or whereever and pretending that it remotely resembles what you'll be on in the valley.
Hope that is of some help, Paul and Duncan probably thought about it all a lot more and have more sensible ideas. I after all, decided the best way to learn to put up a portaledge was half way up Freerider in the dark after climbing for 14 hours. 

Muenchener

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Secondly, do the same for your legs. This could be stair-climbing or step-ups. Again, below aerobic threshold, and lots of it, mind-numbing but effective.

I do stair climbing and step-ups as training for alpine approaches and they seem to work, but I haven't found out how to do them below aerobic threshold. I (having read Steve House's book) do a fairly long bike commute as Zone One, and step-ups / stairs with a heavy rucksack as my smaller amount of higher intensity - for me they are more in the crossfit-style "pass out before you die" zone.

As Duncan said, mind-numbingly tedious. Refining your playlist is a crucial tactical skill to master here.

T_B

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Get a big DIY project or go and work on a building site?

Seriously though... what Duncan says. There are only really 5 or 6 pitches of full-on aid on the Nose, and the aiding itself is very straightofrward. Learn how to haul, and get a bag diagonally from A to B - lowering out etc, as this is more likely to slow you down that the aiding itself. Maybe do an Andy Kirkpatrick Big Wall course? From my experience, it's the hauling which takes it out of you and can break you psychologically (and I'm big and 'strong').

In terms of climbing, you need to be confident to run it out as much as actually being able to crack climb OK. If you're plugging a cam in every 2 metres on the Stovelegs, it's going to eat up time in a big way.

There aren't that many really 'hard' crack pitches, so don't get overly-focussed on your ability to crack climb. I can't think of any crack climbing that I've done in the UK that is particularly helpful. Top roping something on the grit over and over is not a good use of time IMHO. Better as said above to do a ton of mileage and get confident moving efficiently without placing much gear.

And when you're there, Recce the route to El Cap tower if you can before fixing to Sickle.

If there are lots of folk on the route, consider taking a porterledge. It removes the anxiety of wondering whether they'll be room to sleep. From my (limited) experience of big walling, it's 30% stress management, 40% not-getting-trashed-management, 30% climbing ability.

Finally, a route like the Nose will test your teamwork like nothing you have done before in climbing. Do something in the UK to put you and your climbing partner in a situation where you really test your ability to work as a team and not fall out. At some point, they might ask you to take over a lead when you really don't feel able to and you will need to say 'no, get on with it'. Work out who has what strengths, and plan accordingly. I climbed the Nose with an engineer who had all the rope tricks sorted and had more experience than I did at aiding, but I was the better free climber. We were a good team, but there were some stressful moments for sure.

One of the best routes in the world no doubt.



« Last Edit: November 07, 2014, 09:14:46 am by T_B »

maybe_si

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Guys this is all great advice thanks!  :thumbsup:

 Am super psyched to train so hopefully this should get me off my arse, am also tempted to find a half marathon or something to enter in the Spring to make sure that I do loads of cardio over the Winter!

So as far as I can see so far it is the following.....

Get super fit, both cardio and climbing
Learn how to haul/aid/all the systems
Practise them lots
Practise them again
.....and again
Climb all the cracks I can find.... then climb them again
Get ready to suffer for a few days

.....learn how to poo in a bag/tube

grimer

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Great advices there.

One thing I'd add. The Nose is much bigger and longer than anything you will have been on before (I'm assuming) and has a big psychological weight to it. A thing that can have a big effect is how that weight feels. Don't think about how much more there is to go: only think about doing the pitch you are on. Look after the pennies ...

saltbeef

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.....learn how to poo in a bag

I thought this was your standard behaviour simon

maybe_si

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Not any more, I live in Surrey now don't you know!  :whistle:

lagerstarfish

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I haven't been to Yoemite, but

something that really helped me and others in the Alps was being used to long days on the hill - whether climbing or just being active in some other way

if you head somewhere for the weekend and crap weather means you can't do loads of cracks - do a fuckload of walking

getting used to being on the go for 18hrs at a time will give you a chance to get used to how it feels to, well, to be on the go for 18 hrs at a time

if you do this with your climbing partner you will have a lot of time to talk - hopefully this will strengthen your team / relationship

caving also works

siderunner

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Haven't done it, but can definitely say the friction - or rather lack of it - on Yosemite cracks reduced my middling (E1-ish) grit crack ability to flailing on 5.8s.

 

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