[ianto9]

At least three of us going next year to climb el cap,free,if poss,we re between 6c an 7b+ at the moment,have been at a level more or less over the last 15 years,whats the best route to take for 1 day 2 day whatever.
thanks
ianto

[benpritch]

east buttress - nice easy intro, then west face, 18 pitches up to 5.11/12 but mostly straightforward. unfortunately neither of these really feel like they're on el cap.

free rider would be a good one (7c+ boulder pitch with 1pt? ) but if you aren't used to off widths it might be a tussle. haven't done this myself but have shot some video on it and it really does cover some amazing ground. the bit that by passes the salathe headwall is lovely and doesn't smell of piss like the rest of it (well it didn't 10 years ago).

[andyd]

The free blast is good. It doesn't top out but it's a good day out. It raps back down fixed lines from the heart ledges as I recall.

Make sure you go and do serenity/sons of yesterday too.

Very jealous.Enjoy

[Johnny Brown]

Without being too negative, assuming a) you're british and b) mainly a sport climber, you might find your skills aren't as relevant as you imagined. Granite is a particular style, Yosemite cracks even more so, and skills don't transfer too readily. Check out the film Blood, Sweat and Bagels to see how two British 8b+ climbers got on (not very well!). There are still only a handful of Brits who have freed El Cap, and they are all pretty well known names.

As Ben said, there are easier lines but they are on the margins.  El Cap by any means will be a great tick, and most of the classic lines feature plenty of great free climbing. There's also a lot more to Yosemite than El Cap, have a look at routes like the Rostrum, Astroman, Chouinard-Herbert etc - all free long day routes with difficulties up to E4ish.

[Tommy]

JB is probably right - it's a slightly demoralising place to be to learning granite skills. So many of the routes out there are entirely unforgiving.

That said, I'd do the following

1. Do East Buttress El Cap, if piece of piss then....
2. Do West Buttress El Cap (amazing route!!!), if piece of piss then....
3. Do Free Rider.

If you want to brush up on your valley wide crack skills, don't start on Generator Crack. A very bad idea 

If you want a confidence boost, routes that suit Brits are:

Serenity Crack
Lazy Bum
Crack-a-go-go
Outer Limits
Bishops Terror
Anything at Chapel Wall

[jwi]

Don't listen to the naysayers, a friend of a friend did 'Golden Gate' (7c+/8a) on his first visit to US, and as his first multi-pitch climb ever.  He'd done 8a/+ on single pitch trad granite before.

Good luck!

[SA Chris]

Did you actually read the comments from the "naysayers" above?

[TobyD]

That said, I'd do the following
1. Do East Buttress El Cap, if piece of piss then....
2. Do West Buttress El Cap (amazing route!!!), if piece of piss then....
3. Do Free Rider.

If you want to brush up on your valley wide crack skills, don't start on Generator Crack. A very bad idea 

not having done 1, i can't comment, but the yawning gulf between 2 and 3 is very big indeed. 2 is an amazing route, i agree.

I thought GC was a lovely warm up, Tommy, now you mention it, i remember you thought otherwise at the time too 

[ianto9]

all good info guys thanks,i.ve been to yosemite with the wife on 3 month honeymoon(12 years ago) but non climbing missus leads to sneaky sessions at every venue aus,us,nz,more info on yosemite the better,hire a car?transport?take bog roll???