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climberweenie
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Are there any published routes between Aqua Mist and Via Aqua on the upper part of Upper Yosemite Falls? Other than a single 7mm perlon strand on a tree after 1 pitch, i saw no evidence of previous visitors (and lots of exfoliation to indicate low traffic if any).
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climberweenie
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Well, we were late getting to base of Aqua Via (started on Commitment and Selanginella), so opted not to try that as it seemed a bit sketchy getting the last bit to the base and then we figured we'd be benighted for sure on the 6 pitches.
So in all of our lustrous brilliance we opted to climb that "5.7-5.9ish" crack system half way between Aqua Mist and Via Aqua, with no beta starting in mid-afternoon. I doubt it's been visited often (no bolts, only saw one rap sling after 1st pitch).
After 4 pitches of grunting off-widths, unprotected scary vertical off-squeezes shedding granite pebbles and flakes like mad (with several down-climbs on no pro to clear wedged ropes from below the roof), a belay in a wet and moss-covered squeeze alcove, some overhanging off-fist jamming failures and pendulums to adjacent crack systems, we opted to rap a while after it got dark. I think with 1000 visits to clean it up, it has the potential to be a classic for people who like that sort of thing. We plan to go back to do it right.
Just the 3rd class approach is worth the visit. Sweet exposure and views. If you peed your pants while stepping across one spot, it would dribble down your ankles and fall 1000+ feet. It's less scary by headlamp because you just see black (interesting route-finding by headlamp though).
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climberweenie
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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May 10, 2005 - 03:55pm PT
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Definitely agree that Commitment+Selanginella is preferable to the brutal hike for approach. Somehow I think climbing and resting at belays is easier than doing the switchbacks.
Thanks Werner for link to image shack; I'll upload some stuff and see if folks can tell me what we tried to climb.
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| Messages 1 - 8 of total 8 in this topic |
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