When people ask me “How did you get into Big Wall climbing?” they’re invariably surprised to hear that my entire apprenticeship took place over a couple of hours in Hobson Moor Quarry. Hobby and El Cap both feature on the RockAroundTheWorld “Five Best Crags in the World” list (the others being Gogarth, Cloggy and wherever I happen to be at the time) but otherwise have little in common. Nonetheless, Hobby is handy for home, has some vertical cracks suitable for a bit of introductory C1 aid, and isn’t so precious that anyone is going to complain about it!
I graduated from my Hobby induction and set off for The Nose on El Cap – there’s a bit of a write up here:
Of course I wasn’t completely starting from scratch – I had 20 years of trad experience to build on, and it wasn’t two hours in Hobby with just anybody – I had a masterclass from Bill!
If you Google “How to climb a Big Wall” there’s every chance you will see Chris McNamara’s “Road to the Nose”. This lists 14 routes you should do before you jump on The Nose. Spoiler alert – none of these is at Hobby. I’m sure it’s an enjoyable read, as well as being informative (McNamara’s El Cap CV bears comparison with the best) but it’s pretty hopeless for a Brit climber. You’d chew up a few States trips and a lot of airmiles before you were “Ready”. Hence my approach of getting a grip on the basics closer to home and then jumping in with both feet. Worst case we’d have failed and learned, but as it was we “bailed all the way to the top” and learned A LOT!
With another seven ascents of El Cap since, I’ve just about grasped the basics, and I’ve had the great privilege of passing on some hints and tips to a few other would-be Big Wallers via the Hobby induction. Most recently I spent a fun afternoon with Sam, Johnny and George, giving them a taster session:
Aiding – top tips: place the gear, then weight it, BEFORE you clip the rope in; and “go long” if you can – get the maximum distance off every placement!
Jugging & cleaning – plenty of different ways; try a few and pick the one that suits you best. A grigri and a single jumar with a pulley is my favourite.
Setting up a portaledge – not strictly necessary for The Nose, but it gives you a lot of flexibility and takes the stress out of having to make it to one of only a handful of bivvy spots each night. Anyway, it’s fun!
Hauling – top tips: be strong or be heavy, or get proficient at a 2:1 or 3:1 pulley system (there’s a 3:1 set up in this trip report):
That’s pretty much all there is to it – just perm the above, repeat as necessary, stir in a large dollop of sweat, determination and suffering, and a dose of good luck, and you too can climb The Nose (or learn a lot failing!) Psyched to hear what the guys get up to in the future – most likely getting some big days of Euro-cragging under their belts.
Talking about determination, whilst on photo duty I caught this great shot of Santi taking flight after a battle with Hanging Slab’s Direct Finish – good effort!
RockAroundTheWorld 