Yosemite 2004 Report (Nutcracker, Little John, Fairview Dome)

I have no photos, but here is a brief report of what Jim Koegel and I accomplished on a trip to Yosemite in late September, 2004.

1. West Country, Stately Pleasure Dome, Tuolomne Meadows. 4 pitches. I led #1 and #3, the latter being a superb 5.7 face climb with appropriately placed bolts.

2. Fairview Dome, Regular Route. This was my second time on this route. We got to Crescent Ledge in four pitches as Jim led long ones. I led the second pitch (a 5.8 crack) and the first pitch after Crescent Ledge. At the latter, which was only 5.6, I was stymied by a move on highly polished rock and had to grab a piece to move up. The pitch after that was the beautiful overhang and then the route becomes simpler. We were not fast, taking over 9 hours from start to summit.

3. Nutcracker, Yosemite. 4 pitches: 5.8, 5.7, 5.8, 5.8. I led the first, which was scary at the crux. There are now two fixed pieces near the crux, but I did not waste energy clipping to the second and just continued through to pull over the final move. The second pitch was a beauty; well, all pitches are nice as the rock is continuously steep and full of beautiful features. The crux of the climb was the last pitch, and I had to haul a piece to get over the difficult mantel.

4. Little John, Right Side, El Capitan. Three 5.8 pitches, the first and third being quite hard. Jim led them all. The second pitch is really beautiful, involving first a 5.8 finger crack and then an inobvious 5.8 face traverse left. Climbing right under the steep giant face of El Capitan is great.