We have spent exactly one month in the US preparing for our upcoming expedition to the Himalaya this autumn. It will be a technically demanding trip, and at high altitude, in which we will attempt one of the most difficult big walls of our career.

In order to gauge our preparedness for such a difficult expedition we wanted to return to the US to train on some complicated and difficult crack climbs.

The first phase, as you may have already read on this website, was the red rock and perfect cracks of Indian Creek in Utah’s desert.

We then went on to Yosemite, where as well as doing some classic climbs line East Butress and Espolón Frenzy as well as a few first pitches we climbed on el Capitán, something we had not done since 2004.

The best way to learn is by throwing yourself in at the deep end and on that immense wall, as well as climbing 35 pitches (and repeating some in order to free them), you have to haul, solve logistical issues and do whatever you need to do to continue climbing, which is hardly ever straightforward.

A Good attempt to free climb Freerider.

We came close, but we were unable to completely free climb Freerider (5.13a (7C+)/1,100m) on El Capitán.

We managed to free the first 26 of the route’s 35 pitches, but, at 800m from the ground, we had to abandon that idea and get up the Salathe Headwall as fast as possible to reach El Capitán’s summit. The reason was that we had run out of food and water, and could not have lasted the two more days we needed on the wall.

We had calculated three days of water and food with an extra day for luck, and after fighting our way up the first 26 pitches in three days we realised we would not reach the top with the supplies we had with us. So we ended up climbing Salathe (Freerider is a variation on this route which begins on pitch 28), and thus achieving our third ascent of El Capitán after El Niño in 2003 (we completely free climbed it 2003) and The Nose (we free climbed it all except for The Great Roof and Changing Corners. We climbed and rappelled it in 2004).

The truth is that it was tough to have to abandon our free attempt having got so far and having on-sighted the dreaded Monster Off-Width (50 metres of wriggling like a worm up one of the toughest pitches on El Cap); and the key, 7c+ pitch of the route on the second attempt (this is where most people practice for several days before climbing it).

But that’s life, and it was ambitious to climb the route on the first attempt, bearing in mind that most of these routes are worked on for a long time from above and below before the final attempt is made, especially given that Freerider is one of the most technical cracks there. Almost all the pitches are cracks- off-widths, chimneys, wide cracks, thins cracks… You name it!

The conclusion was evident- we did a great job, but we have to improve in order to be able to climb 6b-6c cracks more quickly, with less effort, and more efficiency. These lost us a lot of time and consume a lot of energy which we tried to replace with food and water that we couldn’t spare.

We will continue to work on our weak areas and will try again!

Here is a day-by-day account of the climb:

Day 1: We hauled until Heart Ledges (pitch 11) and descended again to sleep at the foot of the wall.

Day 2: We climbed until Hollow Flake Ledge (pitch 14). We spent the night on this great ledge without having to assemble the portaledge. The climbing consisted of several maintained 5.11 pitches. We couldn’t go as fast as we would have liked.

Day 3:  We climbed until Cap Spire, an incredible gendarme which offers the most amazing bivouac on El Capitán (pitch 20). Before going to sleep we climbed up to pitch 22.  Along the way we on-sighted  and freed a number of “terrifying “ chimneys and the 50m of Monster Off-Width, one of the hardest pitches  on El Capitán (many climbers have been unable to ascend this pitch graded at 6b+).

Day 4: We reached pitch 27 and slept at Sous le Toit, the small ledge on pitch 26.  On the way up we really climbed hard with Iker on the hardest-graded pitch (Huber Pitch), which he scent on the second attempt (many practice this pitch for days), and Eneko on The Seller, a soaking-wet and vegetation-covered 5.10c pitch which the guide describes as the worst of the route.

Day 5: We awoke early and took stock of our supplies. Up until this point (pitch 26, and 800m from the floor) it has been tough.  We would need another two days to free climb the remaining 9 pitches. We only had supplies for one. Thinking with our minds rather than our hearts, we decide to ascend however possible by Salathe, thus abandoning our free attempt. At 6 pm we reach the summit of El Capitán, very pleased with having made our third ascent of Yosemite’s giant but disappointed at having had to abandon our free attempt. It is a beautiful evening and the views from the top are amazing. We still have to descend but decide to sleep at the top, as we have fond memories from 2004 when we slept here with Ferrán Latorre and José Carlos Tamayo after climbing The Nose.

Day 6: We descend slowly towards the valley. We are tired out but contented. It has been a great month of crack climbing. From our ascents at Indian Creek through to El Capitán we have done some vary varied cracks. 
We are pleased. It is what we needed to prepare for the Himalaya.

Photo of the route: 

Yellow- what we free climbed on Freerider.

Red- our escape on the headwall of Salathe.

Black- the three bivouacs.

Once again we are back in the valley. Spring here is amazing- water flows everywhere you look and you find yourself surrounded by kilometers of rock never mind the jewels in the crown: Half Dome and El Capitán.

That’s the good part. The bad part is that the rangers seem to be permanently on your heels and there is a huge amount of people at the moment.

I don’t think we will be at camp four for longer than a week- the police are really on top of things for us to get away with it. La Peggy, a Ranger famous for being tough on climbers, is keeping her eye on everything and two people with the same surname aren’t going to escape her attention. We will have to climb all we can and leave when we get tired of the intrusion.

Spring is a bit odd this year. The weather seems to shift between heat (about 32 ºC) or constant storms.  That makes spending a few days on a big wall a little tricky. It would seem that we will have to make do with one-day climbs until the weather stabilises.

The first route, then, is Moratorium and East Buttress, 5.11b on el Cap. Six hours for a free ascent, very beautiful but very hot conditions. The first four pitches of Moratorium which are a bit tougher, aside; East Buttress is the easiest way to climb el Cap. We hadn’t done it yet though. We liked it and would recommend it, as it is a really elegant way to climb the most famous big wall in the world, without getting into insane grades.

It is always a pleasure to visit this beautiful place in the deserts of Utah. Its red rocks and perfect cracks make Indian Creek the ideal place for practicing this particular discipline of climbing. Crack climbing is a style which we Europeans are unaccustomed to, and it sometimes feels more like a fight with a rock rather than climbing as you have to wrestle with the rock in order to move upwards. That is why some of the crag have been baptized The Battle of…. What is for certain is that the effort required to climb each of these cracks is more than balanced by the recompense- it is hugely satisfying climbing and it is hard to find lines more pleasing than these in the world.

This trip was out third to the area.

In 2004 we were here filming for Al Filo del Imposible (a documentary programme on Spanish public TV), but on that occasion we scarcely climbed two days.

Last year we returned with more time and paid our dues to all kinds of fissures for three weeks and learned a lot.

This year has been a 9-day trip, not many and not well taken advantage of. It has rained as it won’t for the rest of the year here, but despite all that we have had four days’ decent climbing. On this occasion we have been lucky enough to be accompanied by a good friend of ours, Iñago Gusa Arnaez who has been in the US for a while now and didn’t want to miss the chance of finding out what “real” crack climbing is all about.

We had warned him that reality outdoes expectations and we have fought like never before only to fall like never before. 

As with last year, we have dedicated much of our time to the 5.10s and 5.11s which are least like European climbing. In any case, the conclusion is clear- We are not very good, but not as bad as before.

From here we are off to Yosemite. The desert is now getting a bit hot, and hopefully it will be fresher in the valley!

The second The North Face Kalymnos Climbing Festival is under way. As in the first edition of the event, a suitable place for the Pro competition had to be found. It has to be a new place with the potential to open tough new routes, both for women and men. Tough gig!

In last year’s event Jacopo Larcher and Simone Moro were  in charge of bolting the new sector. For 2013 the team would consist of Jacopo Larcher, Hansjörg Auer, Siebe Vanhee and Iker &Eneko Pou. Unfortunately Eneko had to back out at the last minute with a sprained ankle.

It was not easy to find a new sector. We had to search high and low in search of the dreamed-for sector. In the end the marches were met with their recompense when we found what we were looking for.

Once located, we had to roll our sleeves up  and start the job of bolting. It wasn’t an easy task- interminable hours dangling on a harness, brushing the rock and placing the bolts.

In the end the area is beautiful, with some great routes with outstanding views which should make The North Face Kalymnos Climbing Festival 2013 enjoyable for everyone.

All that is left is to encourage everyone to participate when the event is held in October.

See you there!