Ascensioni in Yosemite Falls

Gen and I woke up with the intention of doing snake hike and/or dike with the spanish crew but forgot to exchange contacts or formulate a plan the previous day and consequently left ourselves little time for the 32 hour approach and a 84 hour descent. We decided chossohead arete would be a good little replacement mission. Little did we know.. that the climb.. actually doesnt exist! We located the chosshead and began ascending the chwitchbacks to the chockface where we dropped gear and went about locating the start. The next 2 hours was a veritable highlight reel of dangerous gully chraverses and checking the chopo from the book. Gen roped up at one point, put one cam in the wall and magically turned a number 2 crack into a number 4 crack. I decided eventually that we were both pushing our 9 lives and that we should bail down the scree. Gen was incredibly patient throughout this shit show and i was also incredi.. no i wasnt. An uncompromisingly shite day in the hills.

Glynn, Mike & Marty

This is an awesome route, the exposure is incredible and the tryolean traverse is such an awesome way to finish a classic line like this.

Freed the first pitch, then aided the top. The spire tip was busy with a bunch of Czech slackliners hogging all available space. Amazing views at sunset!

Epic day out in an absurd position with Yosemite falls putting on a show with peak flow of the year after all the snow melt.

Ethan and I brainstormed this one the night before and decided it sounded like a good idea - no real beta to go off we just took everything and went. 3500ft of elevation with a big pack was a slog, had a lot of tourists in awe of whatever we were doing.

Crazy amount of fixed ropes at the top (6) definitely needs a garbage disposal job. Fixed the 80m rope - which was clutch, a 70m would've required coming off rappel onto some extremely suspect traversing. Mixture of free and aid on the first pitch - 3 x #4s were again a good call. Second pitch was the technical aid, which is absolutely eased of all hooks by God's greatest gift in Yosemite - a rack of totems. Trusting a half engaged totem took a hot second, but it's bomb as the package says. Also turns out carrot bolts (rivets) back in Australia aren't so special, they exist here too - but they don't take plates, just nuts or actual rivet hangers which of course we didn't have. Sick position on the pitch then a bolt ladder to finish.

Got to the top, figured neither of us have ever rigged a tyrolean before but it was pretty easy to figure out. The rope access course I did before coming here actually paid off here in making it easier. Jugging the tyrolean was the hardest part of the day. Everything went perfectly??? We were both shocked.

Yosemite animal bingo was on fire on the walk off. Saw a Marmot, peregrine, brown bear and cub, California king snake, Alex Honnold on his bike at camp 4.

A long time dream come true. Don't shit your pants on the last pitch.

On my bucket list

First Free Ascent, 5.13 roof climbing, offwidth, and splitter cracks

Via a fair bit of aqua id say with the precip this part of the world has had this year. Views of both springbrook falls and half dombrogargon while we traversed the very exposed 3rd class and found the start of the choss corner. The falls were kind of visible around the arete but loud enough to disguise a couple fighter jets that flew overhead at one point. 4 pitches of chimneying and moderately scary face run outs. The scariest bit definitely the '5.7' hanging flake crux where you plug the flake with cams, then hang off it and pounce to a sloper. If the flake comes off, the next piece of pro is an 'antique bolt' as its called in the guide and actually looks more like a door knocker on an english cottage. We got a nice rainbow below us at one point. Top out similar to ozymandias, climbing over the tourist lookout and getting asked by all the 'narps' (non athletic real people) if we were abseiling. A climb that shares the podium with queensland heavyweights clemency and trojan for the best shithouse rockclimbs in the world.

Awesome fingerlocks, all you need heaps of medium wires

Also takes great gear. A great little climb.

AKA Granny Crack? A fun corner route, well shaded and misted

Some hard work, and some interesting changes of balance and technique as the climb goes.

Need to remember to step left around the corner about where there is a largish flat spot on the arete.

Fucking hard as shit!

Found the thin section up top spicy for the grade. Maybe 10b/c?

I found it harder than Lightweight Guides -- more sustained, fewer rests.

nice crack, beautiful setting

Look photogenic, you'll have an audience on this!

So lovely I came back later to lead it.

Takes great gear.

First climb in the Valley. Beautiful climbing.

Awesome little crack cooled by waterfall mist on a boiling day. Pose for the slack-jawed gawkers and maybe you'll get famous...

Loooved this. My fav crack climb so far!