As I pack my haul bag for my seventh trip to play on the big walls of Yosemite Valley, I can’t help but think back to my first big adventure out there.
Although I had climbed a few smaller routes in the Valley, I was eager to get up high and tackle one of the taller classics. At the time I’d spent 2 days on Moonlight Buttress, Zion, working out big-wall systems and had just returned from a trip to Southern Greenland. I was incredibly excited tackle my first Yosemite wall.
Wade Morris, one of the athletes at the Alpine Training Center, Boulder, Colorado, had revealed to me he’d spent some time in Yosemite and had a few walls under his belt. We became friends and began climbing together more frequently.
In late August we began planning a trip, with El Cap in the cross hairs. As we started talking through options and logistics, we soon immediately realized our limited vacation time would not permit a last-minute wall expedition in late fall. Wade jokingly suggested we attempt the Nose In A Day (NIAD).
I smiled and began optimistically thinking through the reality of such a goal. Neither of us had been up the Nose and we had less than two months to prepare for this objective. Could we pull it off?
Over the next 50 days we trained whenever we could. Our program mainly consisted of the following:
1) Fixed Line Sessions on Country Club Crack, Boulder Canyon, Colorado.
We’d drive out before work in the dark and hang two fixed lines from the top of Castle Rock: one rope hanging freely to the ground, the other redirected over the classic granite crack. One partner would TR Solo CCC, while the other would jumar the free-hanging line. We’d switch and repeat until we had to run to work, or were completely worked.
2) Strength & Conditioning at The Alpine Training Center
At the Alpine Training Center, based in Boulder, Colorado, Wade and I trained two times per week under the guidance of gym owner, Connie Sciolino, to prepare our overall physical strength and endurance for our objective.
3) Pulling Plastic
Two or three days a week, Wade and I would meet at the climbing gym for long sessions on 5.10 and 5.11 routes to build our stamina for NIAD.
4) Simulator Day
I’d never spent a long day out with Wade, so we created a simulator of sorts to test our bodies, minds and partnership while fatigued. We drove out to Castle Valley, Utah, and climbed 20 pitches of desert sandstone. We ended up climbing the Rectory Formation twice and Castleton Tower three times.
The simulator was a total beatdown on the hands and great strengthening event for Wade and I as climbing partners. Our bodies were as ready as they would be given the short timeframe—now it was time to get the gear together.
