Standing in the meadows with a pit in your stomach, you look up at El Capitan and realize what you are about to attempt. Then you go for it. After five days of climbing and living on the wall you stand on the top and stare down at the valley floor below. Then you get this great feeling and the pit in your stomach is gone. Everything becomes clear and you understand why you love to aid climb.

	Gene Yore geared up by Jeremy Cranford

During the last week of September we ticked our first route up El Capitan: Lurking Fear, a grade VI big wall, with 19 pitches, and rated 5.7, C2. It took us 5 days and 2 hours.

Lurking Fear is one of the easier routes up El Cap, but as Jeremy always reminds us both, “There are no easy routes on El Capitan.” Sixteen of the pitches are as good as any aid pitches we have seen. Great rock and all the neat problems any aid climber could wish for: bat hooks, camming hooks, fixed heads (some with broken cables), rivets, big pendulums, traverses on rivets and hooks, friction traverses, nasty hauling, etc. The good news was that we had practiced all this stuff in the Aid and Big Wall seminar and on warmup routes: Leaning Tower, The Prow, Liberty Crack, University Wall, etc. We were well prepared, and there were no surprises. The climbing was superb and straightforward.

The bad news was the crux - heat. High temperatures during the days that we were on the wall ranged from 90 to 101 degrees. (Lurking Fear faces southwest and thus is in the direct hot afternoon sun.) The four liters of water/person/day we carried was not nearly enough. While cleaning and un-sticking the haul bags on pitch 16 in the dark, Gene heard horrible coughing like an animal dying. Reaching the belay ledge he found it was Jeremy because his mouth was dry all the way down to his esophagus. Also, much of the standard food we normally eat just does not work with a dry mouth, like Paydays, cheese, bagels, pilot bread, nuts, etc. Spaghetti-Os, canned peaches and mixed fruit, Jell-O and pudding cups, carrots, and dried apricots did. After four days of dry mouth we headed for Yosemite Creek (5 miles) to rehydrate before hauling the last two pitches. Fortunately we found a streamlet about 20 minutes down the trail. After gulping 9 liters each, all was well. [Note: Gene has a “to-do” item to shop aisle by aisle to find more things that can be consumed with dry mouth.]

	Jeremy Cranford hanging out by Gene Yore

We initially carried five loads of gear, water and food up to the base of the climb, approximately 290 lbs. On day two we cut loose with approximately 270 lbs after fixing three pitches and bivying at the base the first day. Chongo’s 2:1 hauling ratchet that Gene had pre-rigged was Jeremy’s favorite piece of gear. After jugging and hauling those first three pitches, we were only able to climb three pitches on day two. We climbed four pitches a day from then on. We spent two nights on portaledges, another night on a marginal ledge, that the SuperTopo called a “great bivy for 4+” and one at a belay stance waiting so Jeremy could lead the last 5.3 pitch in the light. That was followed by 80 feet of unprotectable 5.4 and some class 3 to top out. We topped out about 8:00 day six. We came back without any of the mandatory portaledge pictures, as we were climbing until after dark and again before first light each day.

After re-hydrating we rappelled down to Thanksgiving Ledge to haul our pigs and portaledges the last two pitches, do the 5.4 section and the 400’ of class 3 & 4 at the top. It was well after the self imposed 1 PM deadline for rappelling the East Ledges descent route (a quick 3 hours to the valley), so we had to hike down the 8 mile Yosemite Falls trail in the dark returning to our Lower Pines camp about 1 AM. What a great climb!!!

	Gene Yore exposed by Jeremy Cranford

Surprisingly, nobody was ahead of us after day one and no one was behind us for the entire trip. Seven parties were on the route three days before we started. The high temperatures probably discouraged all but the criminally insane.

About the authors
Both Jeremy and Gene have been helping with the Aid & Big Wall seminar since its beginning two years ago. We give ourselves a B for “Good Form” developed in the seminar. A couple of dropped items, both minor, but no desperate shouts of despair, etc. We did not return with more gear than we started with because whoever climbed ahead of us left nothing behind. We are both in SMR and are great wall partners (Jeremy owns a Stratos lead rope; Gene has the Yates/Blue Water static haul line. What more could you want?) Also, Gene likes the harder aid and night pitches and Jeremy the harder free stuff. We are already planning another assault on the Big Stone next spring!

About the Aid & Big Wall Course
For anyone interested in getting started with pig hauling, bat hooking, and all the other tools and techniques crucial to aid climbing, The Aid & Big Wall seminar will be offered again in spring 2004. Limit is 8 and the application deadline is January 14.