Hey, this might be a dumb one, but how exactly does the approach to the valley rim by the LA spire go, I want to do the whole: rap the valley rim and climb the spire, then tyrolean back: deal.

Also, how out of date are the Reid gear lists for walls? Is he overkill on the amount of pins needed now that many of the moderate(A2-A4-) routes have been cliimbed so much? And how much down grading has gone on in the past couple of years due to clean aid pro and cam technology and all the gear head crap that we love? hhmmm.... thanks andy

-- Andrew B (bendigo888@aol.com), April 17, 1999

Answers

Approach to LA is 98% trail, follow the Yosemite Falls trail until you cross the creek above the Upper Falls and then head for the rim. The LA is actually not that easy to find from the rim, it is approx half way between the Falls and Yosemite Point. Also, the approach is over 3000' vertical, count on 2-3.5 hours (and 2 hours would be super fast).

Yes Reid's gear lists are generally overkill. How much depends on the route, though. Maybe the best place to start is Tuan's Yosemite page.

-- George Bell (gibell@geocities.com), April 19, 1999.

For this specific route, you really do not need that much of a climbing rack. Variety is the key word. A couple of big cams are nice, as are small wires and even a few tri-cams. There is major incentive for keeping the packs light (an futile exercise, what with the three ropes and all), as it is quite a haul from the valley floor. My partner and I did the approach in 1:45, but we were hammering pretty hard. We had heard stories of parties stacking up on the climb and wanted to be assured first crack at it!

-- Dave Hill (dfhill@engr.psu.edu), April 19, 1999.