Reddit reviews How to Big Wall Climb

I'll try to knock these off for you:

1. I am in good shape and consider myself a 5.12 climber. The Nose beat me up pretty good. This is not a brag but to show truly how hard the nose is to climb. Most people read the rating and think 5.8 C2...yeah I can climb that. You may be able to climb the 5.8 pitches but if you are truly aiding everything else, you will be the cause of a traffic jam and likely not make it to the top in even 5 days. People bail all the time, even from 3/4 of the way up the route. Pitches take longer and the work is harder than you think. I had done some casual aiding before this trip, but i spent about a month before i left practicing my aid climbing and getting faster at it. It will save you tons of time. Learn how to top step, back clean pieces and be able to switch between aiding and freeing efficiently (a mix of aiding and free climbing efficiently is a very good skill to have). Free climbing is so much faster than aiding. If you can free or french free most of the pitches below the great roof it will save you a lot of time. Things really start to slow down when you get up to the great roof and this is where strong aid climbing truly shines. I went with a partner that had done the salathe last year so he had a good grasp on systems and was a better aider than me. I climbed most of the free pitches of 5.10 and below while he did the harder C2 aids. We did not practice together as he was in a different state before we met up but i basically read this book https://www.amazon.com/How-Wall-Climb-Chris-McNamara/dp/0983322511 and practiced a lot before i got to yosemite. It covers a good amount on aid climbing but you will also want some supplemental material for bag work. I suggest Mark hudon's technique for docking and cutting the haul bag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWCZ6ahP60E&t=323s. It works great. Haul bag line is always on top.
   
2. The worst thing on the wall was the piss smell. It is something people don't talk about but everyone pisses all over the ledges on the upper pitches of the nose. We peed in our empty water bottles at this point and dumped them out at the top. As far as gear goes, we did not use a 3:1 pulley system and instead used a micro traxion to haul with. With six gallons of water and one gallon of Gatorade....i wish we would have bought the Petzl Pro Traxion to have a larger pulley but still a 1:1 system. Setting up 3:1's is a pain unless you absolutely need it. We climbed in 4-6 hour blocks and sometimes you are hauling 80 lbs on a tiny pulley after leading the pitch with 30 lbs of gear on your harness and back. It becomes exhausting. Another thing i wish i would have brought was lighter approach shoes. My approach shoes were too heavy and wearing them on my harness all the time when free climbing was extra weight i didn't need. Get something light but also be able to aid climb efficiently with. Also probably buy the full gear harness. We went with the metolius multi loop D but could have used a backpack style like the Cassin Salathe Gear Sling or the Misty Mountain Big Wall Gear Sling. You want to be able to take it off to switch between partners as well. Load a single sling up with triples and see how heavy it gets. Get one good set of aiders with spreader bars and another set of speed stirrups for jugging. Switch them back and fourth between the leader and follower.
   
3. Three days felt like a big push but it was only because of other parties. We originally fixed to sickle ledge (first four pitches) but when we got up there at 6 am the next morning there was a party of germans and another three aussies in line. We were able to pass them later that afternoon but it ate up about 7 hours of our easy free climbing time waiting on these slow teams. This put us at el cap tower at just after midnight that first night. After that our sleep was messed up and we had a long 17 hour push to get to camp 5 which had us stumbling into camp at 3:30 am. With that we did pass another 3 teams but got stuck behind another slow team the next morning and due to waiting on them topped out at 10:30 that night. With all that, i would say try to fix and then get up really early the first morning and other mornings after that. Most teams bail by dolt tower if they are too slow so if you can get past the slow initial parties that first morning you should be in the clear for a three day ascent. We went without a portaledge which meant we had to meet our objectives (el cap tower and camp five). If you do bring a portaledge you can stop wherever but it is also extra weight and shit to deal with. If you do it in three days and it is your first big wall in yosemite it is going to be hard. It is doable but have your hauling and aid climbing dialed. You really never know what other parties are going to be doing and how it will effect your ascent. There are a lot of people up there who don't know what they are doing and you don't want to be the people holding up the conga line.
   
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   Doing some work in Zion is a good idea to get you ready for the Nose. Not sure about which routes you are trying there but after you have your systems dialed in I would suggest getting on something that wanders quite a bit. The Nose works from left to right for the first third of the wall and then back to the left for the second half. You will need to get good at lower outs for the follower and for the haul bag. This was something that I didn't see as much of a big deal before we climbed it but had to use a lot. Make sure you know how to set up a clean anchor (I prefer bringing two pre-built quads for anchors) and manage ropes well. Transition time should be quick and efficient. If it isn't you can eat up a whole day's worth of time just fucking with ropes and switching gear back and fourth.
   
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   If all that wasn't perfectly clear you can ask for more details on certain aspects. It is a big undertaking and you cannot be over prepared. I would still do it in a three day ascent because i hate hauling and it is less weight but other like vertical camping. If you are not doing a three day i suggest bringing a portaledge.

• Step 1 - Take a hook.
  
• Step 2 - Perch it on your doorframe.
  
• Step 3 - Hang from hook and sweat profusely while you wonder what you did wrong with your life that you decided you wanted to climb big walls.
  
• Step 4 - Repeat while hanging 2,500 feet off the deck.
  
  
  Or buy How to Big Wall Climb and prepare your wallet for some of the worst months of its life as you accumulate massive amounts of gear. Finally, go forth and be rad.

Pick up a copy of C Mac's How to Big Wall Climb. Practice plenty of trad climbing and be prepared to shell out hundreds for new sets of cams, biners, and draws.

The book named "How to Big Wall Climb" https://www.amazon.com/How-Wall-Climb-Chris-McNamara/dp/0983322511

Have you acquired a copy of this yet? http://www.amazon.com/How-Wall-Climb-Chris-McNamara/dp/0983322511

I haven't climbed any big walls, but I have heard Chris McNamara's big wall book is considered the bible for big wall climbing, especially in Yosemite. https://www.amazon.ca/How-Wall-Climb-Chris-McNamara/dp/0983322511.

My understanding is that climbing el cap or half dome is far less about your climbing ability, and more about your systems ability, efficiency, and ability to suffer.

if you haven't found it already, Chris McNamara's How to Big Wall Climb is a seriously good resource for your objective.