Page 26 - RAFMA Winter 2003

(5 .6 ) provided a very worthwhile, day long outing. Its long meandering line with a complicated abseil descent, make it an ideal early exped route for those contemplating some of the longer more serious routes. S e re n ity C ra c k (5 .1 0 ) is a long established peg scarred, aid climb, which with modern gear can now be protected for leaq climbing. It offers the opportunity to attempt a very difficult 5i lOd third pitch, with the knowledge that if all else fails it can be aid climbed (very worthy effort Connor, better luck next timelj.
M id Life C ris i^ ^ W q ) proved to me that just because you can climb time visitors to the park. Despite the gratae it is a bold, committing route'' ,5. lOa on one crag you can't necessarily climb it on them all! It is a very
immaculate sheen on the granite. This route is at the base of 'The Nose' and has suffered badly from daily jumarring and kit hauling, hence the polish. Also beware of falling kit in this area, an accidentally dropped plastic waterbottle makes a huge impression when it's fallen 2000 feet helmet or no helmet.
Half Dome
Snake Dyke (5.7) is another mid range classic that attracts many^kst
tfypat follows strange praotfruding rock feature, fFiiniishing on the dome's siulmmit. To complete this route in daylight requires a very early start and a decent map to find its start.
Church Bowl _
Sporting a mixture of bolted sports routes and jamming cracks, only 2 minutes from the road and south facing, I cannot imagine what makes this crag so popular! Everyone on the trip revelled on this crag, returning for multiple visits and even repeating some routes. Such is the quality of the listed routes on this crag it would be unfair to highlight one in preference to the others.
Royal Arches
The routes attempted on this crag were of stark contrast, Royal Arches
flfin, technical slab climb low down on the buttress, the key to which, as I found out is reaching the first bolt.
Expedition 'Black Jack' was a fantastic opportunity for RAFMA members to experience the delights of climbing in Yosemite National Park. It was an easy to organise expedition, conducted without major incident, although there were a few minor air miles clocked, but nothing that resulted in injury. Although we only scratched the surface of the number of routes available, we came away with an immense sense of satisfaction. Everyone climbed literally to the point of exhaustion, completing 69 routes in the grade range 5.6 - 5. lOa (UK equivalent HS - El 5c). The expedition satisfied all of its aims, allowing team members to build on their rock climbing skills and abilities in a new and extremely challenging environment.
The whole team would like to express their sincere thanks to everyone who helped plan and fund the expedition and their bosses who authorised their 'time off'. Yosemite is a wonderful playground, roll on the next visit!
Stu on Mid Life Crisis.
RAFMA Journal 2003