Brit coming to yosemite is spring 2010

[nefarious]

hello all,
as the title says, i'm a brit heading for the valley in the spring of 2010. thinking of planning a trip for 6-12 weeks to try and have a go at big walling and get my teeth stuck into some cracks and offwidths and i've got a few questions:

what would be the best time to head out?
will it be easy to find partners who are willing to take on someone who hasn't got any big wall experience?
where is the best place to stay?
where is the best place to go to learn OW and chimneys!?

cheers
andrew
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/profile.php?id=77319

[RussWalling]

what would be the best time to head out? 
Usually in mid to late afternoon

will it be easy to find partners who are willing to take on someone who hasn't got any big wall experience? 
Yes.  Put a note on the Camp 4 Board

where is the best place to stay? 
The Ahwahnee Hotel, but you'll end up in Camp 4

where is the best place to go to learn OW and chimneys!? 
There are tons of them all over the Valley.  Pick up a guidebook when you get here, or find an old yellow Meyers Guide and it lists the various sizes of the crack and grades for tons of climbs.  There is a list or two on here also, with the best climbs.  I'll try to track it down for you and post the link.

[scuffy b]

Keep in mind that 6-12 weeks is a long time to be stayin in the Valley.
Speaking strictly in terms of learning OffWidth, we may have to drag
you to some mellow short instructional cracks a bit further north--
a short field trip before you start ravaging the Wide in the Valley.
Plenty of time for psyching up before your stay.

[nefarious]

Keep in mind that 6-12 weeks is a long time to be stayin in the Valley.
Speaking strictly in terms of learning OffWidth, we may have to drag
you to some mellow short instructional cracks a bit further north--
a short field trip before you start ravaging the Wide in the Valley.
Plenty of time for psyching up before your stay.

this is the kind of reply i was hoping [fishing] for, and i think you'll laugh at what i consider short coming from the uk (think 10m or shorter routes as a regular occurrence and you'll begin to get the idea).

of course if you can recommend/offer a place to stay that'll no doubt sway my plans! but i do have to say, this is a trip about cracks and not about the valley, big walling would be awesome and the icing on the cake but its not a must.

[scuffy b]

A lot of what I have in mind is so small most climbers wouldn't bother,
much more suited to someone with a UK perspective than a California
one.

[scuffy b]

Hey nefarious Andrew,

When is your trip?

[excap]

Yeah, man, just wonderin' if you're still gonna come tear it up!
  Someone must.....or should, anyway, I reckon.
 


Zoinks!