Your window into the stories, history, and ongoing work to preserve Yosemite’s climbing legacy.

A Note from the Editor

Big news about Yosemite in the press yesterday (April 29). After weeks and months of waiting, there is finally an official report on the status of the Yosemite reservation system. Ashley Harrell in SF Gate writes, “This summer, you will likely need a reservation to visit Yosemite after all.” Her story, which she sent me shortly after it was published at 5:30 pm yesterday, titled “Yosemite National Park has finally decided what it's doing about 2025 reservations,” says the following:

After months of confusion and uncertainty, Yosemite National Park has announced that a reservation system will be in place during its busiest time of the year.

The system will be the least restrictive the park has ever implemented, with reservations required every day from June 15 to Aug. 15, 2025, between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m., as well as over Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends during those same hours, according to an emailed statement from a Yosemite National Park spokesperson.

The information has also been published on Yosemite National Park’s website.

National Park Service writes:

Reservation Requirement for 2025

Visitors who plan to enter Yosemite National Park between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Memorial Day weekend, any day between June 15 and August 15, or Labor Day weekend are likely to need a reservation. Visit the Yosemite National Park trip planning website or the NPS App for details, exceptions, and how to make a reservation. This system ensures all visitors, whether they plan in advance or decide last minute, can experience the park each day. It also spreads visitation across the day so that visitors have a better experience.

A reservation will be required to drive into or through Yosemite National Park on some days from May 24 through September 1, 2025, for those driving into the park between 6 am and 2 pm as follows:

May 24 through May 26 (Memorial Day weekend): A reservation is required from 6 am to 2 pm on Saturday through Monday. May 27 through June 14: A reservation is not required at any time. June 15 through August 15: A reservation is required from 6 am to 2 pm every day. August 16 through August 29: A reservation is not required at any time. August 30 through September 1 (Labor Day weekend): A reservation is required from 6 am to 2 pm on Saturday through Monday.

Reservations for all dates will be released on Recreation.gov on May 6, 2025 at 8 am PDT.

This week, we spoke with YMS guide and first ascent climber James Gustafson. See feature below.

Chris Van Leuven

Editor, Yosemite Climbing Association News Brief

YosemiteClimbing.Org

*James Gustafson on Dozier Dome, Tuolumne Meadows. Self portrait.*

New Routing in Yosemite with James Gustafson

“Route development flips the switch for me—guiding fatigue disappears the moment I’m chasing brand-new ground,” he says.

Last week, while wrapping up a call with Lance Colley for the YCA newsletter, I asked him who else I should talk to about new route development in Yosemite. He immediately suggested James Gustafson, an eight-year Yosemite Mountaineering School (YMS) guide and a dedicated first-ascent climber. Lance also sent me a Mountain Project link to James’s latest line, 36 Chambers—named after Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album—a 1,200-foot 5.11+ on the Chapel Wall, one of my favorite crags in the park

“Ten minutes uphill from 96 Degrees in the Shade you’ll find the start, beneath the biggest section of wall, just right of the gully,” James writes in the route description. “Rap the route with a single 70 m rope, or walk uphill to join the Four-Mile Trail for the descent.”

36 Chambers is one of seven new routes James has authored, including three in Yosemite on Lower Brother and another on Chapel Wall. He has three lines in Alaska: two on Dragon’s Spine in Little Switzerland (Denali NP) and one on the Ravine Lake Main Walls in South-Central Alaska.

We spoke for over an hour, discussing his current project at Taft Point, as well as his projects at the Rhombus Wall and beyond.

Raised in Alaska, James was first guided by YMS as a 13-year-old kid and instantly knew he wanted to open his own routes in Yosemite and back home. He’s professionally guided since 2011 and joined YMS in 2017. On rest days he often returns with clients to his new lines on Lower Brother, where “nuking wind keeps the rock cool even on the hottest summer days.” His bio on the YMS site says, “James’s favorite climbing is long alpine rock objectives and establishing first ascents. In the off-season you’ll find him guiding rock and ice across the U.S. or spending personal time in the mountains.” His Instagram bio adds “amateur cook and mechanic,” making him a jack-of-many-trades.

When long-time guide Jeff Scheuerell, with some 25 first ascents under his belt, left YMS, James inherited his spot—and his legacy of first ascents. Today he’s carrying that torch.

“I love places like Lower Brother and Rhombus Wall because they’re overlooked; you can still feel that pioneering energy,” James says, adding, “Ground-up here is tough, but dropping in, finding the clean stone, and placing safe bolts turns choss into a classic.”

James isn’t always after the hardest, cleanest line; he wants routes that inspire him and broaden Yosemite’s moderate inventory so newer leaders have more to choose from. 36 Chambers mostly fits that bill—a vertical adventure weaving through corners and alternating moderate cracks with stiff face moves. After a ground-up start on hooks and fragile terrain, James hiked around to the top, rapped the wall, trundled loose blocks, and hand-drilled 70 bolts to make the climb safe-ish and repeatable. He’s unsure if it’s seen a second ascent.

“Yosemite still needs modern, moderate terrain,” he says. “Equipping those lines lets newer climbers experience the Valley.”