Yosemite Racking is a handy alternative way to organise equipment on your harness. A top tip if you are carrying a lot of gear or your harness doesn’t have lots of gear loops. We hope you find it useful.
As the name suggests, the term Yosemite Racking came about in the Yosemite Valley. Yosemite is a place where you are likely to be carrying a lot of climbing hardware. In this situation you might not have sufficient storage on your harness. Alternatively, you might be carrying many pieces of the same size. In this case it helps you to keep different items organised. Either way, it’s a peach.
The technique can also work superbly when you aren’t carrying your body weight in equipment though. The time I often end up using Yosemite Racking is when using a stripped down Alpine harness with few gear loops. In this case it can really help keep things separate and exactly where you need them. It is perfect for scrambling or Alpine climbing.
In terms of what Yosemite Racking is then the photo above says it all really. Just clip one piece onto your harness gear loop and then other carabiners can be clipped into that. It makes sense to group things so you know you’ll always grab an item of the same type from that carabiner. It works a treat and keeps everything slick and efficient. That’s important, as slick and efficient is always good when time is at a premium.
One final thing to mention. You are likely to be trad climbing when using Yosemite Racking. In this case our Top Tip about The Ultimate Trad Quickdraw is also worth considering. Of course, if you want to practice using Yosemite Racking under expert instruction then come and join us on a climbing course.