The ''Salathé Wall'' is one of the original big wall climbing routes up

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about from base to summit along its talles ...

, a high

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

monolith in

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

. The ''Salathé Wall'' was named by

Yvon Chouinard Yvon Chouinard (born November 9, 1938) is an American rock climber, environmentalist, philanthropist and outdoor industry businessman. His company, Patagonia, is known for its commitment to protecting the environment. Chouinard is also a surf ...

in honor of

John Salathé John Salathé (June 14, 1899 – 31 August 1992) was a Swiss-born American pioneering rock climber, blacksmith, and the inventor of the modern piton. Early life John Salathé, also known as Jean Salathé, was born on June 14, 1899 in Switz ...

, a pioneer of rock climbing in Yosemite. The route is recognized in the historic climbing text ''

Fifty Classic Climbs of North America ''Fifty Classic Climbs of North America'' is a climbing guidebook and history written by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. It is considered a classic piece of climbing literature, known to many climbers as simply "The Book", and has served as an inspi ...

'' and is considered a classic around the world.

Climbing history

First ascents

The

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

was in 1961 by

Royal Robbins Royal Robbins (February 3, 1935 – March 14, 2017) was one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz Rock, he went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite. As an early proponent of bol ...

Tom Frost Thomas "Tom" M. Frost (June 30, 1936 – August 24, 2018) was an American rock climber known for big wall climbing first ascents in Yosemite Valley. He was also a photographer and climbing equipment manufacturer. Frost was born in Hollywood, Cal ...

, and Chuck Pratt. After climbing about a quarter of the route, they retreated to re-supply, leaving four fixed ropes in place. Quickly returning, they jumared back up the ropes and totally committed to climbing the upper wall in a single push, which they did in 6 days using only 15 bolts total. The route was about 25% free climbing with sections of run-out at grade 5.9, and the rest being aid climbing which was also difficult at grade A4. A year later, Robbins and Frost returned and did the route in a single push from the bottom. In 1972, Peter Haan became the first to aid climb the route alone as a rope solo, using pitons for aid and protection. It was his first big wall climb.

First free ascents

In 1975, Kevin Worral and Mike Graham, starting from the Nose route, traversed left a bit to join this route and free climbed pitches 4 through 10 of Salathe Wall Route up to Mammoth Terraces, adding three pitches of 5.11. A little later, John Long, and

John Bachar John Bachar (March 23, 1957 – July 5, 2009) was an American rock climber. Noted for his skill at free soloing, he ultimately died during a free solo climb. A fitness fanatic, he was the creator of the climbing training device known as the Bac ...

free climbed pitch three (5.11b) making all 10 pitches free. These ten free pitches, often free climbed as a standalone

multi-pitch climbing Multi-pitch climbing is the ascent of climbing routes with one or more stops at a belay station. Each section of a climb between stops at belay stations is called a pitch. The leader ascends the pitch, placing gear and stopping to anchor themselves ...

route in its own right, are known as ''Freeblast'' (5.11c). In 1979, Mark Hudon and Max Jones, climbing from the ground up, lead all but 250 feet of the route free, adding three pitches of 5.12 and 5 or 6 of 5.11. In 1988, Todd Skinner and Paul Piana made the

first free ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

by free climbing all the sections (each climber free climbed only about half of the route, with 2 hanging belays for resting) during a nine-day push, after thirty days of working the route, and gave it a grade of 5.13c. The ''Salathe Wall'' was the first major route on El Capitan to be fully free climbed, and was the first-ever free ascent of a big wall route in history at the grade of . In 1995,

Alexander Huber Alexander Huber (born 30 December 1968), is a German rock climber and mountaineer. He became a professional climber in 1997, and was widely regarded as the world's strongest climber in the late-1990s, and is an important figure in rock climbin ...

became the first individual to free climb all the individual pitches, leading every pitch free himself in a single push (with one hanging belay for a rest), and using an easier variation at one of the cruxes and assigned a grade of 5.13b. In 2005, Steph Davis made the first female free ascent, with the grade at 5.13b..

References

External links

Supertopo.comMountainproject.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salathe Wall (El Capitan) Big wall climbing routes Yosemite National Park