The Steck-Salathé Route is a

big wall Big wall climbing is a type of rock climbing where a climber ascends a long multi-pitch route, normally requiring more than a single day to complete the climb. Big wall routes require the climbing team to live on the route often using portaledges ...

traditional climbing Traditional climbing (or Trad climbing) is a style of rock climbing in which the climber places all the necessary protection gear required to arrest any falls as they are climbing, and then removes it when the pitch is complete (often done ...

route up

Sentinel Rock Sentinel Rock is a granitic peak in Yosemite National Park, California, United States. It towers over Yosemite Valley, opposite Yosemite Falls. Sentinel Rock lies northwest of Sentinel Dome. How it was formed Sentinel Rock formed when masse ...

History

The route was first climbed, in extremely hot weather with minimal water, from June 30 - July 4, 1950, by

Allen Steck Allen Steck (born 1926) is an American mountaineer and rock climber. He is a native of Oakland, California. Mountaineering Steck started climbing with his brother George. In 1940 when Allen was 14, the two completed the first ascent of the nor ...

and

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 Switzerl ...

, up the north face of Sentinel Rock in

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California. The valley is about long and deep, surroun ...

. They climbed mostly free using occasional direct aid pitons on some pitches, and a blank wall halfway up required a 30-foot bolt ladder. It was the longest and most difficult route in Yosemite in 1950. The route was repeated several times in the 50s using less and less aid. In 1959, Royal Robbins and Tom Frost did it all free except for the short bolt ladder, producing the most strenuous long free climb in America, with 6 pitches of 5.10a or 5.9, and many tiring 5.8 leads. In 1970, Steve Wunsch and Jim Erickson discovered a long finger/hand-size crack to the left of the bolt ladder, adding yet another 5.9+ pitch, which allowed the wall to be climbed totally free. In 1973, Henry Barber made the first free solo ascent, on sight, in record time, 2 hours 45 minutes. 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 ...

''. It is famous for its large cracks: out of 18 pitches, 15 feature either offwidth cracks or squeeze chimneys, including what is arguably the most famous squeeze chimney in the world, the Narrows.

Derek Hersey Derek Geoffrey Hersey (26 October 1956 – 28 May 1993) (Gives Hersey's date of death incorrectly as 20 May 1993.) was a British rock climber and for many years an active participant in the Boulder, Colorado climbing scene. Climbing speciali ...

died while

free soloing Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of technical ice or rock climbing where the climbers (or ''free soloists'') climb alone without ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment, forcing them to rely entirely on their own individual ...

the route in 1993. His fall from several hundred feet was suspected to be due to a slippery rock, coated with moisture.

References

External links

supertopomountainproject.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steck-Salathe Route (Sentinel Rock) Big wall climbing routes Yosemite National Park