The ''Salathé Wall'' is one of the original

technical climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically an ...

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 considered a classic around the world.

Climbing history

It was first ascended 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 5.9, and the direct aid was also difficult (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 climb the route alone, rope solo, using pitons for aid and protection. It was his first Big Wall climb. 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 short route, are commonly known as "Free Blast". In 1979, Mark Hudon and Max Jones, climbing ground up, led and followed 95% of the route free, adding three pitches of 5.12 and 5 or 6 of 5.11. In 1988, Todd Skinner and Paul Piana were the first to free climb 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 (

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...

d 5.13c by the

Yosemite Decimal System The Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) is a three-part system used for rating the difficulty of walks, hikes, and climbs, primarily used by mountaineers in the United States and Canada. It was first devised by members of the Sierra Club in Southern Cal ...

). This was the first major El Capitan route to be free climbed. 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 ...

was, after much work, the first individual to free climb all the pitches (5.13b), leading every pitch free himself in a single push (with one hanging belay for a rest), although he bypassed the hardest of the three cruxes by an easier free variation. In 2002, Yuji Hirayama made the first redpoint, in a single push avoiding all hanging belays, at 5.13d. In 2005, Steph Davis made the first female ascent at 5.13b..

References

External links

Supertopo.comMountainproject.com
Climbing routes Yosemite National Park {{Climbing-stub