Back in 2011 I climbed the Salathé Wall in 4 days.
It was my first year on the Yosemite Valley SAR site, a position in which I felt humbled, and quite frankly undeserving of being in. While many of my peers were racing laps up El Capitan at record breaking speeds, I was spending my off time laboring up introductory walls; haul bags filled to the brim, and making it down late no matter how hard I tried to move quickly. While I had managed my way up climbs such as the Nose and Zodiac, the Salathé continued to loom large in my mind. It was just so big. Tales of infinite chimneys, off widths, and other such climbing that still worried me near the ground added to my reverence for the giant face.
Looking down at Royal Robbins napping on El Cap Spire (Tom frost frostworksclimbing.com)
While I won’t get into the individual tales of falls, bonking, fear, and general big wall screw ups that happened on that first trip, I will tell you that there were many, and short of the free blast, there was not a day that we reached our bivy spot without headlamps on.
To say that when the route went up in 1961 it was ahead of its time would be an understatement. While the team of Royal Robbins, Chuck Pratt, and Tom Frost were no strangers to adventure in Yosemite, this undertaking was not only bolder than the myriad of first ascents they had already accomplished in Yosemite, but could probably be considered the most daring task anyone had ever set out to do in rock climbing at the time.
Robbins and Pratt examine the upper half from El Cap Spire.
Just a few years before, Warren Harding had achieved the first ascent of El Capitan via The Nose. While also visionary, his ascent took over 18 months from start to finish, and relied entirely on siege tactics such as those being used in Himalayan climbing at the time (stringing thousands of feet of fixed rope from the ground to their high camps). The Salathé Wall on the other hand was completed in just 6 days from Heart Ledges (approximately 600 feet off the ground) and was done in full capsule style, everything that went up came off, and the life line of fixed ropes to the ground was severed. Climbing a first ascent on a face the size of El Cap in this fashion redefined what was possible in climbing, and set the groundwork for modern day climbing style and ethic in stone.
Todd Skinner and Paul Pianna on their free ascent of the Salathé at 5.13b. (Bill Hatcher)
Since then, the Salathé has grown into one of the most well-known, loved, and travelled big wall rock climbs in the world. It has also continued to be at the center of the cutting edge of climbing. In 1988 Paul Pianna and Todd Skinner, the preeminent big wall free climbers of the time, achieved the first free ascent of the Salathé, which came in at 5.13b, and was the hardest big wall free climb in the world at its time. Again, the wall had shown the climbing world what was possible, and helped to bring in a new era of the sport. A year later, Steve Schneider and Rick Cashner achieved the first one day ascent in a blistering 14 hrs (The current speed record stands at 4:55!), and in 1995, Steph Davis became the first female to free climb the route.
Since then, the Salathé has grown into one of the most well-known, loved, and travelled big wall rock climbs in the world. It has also continued to be at the center of the cutting edge of climbing.
Now, in 2016, the Salathé still stands as a testament to the tenacity of its first ascensionists, and the difficulty of climbing El Capitan. While it sees a large amount of ascents every year, pitches such as the Hollow Flake, The Ear, and the incredibly steep and exposed Salathé Roof, remain modern day test pieces for Yosemite climbers and still inspire the same awe that they did back in the 1960’s.
The author jugs the Salathé Headwall on his one day ascent. (Freddie Wilkinson)
As for me, 5 years later I achieved what I once thought was an impossible dream, to climb the Salathé in a day. While the wall has opened up minds and shown what was possible to climbers for years, it has now done the same for me. I’ve found the feeling of pride in the hard work and training required to accomplish goals like these in Yosemite is hard to come by in many other places. I felt it the first time I lead Bishops Terrace, upon getting to the top of Moby Dick without big cams, pulling over the lip of the Salathé after 4 days of exhaustion, and now topping out that same wall in a single push. Adventure is still alive and well in Yosemite, aim high, get out and find it. Your soul will thank you for it, even if your body doesn’t.
Adventure is still alive and well in Yosemite, aim high, get out and find it. Your soul will thank you for it, even if your body doesn’t.
