Half Dome, Regular Northwest Face

By: Bill Wright | Climbers: Bill Wright, Lou Lorber, Tom Karpeichik, Judy Morgan |Trip Dates: June 7, 2001

Photo: Gary Clark

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The alarm went off at 3 a.m. and we groggily got up and dressed. Breakfast was a quiet affair and soon we were driving for the Valley. I dozed in the back and before I knew it, we were hiking up the road. It was 4 a.m.

Lou had previously scoped the slabs approach for us, but we still made the mistake of walking clear to Mirror Lake on the road before reversing ourselves and crossing to the other side of the stream. Lou did a great job in locating the indistinct spot where the climber's trail leaves the hiking trail and soon we were sweating up steep slopes and across steep slabs.

This approach is grueling and a bit scary. There are five fixed ropes that are ascended batman style. Some of these ropes are on very steep ground. Knots have been tied in the ropes to make things easier, but it was still a bit stressful. It took us about 2.5 hours with our mistake at the start. It could be done in two hours by moving a bit more quickly and knowing the route. It isn't very hard to follow, but there are sometimes two sets of lines: the fixed, knotted ropes for going up and occasionally a fixed rappel line.

Tom started up the first pitch at 7 a.m. He'd be leading the first block of six pitches and I'd be jugging along behind. We took a small rack for this route: doubles to #2 Camalot and then singles of #3, #3.5, and #4. The second wore a small Camelback pack with 100 ounces of water, some food, our second layer of clothing. The second also wore our insurance: a second 200' 8.5 mm rope - in case we had to bail.

As soon as we got to the base we noticed a party leading the 12th pitch. They were hauling and we assumed they spent the night on the ledge at the top of pitch 11. We hoped to catch and pass them on Big Sandy. We could hear them very clearly as we climbed up this lower section - so clearly in fact that we thought there was yet another party between us.

Tom had some trouble figuring out the best way to start the first pitch. He went up one way, then downclimbed and went another way, then downclimbed again to remove some troublesome gear. Once he got on track he moved steadily to the first belay. He pulled on a piece or two at the 10c section in order to move faster. I jugged up and we switched ends of the rope (this is a great technique for blocks as you don't have to re-stack the rope and it is easy to escape the belay) The next pitch is 5.9 and pretty sustained at the start and then easier to the belay. I jugged once again. We repeated this process on the third 5.8 pitch and then Tom led the hard 4th pitch. This pitch starts with 5.11 climbing, which Tom aided, to a bolt ladder which leads to a long, sustained 5.9+ thin crack. Tom loved the crack and just about ran up this section, placing a couple of #1 Camalots for protection.

The 5.9 pitches that make up the 5th and 6th pitches on Half Dome, if located on the Steck-Salathé route, would be rated 4th class. The climbing on these pitches is fun, solid, and well protected. The climbing flows along nicely and is not the constant struggle and thrash that characterize the Steck-Salathé. Both routes are great, but very different. In fact, these pitches are so moderate that I just followed them free, with a tight rope on the 5.9 sections.

I took over the lead at the sixth belay, leading off at 9:45 a.m. I didn't have much to do on this block as it involved mostly easily climbing. We simul-climbed the next three pitches (5.7, 5.7, 4th class) with Tom working the Gri-Gri on the bottom end for the first time. He was a little skeptical to begin with, but was really enjoying himself by the time I clipped the belay at the bottom of the Robbins Traverse.

We did the next two pitches in conventional style. The first was the bolt ladder to the pendulum right. I completed the pendulum on the second try and Tom followed the pendulum. The next pitch is 5.9 and the protection is pretty much non-existent for the fifteen-foot traverse right at the start. Then the climbing protects well and is quite fun. This pitch is short and I was soon at the bivy ledge atop pitch 11. It was Tom's turn again already. I got to relax on this ledge and gaze at the incredible views. I put my pile sweater on so that I wouldn't get chilled. It was 11:30 a.m. as Tom started up the second half of the route.

This next pitch starts with a 5.6 chimney and then rambles up some easy ground to a step left into a steep corner with a thin crack. This crack goes free at 11c, but Tom would aid it today. At the top of the corner he had to do a tension traverse back right into a 5.7 squeeze chimney which started the next long, three-pitch chimney section of the route. While Tom was completing the top of this pitch, I was simul-climbing the 5.6 chimney and the easy section up to the crack. As soon as the rope was fixed, I was jugging the 11c corner.

The chimney pitches are fun to climb. They aren't like the normal horror shows for which Yosemite is so famous. These chimneys have hand cracks in them and aren't very claustrophobic. In fact, the chimney comes in handy in providing rests about anywhere you'd want one. There is a grunt 5.9 squeeze at the top, but it is far easier than the 5.7 wide pitches on the Steck-Salathé. I was able to jug all these pitches without removing my Camelback pack or the extra rope on my back, though just barely at the squeeze section.

Above the chimney pitches is a sweeping ramp pitch, which gets increasingly steeper and harder towards the top, ending with a 5.9 crux. Tom topped this section, clipped a bolt, and then descended 4th class/low 5th class terrain down and right to belay right at the base of the Double Cracks pitch. I jugged to the first bolt and then Tom belayed me down to his belay.

The next pitch is fun, steep crack climbing and it ends on Big Sandy Ledge. The crack is inset in a tiny depression and when it came time to follow the rope had slipped inside the crack and behind a huge flake. The rope pulled fine, but there was no way to jug the line where the rope was, so I just free climbed the pitch, arriving on Big Sandy at 3 p.m. Coincidentally, this was the same time I arrived on Big Sandy the last time I had done the route, when I slept at the top of pitch 6. On that ascent I had to bivy just below the top at 10 p.m. Clearly I hoped to make the summit this time.

On Big Sandy we did catch the other party and, since they planned to spend the night there, there was no problem with passing. After switching the lead/follow gear between us, it was my job to lead us to the top. I French-freed the first forty feet of the first Zig Zag pitch and then got in the aiders. As I aided to the belay, two other climbers, Nils and his partner, arrived on Big Sandy. They were cruising much faster than we and we'd let them by soon enough.

I short fixed the first pitch of the Zig Zags and started leading the next pitch. I couldn't go very far since I didn't have a trail line and therefore couldn't place any gear if I wanted to pull up the rest of the rack from Tom. Normally you'd belay yourself with a Gri-Gri while leading onwards, but we only had one and Tom had it. There are a number of other belay solutions, but I didn't bother with any of them. I used the Russ Mitrovich aid technique. I just kept myself clipped into two good pieces at all times and slowly worked up the second pitch while Tom cleaned the first.

The second Zig Zag pitch is rated 10b, but it sure looks hard and continuous. Since I started on aid while soloing, I had a hard time getting out of them once Tom put me on belay. As Nils would say to me later, "Aiders are a vortex." He's right. Once in the aiders it is difficult to get out of them. For example, the last pitch of the Zig Zags is rated 11d, but probably most of the pitch is 5.10, yet once you get in the aiders you have a difficult time convincing yourself you could be French-freeing instead of aiding. I need more practice at this.

At the second Zig Zag belay, Tom called up if there was enough room up there for the other party to join us. Heck, I thought, there wasn't enough room for one party up here, but I said, "Sure, no problem. Tell those guys to come on up and we'll let them pass when they get here." I didn't want to just sit idle, so I short fixed the pitch again and started leading the last Zig Zag pitch. This time I tied myself to the anchor with fifteen feet of slack - I'm slow aid climber when I don't have a belay!

When Tom arrived I was out of rope. He untied my knot and I hauled up the extra gear. These pitches in the Zig Zags are so beautiful and clean. They look really fun to try to free climb. The gear is absolutely bomber. Two thirds of the way up this pitch I let Nils lead on by. I had placed a high piece and clipped my aider to it. I told him to simply climb up my aider to get by me. This was the only point where either team used the other's gear. As soon as he did this, I was leading up right behind him. It was cool. I was eager to let a faster party pass me as other parties had been nice enough to let me pass in the past. Passing other parties should become less confrontational and it seems like things are going that direction. Just because you got on a route first doesn't seem to be enough justification to "own" the route for as long as it takes you to climb it. Clearly, you deserve a chance to climb in peace and at a reasonable pace, but how many days can you spend on Half Dome before you must let people pass?

Just before the belay, Nils' partner passed me on the jugs, but I was soon joining Nils at the belay. We chatted while his partner led Thank God Ledge and Tom jugged my fixed line. Nils and his partner had been doing many similar routes to us, though much harder. They had done the Nose on-sight in 14 hours, the West Face of Sentinel, the Lost Arrow Spire Direct, and now Half Dome. They planned a one-day on-sight of the Salathé next. I wonder if that has ever been done?

The Thank God Ledge is such a cool passage. Nils encouraged me to walk it, but I refused. Too scary! You can't place gear if you walk it. I crawled across and then hand-traversed while dragging my trail leg across the top. I placed a couple of pieces of gear in the crack at the back of the ledge and clipped the bolt at the far end. I made the easy step across to the crack and cranked the move over the chockstone into the squeeze chimney. This chimney is rated 5.8 and it is, but it is so short that it seems rather easy. Not to beat a dead horse, but this is much easier than the 5.6 pitch on the Steck-Salathé.

I caught Nils at the belay once again and we chatted some more as I belayed Tom across the ledge. He took some tension on the rope to pass the squeeze section via some Bat-Manning and was soon at the ledge. Nils partner had ran the next two pitches together clear to the summit, but it was a 200-foot rope stretcher. I wondered if I could do the same.

The start of the next pitch - the last aid pitch - involves mandatory, unprotected free climbing moves at around 5.8 to reach the first bolt. Once there, I was happy to see such new, shiny bolts. I worked up the ladder to a tension traverse left and then up another ladder. With some high stepping, no placements are required on this pitch. At the belay I still had a lot of rope left and elected to continue on with the 5.8 direct finish to the route. The last time I did this route it was pitch dark by the time I got here and we didn't know about the direct finish.

The 5.8 "direct" finish is actually a fingertip undercling that traverses almost directly left around the summit overhangs. The holds are very marginal here. The angle isn't steep, but the footholds are just smears. It seemed more like 5.9 to free this section. It is protected with some fixed pins and a couple of Aliens. At the end of the traverse I was still almost a hundred feet from the summit and I was worried about the rope drag as I'd now turn and head almost directly for the top. There were two pins and a good crack for a belay, so I stopped.

As I was leading this last aid pitch, Lou peered over the edge of the Diving Board and started talking with Tom. Judy was there also. They had just arrived on the summit - what perfect timing! They moved to a bit further east to see me at the next belay and watch us climb the last easy pitch to the summit.

Tom did a great job jugging the severely traversing line and then I cruised the easy ground to the summit where Lou and Judy immediately gave me some water. My last drink of water had been on Big Sandy and I was starting to get very thirsty. Tom followed the last pitch free, topping out at 7 p.m. - almost exactly 12 hours after we started the route. This was much faster than my previous ascent almost ten years ago, but more than twice the time my friend John Black had taken. And of course we were much slower than the team that flew by us in the Zig Zags. The route has been done in under two hours! Speed is all relative. Were we fast or slow? It depends on whom you ask.

But that didn't matter much to me. I was really satisfied with climbing the face in an efficient, fun manner. We didn't haul anything and we didn't need headlamps. We climbed light and fast and that made the ascent so much more enjoyable. There wasn't much sitting around and really no stress. The two parties we encountered were very friendly and we had no problems passing one and getting passed by the other. I really enjoy this route and will return to climb it again. The climbing is so fun and the rock and protection so good. I'd like to do a "free as can be" ascent sometime. The biggest barrier to this route is the huge approach and descent.

We ate and re-packed the gear for the long hike out. Lou and Judy had indeed hiked all the way up to Cloud's Rest before hiking back up to Half Dome to meet us on the summit. They also had time for a couple of naps. We'd take the trail down and do the final hour by headlamp, but the worst part, by far, were the horrendous mosquitoes - I really hate those little bastards. I felt pretty strong on the summit and we set a strong pace on the descent, at least until it got dark. I started to fade then. Lou and Judy had hiked about 26 miles that day and done about 9000 vertical feet, so they were even more eager to reach the car. Our car-to-car time was 18:20.

Rack: one set of stoppers, including a couple of small ones, doubles of Aliens through red, Camalots through #2, then #3, #3.5, and #4. Most pitches do not require carrying the 3, 3.5, and 4. Six quickdraws and eight long slings - more if you want to simul-climb or combine pitches. It is interesting to note that when the speed record for this route was set (1:53 by Jim Herson and Hans Florine), Jim led the entire route and only retrieved gear once - at the Robbins Traverse. How could this be done without hundred foot runouts? My guess at the answer: fixed gear! There is lots of fixed gear on this route and bringing a bunch of slings allows you to carry a smaller rack. Of course, as was reiterated to me earlier in this trip, fixed gear isn't always reliable.

Editor's Note: This report can also be found on the author's web site. The author is a Major Contributor to the North American Classics project.