| Salathé Wall | |
|---|---|
 Southwest face of El Capitan fromYosemite Valley with the Salathé Wall route marked in red | |
| Location | California,USA |
| Coordinates | 37°44′02.4″N119°38′13.2″W / 37.734000°N 119.637000°W /37.734000; -119.637000 |
| Climbing area | Yosemite Valley |
| Route type | Aid climbing,Free climbing |
| Vertical gain | 2,900 ft (884 m) |
| Pitches | 35 |
| Rating | 5.13b (free) or 5.9 C2 (aid) |
| Grade | VI |
| First ascent | Royal Robbins,Tom Frost, andChuck Pratt, 1961 |
| First free ascent |
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TheSalathé Wall is one of the originalbig wall climbing routes upEl Capitan, a 3,000-foot (900 m) highgranite monolith inYosemite National Park. TheSalathé Wall was named byYvon Chouinard in honor ofJohn Salathé, a pioneer of rock climbing in Yosemite. The route is recognized in the historic climbing textFifty Classic Climbs of North America and is considered a classic around the world.[1][2]
Thefirst ascent was in 1961 byRoyal Robbins,Tom Frost, andChuck 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 beingaid 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 arope 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, andJohn Bachar free climbed pitch three (5.11b) making all 10 pitches free.[3] These ten free pitches, often free climbed as a standalonemulti-pitch climbing route in its own right, are known asFreeblast (5.11c).[4]
In 1979, Mark Hudon and Max Jones, climbing from the ground up, led all but 250 feet of the route free, adding three pitches of 5.12 and 5 or 6 of 5.11.[4][5]
In 1988,Todd Skinner and Paul Piana made thefirst free ascent 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.[4] TheSalathe Wall was the first major route on El Capitan to be fully free climbed, and was thefirst-ever free ascent of a big wall route in history at the grade of5.13b (8a).[5][6]
In 1995,Alexander Huber became the first individual to free climb all the individual pitches, leading every pitch free himself in two pushes (with one hanging belay for a rest), and using an easier variation avoiding one of the cruxes, and assigned a grade of 5.13b.[4][5][7][8]
In 2005,Steph Davis made thefirst female free ascent, with the grade at 5.13b.[4][9]
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