In late June, 1957 the three-man party of Royal Robbins, Mike Sherwick, and Jerry Gallwas made the first ascent of the Northwest Face of Half Dome in Yosemite Valley. This ascent, the first Grade VI route in the United States, was a landmark climb. Its ascent along with the first ascent of The Nose of El Capitan in 1958 was important in the evolution of big wall climbing. It was here that a lot of today’s big wall climbing techniques—aid climbing, hauling loads, bivouacking on a vertical wall, rope management—were honed. And, of course, now the Northwest Face of Half Dome is simply one of the best rock climbs on planet earth.
Check out this historical account of the ascent 1957: First Ascent of Half Dome—First Grade VI in the USA. This is the first in a series of articles that will detail the long and colorful history of American climbing and mountaineering.
Photograph: The Northwest Face of Half Dome, first climbed in 1957, is one of America’s best big wall climbs. Photograph © Joe Sohm/Getty Images
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