Half Dome Rock Climbing

The classic profile of Half Dome, recognizable worldwide, sits over the east end of Yosemite Valley like a distant guardian. Glaciers cleaved the dome clear in half (hence the original indigenous name Ti-sa-ack or Cleft Rock in the language of the Awahnechee), leaving incredible slab climbs on the sunny southern aspect such as Snake Dike (5.7) and Southern Belle (5.12) to amazingly steep lines on the NW face. The namesake route (the "Regular" route) on the NW face is one of many aid climbers' first objectives, but it makes for a great, adventurous free climb as well.

Even the hiking route up to the summit visor, via the cables, is classic, and it is no wonder why this formation was used for the North Face's logo.

Remarkably, Half Dome was once described as "perfectly inaccessible" by Josiah Whitney of the California Geological Survey in the 1870's. The summit was finally first attained by George G. Anderson in October 1875, via a route constructed by drilling and placing iron eyebolts into the smooth granite near the site of the cables today and remains one of the most historic Yosemite ascents that has contributed to the direction of rock climbing in the USA.