Half Dome Regular Northwest Face – Big-Wall Trip Report

We climbed the route “slow and heavy”: instead of doing it in a day, we treated ourselves to a night on the portaledge. Here is a short description of how we tackled the route and what we took with us.

Day 1: A long but very beautiful approach via the John Muir Trail and the south side of Half Dome to the base of the wall. We deliberately decided against climbing the rockfall-prone Death Slabs with a heavy haul bag and portaledge. The long but relaxed approach over the south side seemed the better choice. At the base there was a spring and some nice bivy spots.

Haul bag and climbing ropes on the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome.

View up a narrow granite chimney on the northwest face of Half Dome.

Climber on a steep granite pitch of the Regular Northwest Face on Half Dome.

Climbing ropes in a narrow chimney between granite walls on Half Dome.

Sunset at the base of Half Dome with granite cliffs and trees.

Climber high on a distinctive granite crack on Half Dome.

Day 2: Don’t underestimate the first five pitches, even though you are “only” on the less steep part of the wall. Once you have crossed the gully and reached the steeper section, the climbing becomes very aid-heavy. After pitch 15 you reach the start of the big chimney. Contrary to many topos, you no longer need a knotted sling to pendulum here – a new bolt ladder leads straight to the start of the chimney.

This is where we set up the portaledge and spent the night. If other parties are still higher up in the chimney or climbing it, though, I wouldn’t set up the portaledge here, but carry on to the end of the chimney – or one or two pitches before it. For us, however, it was the perfect spot.

Day 3: The second pitch of the chimney (5.7 – a squeeze chimney) is the free-climbing crux of the route and is not particularly easy to protect. After that come some great pitches, but you have to watch that the haul bag doesn’t get stuck. On the last pitch before Big Sandy Ledge there is a blue sling at the end. Do not follow it; instead, climb a crack further right onto Big Sandy Ledge.

The Zig-Zag Cracks that follow aid well. The two pitches took us a good two hours in total. The grand finale is the famous Thank God Ledge and the two exit pitches. Here we extended the haul line with the rest of the lead rope so we could lower the haul bag out cleanly.

In the late afternoon we finally stood on the summit, where we spent a wonderful night bivouacking on top of Half Dome.

Day 4: Descent back to the valley via the “Cables”.