.gif)
Salathé Wall (El Capitan)
Encyclopedia
The Salathé Wall is one of the original technical climbing
routes up El Capitan
, a 3000 feet (914.4 m) high granite
monolith in Yosemite National Park
. The Salathé Wall was named by Yvon Chouinard
in honor of John Salathé
, a pioneer of rock climbing in Yosemite. The route is recognized in the historic climbing text Fifty Classic Climbs of North America
and considered a classic around the world.
The first ten pitches of the Salathé Wall are commonly known as "Free Blast" since they can be quickly climbed free at a 5.11 rating or less.
The first free ascent of a main El Capitan route was by the Salathé Wall. Todd Skinner
and Paul Piana made the first free ascent over nine days in 1988, after thirty days of working the route (grade
d 5.13b by the Yosemite Decimal System
).
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
routes up El Capitan
El Capitan
El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about from base to summit along its tallest face, and is one of the world's favorite challenges for rock climbers.The formation was...
, a 3000 feet (914.4 m) high granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
monolith in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
. The Salathé Wall was named by Yvon Chouinard
Yvon Chouinard
Yvon Chouinard is a rock climber, environmentalist and outdoor industry businessman, noted for his contributions to climbing, climbing equipment and the outdoor gear business. His second company, Patagonia is known for its environmental focus...
in honor of John Salathé
John Salathe
John Salathé was a pioneering rock climber, blacksmith and the inventor of the modern piton....
, a pioneer of rock climbing in Yosemite. The route is recognized in the historic climbing text Fifty Classic Climbs of North America
Fifty Classic Climbs of North America
Fifty Classic Climbs Of North America is a climbing guidebook and history written by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. It is considered a definitive piece of climbing literature, known to many climbers as simply "The Book", and has served as an inspiration for more recent climbing books, such as Mark...
and considered a classic around the world.
The first ten pitches of the Salathé Wall are commonly known as "Free Blast" since they can be quickly climbed free at a 5.11 rating or less.
The first free ascent of a main El Capitan route was by the Salathé Wall. Todd Skinner
Todd Skinner
Todd Richard Skinner was an American free climber. His climbing achievements included the first free ascents of many routes around the world and the world's first free ascent of a grade 7 climb....
and Paul Piana made the first free ascent over nine days in 1988, after thirty days of working the route (grade
Grade (climbing)
In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...
d 5.13b by the Yosemite Decimal System
Yosemite Decimal System
The Yosemite Decimal System is a three-part system used for rating the difficulty of walks, hikes, and climbs. It is primarily used by mountaineers in the United States and Canada. The Class 5 portion of the Class scale is primarily a rock climbing classification system. Originally the system was...
).