Half Dome, Direct North Face. The 2000-foot north face of Half Dome was first climbed in June, 1957. As of December, 1963, the original route, circuitous but beautiful, has been ascended 10 times. Since the first ascent, climbers have wondered about a “direct” route straight up the face, but their ardor remained cool because of a blank section 300 feet above the base. This area appeared to call for many bolts and so, over the years, it remained untouched. In early June the time was ripe and one wet morning Dick McCracken and I began our attempt. Climbing past fixed ropes placed by Ed Cooper, we ascended a great curving chimney to the 5 bolts which marked Cooper’s high point at the beginning of the blank section. Here we left the chimney and spent the rest of the cloud-shrouded day reaching a ledge 500 feet above the ground. To get there we used far fewer bolts than we had dared hope, but this required rigorous climbing of the sort that makes the palms sweat: bad pitons, a pendulum, delicate free climbing, and a fifi hook used just the right way on a nubbin. On the second day, as cold and cloudy as the first, we followed a flake system straight up to a second blank area. Crossing this was the crux of the ascent. First we placed 14 pitons to avoid 2 bolts, then used a fifi hook 4 times on a thin, white flake, and finally placed 6 rurps and a knife-blade, before better pitons and several bolts led to a ledge. Leaving a fixed rope, we slept at the base of this pitch. Next morning we continued up the great flake system. The most memorable pitch that day was a steep and shallow chimney with an overhang at the top and all the pitons behind the same flake. In the late afternoon, as yellow sunlight filtered through the banks of cumulus, we reached the Last Terrace. Here the direct route meets the standard, which comes in from the left. Rain fell that night, but we were comfortable in our bivouac sack. On the fourth day, June 14, we followed the famous zig-zags up the final 400 feet to the summit, arriving at 3 p.m. A roll of thunder prompted a quick descent by the cables, where a few days earlier 4 persons had been injured by lightning. Statistics: NCCS VI-9-A5; 295 pitons, 20 bolts (5 by Cooper, 10 by us, and 5 in place on the upper part of the standard route) Bongs: 4-1½? 3-2?; 3-2½?; 1-3?. 23 pitches.

Royal Robbins