Half Dome Northwest Face

Summary
OwnerMITOC Gallery Administrator
Creation Date2006-09-19 13:06:57 UTC-0400
DescriptionWoody Hoburg

Darren Verploegen

Northwest face of Half Dome 5.9 C1 23 pitches (failed!)
The climb: 1 mile of flat approach, 1.5 miles of 4th class approach gaining 3000', and 2000 feet of 5.9 C1 climbing over 23 pitches!

water supply: 3 quarts per person per day

water consumed: 5 quarts per person per day

This is an amazing climb. We are planning to go back and do the whole thing in grand style. The approach is a nice warm-up; certainly gets the blood pumping. We fixed pitches 1-3 the same day we approached, hauled all but our sleeping stuff and dinner, and rapped off. For our first time hauling, we did pretty well. With a reverso, I was able to belay Darren and haul at the same time, and Darren kept the bag moving whenever it snagged. Camp at the base was comfortable except for the occasional small stone hurtling by. They make a lot of noise when they come from 2000 feet. I was tempted to devise a way to prop my helmet above my head as a shield. We also replenished our water from a tiny trickle at the base.

The next morning we woke up after the sun was up (get up early next time!), and jugged to the top of 3. Darren was on prussiks since we had only 2 ascenders, and also had to free a briefly stuck rope, so we started pitch 4 late morning. The aiders came out for a roof, and we made our way to the top of pitch 7 before the sun hit. We were behind and not going to make the bivvy at 17. We knew we could easily make the bivvy at 11, but were concerned about our water even for two days, and a bivvy at 11 meant either a very long 2nd day or three days. Too much fumbling around on a big mean wall. We made the call to rap off while we had daylight, learn as many lessons as we could, and come back for a second attempt next summer.