Half Dome Success 2023
Meet the Patients We climbed for in Yosemite
Michael Mordent on the Summit of Half Dome with Brig
The Snake Dike Route is 8 pitches and 800 feet of technical climbing
Robby Benson on the Summit of Half Dome with Dr. Weight
Victor Rabb on the Summit of Half Dome with Brig
Caris LeVert on the Summit of Half Dome with Dr. Weight
Dr. Ramon Castro on the Summit of Half Dome with Dr. Weight
Trip Report
The forecast was for rain all week. This is good for a state in drought, but not great if you only have a few days to attempt a climb. Climbing becomes much more dangerous even with a little rain, and people have died by lightning strikes on the top of Half Dome in the past. Therefore we were glued to weather reports, hoping for a window of clear weather to climb. It looked like there was going to be a 12 hour window on June 5th, but we’d have to start early.
We got up at 4 am, packed and drove to the trailhead. We started hiking with headlamps at 5 am under a beautiful clear sky and full moon. The trail rises along then over the Merced River to the Vernal Falls. With record snowfalls, the runoff was tremendous and the Mist Trail more than lived up to its name. We were doused! After gaining the top of the falls, we crossed over the river again and climbed up next the Nevada falls. Once to the top of the falls, we veered east towards the back side of Half Dome and around Liberty Cap. At this point, the climbers trail diverges off the regular trail and we were jumping logs, creeks and spring debris to get to the base of Half Dome and the Snake Dike route.
We got out the gear and spent the next 3 hours climbing 8 pitches and up about 800 feet of pristine granite. Though there are millions of visitors to Yosemite, we only saw one other group hundreds of feet below us. See the photos below. All along we were thinking of the 5 patients we were climbing for. The morning was beautiful, the sky clear and blue. Once we reached the top of the technical climbing, we had another 1000 feet to climb over 3rd class slabs to finally reach the summit.
We had the summit to ourselves for about 30 minutes until the other climbing team made it to the summit. We took photos with Caris, Robby, Vic, Mike and Ramon and headed back down.
By the time we reached the car we were exhausted! Stats for the day, ~40,000 steps, 5,000 feet of elevation gain, 18 miles, 11 hours of nearly continuous physical activity. Inspired by our patients’ grit and the >400,000 people who are diagnosed every year in world.
To beat the rain we started bright and early, no actually dark and early
Route up Snake Dike
Brief protection from the mist
Looking west down Yosemite Valley and down the western shoulder of Half Dome
Snowplant blossiming in the spring
Pitch 2, you can see the small flake you have to walk on about the width of a penny
Looking up the Snake Dike route on the right of the screen
Dr. Weight below belaying Brigham
Almost at the top of the 800 plus feet of technical climbing
Looking up the face
Top of pitch 8 with the Sierra Nevadas in the background
Pitch 2 traverse Brig belaying me
Great handholds, with lots of air below
High on the wall cleaning the gear (don't look down)
Pitch 8 with the world falling off below
Finger cracks
Dr. Weight on the visor of Half Dome with the valley almost 5000 feet below
On the summit we were joined by an uninhibited chipmunk on my pack
Celebrating the 5 patients to whom we dedicate the climb
Half Dome from the back side (a side most people never see)
Half Dome from the East
The 8 mile descent back to the valley was fresh through pristine forests
Towards the top as the pitch eases out
Brig with a hanging belay
Snow on the top, nearing the summit, we had a short snowball fight
These are my tired feet at the top of the technical climbing. They're not too pretty, but they are all I've got and they have taken me to some amazing places.