The Nose (El Capitan)

The Nose
Southwest face of El Capitan from Yosemite Valley
Location	California, USA
Coordinates	37°44′02.4″N 119°38′13.2″W / 37.734000°N 119.637000°W / 37.734000; -119.637000
Climbing Area	Yosemite Valley
Route Type	Free climbing or Aid climbing
Vertical Gain	2,900 feet (880 m)
Pitches	31
Rating	5.13+ or 5.8 C2
Grade	VI
First ascent	Warren Harding, Wayne Merry, George Whitmore; 1958 (47 days).
First free ascent	Lynn Hill 1993
Fastest Ascent	2:23:46, Hans Florine and Alex Honnold

The Nose is one of the original technical climbing routes up El Capitan. Once considered impossible to climb, El Capitan is now the standard for big-wall climbing. It is recognized in the historic climbing text Fifty Classic Climbs of North America and considered a classic around the world.

"El Cap" has two main faces, the Southwest (on the left when looking directly at the wall) and the Southeast. Between the two faces juts a massive prow. While today there are numerous established routes on both faces, the most popular and historically famous route is The Nose, which follows the massive prow.

Once thought to be unclimbable, the high granite walls of Yosemite Valley began to see their first attempts and first ascents in the late 1950s. One of the most coveted routes was the Northwest Face of Half Dome, and among those coveting it was Californian Warren Harding. He made an unsuccessful attempt on Half Dome in 1955, and returned for the 1957 season just as Royal Robbins and team were completing the first ascent. "My congratulations," Harding recounted, "were hearty and sincere, but inside, the ambitious dreamer in me was troubled."

Harding turned to an even larger unclimbed face, the 2,900 feet (900 m) prow of El Capitan, at the other end of the valley. With Mark Powell and Bill "Dolt" Feuerer, they began the climb in July 1957. Rather than follow the single-push "alpine" style used on Half Dome, they chose to fix lines between "camps" in the style used in the Himalaya. Attempting to get half way on the first push, they were foiled by the huge cracks, and Feuerer was required to form new rock spikes or pitons by cutting off the legs of wood stoves. This gave the name to the crack system leading to the half way point, the "stove leg cracks".

Compelled by the National Park Service to stop until March due to the crowds forming in El Capitan meadows as soon as the snow melts, the team had a major setback when Powell suffered a compound leg fracture on another climbing trip. Waits at the base of The Nose and Korengals easily reach 50 hours. Powell dropped out, and Feuerer became disillusioned. Harding, true to his legendary endurance and willingness to find new partners, "continued", as he later put it, "with whatever 'qualified' climbers I could con into this rather unpromising venture." Feuerer stayed on as technical advisor, even constructing a bicycle wheeled cart which could be hauled up to the half-way ledge which bears his name today, "Dolt Tower"; but Wayne Merry, George Whitmore, and Rich Calderwood now became the main team, with Merry sharing lead chores with Harding.