Largo



Sport climber The Big Wide Open Face Topic Author's Original Post - May 29, 2017 - 04:56pm PT On May 27, 2017, Jon Cardwell and Sasha DiGiulian completed the first continuous free ascent of the Misty Wall, Yosemite Valley, an iconic, 1,700-foot big wall first climbed by Royal Robbins and Dick McCracken in 1964. Cardwell and Marcus Garcia had freed all the pitches last September, adding a direct finish that busts dynamic moves out a big roof, followed by 5.12 face climbing to an exposed hanging belay. The next pitch (12) tracks a spectacular 5.12 splitter crack up the 95 degree headwall.



However winter came before the pair could tic the whole shebang in one go. The climbing - which largely follows the steep, sickle-shaped corner several hundred feet right of Yosemite Falls - is stout, at solid 5.13; but the bigger challenge is linking all the pitches in a mega-endurance push.



Cardwell (one of the few climbers worldwide who boulders V15 and leads 5.15) and DiGiulian (recently returned to 5.14 form) were both coming off strong seasons sport climbing and training in Spain. But during their two days of sessioning the route prior to the send, Sasha could only manage short sections of the thuggish roof pitch, and was never close to linking the whole business. Yet on the push, she went for the lead and powered through the roof on her first try - that's a champion rising to the occasion, right there. They only had an hour of light left by then, and Sasha was gassed, so she only had one go in her.



By the time they reached the 5.12 splitter crack, 1,600 feet and a dozen leads up the wall, Cardwell's arms were cramping and his hands were curling into claws. And Sasha (after flashing the crux roof pitch) fizzled out not once but twice trying to follow the splitter, and twice had to lower to the bolts, guzzle a Red Bull, then have at it again before she got the pitch in one go. No quit in that climber.



Yosemite Falls - a few hundred feet to the left - is gushing like the Euphrates in flood, so the adventure had a wildness to it. The pair needed most every ray of daylight to complete the push, topping out 14.5 hours after starting at the base that morning. The long hike down the falls trail, which they managed in the dark with headlamps, is all swirling mist and spray from the gusher, roaring like Kingdom Come.



For a cranker, airball thriller, the Misty Wall might be hard to beat.



Here's a couple pics from the send:

























Climbing photos by John Evans and Marcus Garcia