Powered by Ray's "raptor_engine, ver 5" written and scripted by R. Jardine
Mountain 69
September/October 1979
In an amazing ascent Ray Jardine and Bill Price managed in May to free climb West Face Route, El Capitan. They worked on the first pitches in the expectation that the seventh pitch would be the crux. "But it went at a reasonable 5.11," was the 'pleasant surprise' for Jardine. Whilst making the complete ascent later, after leaving the first two pitches only fixed, they found three pitches of 5.11 in two days of climbing. The climb was originally done by Royal Robbins and TM Herbert in 1967 and was graded V1,5.9 A4. The 2,000 ft route is now the first all-free way to climb El Capitan and thus represents a landmark in the history of Yosemite climbing.
Ray's historical notes:
This was the First free ascent of a grade VI in the country, and the first free ascent of an El Cap big wall.
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