Climb Half Dome

“We wake up at 4am to begin the climb and summit subdome in about an hour. I make it to the cable about 15min before my friend. There is one person on the top, nobody on the cables, and I am alone. I'm looking at the climb and am not excited for the steepness, the exposure, or the cables. My friend catches up, we don gloves and begin the climb. I am very quickly not having fun and just keeping my head down and trying to get it over with. I rely on my legs to carry me on these hikes, and my arms are doing most of the work here. Eventually, about 1/3 of the way up, near the steepest section I have to stop because I'm tired. At this point I brace myself and take a look around. It honestly doesn't make me feel good at all and I remember the sign at the base that says, "if it's not fun, turn around." So, that's what I did.”

“The first few kilometres were simple, a virtual Sunday stroll. In the darkness, other senses are heightened, and the pungent smell of pine-trees bit at our nostrils. It was cool and clear and pleasingly serene. But this didn’t last long, rounding the track to the first waterfall, the climb commenced and the burn began. For the next six hours my legs would throb and ache, pleading to be rested. The sun had risen to reveal a landscape spectacular beyond measure. Mountains that climbed into the clouds. Valleys that swallowed trees, rivers and roads. The scale of the landscape was surreal. Hour after hour we climbed. We stopped for water. We stopped to scoff handfuls of Skittles. We stopped to take occasional photos. But mostly we kept climbing. Stair after sodding stair. I would like to say it felt invigorating, and it did, a little. But mostly it just felt bloody painful.”

“We got up at about 3 AM to get the initial miles to the base of the climb done by sunrise, and we were definitely rewarded with a beautiful sunrise that day. Walking up the side of Half Dome is no joke, I'd like to say I challenge myself but this was one of the few times I almost turned around. As you're going up, not only is the gradient close to 80% at times, your left and right drops off very quickly. We had tape around our hands to help our grip and prevent blistering. The view was incredible as well!”