I'm looking to climb Half Dome this summer, and I'm wondering what the easiest route up is? The friend I plan to go with mentioned he knew of a 5.9 route - anybody have any info on this? Thanks!

Snake Dike, I believe...

Hmmmm... thats the one thats mostly 5.4-5.6 right? I noticed in the MP online guide that the regular route is 5.9... does anyone know how many hours it takes?

Hi Caleb,

The easiest route is the hikers cable route, best used for descent.
I suggest Snake Dike. It is a little run out on easy sections, but it is unique and enjoyable.
If you don't mind employing a bit of clean aid, the the regular northwest face should be on your agenda, because with a bit of aid you could keep the free moves down to about 5.9 Can I say classic?

Caleb,

Two questions: How long have you been climbing and what's the longest route you've climbed to date?

The Regular NW Face on half dome is 5.9 C1. Be prepared for a lot of aid climbing if you are a 5.9 climber, probably a couple of days of the route, and awful hauling. Snake Dike is your route unless you want to do the overnight big wall thing, or you are a very strong fast free climber.

The Regular Route is much easier to climb in a day, but you need to be in shape. You should probably be a competent 5.10 Yosemite climber before you attempt it.

Snake Dike is a hump and a half for 500 ft of technical climbing. To enjoy yourself go super light, and you should be solid on 5.8 runout faces even though it is only rated 5.7.

With either route, the technical climbing will feel easy compared to the hike. The hike is brutal.

I suggest you go to http://www.supertopo.com and read up on the two aforementioned routes. They are definatly two different animals, with the Snake Dike being about 8 pitches (less are actually technical climbing) with the Regular Route being 23 pitches, involving aid, hauling etc.

Snake Dike, but if exposure and run-outs "aint your thang", then I recommended that you choose another formation.

To all: the info is very much appreciated! I'm pretty new to climbing (6 months), and I climb 5.10b but I havent done many long climbs. I appreciate the heads up on the Regular NW face because I haven't learned to aid yet... looks like we're headed to Snake Dike!

If you spend enough time between now and then climbing hard friction slab routes you'll be fine. Following.

The Snake Dike and the NW face are so different that they might as well be on separate planets. The SD is on Planet Easy, and those other routes require spending significant dues-paying time on lesser formations.

The really scary trips on Snake Dike are from people who are so good they assume they can free solo it. The problem is that the crux pitch is only 5.7 climbed in exactly the right place. Thus, you get people doing the on-sight free-solo, and they get off route onto 5.9 slab! There are a couple of trip reports on the web from people who got more than they bagained for. As far as I know, though, none of them have fallen off, just some scary moments.

Unidentified Pizza Found At Base-

Rescuers suspect pep with extra sauce.

If you've only been climbing 6 mo. I recommend getting guided up Snake Dike. Or just run up to the top with a liter of water, and get psyched to come back and climb it. Half Dome is a serious endevor to rock climb from any side. Without the cables probably 5.4, with the cables still sketch.