[Hide Comment] Classic Big Wall Route. The route was first ascended by Royal Robbins. It offers a great introduction to moderate clean aid. Super steep and super fun. This route is more exposed than the South Face.

[Bring a] standard Free Rack. Bring some heads and a hammer in case the fixed heads blow. Jan 24, 2007

[Hide Comment] FA June 1969, Royal Robbins and Glen Denny. Robbins and Mike Covington had started the route but bailed after 300 feet.

See Robbins' account of the FA here, scanned form Summit Magazine, July/August 1970:

supertopo.com/climbing/thre…

Robbins took heat after the FA for the 38 bolts placed. Quoting TM Herbert from McNamara/Roper's Supertopo Bigwalls book: "Robbins, Robbins, not you, not you, man. Hell, you'll set a bad example. Pretty soon we'll have guys bolting up blank walls all over the valley." Robbins' response: "But man, it's all a question of the climb being worth it. Worth the number of bolts. Look at the line, man, look at the line."
(The Supertopo Bigwalls book is full of good history, and worth picking up on that merit alone; the topos ain't bad either;). Feb 18, 2008

[Hide Comment] Great Wall. My first and I lead and hauled every pitch. The "haul bag eating flake" is just that. There are a ton of bat hook holes that I never used once. The only hook I used was my sky hook. Some of the heads look like the cables might go soon but bring a beak to bypass that. All in all a great route and super straight forward. Apr 22, 2008

[Hide Comment] Climbed this route about 8 years ago. I climbed it again just the other day. The number of fixed pins...especially on pitch 2...has increased significantly. Which begs the question, Why are people nailing on a route that has gone clean VERY easily for over 10 years?
Weird. Sep 24, 2008

[Hide Comment] @ Greg . . .

Much agreed on the cleaning, did the route last may and noticed the absurd amount of fixed gear on the route. I remember that manky head and thinking if the cable blew anyone without direct gear would be %$#@ed.

Feb 8, 2012

[Hide Comment] Just climbed this a few days ago. There was a dead head on pitch 5. We bypassed this by hooking it with a small Tomahawk. My partner (who is new to walls and had never used a Tomahawk for anything) found this to be pretty straightforward. A short cheater stick would also get you past this easily. May 19, 2012

[Hide Comment] We climbed this in a LONG day after the smoke cleared. There was ash falling from the sky on Sunday. This was 9/2/13.
No hammer needed, all necessary pins and heads look in good shape. Kudos to ranger Ben Doyle for cleaning the broken pins from pitch two last summer, more aesthetic now.
Bring two Metolius blue/yellow offsets, sell your spare tire if you need to, but bring two of these MVPs. W brought free shoes, but didn't need them. Sep 4, 2013

[Hide Comment] Did it solo over 3 days around April 13th.

- Most of the heads are ok. A couple are in pretty bad shape, but I would say even if they pop you can get around it by being inventive.
- On Pitch 1, just after the initial cracks, there are a couple of 5.6 moves that I did free (to join the second crack under the small roof). DON't take the blocks to the left when freeing that section, they are super loose. I almost pulled a fridge size block out. (it moved then stopped).
- At the end of pitch 9 (The one above Tapir), just before the belay there is also a big lose block on the right. It also moved when I loaded my cam on it. Try to avoid it.
- Pitch 10 is pretty long and wandering. What I did to avoid the haulbag eating flake: I climbed all the pitch at once. Then I build a middle hauling anchor just before the ledge on the middle of the pitch (left of the eating flake). I hauled from there then I hauled a second time from the top. This avoid quite nicely the eating flake.
-To start pitch 11, Don't go directly left!! This chimney is not part of the climb, from the amound of slings on the tree on top, seems a lot of people did that mistake. To haul pitch 11, put the haul bag on the slab on the right.
- For hauling pitch 12, setup a far hauling system with the rope fixed on the highest tree, nearby the bivy site.

All in all a beautiful climb. Most difficult move for me was a super weird cam hooking move on top of pitch 6 just before the bolt before the anchor. (I guess a head popped there). May 7, 2014

[Hide Comment] Finished The Prow two days ago. We had it to ourselves. Not a soul on the column except for the South Face. Great climb. We used one tomahawk (love, love, love) one medium beak twice, and one cliffhanger. We did not place any micro nuts. Cam hooks and hybrids were key. Aluminum May 30, 2014

[Hide Comment] Aaron McDonald and I did the route this past weekend and it was pretty great vertical camping. We took our time and enjoyed the experience. I do not recommend linking the Strange Dihedral with the next pitch, as it suggests in the newest topo, because of severe rope drag. Even though the aid is not so tricky (though Aaron led the crux on pitch 2-3), it is still a demanding wall due to its steep and exposed nature. Each time you clip a bolt try to imagine Royal Robbins topstepping to hammer the drill, its pretty humbling. Forceful winds added to the feeling that Mother Nature holds the master card and respect is necessary. For us that meant bringing full storm equipment. After doing the North Dome Gully descent I think both of us wish we would have rapped the South Face, as NDG was just too punishingly arduous and dangerous with our haul bags, even doing it in daylight and not for the first time. We thought having drank our water our bags would be lighter, but they felt just as heavy as when we started.

Hindsight Gear List.

Nuts- a sampling of regular offsets and brass offsets, maybe 6-8 total
Single set of offset cams
One Metolius 00
two Metolius 0
Triple cams from Metolius # 1 (blue) to .5 Camelot (purple)
Double cams Camelot #.75 (green) to #3 (blue)
One new Camelot #4
One Chuinard hook, two cam hooks. May 4, 2016

[Hide Comment] Didn't seem to need many stoppers on this thing. Used RP's a couple times though. Between the two of us I think we each did two hook moves on cliffhangers. No need for beaks. All the fixed heads were bomber. Jun 13, 2016

[Hide Comment] youtu.be/vE08uj5ryvU Sep 23, 2017

[Hide Comment] Did it this past weekend. For aid specific gear we had doubles in offset cams, doubles in totems, offset nuts, peenuts, and brassies.

I used a camhook once but could've placed a nut. If you load up on the cams like we did, you don't need as many nuts as in the description.

I did one sketchy talon move to reach a bolt on P6 although I am sure I missed some beta to not have to do this. Beaks are not needed on this route at this time, almost all heads are bomber and the ones that arent can be easily worked around. Apr 10, 2019

[Hide Comment] Just summited last week. My first Bigwall, and my second attempt. Feeling pretty stoked about it. I got to lead 6 of the 10 pitches we did it in. Climbed it clean. Both Ledges were great camp spots using the portaledges. (We both had our own). The “haul bag eating flake” is really a haul bag eating pitch so keep that junk close while jugging that whole pitch not just the bottom. The views you get while climbing this are incredible. The climb itself is fantastic. Sep 7, 2020

[Hide Comment] Some of the heads are in rough shape, but held. Cam hooks were clutch on a few sections, and totems in general helped make a lot of C2 into C1. May 23, 2021

[Hide Comment] Pitch 8 (the first pitch off Tapir Terrace) is much sketchier than it looks. I made the mistake of back cleaning my first piece in the crack (for rope drag, ostensibly) and the (perfect looking/feeling) Totem I was on popped, sending me 20 feet past the belay. Whipped again up higher when an (again perfect looking/feeling) X4 offset popped. I suspect extra slick and flaring scars? YMMV but take it easy on that pitch and don’t let the “C1/C1+“ grade fool you!

Classic, very exposed route. May 28, 2021

[Hide Comment] Climbed this 5/292021
Pins were in good shape. lots of solid looking angles.
Most heads looked alright, Im 200 lbs and they held me. Some had some bad wires from aggressive bounce testing (take it easy...)
Crux for me was the top of the Strange Dihedral, just before the last bolt before the intermediate anchor. Bring a small tomahawk for dead head hooking.
Bring as many offsets and totems as you can get your fat knuckled hands on, 3 blue/yellow metolius was clutch. I only needed one hook move on route. Medium cam hook will get you past anything your small cams cant get into. We didn't place any nuts.
Triples #2 C4 and down, 2 #3s, 1 #4, in addition to your offsets and totems. May 30, 2021

[Hide Comment] This was my first wall and quite an adventure. We did it in three days and two nights which was a little longer than expected given how slow some of the aid pitches were. I used my cam hooks a few times for speed and did one beak move where the fixed gear had deteriorated. There might have been one or two other cliff hanger moves as well. Definitely a memorable climb and quite challenging for a first wall. Sleeping on the porta-ledge with views of Half Dome with the moon rising over it was pretty epic. Jul 2, 2021

[Hide Comment] Just climbed this route yesterday(9/27/21) and there are a ton of places to use your cam hooks. There are a couple heads that look questionable but they still held me. If you fix your haul bag to pitch 3 or 8 you can blast to the top without having to haul the rest of the pitches. Make sure to bring two ropes if you plan to rAp the route once you summit. Sep 28, 2021

[Hide Comment] Our rack from Oct 19:

-metolius 00 and 0/00 offset
-3x totem, black-orange.
-2x metolius blue/yellow (these are clutch, thanks to Ranger Matt for the beta!)
-#3 Dragon, #8 metolius ULMC
-#5 C4
(we forgot the #4's and didn't need them. Weird. Literally never found a place that I could place them)
-small and medium camhooks (I did exactly three camhooks, all in row, then didn't use them again)
-2 medium grappling hooks
we used no nuts all day (can bring micronuts/small offset nuts if you want, since they don't weigh anything)

-8 QD's, 6 Alpine draws
-4 small lockers (edelrid slidelock or SM'd)
-Revo or GriGri for short fixing.
-70ft 5mm cord for tagging gear. Oct 21, 2021

[Hide Comment]

• I'm editing this comment after considering Brandon's advice below

Since we climbed the Prow in late season and no one else was on the route, rappelling (with 2 x 60-meter ropes) worked well for us. We left the bag on Tapir Terrace, tagged the summit, and collected the bag on the way back down. However I suppose especially with it being a popular route, walking off is the smart option.

Here's some more beta in the forum for those interested ...... mountainproject.com/forum/t…

Overall the Prow was an excellent choice for our first wall climb. You're never too far from a solid piece on this one. And hanging out in front of Half Dome the whole time is pretty surreal ! Nov 2, 2021

[Hide Comment] Much better beta is to descend down North Dome Gully to the east. The route is not rigged for rappel, and it is certainly not straightforward to do so. Particularly if there are other parties on this popular route, I would strongly advise against rappelling. May 21, 2022

[Hide Comment] Rapped the route easily. Super straight forward. Left bags on 7 and fired to the top. 5 or 6 bolts found by topping out, facing towards North Dome and walking down hill a bit. Come around counterclockwise, looping around and then walk up sandy hill. Cross chasim on big bolder, you'll see the bolts to left. From there, using double ropes, you can rap all the way down to top of 9. Then make it to top of 8, then back to bags on 7. Obviously if there are a ton of party's on it this won't work. But if there aren't its a great way down. Awesome route. Enjoy! Jun 16, 2023

[Hide Comment] Solod this 11/20-22. Someone call up Bobby Weir, there are so many dead/dying heads on this route now compared to when I climbed it two years ago! A beak or bathook will get you past most of them, but if someone went up with a butterknife they would have their work cut out for them. There's also a terribly placed head on the 6th pitch just before the strange dihedral which would have been well placed if someone had cleaned the old dead head it was placed on top of. It held my ~160 pounds though. Route is also easy to rappel solo, left my bags at taipir when I topped out. Rapping pitches 5 and 6 required a little swinging but nothing crazy. Nov 24, 2023

[Hide Comment] Short people beware the bolts on P7. They're at the limit. For a couple near the top, even on the very top aider rung, a cheater stick was required. Pro beta—this route loves .4s. Consider doubling HB offsets. Red, pink, grey, and black tricams would have been really useful; I really wish I had the red for a pocket at the start of P9. Hook similar to Pika spoonbill hook (#2) was useful for a couple of the fixed heads. Jun 21, 2024

[Hide Comment] WTF?! It looks like someone nailed their way up this whole thing. 10 fixed pins (mostly angles!!!) on P2 make it mostly a clip up. LOADS of brand new fixed nuts and brand new bashies all over this. Loads of hammered in beaks. The pitch to Tapir was mostly a clip-up due to this. I even encountered a beak hammered into a head, both fixed. Oct 4, 2024

[Hide Comment] Day 1) Woke up early, had coffee, went out to climb the Nutcracker. Started up with 1st load of water and ropes around 3:00 PM. Return to camp
Day 2) Bring second load to base- Ryan does most of the work while Charles goes back to car to get spare bolt for ledge to replace the one that randomly fell out on the trail. Ryan lead P1- straightforward and I lead P2- my only “fall.” Traverse over to the next crack was very wet and I slipped there. Placed a cam in the horizontal crack and stepped across on my aider. Slept at the base.
Day 3) Climb and haul to top of p3- Ryan’s lead. We set up the ledge there, planning to fix to top of P5. I lead P4 which was rather intense! Littered with dead heads. My copper head kit which was left at the base did not do me any good. Huh, wonder why? I sure would have placed a couple if I had them. Nailed a couple of beaks instead. Satisfying, but very draining. First night on the portaledge.
Day 4) From portaledge camp at top of p3, jug pitch 4, Ryan leads p5. I lead p6- very nice! Fun aid climbing with some interesting problem solving along the way. A hook move or two and another couple of beaks. Hauled to 6 and set up camp. Surprisingly comfortable with a mere 6” x 36” block to stand on. Use the bolt way out to the right to hang the ledge and it will keep out of the way of the bags.
Day 5) From the portaledge at top of p6, Ryan lead the Strange Dihedral as p7. I lead to tapir Terrace for the technical crux of the route- engaging and thought provoking. Very interesting aid climbing. P8 for us. Blast to the summit with Ryan leading in the dark, sleep at top.
Day 6) Woke up on the summit, had coffee and begin to rappel back to our high camp at Tapir Terrace. Grabbed the bags and rode them down pitch by pitch. There were a few places where the fall line did not exactly line up with the lower anchors. Ryan had to get off the bags and switch to another line to be able to make the pendulum to grab one anchor. Pulled the bags across after this. We had the bags back to the car by 6:00 PM or so for an 123 hour speed climb. Apr 17, 2025

[Hide Comment] Anyone know if any pitches go at C3 right now as of Sept. 2025? Sep 25, 2025

[Hide Comment] For anyone else hauling the whole route and topping out- I figured the alternate belay for pitch 8 depicted on the topo to avoid the bag-eating flake would be some sort of fixed anchor but I did not find one anywhere. I suppose you are meant to build a gear anchor on the ledge right below the 5.8 crack and haul off of that (that's what I ended up doing, at least).

Fixed gear was in decent shape as of late Sept 2025.

We did not find the #5 to be necessary. Sep 29, 2025