This page collects miscellaneous historical documents that have come our way. This is an experimental service at this stage and is not yet intended to have any consistency, rhyme, or reason.
Jerry Gallwas’s Half Dome Northwest Face and Desert Spires collections
Jerry Gallwas was, with Royal Robbins and Mike Sherrick, the first to complete a Grade VI route in the United States: Half-Dome’s Regular Northwest Face (VI 5.9 A1 or 5.12). Jerry recently provided the AAC with a thorough multimedia compendium of the momentous climb. The report contains personal accounts from Jerry along with original photographs, newspaper articles, postcards sent between climbers, and more. For those interested in the early history of American climbing, the digital collection offers a fascinating perspective—told by the participants and their contemporaries. Half Dome: First Ascent of the Northwest Face. Click the image below to view the document full screen. (If you wish to download the pdf file: this document is 40MB in size.)
The Desert Spires Collection
The volume published below pulls together a set of articles and photographs detailing several first ascents of iconic desert spires including Canyon de Chelley’s Spider Rock. Desert Spires: Spider Rock, Cleopatra’s Needle, Totem Pole Climbing Pictures with Original Articles and Selected Reading can be read by clicking the image to view the document full screen. You may also download it, but be forewarned that the pdf file is 40MB in size.
