Harding Hemp Rope from The Nose

Object/Artifact

-

Yosemite Climbing Museum

Name/Title

Harding Hemp Rope from The Nose

Entry/Object ID

2026.1.50

Description

A spool of hemp rope that was used on The Nose to fix to the high point

Use

Rope

Context

This hemp rope was used to attach to the high point during early attempts of the Nose of El Capitan, 1957. The climbers would climb up and down the rope not only to push the route higher on subsequent attempts, but also to stockpile the ledges with supplies of food and much needed water. The climbers decided to use hemp rope for this because of the cost of nylon rope. During one of these attempts, Wally Reed was getting ready to prusik the rope after Harding and he noticed the rope was frayed above him. He gave the rope a hard tug before committing his full weight to it and it broke. Reed slid back into the Dolt Hole. It didn’t seem to phase him. He placed some pitons and solo aid climbed his way to the rope end hanging 20 feet above and put his prusiks back on it and made his way up to Harding. After that incident Warren said “Expenses be damned! From now on we are using nylon ropes.

Collection

Yosemite Climbing Museum Permanent Collection

Category

Climbing Ropes

Acquisition

Accession

2026.1

Notes

Acquired from George Whitmore in 1993 at his home in Fresno.

Dimensions

Dimension Description

need dimensions

Material

Hemp

Location

Location

* Untyped Location

Exhibit Wall 8

Category

Rope

Date

January 28, 2026

Web Links and URLs

https://vimeo.com/1161154018/0ff3b3a4bf

Provenance

Provenance Detail

George Whitmore

Owner/Agent

George Whitmore

Role

Creator

Notes

Gifted to Ken Yager and Mike Corbett in 1993 from George Whitmore at his home in Fresno

General Notes

Note Type

Cataloging Note

Note

Caption in the museum is: "This hemp rope was used to attach to the high point during early attempts of the Nose of El Capitan, 1957. The climbers would climb up and down the rope not only to push the route higher on subsequent attempts, but also to stockpile the ledges with supplies of food and much needed water. The climbers decided to use hemp rope for this because of the cost of nylon rope. During one of these attempts, Wally Reed was getting ready to prusik the rope after Harding and he noticed the rope was frayed above him. He gave the rope a hard tug before committing his full weight to it and it broke. Reed slithered back into the Dolt Hole. It didn’t seem to phase him. He placed some pitons and solo aid climbed his way to the rope end hanging 20 feet above and put his prusiks back on it and made his way up to Harding. After that incident Warren said “Expenses be damned! From now on we are using nylon ropes.”

Create Date

January 28, 2026

Update Date

February 4, 2026