Yosemite: Stories Untold
Join prolific climbers such as Alex Honnald, John Long, Lynn Hill, and many others as they recount their experiences in Yosemite's towering walls.

"Untold stories from Yosemite" was the theme for the 2024 American Alpine Club’s Benefit Gala, and the legendary climbers from the region gathered together to create a compilation of their best works for the prompt. This anthology “is going to be a little like sitting around the fire in Camp 4 — swapping yarns and discovering the strength of this community.” This opens the conversation to include climbers and perspectives “that have shaped climbing in Yosemite, but don’t get talked about enough.”

This volume is simply a reminder of who we are as a people and a culture, where we came from, and where we might possibly go. As these stories illustrate, starting in the 1990s with Lynn Hill’s first free ascent of The Nose, climbing broke the gender barrier in bold and spectacular fashion. But not until our collective history is written by a wider diversity of people will climbing forge a new and much-needed trail, as only adventure can do. This is where our footprints lead.

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Yosemite: Stories Untold
Join prolific climbers such as Alex Honnald, John Long, Lynn Hill, and many others as they recount their experiences in Yosemite's towering walls.

"Untold stories from Yosemite" was the theme for the 2024 American Alpine Club’s Benefit Gala, and the legendary climbers from the region gathered together to create a compilation of their best works for the prompt. This anthology “is going to be a little like sitting around the fire in Camp 4 — swapping yarns and discovering the strength of this community.” This opens the conversation to include climbers and perspectives “that have shaped climbing in Yosemite, but don’t get talked about enough.”

This volume is simply a reminder of who we are as a people and a culture, where we came from, and where we might possibly go. As these stories illustrate, starting in the 1990s with Lynn Hill’s first free ascent of The Nose, climbing broke the gender barrier in bold and spectacular fashion. But not until our collective history is written by a wider diversity of people will climbing forge a new and much-needed trail, as only adventure can do. This is where our footprints lead.

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Yosemite: Stories Untold

Yosemite: Stories Untold

Yosemite: Stories Untold

Yosemite: Stories Untold

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Overview

Join prolific climbers such as Alex Honnald, John Long, Lynn Hill, and many others as they recount their experiences in Yosemite's towering walls.

"Untold stories from Yosemite" was the theme for the 2024 American Alpine Club’s Benefit Gala, and the legendary climbers from the region gathered together to create a compilation of their best works for the prompt. This anthology “is going to be a little like sitting around the fire in Camp 4 — swapping yarns and discovering the strength of this community.” This opens the conversation to include climbers and perspectives “that have shaped climbing in Yosemite, but don’t get talked about enough.”

This volume is simply a reminder of who we are as a people and a culture, where we came from, and where we might possibly go. As these stories illustrate, starting in the 1990s with Lynn Hill’s first free ascent of The Nose, climbing broke the gender barrier in bold and spectacular fashion. But not until our collective history is written by a wider diversity of people will climbing forge a new and much-needed trail, as only adventure can do. This is where our footprints lead.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781962603218
Publisher: Di Angelo Publications
Publication date: 06/10/2025
Pages: 230
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

John Long was an original member of the legendary "Stonemasters," a core group of California climbers who lit the fuse on the modern adventure sports revolution. His incredible feats include the first one-day ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. Long describes himself as "a writer who just happens to get caught up in climbing and adventuring."

John Long has written over forty books, with nearly three million copies in print. His literary short stories have been translated into many languages. He is the recipient of a National Book Award, the H. Adams Carter Literary Award from the American Alpine Club, and has won the Grand Prize at the Banff Film and Book Festival.

John Long has two beautiful daughters and two grandchildren. He currently resides in Venice Beach, California.

Read an Excerpt

LOSING MYSELF ON HALF DOME (2008), Alex Honnold from The Valley Climbers:

I had to do something soon; treading water was only wearing me out. I never considered downclimbing. I was going up — it was just a matter of how high — one way or another.

The idea of free soloing Half Dome had dominated my thoughts for the whole summer. An injury had forced me to take the season off from climbing, and I spent several months hiking around the Sierra. Mile after mile, week after week, Half Dome was my muse and source of motivation. By September I was back in shape, back in the Valley, and super psyched to resume hard climbing.

Half Dome is a beautiful face, intimidating yet alluring. I love the way it dominates the east end of the Valley. But why I had to solo the wall, I don’t exactly know. Maybe I’d spent so much time imagining a solo ascent that nothing else could clear it from my mind. Perhaps no answer will ever do. For whatever reason, I decided that I would solo Half Dome.

I had free climbed the route once before, following a line too sketchy to try without a rope. Variations exist on most hard sections, so to determine the route best suited for free soling, I repeated the climb with a partner. The reconnaissance went well and I managed the route without falls. I felt physically ready for the free solo.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

SOME YOSEMITE ROCK CLIMBS

William Shand, Jr. From the American Alpine Journal, 1944

FIVE DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE LOST ARROW

Anton Nelson From the Sierra Club Bulletin, March 1948

ORDEAL BY PITON

Allen Steck Excerpted from the Sierra Club Bulletin, May 1951

THE NORTHWEST FACE OF HALF DOME

Michael P. Sherrick From the Sierra Club Bulletin, November 1958

THE LONGEST CLIMB

Wayne MerryFrom Yosemite in the Fifties, 1958

THE NORTH AMERICAN WALL

Royal RobbinsFrom the American Alpine Journal, 1965

THE SOUTH FACE OF MT. WATKINS

Chuck PrattFrom the American Alpine Journal, 1965

TIS-SA-ACK

Royal RobbinsFrom Ascent, 1970

TEAM MACHINE

Billy WestbayFrom The Valley Climbers, 1976

THE LAST PITCH

John LongFrom The Valley Climbers, 1976

EL CAP AND HALF DOME IN A DAY 

Peter CroftFrom The Valley Climbers

THE SALATHÉ FREE

Paul PianaFrom the American Alpine Journal, 1989

FREEING THE NOSE IN ONE DAY

Lynn HillFrom The Valley Climbers, 1994

SOLOING THE LINK-UP

Hans FlorineFrom The Valley Climbers, 1998

EL NIÑO: FREEING THE NORTH AMERICAN WALL 

Thomas Huber From The Valley Climbers, 1998

LURKING FEAR

Beth RoddenFrom The Valley Climbers, 2000

EL CORAZÓN!

Alexander HuberFrom The Valley Climbers, 2001

FREE RIDER IN A DAY

Steph DavisFrom The Valley Climbers, 2004

THE DIHEDRAL WALL

Tommy CaldwellFrom The Valley Climbers, 2004

LOSING MYSELF ON HALF DOME

Alex HonnoldFrom The Valley Climbers, 2008

SPEED TRAP

John LongFrom Ascent, 2021

MAGIC MUSHROOM: A FEMALE ASCENT OF

EL CAP’S SECOND-HARDEST FREE ROUTE

Barbara Zangerl From The American Alpine Journal, 2017

EL NIÑO VIA PINEAPPLE EXPRESS — GROUND UP. FREE.

Amity Warme, 2024

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