Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Hardest Permit to Get

Without a doubt the hardest permit to get is to climb Half Dome. On March 1st at 7am PST, I and three others tried to get permits for June 11th. By 7am and 1 SECOND it was sold out . This becomes even more outrages because this year you have to have permit everyday to climb Half Dome. I am glad that I climbed it twice last year during the week without a permit, but sad that I may never be able to climb it again.

Just for clarification..............Do you need a permit to trek the entire trail or must you have a permit in hand when you climb the last 300-400 feet of the cables?????

Anyone know?

Just need a permit to climb the portion with the cables....

There is a ranger stationed at the start of the Sub Dome climb who checks for your "ticket" (last year it actually looked like a ticket to some event).

I am glad that I have done Half Dome three times already, so I'll never have to mess with trying to get a permit. My next trip to Yosemite will be to do Clouds Rest. Whitney Mike

I feel very lucky to obtain Half Dome permits (4). I logged in the website at exactly 7am on March 1st; my group got permits for the last week of June. All of the falls should be incredible this year, with the huge snow pack in the Sierras.

I feel very lucky to obtain Half Dome permits (4). I logged in the website at exactly 7am on March 1st; my group got permits for the last week of June. All of the falls should be incredible this year, with the huge snow pack in the Sierras.

Luckily 7 months out of the year the posts are conveniently
removed by thoughtful Park Service employees. Makes the use of a
prussic for safety a lot easier. Permits are not required when
the cables are in this 'DOWN' state.

The ranger sits well below the cable section and you are not allowed to continue past this point without a permit. I hiked half dome last year without a permit and the ranger gave me a permit that wasn't used from a previous group. I was also offered by more than one person a extra permit.

Apparently, a number of Half Dome permits are showing up for sale on Craig's List. The permits will be taken instantly by scalpers until a few of these jack wagons are prosecuted.

"Create a market and they will come!"

Not to pick nits, lacrosse, but that is not a prusik (many spellings) hitch, it is a klemheist, which is much better with webbing, as you are using it, that a prusik, which should only be tied with cordage.

(sorry, old climbing instructor in me coming out.)

Will the klemheist made of rope hold against the steel cables? I have always assumed that it would work because of rope on rope friction. Ken are you recomending that for this type of use of the klemheist (ascending and descending the cables with the polls are down) webbing or straps should be used instead of rope?

Brent N

I have 1st hand experience that the klemheist grips well on the ' Half Dome cables. Agree that webbing should be used, not rope, to
maximize surface to surface contact.

Do a comparison test on a broom stick.

One year the cables were buried in snow for a ways
but I cleared the strand I was using with a grunt or two.

Tested the klemheist for grip on the wet slushy cable and it held fine. Confidence levels soared accordingly.

Do you have to do two protections/prusiks/klemheists to get past the joints in the cable?

Is it best to put one on the right and one on the left? Or both on the same cable?

How many joints are there?

Lacross, thanks for the tips.

Joel, I can partially answer your question. I don't remember any joints in those cables, but it has been a few years for me. However, you will not want to teather yourself to both cables. The cable is heavy enough as it is for one hand without having to have one cable in each arm.

My two cents.

Joel -Yes I had 2 klemheists ready but just used 1 at a time with leather gloves providing good grip on the cable. Pushing the
klemheist up and not needing it to climb but setting it to rest ,other wise it was just loose enough to slide up the cable.

2 transfers points to other cable sections in the middle but its easy to always stay connected.

The cable feels heavy near the bottom and top but not in the middle as its steeper there and easy to hold at waist level.



Note : wool mittens/gloves are extremely slippery on the cables
Any glove that's made to grip metal would be optimum.

"Klemheists", a new interesting word to me - probably not used much in Florida... getting back to the permit problem, I used the same tactic for Yosemite as used for getting Whitney access two years ago - pick a multi-day hike that starts from a less desired area (Onion Valley) and Whitney access is included. For Yosemite, picked a three hike from Glacier Point to Happy Isles - access to Half Dome is included...

Good thing you only need a permit to go UP the cables. If you can find another way up, you're home free!

For the next 70 days or so the cables can be ascended Batman
style without anyone needing a permit. They don't put the poles in until the 1st weeks of June. Be strong and safe.


Falling off means it'll be a closed casket ceremony.
http://www.hikehalfdome.com/Accidents.html