The National Park Service is contemplating a new permit program restricting overnight big wall climbing in Yosemite Valley in early 2023. Although a final decision has not been made, pending the public comment period, Yosemite climbing ranger supervisor Jesse McGahey stated that the permit program for overnight big wall climbing is “likely.” Big walls, such as El Capitan, rising 3,000 feet above the Valley floor, are designated as wilderness, the highest protection of public lands. Climbing big walls requires several days of camping on the wall because of the complexity and length of the route.
This new environmental policy constitutes a major shift in the decades-long relationship between the Yosemite climbing community, which views itself both as stewards who preserve the unique vertical world of Yosemite’s granite cliffs, and reprobates,…
