Monday, June 15, 2026

Question: In what year did the Sierra Club first install the steel cables that allow hikers to ascend the final, steep stretch of Yosemite’s Half Dome without rock-climbing equipment?

Answer: 1919. The Sierra Club funded and installed the original cables that year, following the route George Anderson pioneered when he first reached the summit in 1875. The cables let hikers climb the last roughly 400 feet to the top without technical rock-climbing equipment, and the Civilian Conservation Corps replaced the originals in 1934.