Science & Tech
Lost Arrow Spire, a detached granite pillar beside Upper Yosemite Falls in Yosemite Valley, became a landmark of American climbing for the dramatic gap between its summit and the main cliff. In 1946, Ax Nelson and Jack Arnold reached the top by lassoing a line across the gap, but the accepted first ascent came in 1947 when Nelson and John Salathé climbed the chimney route over five days using Salathé’s improved pitons, later called Lost Arrows. The climb was later regarded as the first big-wall climb completed in the United States and a beginning of Yosemite’s Golden Age. The spire also became famous for free ascents and pioneering highline crossings.
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Yosemite Valley, California · United States
