Half Dome Conquered by Paraplegic and His Partner

A paraplegic rock climber and his partner, worn and hungry after nearly two weeks on Half Dome, reached the summit of the famous rock face Monday.

Tension was high during the final part of the 13-day ascent by Yosemite ranger Mark Wellman, who was paralyzed in a 1982 climbing accident, and Mike Corbett. They were exhausted by the long climb and almost out of food and water.

With Corbett leading, they had to inch up the final 75 feet of 2,200-foot Half Dome’s vertical face to reach the summit. Part of that climb required them to swing out on their rope eight to 10 feet from the wall to get above an overhang.

Another concern was the physical condition of Corbett, Yosemite’s most experienced rock climber. He reported numbness in his arms from basically making the climb twice--once to set pitons, then again after lowering himself to clean up the pair’s equipment after Wellman pulled himself up hand over hand to the next pitch.

“That was a fantastic climb, a lot harder than we thought,” Wellman said shortly after they reached the top at about 1:25 p.m. “I feel I barely made it.”

“I didn’t know if I could make it,” said Corbett. “We laughed that we wanted something harder than El Capitan. We found it.”

Using only his arms, Wellman climbed 3,300-foot El Capitan with Corbett in a week two years ago in the first major rock climb by a paraplegic.

“The second summit is much sweeter than the first,” said Wellman.

After the pair reached the top, Wellman was carried to his wheelchair and he and Corbett popped champagne corks. Corbett dumped his bottle over his own head while Wellman sprayed a handful of people who were waiting at the top to greet them.

“It’s good to see you on top. I wish I was there with you,” said Corbett’s pregnant wife, Nikyra, wiping away a tear as she talked with him from the Yosemite Valley floor via a television link.

The pair began their ascent on Sept. 4.