Separate Reality (climbing route)

Separate Reality is a 20-metre-long (66 ft) long climbing route in Yosemite National Park in California, United States. The famous[1][2] route is well known for its exposed crux and 6-metre-long (20 ft) crack in its roof through which the sky is visible.[3] The route's access is about 200 metres (660 ft) above the Merced River, but is better reached by abseiling from above. The name is from the 1971 novel A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan from Carlos Castaneda.[4]

The route was first climbed by Ron Kauk in 1978 and given a difficulty grade of 5.12a (7a+). It was later downgraded to 5.11d (7a) when a block fell off near the lip, exposing a new handhold.

The first to free solo-climb this route was German Wolfgang Güllich in 1986, then photographed by Austrian Heinz Zak, who 19 years later soloed the route himself in 2005, becoming the second to do so.[5] This climb has made it to Red Bull's 10 Most Legendary Free Solo Climbs of all time. He noted that, "I suddenly had an impression that it was not a game of gambling with my life; it was not subjectively dangerous. It is the thought of death that teaches us to value life." [6]

The route excites climbers not so much because of its technical difficulty, but due to its overhanging exposed nature,[5] and the resultant demands on the human psyche. The roof climb hangs 200m above the Merced River. To prepare for the climb, Zak built a wooden model in his garage. [7]

In the summer of 2006 the American Dean Potter was the third climber to free solo this route.[8] Since then, other climbers, such as Alex Honnold (2010) and Will Stanhope, have free soloed the route as well.