Jerry Gallwas

Jerry Gallwas, born in 1936, is an American rock climber who was active in the 1950s at the start of the Golden Age of Yosemite climbing. Born in Whittier, California, he began climbing with Sierra Club members including Royal Robbins and Don Wilson, a group known as the Southern Californians. He made the second ascent of the North Wall of Sentinel Rock in 1953, and with Wilson and Mark Powell made first ascents of sandstone spires in the American Southwest such as Spider Rock, Cleopatra Needle and the Totem Pole. His final major climb was the first ascent of the Northwest Face of Half Dome in 1957 with Royal Robbins and Mike Sherrick, the first grade VI climb in the United States. He also made heat treated chrome-molybdenum steel pitons that helped that climb succeed, and later worked as a chemist at Beckman Instruments.