Yosemite Climbing Museum

The Yosemite Climbing Museum preserves the history of climbing in Yosemite from its earliest recorded ascents in the late 1800s to the present day. Through artifacts, photographs, publications, and memorabilia, the museum chronicles how Yosemite became a proving ground for modern rock climbing and a catalyst for innovations that shaped climbing worldwide.

Yosemite played a central role in the development of big wall climbing techniques, the evolution of equipment, and the clean climbing movement of the early 1970s. These advances were driven not only by bold first ascents, but by an emerging ethic that emphasized creativity, responsibility, and care for the rock itself. Together, these stories reveal how climbing in Yosemite became a culture, not just a sport.

In the early 1990s, Yosemite locals Ken Yager and Mike Corbett recognized the urgent need to preserve this history before it was lost. They founded the Yosemite Climbing Archives with a shared vision of creating a public museum dedicated to Yosemite’s climbing legacy.

Over the next three decades, the growing archive was shared through temporary exhibits in Yosemite National Park and communities across California. In 2003, Ken Yager formed the Yosemite Climbing Association as a nonprofit organization to steward this collection and advance that original vision. The museum space in Mariposa reflects this long-standing commitment to preserving and sharing Yosemite’s climbing history with the public.