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I have 2 friends from high school who climbed the FACE of Half Dome back in the 1950s. It took 2 days, as I remember, and they slept in rope slings on the face of the dome over night. They are both still alive today.

Got my doubts there. From Wikipedia:

The first attempt to climb it was made in 1954 by Dick Long, Jim Wilson, and George Mandatory. However, they only managed to climb 175 feet before retreating.

A more serious attempt to find passage up this cliff was made in 1955 by Jerry Gallwas, Don Wilson, Royal Robbins and Warren Harding. After climbing a mere 500 feet over five days, this party, too, retreated.

Gallwas and Robbins, armed with new chrome-molybdenum pitons made by Gallwas, recruited Mike Sherrick and set off on June 24, 1957, determined this time to finish the route. Over a period of five days, they encountered repeated obstacles and, using ingenuity and tenacity, they surmounted all these difficulties.

Five days after they had left the ground, they stood at the summit. Warren Harding had hiked up the backside of Half Dome via the hikers' trail for the occasion. He had been planning, along with Mark Powell and Bill "Dolt" Feuerer, to give the route another attempt, but had been beaten to it by the successful team. Nevertheless, Harding offered the triumphant team a warm congratulations.

As those into climbing know, it was Harding who later first climbed El Capitan's Wall of the Morning Light. It was a big deal. Unless your two high-school buddies were very wealthy, very experienced, and VERY well connected, I have my doubts.

I don’t think so because I clearly remember the front page picture in the Fresno Bee. It cause quite a stir in our household, to be sure. I don’t know any of the people listed in your records. The climb could have been as late as the early 60s, but our friend was a fighter pilot in the AF, stationed in Germany, by then. He later served in VN and Thailand.

"As those into climbing know, it was Harding who later first climbed El Capitan's Wall of the Morning Light. It was a big deal. Unless your two high-school buddies were very wealthy, very experienced, and VERY well connected, I have my doubts.:

I understand your scepticism, although todays modern, lightweight, and high-tech equipment makes the ascent a little bit more accessible to the well-equipped climber.

Notable speed climbs have been acocmplished by climbing teams well within 3 hours and solo climbs of the west face have been accomplsihed in under 4 hours.