New speed record for climbing El Capitan's nose

Rafiki

Rafiki

Active member
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Alex and Hans climb the nose.

Two weekends ago Hans Florine and I climbed the Nose of El Capitan in 2:23:46, setting a new speed record in front of a very supportive crowd gathered in El Cap Meadows.

The thing about speed climbing is that it's not really about climbing fast.

Smooth efficiency takes the place of actual fast movement, especially on a route as long as the Nose. It's more about having all your systems dialed and not making mistakes than running as fast as you can and dynoing for holds. And that's what makes the whole speed climbing game so rewarding - when you do it well you climb smoothly and perfectly, which is one of the best feelings in climbing.

We did have a lot of slack out in places and occasionally took each other off belay, but at all the hard parts the leader would be on a real belay. Whenever we were aid climbing or trusting fixed gear we would be on a normal belay.

And most importantly, we always had at least two pieces of gear between us, meaning that under no circumstances, even worst-case scenario type situations, could we actually fall completely off the face. We might be looking at potentially long falls in places, but something would always have caught us, and on a cliff as steep and clean as El Cap sometimes falls like that work out ok.

As Hans always says, "Safety first, fun second, speed third."

In all our attempts on the Nose we always followed these rules, which is part of what made the whole experience so fun.

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ya 2 hours is insane. we'll probably see alex honnold, the guy that climbed with hans, free climb this soon. that would be crazy
 
It has been free climbed multiple times. What you mean to say is free solo it. Free soloing it will almost certainly never happen. It is 5.14a, and The Great Roof with tiny, tiny tips is highly improbable for a solo (yes, free solo, not aid solo), but the Houdini pitch (Changing Corners) is so delicate and improbable that it would be an essentially impossible solo. If El Cap gets soloed it will be via Freerider. Alex would be the man for the job, but he has publicly stated that he will not do so, due to one specific "insecure low-odds dyno." Alex has soloed harder routes, but the difference is he has never fallen on those routes. He has fallen on Freerider.
 
Nope. That was Dean Potter on the Eiger. Different continent. Again, you mean free-solo. Free climbing is climbing the route, placing protective gear. The gear is placed to save you in the case of a fall, but is not directly pulled on. Free-soloing a route is climbing without ropes, protection, etc. Alex Honnold is widely known for his free-soloing, but his roped exploits are impressive as well.

Here is a pic of the Nose:

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I'm surprised no one else has said it but damn, props to you man, that's pretty incredible that you did it that fast
 
nope, thats not what im talking about. he called it free-basing, as in a cross between free soloing and base jumping. i call it free climbing because he has protection (the parachute). he did one of the routes on el cap or half dome. in fact i think he attempted the eiger but got caught in a storm and had to down climb.
 
lol, OP is not Alex. Clarified with Flying Squirrel via PM...no one has free-soloed El Cap, with or without base rig, East Buttress and West Buttress notwithstanding.
 
ohhh oops when I saw "Hans Florine and I climbed" I assumed he was the "I". haha that's what I get for being sick and barely sleeping and trying to read. my bad
 
false. Honnold free soloed half dome and then free climbed El Cap in under 6 hours, all in the same day. he did not free solo El Cap.
 
Also false. Alex soloed Half Dome RNWF, then soloed El Cap, in the same day. He also just recently added in Mt. Watkins, also solo, making for perhaps the most amazing day of rock climbing in history. While he did these solo, probably 95% free-solo, he used aid through the cruxes on all three. Alex has completely free-soloed half dome, but on the day he linked them he used aid through the crux on half dome and then a fair bit of aid on El Cap.
 
free soloing just sounds dumb, I dont get why you wouldn't just wear a harness and keep the rope slack, it seems sorta like go backcountry skiing with a beacon or anything. If something goes wrong wouldn't you like to be able to learn from your mistake?

btw i could never do anything close to that so not trying to hate
 
Free soloing may sound dumb, and for the average person it certainly is. For the select few who have a solid mastery of the rock, it represents the ultimate ideal. Complete and total freedom of movement, control, and awareness. It channels an inner energy that cannot be tapped into in any other way, at least in my experience. Free soloing is not about trying not to fall. It is about the complete and total certainty that you will not fall.
Soloing should be done well within one's limits, and preferably on routes one has wired. Onsight soloing is foolhardy, and came close to ending my life. I learned, am no longer so brash, and am a better person for it. I would never advocate that anyone free solo. It should be a personal experience, done for personal reasons, far away from spectators or cameras. I would encourage you to not knock something that you have no experience with. At the same time, I would encourage you to never have any experience with it. There is nothing I can find to equate soloing with, but backcountry skiing without a beacon certainly is not a fair parallel.
 
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