16
ASCENT MAG
EL CAPITAN ASCENT MAG
17
OVER THE EDGE CLIMBING THE MONOLITH THAT HAS FASCINATED GENERATIONS
T
he Nose was first climbed in 1958 by Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore in 47 days using “siege” tactics: climbing in an expedition style using fixed ropes along the length of the route, linking established camps along the way. The fixed manila ropes allowed the climbers to ascend and descend from the ground up throughout the 18-month project, although they presented unique levels of danger as well, sometimes breaking due to the long exposure to cold temperatures. The climbing team relied heavily on aid climbing, using rope, pitons and expansion bolts to make it to the summit. The second ascent of The Nose was in 1960 by Royal Robbins, Joe Fitschen, Chuck Pratt and Tom Frost, who took seven days in the first continuous climb of the route without siege tactics. The first solo climb of The Nosewas done by Tom Bauman in 1969. The first ascent of The Nose in one day was accomplished in 1975 by John Long, Jim Bridwell and Billy Westbay. Today, The Nose typically takes fit climbers 4–5 days of full climbing, and has a success rate of around 60%.
Photo by Liane Metzler, via Pexels
Clipped in | All styles of climbing, including trad, top rope and free solo climbing, are popular on El Capitan.
FREE CLIMBING
18
ASCENT MAG
A
s it became clear that any non-crumbling face could be conquered with sufficient perseverance and bolt-hole drilling, some climbers began searching for El Cap routes that could be climbed either free or with minimal aid. The West Face route was free climbed in 1979 by Ray Jardine and Bill Price; but despite numerous efforts by Jardine and others, The Nose resisted free attempts for another fourteen years. The first free ascent of a main El Cap route, though, was not The Nose, but Salathé Wall. Todd Skinner and Paul Piana made the first free ascent over 9 days in 1988, after 30 days of working the route (graded 5.13b on the Yosemite Decimal System). The Nose was the second major route to be freeclimbed. Two pitches on The Nose blocked efforts to free the route: the “Great Roof” graded 5.13c and “Changing Corners” graded 5.14a/b. In 1993, Lynn Hill came close to freeing The Nose, making it past the Great Roof and up to Camp VI without falling, stopped only on Changing Corners by a piton jammed in a critical finger hold. After removing the piton she re-climbed the route from the ground. After 4 days of climbing, Hill reached the summit, making her the first person to free climb The Nose. A year later, Hill returned to free climb The Nose in a day, this time reaching the summit in just 23 hours and setting a new standard for free climbing on “El Cap.” The Nose saw a second free ascent in 1998, when Scott Burke summitted after 261 days of effort. On October 14, 2005, Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden, husband and wife, became the third and fourth people (and the first couple) to free climb The Nose. They took four days on the ascent, swapping leads with each climber free climbing each pitch, either leading or following. Two days later, Caldwell returned to free climb The Nose in less than 12 hours.Caldwell returned two weeks later to free climb El Cap twice in a day, completing The Nose with Rodden, then descending and leading Freerider in a combined time of 23 hours 23 minutes. On January 14, 2015 Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed the first free climb of the Dawn Wall after 19 days, one of the hardest climbs in the world. In November 2016, Czech climber Adam Ondra free climbed
The monolith | El Capitan’s massive and intimidating face has been subject to fascination since the first visitors to the valley.
the Dawn Wall in 8 days. On June 3rd, 2017, Alex Honnold completed the first free solo climb of El Capitan, without protective equipment. He ascended the Freerider line in 3 hours and 56 minutes, beginning at 5:32 am PST and reaching the peak at 9:28 am PST.
ASCENT MAG
Speed climbing “El Cap” is also popular. The record for the Nose has changed hands several times in the past few years. The record currently belongs to Alex Honnold and Hans Florine, who broke the previous record by almost 13 minutes, with a time of 2:23:46 (2 hours, 23 minutes, 46 seconds) on June 17, 2012. Mayan Smith-Gobat and Libby Sauter broke the speed record for an all-women team, with a time of 4:43, on October 23, 2014. On November 6, 2010, Dean Potter and Sean Leary had established the previous record at 2:36:45, breaking the old record held by Hans Florine and Yuji Hirayama by a mere 20 seconds. Prior to that, the Huber brothers (Alexander and Thomas) held the record with a time of 2:45:45 (2007).
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HISTORY OF THE NOSE 1958
Wayne Merry, Warren Harding and George Whitmore complete the first ascent of the Nose in 47 days.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS ON EL CAPITAN’S MOST POPULAR ROUTE
1969
Tom Bauman completes first solo ascent of the Nose
1973
Beverly Johnson is the first woman to complete an ascent of the Nose, with Dan Asay.
1975
John Long, Jim Bridwell and Billy Westbay complete the first one-day ascent of the Nose.
1993
Lynn Hill completes first free ascent of the Nose.
Alex Honnold’s record-breaking ascent of the Freerider route was accomplished in 3 hours 56 minutes.
2012
Alex Honnold and Hans Florine set current record for speed climbing the Nose, at 2 hours, 23 minutes, 46 seconds. Photo by Mike Murphy
BOLDY GOING
20
ASCENT MAG
THE HISTORY OF CHANGING HISTORY ON THE FACE OF YOSEMITE’S MONOLITHIC EL CAPITAN
B
A
fter his successful solo ascent of the Leaning Tower, Royal Robbins turned his attention to the Yvon Chouinard-T.M. Herbert Muir Wall route, completing the first solo ascent of El Capitan during a 10-day push in 1968. The first solo ascents of El Capitan’s four classic “siege” routes were accomplished by Thomas Bauman on The Nose in 1969; Peter Hann on the Salathe Wall in 1972; Robert Kayen on the Layton Kor-Steve Roper West Buttress route in 1982; and Beverly Johnson (first solo ascent by a woman) on the Cooper-Baldwin-Denny Dihedral Wall route in 1978. Other noteworthy early solo ascents were the solo first ascent of Cosmos by Jim Dunn in 1972, Zodiac by Charlie Por
Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0
everly Johnson was the first woman to successfully ascend El Capitan, via the Nose route, with Dan Asay in June 1973. In September 1973, Beverly Johnson and Sibylle Hechtel were the first team of women to ascend El Capitan via the Triple Direct route, which takes the first ten pitches of the Salathe Wall, then continues up the middle portion of El Capitan via the Muir Wall, and finishes on the upper pitches of the Nose route. In 1977, Molly Higgins and Barb Eastman climbed the Nose, to become the second party of women to climb El Capitan and the first to climb it via the Nose. In 1978, Bev Johnson was the first woman to solo El Capitan by climbing the Dihedral Wall. In 1993, Lynn Hill established the first free Ascent of The Nose (IV 5.14a/b). Hazel Findlay has made three free ascents of El Capitan, including the first female ascent of Golden Gate in 2011, the first female ascent of Pre-Muir Wall in 2012, and a three-day ascent of Freerider in 2013.
ter in 1972; Tangerine Trip by David Mittel in 1985; and The Pacific Ocean Wall by Robert Slater in 1982. These ascents were long 7- to 14-day ordeals that required the solo climber lead each pitch, and then rappel, clean the climbing gear, reascend the lead rope, and haul equipment, food, and water using a second haul rope. On June 3, 2017, Alex Honnold made the first free-solo ascent of El Capitan in 3 hours and 56 minutes via the route Freerider - completing the most difficult free-solo in history. All text sourced from Wikipedia.
The legend | Yosemite Valley has become one of the most well-known monuments in the world because of its beauty and natural resources.