Hans and Yuji Claim New Nose Record

The Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley is not only the most famous big wall rock climb in the world but it’s probably the most beautiful. It’s a sight to behold—a blunt 2,900-foot-high prow that divides the massive granite monolith. The first ascent of The Nose, 50 years ago in 1958, took 47 days. Most parties today take at least three days but often four or five. Now imagine running up it in a mere 2 hours and 45 minutes. That’s what the Huber brothers, Thomas and Alexander, from Germany did last October. In the process they broke 44-year-old Hans Florine’s record by 3 minutes.

California climber Hans, a former X-Games speed climbing gold medalist and All-American college pole vaulter, first set the Nose record with Steve Schneider in 1991. The pair raced up it in a now-slow 8 hours and 6 minutes. “I kind of like to own the route, and until October I did,” Hans told the San Francisco Chronicle in a July 26 cover story. Last week he set out with 39-year-old Yuji Hirayama, one of the world’s best climbers, to recapture the Nose record, which he had set with Yuji in 2002.

Yesterday, July 2, Hans and Yuji finally recaptured the record by bounding up the route in 2 hours and 43 minutes, eclipsing the Huber record by 2 minutes 12 seconds. Last Friday they tried for the record, but were 43 minutes slow. Then Sunday they tried again but did it in 2 hours 47½ minutes. So after a few days rest, the Japanese-American team went for it again, leaving the base at 6:40 in the morning. At the halfway mark the duo, with Hirayama doing all the leading, was 10 minutes ahead of the record, but time was lost on the steep upper part with a rope snag and sheer exhaustion. After pulling onto the final slabs and running the last 30 feet to touch the official tree that marks the end of the route, Hans radioed down to the watching crowd at El Cap Meadow, reporting their official time as 2 hours, 43 minutes, and 33 seconds—good for a new record and the 10th time Hans has regained it.

Listen to Hans on NPR’s Morning Edition: Climbers Reclaim World Record on El Capitan (July 3, 2008)

El Cap Nose Fast Facts:
Route Length: 2,900 feet or 2 stacked Empire State Buildings
Number of Pitches: 32
Summit Elevation: 7,569 feet
Cool Feature Names: Stoveleg Cracks, Sickle Ledge, King Swing, Dolt Hole, The Great Roof, Camp Four
First Ascent: Warren Harding, Wayne Merry, and George Whitmore in 47 days, 1958
Climbers Killed on The Nose: 13, with the first in 1973
Former Team Speed Ascent Record: Alexander and Thomas Huber in 2 hours 45 minutes, 2007
New Team Speed Ascent Record: 2 hours 43 minutes. That’s 17.7 feet per minute!
Solo Speed Ascent Record: Hans Florine in 11 hours 50 minutes
Number of Nose Ascents by Hans Florine: 68 times
Other Stuff to Do in 2 Hours 43 Minutes: Run a marathon at 6.3 miles an hour; Cook an 8-pound turkey; Drive from Baltimore to New York at 78.5 miles per hour; Watch the movie Troy; Watch the Titanic sink in 1912.

Talk About Speed Climbing at the Forum
What do you think about speed climbing and speed records like the one that just fell on El Cap? How fast is fast on El Cap's Nose? How much time could anyone shave off the new record or are there real limits? Go to the Climbing Forum and let me know your thoughts.

Buy Hans Florine’s book:
Speed Climbing! How to Climb Faster and Better

Photo above:The Nose of El Cap follows the direct line of sun and shadow.
Photograph © Paul Beard/Getty Images