{"id":21891,"date":"2017-10-24T10:35:53","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T17:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=21891"},"modified":"2020-04-24T14:17:38","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T21:17:38","slug":"climbings-very-big-weekend-from-a-yosemite-speed-record-to-a-first-female-5-15b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/climb\/climbings-very-big-weekend-from-a-yosemite-speed-record-to-a-first-female-5-15b","title":{"rendered":"Climbing’s Very Big Weekend: From a Yosemite Speed Record to a First Female 5.15b"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a year already deemed one of climbing’s biggest<\/a>, 2017 keeps on pushing the limits\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Nose Sees a New Speed Record<\/h4>\n

Two hours, 19 minutes and 44 seconds. That\u2019s how long it took Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds to climb The Nose on Yosemite’s El Capitan on Saturday, October 21.\u00a0That\u2019s four minutes off the previous record set by Alex Honnold and Hans Florine five years ago (June 17, 2012, with a time of 2:23:46). To put it in perspective, the Nose (5.9 C2 or 5.14a) is 2,900 feet of climbing spread out over 31 pitches. That\u2019s just over 4.5 minutes per pitch for the duo, a mind-boggling sprint.<\/p>\n

Warren Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore first climbed the Nose in 1958, requiring 45 days spread out over 18 months and 125 bolts to complete.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s super impressive what they\u2019ve done. Big respect,\u201d Alex Honnold told the Co-op Journal over the phone as he was hiking out from a solo speed climb in Red Rocks, Nevada. \u201cI gave Brad a lot of beta and was rooting for him for sure, and they broke it by a pretty healthy time. I\u2019m looking forward to doing my best to try to beat it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crowds gathered in El Cap Meadow during Brad and Jim\u2019s ascent, with monkey calls, erupting cheers and even some tears. \u201cI never felt so much collective energy and love before,\u201d said climber John Sprouse, who was visiting the Valley from Wellington, Ohio, and was gearing up for an ascent of the Dihedral Wall on El Cap.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month Brad passed Hans on the Nose (Hans was not speed climbing the route at the time), and Hans captured a selfie of the two together, adding, \u201cGo quick boys!\u201d to his Facebook post. Hans, co-author of\u00a0On the Nose: A Lifelong Obsession with Yosemite’s Most Iconic Climb<\/a>, is a big supporter of Brad and Jim.<\/p>\n

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A couple cool shots taken by @christian_cattell of @chimney_jim and I on the last hundred feet of the Nose. We got the speed record yesterday at 2:19:44! In this final section our stoke was high as we knew we had it in the bag! Maybe the hardest physical thing I’ve ever done. @gramicci<\/a><\/p>\n

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