Chris gay climber
Kate Kelleghan
3:50 am, June 3 – Yosemite Valley. Under the yellow light of their headlamps, with wreaths of flowers on their helmets, Yosemite locals Kate Kelleghan and Michelle Pellette started up The Nose on El Cap. Eight hours and fifty-four minutes later, they topped out. From there, they descended via the east ledges, re-racked, and headed back to El Cap to climb Lurking Apprehend. They began at 3:30 pm and topped out at 1:15 am, completing Lurking Fear in 9 hours and 45 minutes. Their total time was 21 hours and 35 minutes, marking them as the second female team to climb El Cap twice in a day.
The women’s record for The Nose is “4:43, set in October 2014 by Libby Sauter and Mayan Smith-Gobat, according to Rockclimbingyosemite.com. For Lurking Fear, the tape is “7:47, position in September 2014 by Libby Sauter and Quinn Brett.”
The first female team to climb El Cap twice in a day was Libby Sauter and Quinn Brett on October 28, 2014. According to Climbing, they completed The Nose in 8:25 and Lurking Apprehend in 9:07, finishing in a total of 21:17, 18 minutes faster than Kelleghan and Pellette.
“It’s cool because Libby and Quinn did it ten years ago,” says Michelle. “It’s kind of
There may be no big wall rock climb more legendary in the earth than The Nose on El Capitan, a 31-pitch 5.9 C2 which has been freed at 5.14a. American climber Chris Gay has become the latest to make a rope-solo ascent of The Nose in under 24 hours, which he accomplished earlier this month. Climbers use a variety of techniques to rope-solo on El Capitan, from self-belaying to “Metroviching” – a phrase coined after speed-soloist Russ Mitrovich where a climber uses daisy chains to stay clipped to at least two pieces at all times.
Rope-soloing The Nose in a morning – known as NIAD – is rarely done, but many climbers possess accomplished the feat over the past few decades. The first rope-solo NIAD was in 1989 by Steve “Shipoopi” Schneider in 21:22. In 1999, Dean Potter lowered the fastest solo day up NIAD to 12 hours and 59 minutes. Hans Florine took assist the solo NIAD record with a time of 11 hours and 41 minutes. In 2012, Alex Honnold soloed The Nose in six hours. In 2016, Miranda Oakley became the first woman to rope-solo NIAD.
In 2018, uppermost U.K. climber Pete Whittaker rope-soloed the Regular Northwest Encounter of Half Dome and The Nose in under 24 hour
Author: Lauren DeLaunay. Scale Year: 2019. Publication Year: 2020.
Over the course of a year and a half, Brandon Adams established a new path on the Lost Brother that quickly became a favorite among high-end free climbers. Wayward Son (13 pitches, 5.12d or 5.11 A0) features three crux pitches of 5.12 through well-protected deal with climbing and classic Yosemite cracks. Between attempts on his unused route, Adams also managed to set two speed records on El Capitan: Genesis (VI 5.11 A4, 20:25), with Chris Same-sex attracted and Steven Tata, and Missing World (VI 5.7 A3, 12:25), with Rebecca Church.
The Fifi Buttress continues to be a trendy arena for new-routing. In November, Lucho Rivera and Cedar Wright established Dream Team (10 pitches, 5.13a) on the steep right side of the wall. The route weaves in and out of Vortex (IV 5.12, Russell-Zschiesche, 1982) and 9/11 (McDevitt, 2001), including a pitch previously bolted by Margaret and Trevor Shumaker. Dream Team is stout favor other lines on this charming wall, with three pitches of 5.11, five pitches of 5.12, and one pitch of 5.13.
Chris Koppl, Vitaliy Musiyenko, and Brian Prince—all prolific Sierra Nevada first ascensioni
This is a list of all known speed records in Yosemite Valley. Times are reported in hour:minute format except for selected records that are listed in hour:minute:second. First-one-day ascents (FOD) and solo records are listed for selected routes. Please submit corrections, new/unlisted records to erik@yosemitebigwall.com.
2025 Speed Records:
Shortest Straw, El Capitan 23:31 June 28, 2025 Anton Korsun (Solo)
Lurking Fear, El Capitan 17:43 June 20, 2025 Rhaude Dahlinghaus (Women’s Solo)
Virginia, El Capitan 9:24 June 24, 2025 Olly Tippett, Brant Hysell
Zodiac, El Capitan 21:49 June 22, 2025 Adriana Sabella (Women’s Solo Record)
KAOS, El Capitan 18:12 June 19, 2025 Olly Tippett, Anton Korsun
The Prow, Washington Column 2:52:29 June 6, 2025 Brant Hysell, Jake Whisenant
Reticent Wall, El Capitan 21:57 May 25, 2025 Lance Colley, Olly Tippett, Brandon Adams
Sea of Dreams, El Capitan 21:33 June 5, 2025 Miles Fullman, Olly Tippett, Brandon Adams
2024 Speed Records:
The Salathé Wall, El Capitan 11:17 June 5, 2024 Alex Honnold – Solo
Lurking Fear, El Capitan 2:55:32 October 27, 2024 Brant Hysell, Jake Whisenant
Lurking Fear,