Famous Rock Climbing Duo Breaks Speed-Climbing Record at Yosemite’s El Capitan

The Nose of Yosemite’s famous El Capitan was once thought to be unclimbable. Since the first ascent up The Nose in 1958, the fastest time to climb the rock face was set in 2012 at 2 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds. Last October, Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds, broke the record by climbing The Nose in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 45 seconds.

Now, two of the world’s most famous rock climbers smashed the record by climbing The Nose in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 15 seconds.

Well, I never thought I would be a speed climber. But I have to admit, climbing the nose in 2:10:15 with @alexhonnold was exhilarating. @team_edelrid #edelridclimbing @patagonia_climb 📷 @austin_siadak & @samuelcrossley @reelrock

A post shared by Tommy Caldwell (@tommycaldwell) on May 31, 2018 at 8:09am PDT

Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell, both famous for their incredible climbing careers, broke the record by knocking nine minutes off the previous record earlier this week, and they intend to return to the rock to break that record again.

Th two have been practicing for the last few weeks with intention of breaking the two-hour mark this summer. A film about the climb called “Free Solo” is set to hit theaters in October.

Honnold and Caldwell have been scaling cliffs together for years, including a three-peat that is also in the record books. The two men free-climbed El Capitan, Mount Watkins and Half Dome — the three biggest walls in Yosemite — in one 12-hour period in 2012.

@fred_pompermayer got this awesome photo of me speed climbing the Nose with @tommycaldwell a few days ago – Fred and his partners were climbing Triple Direct and it was the second morning that we were passing them. This time he was prepared with his camera! Lots of parties take pics with their phones as we climb through – it’s rare to pass a real photographer with a real camera. He really did El Cap justice!

A post shared by Alex Honnold (@alexhonnold) on May 19, 2018 at 8:58am PDT

Here is a history of the records broken on The Nose:

5/30/2018 — Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell — 2:10:15

10/21/2017 — Jim Reynolds, Brad Gobright — 2:19:44

6/17/2012 — Hans Florine, Alex Honnold — 2:23:46

11/6/2010 — Dean Potter, Sean Leary — 2:36:45

10/12/2008 — Hans Florine, Yuji Hirayama — 2:37:05

7/2/2008 — Hans Florine, Yuji Hirayama — 2:43:33

Congratulations to Alex and Tommy! Keep pushing the limit!