Advertisement

Two climbers scale Yosemite’s El Capitan in less than 2 hours, a record

Share via

Two rock climbers set a new speed record ascending El Capitan in Yosemite National Park early Wednesday, achieving the feat in just under two hours.

Documentary photographer Austian Siadak said Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell scaled the 3,000-foot sheer granite wall in one hour, 58 minutes and seven seconds.

On Monday, the climbers had shaved the time down to just over two hours — a barrier compared to track’s 4-minute mile.

Advertisement

The time on the technical climbing route has consistently dropped since the peak was first climbed 60 years ago by Warren Harding and three others in 12 days following 18 months of drilling bolts and other hardware into the rock.

Honnold said he didn’t think he and his partner were on a record-shattering time until he neared the finish and looked at the timer on his phone.

Honnold and Caldwell broke the record three times in the past week, carving more than 20 minutes off a mark set last year.

Advertisement

Honnold said he’s proud they kept at it to break the two-hour mark when they could have rested with records at about two hours, 10 minutes and just under two hours and two minutes.

The record came just days after another pair of El Capitan climbers fell to their deaths.

Advertisement
Advertisement