Speed climbers set record on El Capitan
Speed climbers set record on El Capitan
Yosemite National Park - -- A Lafayette rock climber and his Japanese partner snatched the world record for fastest climb up the Nose of El Capitan on Wednesday in a thrilling, heart-stopping display of strength, endurance, concentration and pure guts.
Hans Florine, 44, who grew up in Moraga, and Yuji Hirayama, 39, of Hidaka, Japan, pulled themselves over the top of the immense slab of granite and touched the tree that serves as the finish line in 2 hours, 43 minutes and 33 seconds.
It was 2 minutes and 12 seconds faster than the record set last year by the famous German climbing brothers, Alexander and Thomas Huber.
"I feel just like Lightning McQueen," said Florine, referring to the hero of the movie "Cars," after he and Hirayama hiked back down to the valley to a hero's welcome.
"I felt the closest to losing it at the top than I've ever felt."
It took Florine and Hirayama three tries to reclaim their record on the iconic 2,900-foot Nose route, one of the most hair-raising and arduous vertical climbs in the world.
The men started up the giant wall faster than they had ever gone, reaching the granite feature known as the Boot Flake - a spot that most climbers take two days to reach - in one hour. Twelve minutes later they had completed the perilous and spectacular 90-foot-long "king swing." The large crowd of family, friends and fellow climbers gathered at the bottom let out a giant whoop as Florine spun completely around while in the air.
"There was a kink in the rope that I had to undo," he said later to chuckles from those who knew Florine's code phrase for an out-of-control 360-degree spin. He nevertheless completed the pendulum maneuver, which sometimes takes climbers as many as six tries, on his first attempt.
At one point, the pair was 10 minutes ahead of the record pace, but mistakes and exhaustion slowed the climbers down. Florine had to lower himself down 20 feet once to unsnag the rope. And when he reached the bolt ladder at the top, he said he slowed down out of fear that he might pass out if he didn't catch his breath.
"I was way more exhausted than the last time," Florine said. "It didn't feel that fast with all the holdups."
Reclaiming their record
Florine had planned to recapture the record since October, when the Huber brothers smashed his and Hirayama's 2002 record by three minutes. The Hubers, known as two of the strongest, most technically skilled and daring climbers in the world, accomplished the task after about 20 practice runs over three years, one of which included a serious fall by Thomas Huber that delayed the quest.
"I have deep respect to Yuji and Hans, and, as we expected, this record, ours, won't last very long," Thomas Huber wrote in an e-mail. "But it was great to get this one time in life."
The Hubers were unhappy with depictions of them by Yosemite habitu
Re: Speed climbers set record on El Capitan
[quote=Iceaxe]The Hubers were unhappy with depictions of them by Yosemite habitu
