Speed Climbing Record on El Capitan

El Capitan is one of the granite icons in California’s Yosemite National Park. The “Nose” is the most famous and difficult climbing route through the 1,000-meter (or 3,280 feet) high face of El Capitan.

Two climbers from Bavaria, Germany set a new speed-climbing record. The brothers Thomas and Alexander Huber climbed the Nose on October 8, 2007 in amazing 2 hours 45 minutes and 45 seconds.

As a comparison the first team who made it through the Nose almost 50 years ago (Harding/Merry/Whitmore) took no less than 47 days to reach the top.

The Huber brothers, considered to belong to the world’s top rock climbers, spent a whole month in Yosemite National Park. In countless dummy runs, they trained every move on the route, preparing them for the attempt.

Click here for some El Capitan rock climbing literature.
Click here to see images from El Capitan.