Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • topics
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight With Vicki Gonzalez
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 

Landmark Climb: Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell Scale El Capitan In Under 2 Hours

Thursday, June 7, 2018 | Sacramento, CA
Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty Images

The El Capitan monolith in California's Yosemite National Park, seen in June 2015. On Wednesday, climbers Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell managed a feat in under two hours that most climbers take days to achieve.

Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty Images

Colin Dwyer

The first time a group of humans managed to scale El Capitan, a granite monolith rising 3,000 feet sheer from California's Yosemite Valley, it took 45 days of climbing over the course of about 18 months. In the six decades since, those who followed in their footholds lessened the time it takes to reach the top — but, with some rare exceptions, even the most seasoned climbers generally take several days to complete the trek.

On Wednesday, two men did it in under two hours.

Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell needed only 1 hour, 58 minutes and 7 seconds to scale El Capitan along the Nose, the best-known of the climbing routes and the same one used for that first-ever climb back in 1958.

"It was slightly emotional when we finished it," Honnold told The Associated Press by phone afterward. "I had a wave of, 'Oh wow.' I'm pretty proud we saw it through."

The climb marks a speed record for the world-famous route, but it's not the pair's first — in fact, it's not even their first this week. They set the Nose record on May 30 with a time of about 2 hours, 10 minutes; then they went and set it again on Monday, this time finishing nearly two minutes shy of the two-hour mark.

But even though they shaved less than four minutes off their time from Monday to Wednesday, and even though both records share the same names, breaking the two-hour barrier Wednesday carries a symbolic weight quite unlike their previous marks.

Climbers have compared the feat to the four-minute mile or "breaking the two-hour marathon barrier, but vertically."

"It's the proudest speed climbing ascent to have happened in the history of U.S rock climbing," Brad Gobright told Outside Magazine. It was Gobright and his partner Jim Reynolds who had held the record, with a time of just over 2 hours, 19 minutes, and they watched from the meadow below as Honnold and Caldwell claimed it from them in late May.

"I'm proud Jim Reynolds and I held the record for a bit of time, but in all honesty our time is nowhere close to their time," Gobright continued. "The level of talent and confidence required to climb El Cap that fast is hard for me to grasp. Part of me would be excited to see someone try to break it but deep down I hope no one tries. At least not in my lifetime."

Gobright's hesitance here is understandable.

The climbing world got a stark reminder of how dangerous the task can be when — just two days before Honnold and Caldwell broke their own record Monday — two expert speed climbers fell 1,000 feet to their death from the Freeblast section along El Capitan. It was the "25th accident resulting in death on El Capitan," according to Climbing.com, and the National Park Service notes that "more than 100 climbing accidents occur in Yosemite each year."

"It was a heavy and thoughtful week here in Yosemite. I am so saddened by the deaths," Caldwell said in an Instagram post after Wednesday's climb. "RIP Jason Wells and Tim Klein. I can't imagine the pain of the families."

Honnold and Caldwell themselves are no strangers to this danger.

Just about all the routes up El Capitan "start with Freeblast, which is like a 10-pitch slab," Honnold said in 2016, noting much of it is "basically like walking on a sheet of glass."

All the more seemingly insane, then, that last year Honnold became the only person to scale El Capitan alone, without using any ropes and within four hours — in what one climbing magazine described as "indisputably the greatest free solo of all time."

Now, with two landmark achievements under his belt, one alone and now one with his longtime partner Caldwell, Honnold says he is content — with this record, at least.

"I honestly think the limits of human potential on this route is more like an hour and a half," he told National Geographic. "But I don't think we have any interest in pushing there now, you know?"

As for who might try for the record next, and whether they'll succeed, Honnold kept his answer brief: "We'll see."

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

    Related Stories

  • Cody Drabble / Capital Public Radio

    Author Dierdre Wolownick Summits 'The Sharp End Of Life'

    Monday, April 29, 2019
    Author Dierdre Wolownick shares her family life and climbing career with her son Alex Honnold in her new memoir.
  • Chris Pizzello / Invision / AP

    In 'Free Solo,' A Steeper Challenge For Alex Honnold Than El Cap

    Tuesday, September 25, 2018
    The documentary "Free Solo" not only chronicles rock climber Alex Honnold's famed ascent up Yosemite's El Capitan but also an arguably steeper challenge for the 33-year-old: moving out of his van and maintaining a long-term relationship.
  • Jimmy Chin / National Geographic / AP

    Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, And The Climbing World Reels

    Monday, June 5, 2017
    Alex Honnold has shocked the sport of climbing by reaching the peak of El Capitan without using ropes, climbing one of the world's largest monoliths in less than four hours with little gear other than a bag of chalk.

 Yosemite National Park

Coronavirus Newsletter

Get answers to your questions, the latest updates and easy access to the resources you need, delivered to your inbox.

 

Want to know what to expect? Here's a recent newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

We'll send you weekly emails so you can stay informed about the coronavirus in California.

Browse all newsletters

More Stories

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

The federal government is offering another round of free COVID tests

May 16, 2022

Damian Dovarganes / AP Photo

A salty dispute: California Coastal Commission unanimously rejects desalination plant

May 14, 2022

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File

Sacramento-area schools seeing rise in COVID-19 cases, but don’t plan to require masks again

May 17, 2022

Most Viewed

Downtown Sacramento shooting: What we know and latest updates

With California budget surplus projected at $97 billion, Newsom proposes driver rebates, more reproductive health funding

California coronavirus updates: Sacramento City Council may vote to continue virtual meetings

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla will appear on California’s June primary ballot twice. Here’s why.

Ukraine says it's downed 200 aircraft, a mark of Russian failures in the sky

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

Downtown Sacramento shooting: What we know and latest updates

With California budget surplus projected at $97 billion, Newsom proposes driver rebates, more reproductive health funding

California coronavirus updates: Sacramento City Council may vote to continue virtual meetings

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla will appear on California’s June primary ballot twice. Here’s why.

Ukraine says it's downed 200 aircraft, a mark of Russian failures in the sky

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Careers & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2022, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.