The Nose, half a day's work

[willstrickland]

Geez, stop and smell the roses guys...

From R&I.com:

Holy El Cap Speed!

Dynamic duo climb The Nose in sub-four hours

October 19, 2001

On the heels of their one-day link-up of Half Dome, Mt. Watkins and El Cap in August, dynamic duo Tim O’Neill and Dean Potter broke the speed record for ascending The Nose on El Cap. What usually takes three to five days (34 pitches of 5.9 A2), the climbers did in 3 hours 59 minutes and 35 seconds, shaving 23 minutes off the previous record, which was set nearly 10 years ago by Hans Florine and Peter Croft.

“We broke the spell,” says O’Neill, who has climbed The Nose just four times, twice in the last two years. “It was difficult, but I think we can go even faster.”

To beat the clock, O’Neill and Potter used many of the usual speed climbing tricks: They divided the route into four blocks with each climber leading two. (Pow!) They simul-climbed. (Bam!) They ran it out. (Kapow!) They brought only the bare essentials —- no food or water —- and luckily they passed only one party along the way (at the Great Roof). Potter held the watch, and from time to time he would yell to his partner how much time had elapsed.

“We were feeling more fluid than ever,” O’Neill says. “It was light duty compared to the ‘triple.’ It took about 20 hours less. We were ready to keep going.”