UKC

3 El Cap Routes in a Day for Leary and Honnold

© Tom Evans - El Cap Report
Sean Leary and Alex Honnold in Yosemite  © Tom Evans - El Cap Report
Sean Leary and Alex Honnold in Yosemite
© Tom Evans - El Cap Report

As reported on the El Cap Report Website, Sean Leary and Alex Honnold have linked The Nose, Salathe and Lurking Fear in under twenty four hours.

The three routes together equal 85 pitches and almost 2500m of climbing. As far as we know three routes have been linked on El Cap in under twenty four hours before, but the third route was the shorter and easier West Face, making this the first time three major El Cap routes have been linked in a day.

British film maker Alastair Lee has just landed back in the UK after a big filming mission in Yosemite. He was staying with Sean Leary and gave us the details:

"Sean is such a nice guy, he never pushes his name but he is one of the outstanding Yosemite climbers of his generation. Probably the single most impressive thing about this feat is that Sean had not climbed for a month! Off the couch - new world record - 3 El Cap routes in a day..."


photo
Alex Honnold leading, Sean Leary below as the pair race up El Cap for the third time in under 24 hours.
© Tom Evans - El Cap Report

Sean Leary in Yosemite  © Alastair Lee / Posing Productions
Sean Leary in Yosemite
© Alastair Lee / Posing Productions
Tom Evans gives his eye witness account on the El Cap Report Website:

"They climbed the Nose in 4 hours 15 minutes with Stanley taking the first half of the route and Hondo the second. The Zodiac boys watched them pass by their bivy, just after midnight. They then went to the Salathe, which they did in 6 hours and some change, again splitting the climb into two big blocks. I saw them this morning as they came by the Bridge to fuel up for the last of the three climbs, Lurking Fear. Hondo looked the worse for wear, as he had driven up from LA yesterday, with no sleep before the climb. But some food and drink perked him up, and they soon were back at it."

Honnold had recently been climbing with Ueli Steck and the pair were trying to beat the speed record on The Nose, which unfortunately they couldn't match (UKC News). Honnold did however link Half Dome and El Cap in 8 hours last month.

Leary and Honnold teamed up last year and and broke the speed record for Salathe, climbing the route in 4 hours 55 minutes (UKC News).


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8 Jul, 2010
Holy cow!! What could he do if he actually took it seriously, I wonder?! Interesting that he could do this but couldn't get anywhere near the Nose speed record. jcm
8 Jul, 2010
To be fair I don't think he's done it anywhere near as many times as Hans whihc has to be a major advantage for Hans - he must know every inch of the route intimately... I reckon probably better than he knows his wife ;)
8 Jul, 2010
Amazing. Makes you wonder how far we are from a free solo of El Cap!
8 Jul, 2010
Didn't Honnold already do that earlier this year?
8 Jul, 2010
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