Record for the slowest El Cap climb

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Messages 1 - 41 of total 41 in this topic
Majid_S

Mountain climber
Bay Area
Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 27, 2006 - 01:59am PT
You guys always talk about the fastest single or group climbers on El Cap but what is the record time for the slowest team to finish El Cap? 7 days!! 10 Days!!
Spinmaster K-Rove

Trad climber
Stuck Under the Kor Roof
Apr 27, 2006 - 02:03am PT
Well I seem to remember Warren Harding being involved in some sort of Chongo-esque ubersiege that took 45 days over 2 years. Embarassing I tell you...just shameful.
Majid_S

Mountain climber
Bay Area
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 27, 2006 - 02:05am PT
I got 45 days as the record , less move down to the list and get the next record if any
Eddie

Trad climber
Boston
Apr 27, 2006 - 02:10am PT
"Wings of Steel – A record 39 days on the face of El Capitan"


Tom

Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
Apr 27, 2006 - 02:42am PT
Harding's two years for the Nose was at least partly due to the NPS telling him that the Wall was off-limits between Memorial and Labor Day weekends (tourists causing traffic jams, as it were.)

TRIVIA! While the Nose was off limits to him, Harding did the East Face of the Washington Column - now called Astroman. EDIT: WH went up with Chuck Pratt, a rare FA; they did Watkins later.

So, the Nose took 45 days, over a long time. I think the longest he was up there was about 12 days.

Harding and Dean Caldwell spent 29 days (I think) on the Wall of the Early Morning Light.

I don't claim to have a record, but I set a personal best last June: 19 days on New Dawn to Tribal Rite. Nice. We topped out with lots of food and water, and even beer (no whiskey, tho). We got stormed in for a total of about seven or ten days. I figure we did the Dawn Wall in fine style, just like Harding on the WOEML.


There is a line where the concept of Wall Climbing quits, and the new concept of Wall Camping takes over and keeps going.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Apr 27, 2006 - 03:11am PT
If we consider days continually on the wall, I think the recent records are:

 29 days, Wall of Early Morning Light, Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell, 1970
 39 days, Wings of Steel, Richard Jensen and Mark Smith, 1981
 42? days, Verano Magico?, Luis Gallego and Javier Gallego, 1985?

My memory on the last route is hazy - my recollection is that it was over 40 days.
Alan Doak

climber
boulder, co
Apr 27, 2006 - 11:42am PT
I think I have the record for the slowest nose-in-a-day ascent. It took us 23h52m. Anyone slower?
yo

climber
I'm so over it
Apr 27, 2006 - 12:27pm PT
hahah

Hollinger was pretty close to that. He might even have been 23:55 or so. Truly an enviable record.
'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
Apr 27, 2006 - 12:37pm PT
[url="http://www.rockclimbing.com/ascent/index.php?AscentID=339"]My first solo of El Cap was Iron Hawk.[/url] I chose the route because I knew nothing about it other than Warren Hollinger told me it was a nice route, and because it was longer and harder than anything I had yet climbed. Despite being in Free Climbing Retirement, I knew I had to knock off some stout and scary obligatory free climbing at the top.

I was up there sixteen days after like four days of fixing, because I had to learn how to solo big walls! It seemed like a good place to learn. My Wall Doctor - Chongo - had to shout up instructions on how to climb an expanding flake because I had never done it before.

Hans Florine was impressed, and gave me [url="http://www.speedclimb.com/yosemite/notnecsry.htm"]my own page on his El Cap speed climbing website![/url]
August West

Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
Apr 27, 2006 - 01:07pm PT
"There is a line where the concept of Wall Climbing quits, and the new concept of Wall Camping takes over and keeps going."

That's it!

Who needs a climber ranch in the Valley. Lets get the NPS to install some hookups on the face of El Cap.

Yosemite can have the very first "climb-in" only campground.
k-man

Gym climber
SCruz
Apr 27, 2006 - 01:40pm PT
Great post.

The free-climbing equivalent, what is the longest time spent on a Grade I or II.

I knew somebody that had a forced bivy on the East Wall of Lover's Leap (after starting in the late morning). Yikes.
Blakeb

Big Wall climber
Ashland, Oregon
Apr 27, 2006 - 02:09pm PT
Im pretty sure chongo is known for some slow ascents on the wall for a month at a time and at one time hitch hiking others ropes the whole way up. Also how long was dave turner up last summer while putting up his new routes. I thought he was packing water for like 27 odd days or something.
Ammon

Big Wall climber
El Cap
Apr 27, 2006 - 08:06pm PT

Pete, could you drop a few more names in your posts. We didn't get enough spray in our face.

Thanks
Gene

climber
Apr 27, 2006 - 08:07pm PT
I've been thinking about it for 36 years. Does that count for anything?
bringmedeath

climber
la la land
Apr 27, 2006 - 08:15pm PT
Chongo is known for eating all my food and everyone elses. Mother f*#ker!
'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
Apr 27, 2006 - 08:40pm PT
Actually, Chongo fed me and Neal after our clusterfrigged ascent of Zodiac. He had been on the wall for something like 15 days, and had tons of food leftover.

It was about this time I realized there simply had to be a Better Way.
Elcapinyoazz

Mountain climber
Anchorage, Alaska
Apr 27, 2006 - 09:05pm PT
Give it a rest Peter. Maybe go to rockclimbing.com where some starry eyed new climbers will be impressed. I think most of us here have run a few laps on the Capt, and more importantly have heard your repitious self wanking spray to the point of vomiting.
'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
Apr 27, 2006 - 09:15pm PT
We were out of food. Chongo gave us some. Is there something wrong with writing this?

You know, Azz, if you had any balls, you would write under a real name. It's easy enough for you to sit up in Bumf*ck, Alaska, and hurl smart-ass epithets from a false identity, but your credibility is only as good as your identity.

And you have neither. So bite me.
yo

climber
I'm so over it
Apr 27, 2006 - 09:37pm PT
I'm super-close friends with like ALL the Stonemasters. Met them on the Inturweb. Man the stories I could tell!
Brutus of Wyde

climber
Old Climbers' Home, Oakland CA
Apr 28, 2006 - 12:47pm PT
I spent 7 days summer before last climbing an established 12-pitch Grade V.

Nurse Ratchet and I spent 15 days (including fixing and waiting in line and fixing and waiting in line) on Muir Wall.

Had a forced bivy on a 5.6 climb once.

Come to think of it, I've bivied two different times on climbs of a popular Grade III 5.7 in the Valley.

MisterE

climber
Sep 11, 2013 - 01:17am PT
Bump for Hard and Slow

Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
Sep 11, 2013 - 01:29am PT
with a highly coveted Brutus post included! noyce!
Lambone

Big Wall climber
Ashland, Or
Sep 11, 2013 - 01:30am PT
It's crazy that I remember this thread from 7 years ago...
rlf

Trad climber
Josh, CA
Sep 11, 2013 - 05:45am PT
Pete, could you drop a few more names in your posts. We didn't get enough spray in our face.

Thanks

Ha ha ha... Please see the thread where he's trolling for partners. We are reminded that it's his 50th wall.
JLP

Social climber
The internet
Sep 11, 2013 - 07:51am PT
I think when the Wings of Steel boys put up Ring of Fire, the record was set. Not sure of the number of days. They were on the wall the whole time, no trips to the ground. Their shitshow of gear was 5-10x anything I've seen Pete hauling. I know Tom has pix, it was 1996 or so.
'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
Sep 11, 2013 - 07:51am PT
Not fiftieth wall - fiftieth different El Cap route. ;) Still trolling.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Sep 11, 2013 - 10:49am PT
The slow must go on...
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Sep 11, 2013 - 11:01am PT
For somebody who should know better, I did an astonishingly slow ascent of the Nose. I hadn't climbed a pitch in seven years, grabbed my brother in law, and aided every inch.

It was tons of fun. We had a blast and had the route all to ourselves until Camp 5 where we got passed.

It took longer than I care to admit, but we did it. I had never done the Nose, and now I think it is one of the most beautiful climbs on Earth. The buttress sweeping below you is an incredible sight.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Sep 11, 2013 - 11:05am PT
TRIVIA! While the Nose was off limits to him, Harding did the East Face of the Washington Column - now called Astroman.

This is hardly trivial. It's old news.

El Cap is able to climb at the rate of 4/4,555ths of a mile in ten seconds in a mass...but never chooses to do so. He starts falling apart if he tries, so he just sets there, all the while being annoyed with seasonal infestations of ape mites.

Base 104, The Salathe has a better down-view, IMO, but this is based on photos from the Nose vs. experience on the Salathe. Glad to know you got to tickle the Nose, though.--Jess Sayin

Barbarian

climber
Sep 11, 2013 - 11:22am PT
Based on my current climbing speed and fitness level I'd shatter the El Cap slow record. I'm getting more and more tempted to do it Base-style.
And they though Harding was causing a traffic jam!
The Larry

climber
Moab, UT
Sep 11, 2013 - 11:58am PT
Nothing wrong with a fat lazy accent of ElCap, but most any climber can do that. It sure ain't proud.
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Sep 11, 2013 - 12:03pm PT
Nothing wrong with a fat lazy accent of ElCap, but most any climber can do that. It sure ain't proud.

Yeah, but 99.9% of El Cap ascents are nothing new. Who cares on something that is, and never will be, earth shattering.

I've sat on a ledge for a whole day doing basically nothing.

I also bivied on the East Butt of El Cap once. The guy I was taking up it wanted to bivy on a "wall." It was great fun. We had a little radio and listened to a world series game.

Then we took the fast way down. This guy wanted to climb and jump El Cap, but had done little climbing. It was a hoot. There is some ledge up there that is really big and comfy.
Rhodo-Router

Gym climber
sawatch choss
Sep 11, 2013 - 12:39pm PT
"I love being on El Cap
It's like being in heaven

Going fast is dumb
Stupid humans always in a hurry !"


Nice Werner!
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
Sep 11, 2013 - 01:09pm PT
Did Chongo ever finish the Sea?

What season was that? '99? 2000? Somewhere around there. He had his shitshow hanging about 6 pitches up all season. No idea if he ever finished, or removed it, or someone else cut it loose. It was hanging for months at least.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Sep 11, 2013 - 01:09pm PT
I did a continuous ascent of E Butt of El Cap over 3 days (2 bivies) if you count the bivy on East Ledges descent.

That was after a time I did it ~6 hrs.
elcap-pics

Big Wall climber
Crestline CA
Sep 11, 2013 - 03:11pm PT
I think the gallego brothers put in one at 52 days... not sure.
BASE104

Social climber
An Oil Field
Sep 11, 2013 - 05:29pm PT
I learned to nail from this guy who was a compulsive neatness and efficiency guy. That meant that we could do Zodiac with 2 bivies back in the dark ages when it was all nailing. He wouldn't even take a camera. Those lessons served me well later on, in the mountains where going fast makes things much safer.

I would love to tell the story of him teaching me how to crap in a bag..and failing...but it is a little crude even for this place.

The SS would also be fun to do with a bivy on the flying buttress, but taking a small pack would be a drag in the chimneys. The RNWF is like that as well.

I'm not talking about doing full on hard El Cap routes in leisure style, but I did spend an entire day warming my hands on El Cap once. We were freezing our asses off. I would say who cares, but El Cap is so crowded now.

Imagine the early eighties and having the entire right side of El Cap to yourself...in season. It happened. We were filthy pigs, though. I'm glad that that changed..
Norton

Social climber
the Wastelands
Sep 11, 2013 - 05:34pm PT
slowest continuous El Cap climb was 27 days, Harding and Caldwell 1970
ec

climber
ca
Sep 11, 2013 - 05:37pm PT
The one when you are NOT having a jolly good time...

 ec
Lambone

Big Wall climber
Ashland, Or
Sep 12, 2013 - 01:37am PT
Elcapinyoazz, Chongo never blasted on the Sea, though his bags hung at the start of Hook or Book for 8 or so months.

I'm guessing hardmen Dave Turner and Mike Ousley could very well be up there in the top 10. Both of them have (or had) an affinity for a nice casual solo.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Sep 12, 2013 - 04:07am PT
The 2001 AAJ (p. 171) published a brief note which says 44 days were spent on the FA of Murcia (on El Cap):
El Capitan, New Route. It was reported that E.J. Luis Garcia Gallego and Alfonso Cerdán (Spain) established the route Murcia (VI 5.10 A4) on El Capitan over 44 days. Further details are lacking. (Servei General d’Informació de Muntanya)
http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200117101/North-America-United-States-California-Yosemite-Valley-El-Capitan-New-Route

But on a spanish website, they call it 54 days and in 2007 (year wrong, so maybe time wrong also, unless Murcia was really their region/team name and not the route name...):
In 2007 the expedition Murcia formed by José Luis García Gallego and Raul Garcia, reached the top of El Capitan, the vertical mountain world after 54 days of ordeal, getting open a new avenue of winter.
http://www.regmurcia.com/servlet/s.Sl?sit=c,30,m,1546&r=ReP-23868-DETALLE_REPORTAJES

27 days for the FA of Mediterraneo:
http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12198417102/North-America-United-States-CaliforniaYosemite-Valley-Kolana-Dome-West-Face-El-Capitan-Mediterraneo-Route

I posted previously, remembering about 42 days was spent on the FA of Verano Magico, but I don't have a source for that. I do remember seeing their hanging bivvy tent up on El Capitan weekend after weekend, without moving up much....
And Tom recalls 52 days for one of the Gallego brothers routes.

They once spent 69 days on the FA of a wall in Spain:
But it was in 1983 when a young José Luis García Gallego, then a law student, enters the history of mountaineering along with Miguel Angel Diez Vives. In that winter came into the west wall of Naranjo de Bulnes and did not leave until late spring.
For 69 days and nights and in one of the harshest winters in living memory in the Picos de Europa, the seasoned climbers remained hanging on the wall in one of the most memorable mountaineering feats have been performed in the giant Spaniard.
The feat led to opening a fabled route, called by mountaineers as "Winter Dreams" as well as the largest wall endurance record of world mountaineering history.
http://www.regmurcia.com/servlet/s.Sl?sit=c,30,m,1546&r=ReP-23868-DETALLE_REPORTAJES

Chris Mac mentions "over 20 days" for Ring of Fire:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/731523/Chris-MacNamaras-AAJ-1998-Free-Fast-Clean

So, to summarize:
 52? some Gallego brothers route - maybe Murcia, below
 44 or 54 Murcia
 42? Verano Magico
 39 Wings of Steel
 27 Wall of Early Morning Light / Dawn Wall (29 was wrong)
 27 Mediterraneo
 20+ Ring of Fire
Messages 1 - 41 of total 41 in this topic
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