tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308386022024-03-05T09:56:22.883-08:00speedclimbHans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-7415144456999852952017-07-16T16:58:00.001-07:002017-07-25T12:01:47.414-07:00Father / Son! Nose Ascent! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ofGPSyup42DjDnM6xZapthYg83kcbzHeyAyVPeMMvGukpkNgp-m298VFCxF-lzfSSlWKaONjXvKCgGldgM2ZmvS9tFy2etGCqLvTMbsg4xUs7NRcBQgIG2T5dAYlbyU1eaJS6A/s1600/sgym.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ofGPSyup42DjDnM6xZapthYg83kcbzHeyAyVPeMMvGukpkNgp-m298VFCxF-lzfSSlWKaONjXvKCgGldgM2ZmvS9tFy2etGCqLvTMbsg4xUs7NRcBQgIG2T5dAYlbyU1eaJS6A/s640/sgym.jpg" width="360" /></a>My 14 year old son Pierce had been doing the after school Touchstone Climbing Team Training sessions twice a week this past winter. I didn't push him to do it. I crossed my fingers and hoped he'd enjoy it or even "stick with it." He has continued going now for over 6 months! - I couldn't be more pleased except.... this early spring I floated the long shot suggestion by him that he should climb The Nose with me this season with another dad and son in the climbing world. He said yes with virtually no hesitation! Just that he was willing to try it was a giant win for me. (I was more pleased)<br />
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The Executive Director of The American Alpine Club, Phil Powers, and his son Gus were the other two that I'd set up to climb with us. I figured if another Dad/Son Team was counting on us, Pierce couldn't so easily back out. As the dates got finalized between Phil and I, suddenly it was less than a few weeks away, I thought I'd broach the subject of Pierce training for doing The Nose, rather than just showing up and hoping I could drag him up. Pierce actually said he'd like to spend some time in the gym working out how to jug effectively. - I was flabbergasted, - in a positive happy way. After two sessions in the gym the date was upon us, we met Phil and Gus in the meadow at 6pm on Thursday July 6th. Although normally it is too hot to climb in July we were granted a reprieve and it was only in the 80s.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrDvBtPv_5gnVL653A4-yG7cm9dkS6Er3PqGeErOg4bdRXBsDSLiv-4dsgSRt80rTi8Hw3XVsklDnFzmvrfh2JSj_7Bjp6JYubKTmItnOzNveG5-SO8mP3hs89-Z_44r-4Ol7fw/s1600/02snake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrDvBtPv_5gnVL653A4-yG7cm9dkS6Er3PqGeErOg4bdRXBsDSLiv-4dsgSRt80rTi8Hw3XVsklDnFzmvrfh2JSj_7Bjp6JYubKTmItnOzNveG5-SO8mP3hs89-Z_44r-4Ol7fw/s320/02snake.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scramble ledges before the first pitch of The Nose.</td></tr>
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That evening we took a load of water and ropes to the base and got to organizing the gear for a single push ascent. On the approach we were delighted to see a colorful king snake guarding the scramble ledges up to the base. <br />
After all was looked over and packed we set out for the base and spent the night there with ropes rigged to the base of the first pitch. We were almost asleep under a near full moon at dusk when two loud noises grabbed our attention, two base jumpers were taking advantage of the light at the end of the day and when their chutes open it made a startling noise.<br />
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Waking up at 4:30am we quickly tightened down the two haul bags and three packs and set off up the route. I led the first few pitches with two 70 meter dynamic lines and a 100 meter static line,- taking it up at the half way mark. This longer rope allowed me to essentially drag up four lines, thus when I arrived at the anchor, all three could jug while I started hauling. This system worked while the pitches were less than 50 meters long, but as we moved along through complicated pendulums and pitches being longer than 50 meters we changed tactics on the fly and had the boys jug first and Phil or I would follow up on the line they had finished on first. Suffice to say, we used a variety of rope tricks to keep everyone moving as best we could. On this first day we loaded the three back packs with as much water weight as the followers could bear to enable the bags to be light enough for hauling with only a single pulley.<br />
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In the hottest part of the day Phil took over the lead getting us out of Dolt Hole Cracks and moving us into the Stove Legs. I finished off the Stove Legs and we all arrived comfortably on Dolt Tower around 5pm.<br />
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We opted to push on to El Capitan tower and were able to set up camp before night fall. Given the full moon we didn't really need to rush as the dusk light was as bright as 2 hours after sunset with the shining moon reflecting off the light grey granite. We all gorged on canned soup, bagels, and other savory snacks. I fixed
the ropes up to the top of The Boot Flake so we could get a jump on the
climb the following morning.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERR0kMK1-FRJQzvjW-7ZA2gp2mv9GbDOG3pSSNpXsMALU7Pq5aNLfqkgeoSqYx8ZxsDfr7PnMXSZxSQnCMkLDLFj7Is4k2K7yfajrcuz6O4YMXSaXXISzokkQ0Ivobu3z8PPqmA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-07-16+at+4.55.45+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="355" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERR0kMK1-FRJQzvjW-7ZA2gp2mv9GbDOG3pSSNpXsMALU7Pq5aNLfqkgeoSqYx8ZxsDfr7PnMXSZxSQnCMkLDLFj7Is4k2K7yfajrcuz6O4YMXSaXXISzokkQ0Ivobu3z8PPqmA/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-07-16+at+4.55.45+PM.png" width="355" /></a>While I was leading up to fix the ropes we saw another base jumper zooming down by the Dawn Wall <br />
just hundreds of feet to our right. The startling noise from the chute opening sounded off, we could not make out the jumper's chute in the lower valley and hoped it was just the dimming moon light playing tricks on us. Bummer, we heard sirens minutes later and a group of SAR folks scouring the talus field with headlamps in search of the body! (We later learned this was a hiker/climber who did not have a chute. Unknown as of the writing of this blog if it was an accident, suicide, or other cause.) Despite the rather ominous feeling in the air from a jumpers ground fall all of us slept like... Rocks. Everyone was completely exhausted from the 14 hour day.<br />
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Another 5am start rustling out of our vertical campground and we were all up on top of Boot Flake by 7:30am. We made it around the corner into the Gray Bands thus "buying" ourselves a few more hours of shade climbing before the sun beat down on us the second day on the wall.<br />
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Whilst climbing a plume of smoke came out of the forest at the west end of El Cap Meadow. Hours later there was a full assault via helicopter and fire engine ground crews to get the fire out. Quite a complete fill of "sights" for the boys first run up El Capitan. We lost a helmet a few hours into the day so we had nothing less than a standard wall ascent. - You've simply got to drop something at least once to ring home the concept that you are REALLY OUT THERE on a big wall.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52wMifdk9MORZ5bgeP1zKol7R27Mbh1o5OzuoZzMVDpBL46jw0lFfXLoEx37pjrGUOYK9K0_GdQCH8uAMVq6AIIqI145aGg4zYkbFmyj2pT0IJ8v3rEsDtei-HUYL4xa7iSkKDQ/s1600/08wildstance.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52wMifdk9MORZ5bgeP1zKol7R27Mbh1o5OzuoZzMVDpBL46jw0lFfXLoEx37pjrGUOYK9K0_GdQCH8uAMVq6AIIqI145aGg4zYkbFmyj2pT0IJ8v3rEsDtei-HUYL4xa7iSkKDQ/s400/08wildstance.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild Stance, one long pitch to the top from here.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQRqDdHtgASatTgx5D6fJNSuKSSD_NvljhlNBYS7fBD4AtLAkiW8IaN1xhEAcfLtkZJ4f77gpqMe2sGThasvwPswBo6Gg_UbAHpNw2ZVEW3dxYmmRSaWo6IPgWKgUjquG6pIvBZw/s1600/09topcamp.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQRqDdHtgASatTgx5D6fJNSuKSSD_NvljhlNBYS7fBD4AtLAkiW8IaN1xhEAcfLtkZJ4f77gpqMe2sGThasvwPswBo6Gg_UbAHpNw2ZVEW3dxYmmRSaWo6IPgWKgUjquG6pIvBZw/s640/09topcamp.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Summit Bivy Camp. Nose top our tree directly behind dead tree</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">.</td></tr>
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Our tentative plan was to bivy the second night at Camp VI, but the team was making great time and <br />
we opted to cut weight by leaving a gallon of water at Camp VI and sprinting for the summit to top out before the evening required headlamps. With some tricky pitch linking and darn good spirits all around we made it to the summit in the final minutes of the dusk light. - a new double father/son speed record! (Probably the only double father/son ascent.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSB2ySpdkifU9sJWp2gwk-fngZseY1axRlbsIsufb4ooM8YOLeJq7iqPN-hnMAU4nDVffMRzORN_eEL02bMt_kut0FKteMuyKbNfV5WlZL7cEKKjHDUsZQOHlzEHh4ZOWcH0bpCA/s1600/10ZMtop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSB2ySpdkifU9sJWp2gwk-fngZseY1axRlbsIsufb4ooM8YOLeJq7iqPN-hnMAU4nDVffMRzORN_eEL02bMt_kut0FKteMuyKbNfV5WlZL7cEKKjHDUsZQOHlzEHh4ZOWcH0bpCA/s400/10ZMtop.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the top of Zenyatta Mondatta you can see El Cap Tower, Texas Flake, Boot Flake, and the whole expanse of the route from bottom to top.</td></tr>
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Sunday morning we loaded the boys up with packs and started the 4 hour descent. -It was darn warm on the descent and we stopped regularly for water breaks, and even got one small creek stop for a refresher. We made the obligatory stop at the top of ZM to get the back sight of the profile shot. Once we navigated all the down scrambling on open granite slabs, negotiated the four and half long rappels, and made it through more lose scrambling and scree, the boys hit the forest trail and were waiting for Phil and I at the parking lot tables.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_-O6JuoMZ7CEpFlfuRUi3WeJGGLRnlBXEjDSbDX_MLASOswYyeS00O-ztZ0mwloIA9P3YeSLFRBGjzd_EHVSGCLZPNw09x1ndDX8oQmS0CKWmDjwAws_tRHjD_D9luOY1RbtiA/s1600/11logfinshlookright.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="341" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_-O6JuoMZ7CEpFlfuRUi3WeJGGLRnlBXEjDSbDX_MLASOswYyeS00O-ztZ0mwloIA9P3YeSLFRBGjzd_EHVSGCLZPNw09x1ndDX8oQmS0CKWmDjwAws_tRHjD_D9luOY1RbtiA/s640/11logfinshlookright.jpg" width="552" /></a></div>
Super proud of Gus and Pierce. They put in a ton of effort and "enough attention" to safety to pull this off. They never really whined or asked the classic: "How much longer til...?" Can't think of a more rewarding thing I would of wanted to do with my son this summer, and it's only early July.<br />
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On the mile hike from Manure Pile Buttress to El Capitan we found a number of thimble berry* patches with perfectly ripe berries. In 34 years of Yosemite adventures I can't recall ever seeing them so plentiful. We all got our fill on berries. Upon return to the meadow we all took a jump into the ice cold Merced river, then headed down to the Awahnee** all-you-can-eat brunch for a refueling. Perhaps not classic, but well deserved by our boys.<br />
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Feeling darn appreciative of all I've got.<br />
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Papa Hans<br />
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ps. One of the challenges at "my gym," Diablo Rock Gym, is to go 24 hours without internet or phone. I opted to do my 24 hours when climbing with my son. I brought my phone for emergency and pics. It turns out the battery basically died mid way so I more than met that challenge. Interesting how those gadgets can "steal away the present" if we are not conscious of their power. Be present with the special people in your life.<br />
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*They are a lot like raspberries, and at first sight appear to be unripe black berries. I suppose these could have been Ribes berries, but with their great flavor I think they were thimble berries.<br />
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**Now called the Majestic.(grim)<br />
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<br />Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-88434282658791027192016-06-09T09:10:00.000-07:002016-06-09T09:10:22.758-07:00Bouldering in Japan.(My first time there)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhujpamdV9gPLn8GvWlk6u8Z71HViuSR5polEcUbAD0aAjfK34JjpmexLb7aDiuasGogEwZsz4cBgSwgCIT8cAqDZMN0qmF4PHICamgW1pIBdI6qwW9GRFj9sWBeKuOuPV0i_VgIA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-09+at+8.47.46+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhujpamdV9gPLn8GvWlk6u8Z71HViuSR5polEcUbAD0aAjfK34JjpmexLb7aDiuasGogEwZsz4cBgSwgCIT8cAqDZMN0qmF4PHICamgW1pIBdI6qwW9GRFj9sWBeKuOuPV0i_VgIA/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-06-09+at+8.47.46+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I was in Japan for work in May. I got to visit
my old friend Yuji Hirayama! He now owns and operates a climbing and bouldering
gym in Tokyo. Interestingly Tokyo hosts around 100 climbing gyms! I got to
boulder with Yuji and some people at the gym before we jointly put on a show
about the history of The Nose. And of course, the story of Yuji and my Nose Speed record ascent. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSZSSfyHY0D4EYsBxiOi0K-51Wf0AG7Z-vejmkGb-p8HTJfDxf2HbCVlI1t8ek4sT09JM2ev9MhA6xbeGO-EBaZ6P6vsrtVwSaJwPtgL9_bFii3rZE8Ar9BAls_jEoTvFEJvGEA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-09+at+8.37.29+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSZSSfyHY0D4EYsBxiOi0K-51Wf0AG7Z-vejmkGb-p8HTJfDxf2HbCVlI1t8ek4sT09JM2ev9MhA6xbeGO-EBaZ6P6vsrtVwSaJwPtgL9_bFii3rZE8Ar9BAls_jEoTvFEJvGEA/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-06-09+at+8.37.29+AM.png" width="319" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wild that I ended up hopping on problems with Akiyo who is the multi-time world
bouldering champion. Of course I showed her a thing or two, but that was just
in the show. She definitely walked up any problem I was able to do. Although I
found one reachy slab problem that I could do and Yuji took two trys on, I
trailed behind him as far as I did Akiyo in completing the harder problems. All
the same it was fun to play with these world class climbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For those bouldering geeks who want details
about the gym ratings… They have their own color code system where they refer
to the V scale on a key on the wall. Thus all green routes in the gym are about
V6, all pink routes are V3, and all black routes are V9, etc..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Other things I noticed is that at Yuji’s
bouldering gym </span><br />
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they tended to have more volumes per square foot then we do at
US gyms. Perhaps the strangest thing about Yuji’s gym is that there was a 5 by
5 ft glass room for smoking! Here we are in a healthy exercise gym and they
have a smoking room! (BTW I didn’t use it.) Yuji explained that if people went
outside to smoke then it would show poorly to his neighbors. There was of course
the customary removal of shoes past a certain threshold upon entering the gym.
All this combined to make it that “other worldly flavor.”<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCMuRfE4uevNqEJU9J9w1H_gYQ3wb6bHD_Qkv8uH3ykXAkdSgOI5Lc7lXrndCi24btRlMFXFW8MyxNsxPfoIkUlDy3C143W5PPAG6UW9o6TiPxUjr8QQmRozCYmQDLhFoXSDTFw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-09+at+8.44.22+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCMuRfE4uevNqEJU9J9w1H_gYQ3wb6bHD_Qkv8uH3ykXAkdSgOI5Lc7lXrndCi24btRlMFXFW8MyxNsxPfoIkUlDy3C143W5PPAG6UW9o6TiPxUjr8QQmRozCYmQDLhFoXSDTFw/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-06-09+at+8.44.22+AM.png" width="190" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It always been the
tradition that you bring gifts to your host and Yuji never let me down when he
visited the US. I brought him a CRKT <a href="http://www.crkt.com/hyphenate-climbing-knife-2450" target="_blank">Hyphenate</a>, because he already owned a
<a href="http://www.crkt.com/niad-climbing-knife-2406" target="_blank">NIAD</a>. Of course there are other traditions about giving someone a knife... One does not give a knife with out receiving something in trade. Yuji gave me a penny for the
Hyphenate. If you are ever in Tokyo look up Yuji’s gyms: <a href="http://b-camp.jp/" target="_blank">Big one</a> <a href="http://b-camp.jp/tokyo/access/" target="_blank">Small one </a></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7PcVhwfRSEs-g9btexWFZqymBlKuHspqhxBWj_5CSmnrfoKEQo8Luq2qt3MJABI64WDuUVLahMgU7DnCm9KlL7DZmzwbo-alsVZjR35fKD_wWYXSnvDgHqFAlV9EN1avWiQ57LQ/s1600/IMG_20160525_123010538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7PcVhwfRSEs-g9btexWFZqymBlKuHspqhxBWj_5CSmnrfoKEQo8Luq2qt3MJABI64WDuUVLahMgU7DnCm9KlL7DZmzwbo-alsVZjR35fKD_wWYXSnvDgHqFAlV9EN1avWiQ57LQ/s200/IMG_20160525_123010538.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Also while in Tokyo I got to go to Geosports sew shop and mess around with some of their toys. Owner of Geosports, Akira, used to be one of the best paragliding pilots in the world, pioneering much of the early designs, and was the largest supplier of paragliders to Japan a decade ago. Akira took me around to see some sights in down town.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Other interesting things about Japan: They drive on the left side of the road. There is very little trash. They do not cross the road without a green signal at the cross walk. They wear black pants and white shirts if they have an "office job." They smoke in restaurants. The Taxi cab drivers are honest and take credit cards. </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimdyoofwOYxL0XREn0E8WGlyViM2InntCSi9N1Hjwqf4GqaJAZcskHQaecY4tFcYp2TtnvlFKhiT40iS547Q9mbDWAcgY9-93VHQjGxsUNt08TEOZbN-CJ14M0W791K9j98Ll3GA/s1600/IMG_20160521_205545596_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimdyoofwOYxL0XREn0E8WGlyViM2InntCSi9N1Hjwqf4GqaJAZcskHQaecY4tFcYp2TtnvlFKhiT40iS547Q9mbDWAcgY9-93VHQjGxsUNt08TEOZbN-CJ14M0W791K9j98Ll3GA/s320/IMG_20160521_205545596_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They have a huge selection of canned ready to drink coffee, the choices are mind boggling.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuY9YDqe9R3635uqPGv-LjuhMPOmID9xCWVaQzM2R4JtvdNiZ6g-qlpv5NKa2hUVlMJWuMIXsmJ5gopk9pOiI142mInLIhdqYC6U6Wp4sbntLDFJIX-5iVwwZmt2xxCIj4pNw_3A/s1600/IMG_20160525_151653537_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuY9YDqe9R3635uqPGv-LjuhMPOmID9xCWVaQzM2R4JtvdNiZ6g-qlpv5NKa2hUVlMJWuMIXsmJ5gopk9pOiI142mInLIhdqYC6U6Wp4sbntLDFJIX-5iVwwZmt2xxCIj4pNw_3A/s400/IMG_20160525_151653537_HDR.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tokyo is home to a 639 meter tower! (I'd love to climb it).</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2iq89QlJxtNNRZsIT-HjKo1Z_c8xybu77j5zBszbCwWWmM_-Plym_Ce3xNiCFn3KmpiomSTyLelKLMYCa2uLctEv_yFZahsXYH9_gvX1s5DpvFLaYgg0ZY9sbpzykgzRKzFqNKw/s1600/IMG_20160525_143915324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2iq89QlJxtNNRZsIT-HjKo1Z_c8xybu77j5zBszbCwWWmM_-Plym_Ce3xNiCFn3KmpiomSTyLelKLMYCa2uLctEv_yFZahsXYH9_gvX1s5DpvFLaYgg0ZY9sbpzykgzRKzFqNKw/s320/IMG_20160525_143915324.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Akira and I visitng temple in Tokyo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVv8zBfb2hQtnKxgUTk9M-UE4uzlwI7P5lVRaSjISrobabjkhyPMKXq3zRkF0Ahd2lBc47QehvaKEUOEf4LcNyTYFSdNdop6t3xgZd1UDfWpcNDQljCOr_g9kzP1yW9aLGvy7Gg/s1600/IMG_20160530_200932899_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVv8zBfb2hQtnKxgUTk9M-UE4uzlwI7P5lVRaSjISrobabjkhyPMKXq3zRkF0Ahd2lBc47QehvaKEUOEf4LcNyTYFSdNdop6t3xgZd1UDfWpcNDQljCOr_g9kzP1yW9aLGvy7Gg/s320/IMG_20160530_200932899_HDR.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
You can put your drink on the counter in a bullet train while moving and not see a ripple on the surface of your drink. Speed be with you in all your travels. Hans<span id="goog_1274613179"></span><span id="goog_1274613180"></span>
Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-31689088426922218052015-09-27T21:48:00.001-07:002015-09-28T10:19:03.637-07:00Milestone on The Big Stone.<style>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikv2gS0P8ob0mho0z960FxsW3GwEuyp6zu5Jh8QP7P-6hZHDbwKtkpaAHCxh0SawGuaTWFNqrW0gsain4GUCvDS1btQ9zm4q_jBL2pQRUZxy07DdHBYYUUZWAJmHVsxybdJLanMg/s1600/08Hansfinishing_WillMasterman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikv2gS0P8ob0mho0z960FxsW3GwEuyp6zu5Jh8QP7P-6hZHDbwKtkpaAHCxh0SawGuaTWFNqrW0gsain4GUCvDS1btQ9zm4q_jBL2pQRUZxy07DdHBYYUUZWAJmHVsxybdJLanMg/s320/08Hansfinishing_WillMasterman.jpg" width="320" /></a>I climbed The Nose Route of El Capitan for my 100<sup>th</sup>
time September 12, 2015!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not
hesitating to put an exclamation mark after that sentence. I've never climbed a one pitch route anywhere 50 times. 100 is
a staggering number for a route that is a once-in-a-lifetime-goal for many
climbers. I distinctly remember topping out in the July heat of 1989 with Mike
Lopez and thinking: “Glad I knocked that out, no more big wall camping for me.
Give me sport climbing!” Goes to show that people do change.
<br />
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<b><u>Leading up to….</u></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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When I hit 50 ascents of The Nose I thought it was odd to
have 90 ascents of El Cap and more ascents of The Nose route then all my
“others route ascents” combined. I called Warren Harding and knew he’d get a
laugh out of me having climbed “his route” 50 times—he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ( I also told Warren I climbed it with a blind guy, a mother/daughter team and two kids. He thought that was hilarious.) </span>Part of me thought that I should branch out
and do some other routes. This meant that I had to do obscure or at least HARD
aid routes, since I had done all the trade routes. (Salathe, Zodiac, Lurking
Fear, North America Wall, West Face, and another 20 easier aid routes. Etc.) (At
the writing of this post I’ve climbed El Cap 173 times, alas the climbing
community does not “count” The East Buttress of El Cap as “climbing El Cap.”
If you state you climbed El Cap and fail to leave off The East Butress as the route you took, then a climber would call you a liar, or a cheat. Even if this makes me an outcast in the climbing community, I am going to say
it anyway: That’s confusing to non-climbers and it’s elitist. There are easier
routes on El Cap and harder ones. People state they’ve climbed Half Dome, via
the Cable’s Route, or Snake Dike. Note: I have climbed the East Buttress of El Cap
13 times)</div>
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My 90<sup>th</sup> climb of The Nose was with Alex Honnold
for the current record of 2:23:46. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realized
around the 80th that 100 ascents of The Nose was going to happen for me. Of
course that led to the question, who and how would I do the 100<sup>th</sup>?
My first thoughts were with my wife, <a href="http://www.jacquelineflorine.com/" target="_blank">Jacki,</a> maybe some of the first people I had
done the route with; ya know, “known entities,” after all I’d want my 100<sup>th</sup>
to be fun. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiS4Z0cE4Ix4H2Uc9yPsT_qXR6iuFeK0Cgb5MTrrZymRagwaTVe2WHNMkOupjQuS80RXwfz_D1jEKOEzj_77KetN9EX6x8wLIZK-qgr-iyP2TlYbXaQ_Wfj05htE704FfdZmt3Qw/s1600/imag4709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiS4Z0cE4Ix4H2Uc9yPsT_qXR6iuFeK0Cgb5MTrrZymRagwaTVe2WHNMkOupjQuS80RXwfz_D1jEKOEzj_77KetN9EX6x8wLIZK-qgr-iyP2TlYbXaQ_Wfj05htE704FfdZmt3Qw/s320/imag4709.jpg" width="320" /></a>Along came <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Thornewill" target="_blank">Fiona Thornewell</a> whom I met 7 years ago at
a Polish film festival.<sup> </sup>She is an adventurer, which
includes being a climber—polar exploration being her forte. Fiona was turning
50 and contacted me about doing something challenging for her 50th birthday...
and she had an idea. She asked if I thought she could climb The Nose of El Cap.
I probably quipped back: “It depends who your partner is…” Fiona came out to
Yosemite in the spring this year, 2015, and spent time with the YMS guides and a
brief few hours with me in the climbing gym. While she was here I could see she
was a great character and someone I would love to go on an adventure with. I
made her the offer to go up with me and my wife in September for my 100<sup>th</sup>. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_Ki2fxGNlU0bxrnMJA0Uxdmcuve2Cqpl4OGgW61a4-w57oxLKE6voZiKLBSZPGmepagk-CJUh7zPt6xBuWkJkde0tzzRN7gexyS0vhygmy0yxR7UzK0HvvSornrdUo0yZNc06g/s1600/imag4832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ_Ki2fxGNlU0bxrnMJA0Uxdmcuve2Cqpl4OGgW61a4-w57oxLKE6voZiKLBSZPGmepagk-CJUh7zPt6xBuWkJkde0tzzRN7gexyS0vhygmy0yxR7UzK0HvvSornrdUo0yZNc06g/s320/imag4832.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Capitini</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As September approached my wife Jacki Adams Florine was too
involved with her acting work and general life obligations to join us. I figured just Fiona and I could do the route, but I looked around for a third person to add some more "flavor." In
August I signed a book deal with Falcon Books to write about my first 100
ascents and they connected me with <a href="http://jaymemoye.com/" target="_blank">Jayme Moye</a> to co-author the book.(BTW shooting for the book to be out for the August 2016 OR show in SLC) As the 100<sup>th</sup>
ascent drew near Jayme ever so humbly suggested that we should have an embedded
journalist on the ascent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hmm, frankly I
had interviewed Jayme<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> to see if she was the right fit for me as a
co-author, but she was still unknown to me as an adventurer/climber. </span>After a
brief review of some of her past “work” and understanding she effectively moved to
Boulder for the climbing. I trusted she would be fit mentally and physically
for the challenge. I also agreed the book would be better written if she could
experience the route with me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there
was any doubt in her mind I figured she could have one more experience to make
up her mind, so I sent her for two days training/testing with my past co-author
<a href="http://www.wwwright.com/climbing/speed/" target="_blank">Bill Wright</a>! She “passed” and our team of three was set. <br />
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Yes, this was a team with two novice big wall climbers. Yes,
neither Fiona nor Jayme had much experience on multi-pitch climbing, let alone
ever being more than 200 ft off the ground. Why did I choose to do my 100<sup>th</sup>
with beginners? They both had shown past experience of going on adventures and
being out of their comfort zone. Not only surviving those experiences, but also
doing them gracefully or sometimes exceptionally. Experiencing those sorts of
uncomfortable situations in an adventure AND being game for doing it again with
me on El Capitan—that made me have faith that they were not going to be
whiners, that they were going to pull their own weight with the skills and
fitness they came with. That they were going to laugh when it got really hard,
desperate, scary, or miserable. There was a small chance those four things
wouldn’t happen at all on The Nose, but only a small chance.</div>
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<b><u>The climbing</u></b></div>
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I am a big proponent of alpine style climbing when doing big
walls. Basically that means not sieging the project. Alas, I needed to get in
some practice bigwall technique pitches with Jayme and Fiona, so it only made
sense to me to get some of our gear up to Sickle ledge on The Nose route while doing the practice. At
the base of the first pitch to The Nose we ran into locals Alexa and Jane.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5vPg59loAjUNIL9ElxT0tFzEQ8YrjUoMHxbaeAargS-5-dXHrxoVtEC59zjkXE-8HUMTBtC0YtOnbTpl7Ru4wTIHvUH0hRwTJBIW4lg-_tgv7a2aZ0hYIJ8-2kYKRePI2ivnXOQ/s1600/imag4712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5vPg59loAjUNIL9ElxT0tFzEQ8YrjUoMHxbaeAargS-5-dXHrxoVtEC59zjkXE-8HUMTBtC0YtOnbTpl7Ru4wTIHvUH0hRwTJBIW4lg-_tgv7a2aZ0hYIJ8-2kYKRePI2ivnXOQ/s400/imag4712.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
They were headed up the first four pitches to practice for a
future NIAD ascent. They looked at our team with the haul bag we had and
figured that we would be slowing them down so they opted for coming back at
another time. The three of us made it to Sickle in about 4 hours. Both Fiona
and Jayme learned just about everything one might need to know to make the
whole route: cleaning gear, cleaning the anchor, lowering out, wrestling a haul
bag, untangling ropes, trying to keep ropes untangled, belaying a fast climber,
staying calm relatively high off the ground, and numerous other tiny
adjustments in their personal gear.<br />
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We stashed a good portion of our water for the trip at
Sickle Ledge 4 pitches up the route. We rappelled to the ground with the ropes
left fixed for us to jug up to the high point on our launch day, the for following day, Thursday
September 10<sup>th</sup>.</div>
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We woke up on Thursday, 4:30am and had a civilized breakfast
of eggs, hash browns, strawberries, and coffee. We walked to the base in dawn
light. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an odd light because the
smoke from the fires was floating in the air. Not thick enough to make you
cough, but dense enough to ruin the view of a crisp blue sky. It also hampered
our views of the surrounding valley for the whole climb. Nothing was ever quite
in focus. Because our gear and large portion of our water was on Sickle we did
not have to haul the first fixed lines. We just carried heavy small packs and
dragged behind a moderate haul bag. </div>
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The day started with the trickiest logistical pitches. That
is, the pendulum swings into the Stove Legs from Sickle. These are problematic
due to the lower out of the haul bag and following the traverse for the second
on jugs. Fiona and Jayme, having learned a little bit about this on the practice
day to Sickle, handled this with some experience in hand and some effort. While
we started jugging that day an alpine style team, Linda and Tesia, had started
on pitch one. They caught us at the very top of Sickle. They were “pushing” us
from behind so it was a bit stressful making sure we didn’t slow them down.
Stressful for me, at least. I’m sure Fiona and Jayme had stress from their own
safety and general scares from being up hundreds of feet higher then they’d
ever been before.<span id="goog_1412917593"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_GxYCueMILhOwAYc4XCYr66EaTYirx5Kt_u2XQH4ma0unf2DixAvruhFo5gD086hG3-tHuEuAPUzf7c7N7KE5Ze9pOihXPUwKVuHaGLAUOaQ5y6hEpEf6wvv9Ivuzu6FYwplyQ/s1600/imag4744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_GxYCueMILhOwAYc4XCYr66EaTYirx5Kt_u2XQH4ma0unf2DixAvruhFo5gD086hG3-tHuEuAPUzf7c7N7KE5Ze9pOihXPUwKVuHaGLAUOaQ5y6hEpEf6wvv9Ivuzu6FYwplyQ/s320/imag4744.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linda at anchor exiting Sickle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_1412917592"></span></div>
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Without too much fanfare we survived these tricky pitches
and continued straight up the Stove Leg Cracks for two pitches to arrive at
Dolt Tower just after 3 p.m.<br />
<br />
We had found out the day before
that John and Andrew left 10 liters of water on Dolt so we skimped a little on
what we brought, hoping there would be 3 to 6 liters left by the time the other
parties ahead of us going by the ledge took their share. When I arrived at the
ledge I saw NO WATER at all. This was not good—the temperatures were in the mid
80s.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDU63_xzUoJ5mAJmGr_qhBijXr2p4nKnZsLZI_OfRq36WR_1Lyop9vxQYzUSklEljaw3MahQUynr-mmtEiHOLgBTtnN1Rnr7-X37pG6vBh-1HIe7ANA9ErMJG7cJ4dR2mRVLEtQ/s1600/imag4753.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDU63_xzUoJ5mAJmGr_qhBijXr2p4nKnZsLZI_OfRq36WR_1Lyop9vxQYzUSklEljaw3MahQUynr-mmtEiHOLgBTtnN1Rnr7-X37pG6vBh-1HIe7ANA9ErMJG7cJ4dR2mRVLEtQ/s320/imag4753.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dolt Tower, Nikei in green shirt.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Two climbers from Austria, Tschak and Nikei were a full
pitch above Dolt Tower and looked to be resting. After 15 minutes one came
rappelling down. They were bailing. Ta Da! I asked if we could kindly help them
by taking some water weight from them so they didn’t have to rappel down with
all that weight! They saw the logic and self serving angle in my offer, and
with wide grins they generously gave us 6 liters of water! Strangely enough for
the brief 20 minutes I had my phone on at Dolt Tower, <a href="http://www.blondeambitionguiding.com/" target="_blank">Steve Schneider</a> called
me! Kinda cool that he climbed The Nose with me in 1990 for my second ascent
and we set the speed record on that go, 8 hours and 5 minutes.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDCHGfFh7kTODUIKUfgVWRsXXet6gIdS_WeWjC5fksq_5hQFEEbyqNhrzDE3VkrTXsnF0AnbalAIBoYoXpJp4Fy_T1vBXfPfmdVTMyV1Ey6pkEt6gwl4f08VpD9E2ZsAUXb8zTA/s1600/imag4774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDCHGfFh7kTODUIKUfgVWRsXXet6gIdS_WeWjC5fksq_5hQFEEbyqNhrzDE3VkrTXsnF0AnbalAIBoYoXpJp4Fy_T1vBXfPfmdVTMyV1Ey6pkEt6gwl4f08VpD9E2ZsAUXb8zTA/s320/imag4774.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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By 7:30 p.m. that first evening we had climbed another two
pitches above Dolt Tower to El Cap Tower. This would be our bivy spot
for the night. Around 6:30 p.m. we saw Linda and Tesia arrive at Dolt Tower.
They opted to share the Tower with the Austrians, who were having one more
night’s stay on the wall before their return to the ground.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGxucHH3S7UfcBoBklDBmT5X_uHpoJEioxdsAANWQbEyqg1wL5dugqDSNv2ZrVQTBKBcmVQ-DpBMBMv6Pb8w1r_SsQRk-IcIlSSfuDVjj9NBSu186Tcpwr64C0yZ1436fs8rIzHw/s1600/imag4791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGxucHH3S7UfcBoBklDBmT5X_uHpoJEioxdsAANWQbEyqg1wL5dugqDSNv2ZrVQTBKBcmVQ-DpBMBMv6Pb8w1r_SsQRk-IcIlSSfuDVjj9NBSu186Tcpwr64C0yZ1436fs8rIzHw/s640/imag4791.jpg" width="356" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fiona and Jayme on top of Texas Flake.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We ate the old classic soup from a can for dinner with a
bagel for carbos and something to wipe the sauce out of the cans. Despite the
smoke we could see stars from our perch. Jayme opted for the firm ground of the
rock ledge, while Fiona and I stayed on the portaledge. My most memorable quote
from the first day: “Who’d of thought belaying all those birthday parties at
Cleveland Rock Gym would have prepared me for belaying Hans Florine on The
Nose!”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Morning came with a <a href="http://www.blackmedicine.com/" target="_blank">Black Medicine Coffee</a> and another bagel. </div>
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<br />
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The fabulous Texas Flake Chimney pitch was the morning warm up,
followed by the bolt ladder to Boot Flake, then the incredible King Swing. The
King Swing although famously visual to watch and horrifying to lead your first
time, also leads into some hard logistical issues for the followers and the
hauling of the bag. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxc_SQyrv6Yzk3O3txZ8MHBHwZfwPyD9hPeIhx-9wu1AfzviQdD7OPomQxYYDC-rjBSUmTCnMBTTTSowDrQRSgV6zN4lByXpbJmj3-UlWUByOxGp_HVJ-7wPwnNojRD7WBnhm2zg/s1600/Hans+King+Swing+WORKING.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxc_SQyrv6Yzk3O3txZ8MHBHwZfwPyD9hPeIhx-9wu1AfzviQdD7OPomQxYYDC-rjBSUmTCnMBTTTSowDrQRSgV6zN4lByXpbJmj3-UlWUByOxGp_HVJ-7wPwnNojRD7WBnhm2zg/s640/Hans+King+Swing+WORKING.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit <a href="http://www.steverokks.com/#photo" target="_blank">Steve Rokks</a>!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I had thought this out a
few times and opted for climbing as high as I could after the King Swing on a
giant top rope then running it out as far as I dare before placing pro. This
meant the followers would not have to lower DOWN over to the other cracks, but
merely lower a long ways to the left.</div>
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Following this lead is the messy traverse through the Gray
Bands. I opted here for building a Via Ferrata and ferrying the haul bags along
the line. We took a good long lunch break here and then started up toward The
Great Roof.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As is common The Roof was
fixed with many nuts, pins, and fixed cams from previous parties. I even pulled
out a green Camalot and carabiner that someone had left in the end of the roof.
I backed cleaned the roof to make for one long lower out when Fiona cleaned it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This put us at one of the most exposed anchors on the route.
It gives you a great view down the route. We could see Tesia and Linda toiling
away in the Gray Bands below,<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLupUbbo391OurN2vrUCG3Mzies11enhFcr4RbzsPFGrcIfKJ6aay7L06WrneG-OQtzxJeFunr4gxNg7ul9I8NG7DNQ41PSi6YwTiUHWc2zW87DVylM8zciYJ1yfbRnbRgafNGnA/s1600/imag4800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLupUbbo391OurN2vrUCG3Mzies11enhFcr4RbzsPFGrcIfKJ6aay7L06WrneG-OQtzxJeFunr4gxNg7ul9I8NG7DNQ41PSi6YwTiUHWc2zW87DVylM8zciYJ1yfbRnbRgafNGnA/s640/imag4800.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down from the end of the Great Roof. Tesia and Linda down below in the Gray Bands.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
and figured they would be stopping at Camp
4 for the night while we would fairly easily would get to Camp 5. 7:30 pm seemed
to be our appointed hour for arriving to our bivy ledge each night, as that is
when we arrived a Camp 5, two pitches above The Great Roof. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Camp 5 is a series of ledges rather then one big one. Again
Jayme opted for a small rock ledge to sleep on while Fiona and I shared the luxury
of a doublewide portaledge. I really felt we needed to fix two pitches in the
dark this night so we could insure our mid day predicted top out time for the
photographers and friends we hoped would meet us on top. After a hearty dinner
and some pre sleep conversation I did not have it in me to lead anything. It
would have to wait for morning.</div>
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Since it was an early to sleep night, it was not too
difficult to get rolling before 8 a.m., which we just managed. After two leads
we were on Camp 6, where we ran into Hannah and Jake who had bivied there while
we were on Camp 5. I had passed Jake the previous year and he was going at a
pretty good pace. We joked that he was not going to let me pass this year. As
it turns out Hannah and him kept a great pace and we never got close enough or
in a place where we were strong enough or fast enough to pass them. We were
just close enough that we could chat which made for a fun ascent of the top few
pitches. </div>
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An hour before we were going to top out we saw and heard
Will Masterman rappelling down from the top. We were delighted to see him. He
along with Steve Rokks, Trev Lee, and Wes Lee had hiked to the top to help us
with gear and take some summit and top out shots. </div>
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The final pitch is the famous overhanging bolt ladder. Of
all places on the route to be dangling out in <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYV_y6s3UeeiCifPXFO5BUjaUke23tPWNj3LuKGcl2AEhyFa-nM0VXv2B_fQ_sVtNtE1vV8slWwGL2JXcUQbTmZWAofteDo0TaeHWT7ap-4ziji-_fc-JKQ2476dsIkIcKx4PxSw/s1600/IMG_6832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYV_y6s3UeeiCifPXFO5BUjaUke23tPWNj3LuKGcl2AEhyFa-nM0VXv2B_fQ_sVtNtE1vV8slWwGL2JXcUQbTmZWAofteDo0TaeHWT7ap-4ziji-_fc-JKQ2476dsIkIcKx4PxSw/s640/IMG_6832.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Will Masterman. Hans on the final 5.10 crack before the final roof. Jayme and Fiona at The Wild Stance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
space away from the rock this is
the most spectacular. You are 2,900 ft above the valley floor and you can view
the whole sweeping line that The Nose route follows. Fiona cleaned on this
pitch and Jayme went for the full air jug ascent on the free line. Neither
option is more or less terrifying. </div>
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When you crest the granite and can see the manzanita bushes
and top out pine tree there is a place you can still lean out and see down the
route. If you are not aware of it you could have your head down and be busy
with the task of getting yourself off the route. That’s OK, but it’s a perfect
time to pause, reflect on what you’ve just done and the easy ground ahead that
you have “earned,” by climbing the past three days. I am wanting to substitute
“climbing,” with “laboring,” “fighting,” “struggling,” “investing.” Etc. It is
a huge effort and the sense of accomplishment is such that I have no hesitation
doing it another time. I am looking forward to the 101<sup>st</sup>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJpaVub7Q6rV-0AUp7ZVwISS3oOZJ0YnbCFwljxJZ5PSmJExpuEcDyG3GtTGRnjbgfkQVvAE1ibXdI4UvHXrjLhbeJc9HBUh_lJFrB84TQkUbxdkY6Dwk05HoyR_PS1nZgjH-Ng/s1600/imag4804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJpaVub7Q6rV-0AUp7ZVwISS3oOZJ0YnbCFwljxJZ5PSmJExpuEcDyG3GtTGRnjbgfkQVvAE1ibXdI4UvHXrjLhbeJc9HBUh_lJFrB84TQkUbxdkY6Dwk05HoyR_PS1nZgjH-Ng/s640/imag4804.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top out tree! Stop the time! 4 days, 5 hours, 21 mintues, 26 seconds.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<b><u>Post Climb. </u></b></div>
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We descended the East Ledges and were down in time for a run
by The Village Store for a food run. Serendipity! We ran into Peter Croft! Peter and I climbed The Nose in 1992 for my 7<sup>th</sup> ascent and the
record at the time, 4 hours and 22 minutes. That record lasted for 9 years. A
mark that is unbeaten, so far. Peter joined us at my home in Yosemite West and
told stories most of the evening.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zTzVigJtESTvW2Slik3aEefe4IPdpa5oeaCqUr5AZCfadgiKRVFQAsrdzwRNAV7V6_uAQbLoC6Cq6yiRgD5hOiNk5wKpTOo6hsy6t8MCeyzkPlUudeJiihDsbF2Npt5h6Ueq3Q/s1600/imag4821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zTzVigJtESTvW2Slik3aEefe4IPdpa5oeaCqUr5AZCfadgiKRVFQAsrdzwRNAV7V6_uAQbLoC6Cq6yiRgD5hOiNk5wKpTOo6hsy6t8MCeyzkPlUudeJiihDsbF2Npt5h6Ueq3Q/s320/imag4821.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was in the plan to post our climb on social media. We had
hopes that we would get traction and have some followers. We were blown away
with far more attention than we could have predicted. The Park Service was
following us and invited us in to craft a press release the following Monday.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4KQJumTjJgfqmaG1Ba-_vi19f4ZxyRu-i0hFBvlz1nPAMS5WCOtTNw0QjMWW7_azgLmg-jc-pUAQtbVynAegu31H5H7AW7TAprRVIJAhhuDYXmVurkTQbTkjeq7gN2ZBBas1JA/s1600/imag4850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4KQJumTjJgfqmaG1Ba-_vi19f4ZxyRu-i0hFBvlz1nPAMS5WCOtTNw0QjMWW7_azgLmg-jc-pUAQtbVynAegu31H5H7AW7TAprRVIJAhhuDYXmVurkTQbTkjeq7gN2ZBBas1JA/s320/imag4850.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike, Chief of Staff Yosemite NPS and Scott Superintendent NPS Yosemite.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We didn’t get a thumbs up from Obama, but short of that, we were in USA Today,
a good collection of other papers and online journals. Some of these are in the
links below.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">http://adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/15/yosemite-climber-hans-florine-makes-his-100th-ascent-of-the-nose/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ng%2FAdventureBlogs%2FAdventure_Blog+%28Adventure+Blog%29</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.outdoorresearch.com/blog/stories/by-the-numbers-hans-florines-100-ascents-of-the-nose"><span style="color: #0000e9; font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">http://www.outdoorresearch.com/blog/stories/by-the-numbers-hans-florines-100-ascents-of-the-nose</span></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">http://blog.sfgate.com/stienstra/2015/09/14/bay-areas-hans-florine-makes-100th-ascent-of-el-capitans-nose-route/</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-34238209</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">http://www.climbing.com/news/hans-florine-100-ascents-of-the-nose/</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">http://www.outsideonline.com/2015881/florine-climbs-nose-100th-time</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">http://gearjunkie.com/hans-florine-making-100th-ascent-of-the-nose</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">http://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/hans-florine-completes-100-climb-of.html</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">http://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/outdoor/climbing-yosemites-el-cap-for-the-100th-times-20150902</span></div>
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Follow me at:</div>
<a href="http://hansflorine.com/">http://hansflorine.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://instagram.com/hansflorine#">http://instagram.com/hansflorine#</a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/HansFlorineclimbs">https://www.facebook.com/HansFlorineclimbs</a><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/hansflorine" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/hansflorine </a></div>
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Big Thank you to the people and companies that support me. Jacki Adams Florine, My kids, Touchstone Climbing, Outdoor Research, CRKT, NUUN, Honey Stinger, Field Trip Jerky, Petzl, BD, KINeSYS, Bluewater Ropes, Smith, Extreme Pizza, DFX Sports,& Fitness, Black Medicine, ACE,(yes, we took a porta-ledge), Bandaloop, (yes, their rigging skills help me). Steve Schneider for getting me up The Nose my second time and cutting 40 hours off my PR.</div>
Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-65527026781132265052015-08-24T23:36:00.002-07:002015-08-25T09:35:17.104-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
This years <a href="http://outdoorretailer.com/" target="_blank">OR Summer show</a> was fast paced for me.</div>
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I went in the show and my first stop was the <a href="http://www.crkt.com/" target="_blank">CRKT</a> booth. </div>
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They had only one extra sample of the NIAD knife</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGsIKiR0uOVLvm8D9PBBHKEf9LbjT3239pVVNAWcS9bKjc9-xmIAe1slLtaSShJr74gPIPCJrAyNE58ftisOnu65-RcErx6vfcIuLv_syY7jBr9uVgGOgPm1sU8A9LxnM1mUtkA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-24+at+10.46.01+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGsIKiR0uOVLvm8D9PBBHKEf9LbjT3239pVVNAWcS9bKjc9-xmIAe1slLtaSShJr74gPIPCJrAyNE58ftisOnu65-RcErx6vfcIuLv_syY7jBr9uVgGOgPm1sU8A9LxnM1mUtkA/s200/Screen+Shot+2015-08-24+at+10.46.01+PM.png" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NIAD = Nose In A Day Knife</td></tr>
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that I would
be launching the following day. I had one person in mind that might be in the
convention center who would be the most deserving of receiving that sample.
Someone who did the very first <a href="http://noseinaday.com/" target="_blank">NIAD</a>. I sent out a text
to John Long, and he replied with an affirmative and gave me his location.<br />
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En route to meet John I hydrated up at the <a href="https://nuun.com/" target="_blank">NUUN</a>
booth and caught John among the various climbing vendors. He was delighted to
receive the knife. John, with NIAD in hand, could not resist messing around
with some wonky posses.</div>
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Next up I went down to <a href="http://www.outdoorresearch.com/" target="_blank">Outdoor Research</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>to check in on pack and glove designs with Megan.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Coolest thing coming out is light subtle belay gloves! -Zero breaking in time. I love em. After a getting a few
updates on pack designs and some feedback from Megan on gloves, I moved on to the
<a href="https://www.accessfund.org/" target="_blank">Access Fund</a> Booth to chat with Tim about AF matters. <br />
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In the early afternoon I met with Everett from <a href="http://www.sportiva.com/" target="_blank">LaSportiva</a> and he walked me through the line
of new shoes coming out. I’m probably a bit unexciting on this front in that I
just love their existing shoes in the line. TC Pros for Yosemite climbing,
Xplorers and Gandas for approaches, and Katana velcros for the gym.</div>
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I touched base with Daniel over at <a href="http://www.tenkarausa.com/" target="_blank">Tenkara </a>USA out in the Pavilion. They make the coolest,
simplest, and most effective fishing rods you’ve ever handled. (or I’ve
handled)</div>
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After the show I headed down to REI in Mill Creek to give a show about my travels
with Erik Weihenmayer and adventures in Yosemite. Wonderful little crowd that had great questions. - So cool that an REI is right next to a Momentum Climbing Gym.</div>
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After the show it was off to <a href="http://steveedwardsfitness.com/" target="_blank">Steve Edward’s</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>home for some CRKT
TomaHawk throwing!</div>
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Thursday morning started off with a core and exercise class
at 7:30 at <a href="https://www.momentumclimbing.com/millcreek/" target="_blank">Momentum in MillCreek</a>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then a swing by Massif Gym to
chat with an old climbing partner Nick Fowler. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDpLXyWB2w-ElQFAQ7mbgthDCg5rgvyiY_i1gNi8lt8KwATQzxIpBp5UPu4TepKwPD8j5PVoHTibAsFLxbGVBJhZLxGSnx9Q1c4LR0oP17ynpJZraTMfvYuN8Aa3pm3aU1EAXaw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-24+at+11.03.23+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDpLXyWB2w-ElQFAQ7mbgthDCg5rgvyiY_i1gNi8lt8KwATQzxIpBp5UPu4TepKwPD8j5PVoHTibAsFLxbGVBJhZLxGSnx9Q1c4LR0oP17ynpJZraTMfvYuN8Aa3pm3aU1EAXaw/s200/Screen+Shot+2015-08-24+at+11.03.23+PM.png" width="194" /></a>1pm took me to the Blue Water Ropes<a href="https://bluewaterropes.com/" target="_blank">https://bluewaterropes.com/</a> booth to sign “<a href="http://www.falcon.com/books/speed-climbing" target="_blank">Speed Climb</a>” books which Falcon<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had generously donated. A fun list
of folks came by including but not limited to: Lynn Hill, Libby Sauter, Chantel
Astorga, Konstantin who gave me this wonderful handmade knife, Mike Gauthier from
Yosemite Park, John Spalding from Falcon books, Tommy Caldwell, and a host of
others.</div>
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CRKT’s launch of my new knifes was to take place at 2pm at
their booth. The number of people coming by was fantastic. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sean from GearJunkie<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>came by the booth and let me walk him through
the design features of the knives. Sean said we were in the running for the
“<a href="http://gearjunkie.com/crkt-climbing-knife" target="_blank">Best in Show Award!</a>” That was cool just to be considered.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUZy6VLhbWiGkUMKYqsNBZ6iNc2camJ0WDnJYxupg_usPGD50LFVhdVpQOLTYOSuuID3N2qPvrbvppFf_cAc1M6u7C9JBM_dwnGlqwfdneyyn8-EIljqPFYpcLFul9FNlxcBUAQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-24+at+11.23.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWUZy6VLhbWiGkUMKYqsNBZ6iNc2camJ0WDnJYxupg_usPGD50LFVhdVpQOLTYOSuuID3N2qPvrbvppFf_cAc1M6u7C9JBM_dwnGlqwfdneyyn8-EIljqPFYpcLFul9FNlxcBUAQ/s200/Screen+Shot+2015-08-24+at+11.23.40+PM.png" width="183" /></a>I was busy for two hours at the CRKT booth showing the
knives to people coming and going. Just as I was packing up to leave Sean came
back by and had a huge Best in Show Poster Board Certificate to award us for
the NIAD knife! Wow what a great honor.</div>
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Thursday evening was a night out to dinner, drinking, and
deserts with the CRKT team to celebrate the launch of the knives and the
winning of the award. Still feeling really great that we were recognized and at
the same time know that the design had many influences from others. –Notably Trango’s
Piranha.</div>
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Friday morning was an 8:30 am class at Momentum in MillCreek
again. I bopped around from Honey Stinger, to Petzl, to Slingfin, to the AAC,
to CRKT, OBOZ, Leki, Nuun, DFX, a noon break with Yoga Slackers. I found out
about the crazy samples available in the pavilion out in the lot. – Every
manner of: chew, bar, cookie, gel, drink, trail mix, jerky, and shot was
available for sampling! Glad I skipped lunch! A must visit area at every show.</div>
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I had to leave the show early for a 6pm show down at the
Momentum gym in Sandy. I was sharing “Hans’s version of The Race For The
Nose.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following folks gave stuff to
give out at the event, which raised funds for The Access Fund: <a href="http://www.dynaflexpro.com/" target="_blank">DFXsports</a>, Nite Ize, <a href="http://www.honeystinger.com/" target="_blank">Honey Stinger</a>, NUUN, CRKT, Outdoor Retailer, and Falcon
Books. After the show a few climbers hung out and went over the beta on The
Nose in anal detail with me. Totally geeking out about how to prepare, plan,
and execute it. – Loved It!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stuck
around and attempted the wicked hard cracks they have at the gym and did a little
bouldering. To cap the night off I threw a token few Tomahawks back at the
Edwards establishment.</div>
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Looking forward to the next OR show.<br />
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Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-50280216193245740752015-03-08T12:29:00.000-07:002015-08-25T09:38:51.592-07:00Women in My Life...Since it is Women's History Month I thought I'd share some thoughts about the women in my life on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day" target="_blank">International Women's Day.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi364C_qfUPUdQ6-PbP3gaiLU3ddgdBvrk9NVjX2ALYWC5dqBoqjBkByUyukYSTXiPnLbRnGupfDimsXRYcSPGvMESMFvVM5dzfXWcRCw8b7ZmdITUMiMMZOXdZUhT8VTB4rf4hhQ/s1600/jcovertifW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi364C_qfUPUdQ6-PbP3gaiLU3ddgdBvrk9NVjX2ALYWC5dqBoqjBkByUyukYSTXiPnLbRnGupfDimsXRYcSPGvMESMFvVM5dzfXWcRCw8b7ZmdITUMiMMZOXdZUhT8VTB4rf4hhQ/s1600/jcovertifW.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jacki on the Pancake Flake,(23rd pitch on The Nose).</td></tr>
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First and foremost my wife of 15 years, <a href="http://www.jacquelineflorine.com/" target="_blank">Jacqueline Adams Florine</a>. Our first date was a hike up to Half Dome, climbed Snake Dike, then descended the Death Slabs! Jacki was a NY climbing guide when I met her. She quickly became proficient on big walls despite her 'short cliff up-bringing' in the Shawangunks. Within four years of climbing in the West, she soloed The Leaning Tower, Lurking Fear and was the first woman to solo The Nose. An accomplishment that waited 12 years for another woman to repeat. (She also climbed a number of walls with other women and men.) A few years later Jacki became the first woman to climb all 14 of the California 14ers continuously, in under 10 days. A feat I had done years earlier with two other male partners. Jacki did it alone, pairing up with numerous partners who had to tag team to keep up with her. I tagged along with her for the Palisades range traverse*, which bags five 14ers in one sweep. We did it car-to-car in under 20 hours, I don't know of any other woman that has done that. <br />
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<u>Women 'Pre-Jacki:' </u><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPyDGRR8akK_8SkStHs4V4-OdP7J8VW0Aa6NyBA2ZhQ3D-x1dKSNZzVjXAUGXupaSefehXcp0696ZnFlThfQ_rpP8HzhGVeTFJRqlK_1moD9jUWWYMTGYCsakeCfDoMsl1sHlq9Q/s1600/topwolfhead.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPyDGRR8akK_8SkStHs4V4-OdP7J8VW0Aa6NyBA2ZhQ3D-x1dKSNZzVjXAUGXupaSefehXcp0696ZnFlThfQ_rpP8HzhGVeTFJRqlK_1moD9jUWWYMTGYCsakeCfDoMsl1sHlq9Q/s1600/topwolfhead.tiff" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top of Wolf's Head after climbing 20 classics in 20 days.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the 90s I tried to send The Link Up** with a male partner and failed. Then I got closer to getting it with my friend, Abby Watkins. I finally did my first Link Up successfully with Nancy Feagin. Nancy and Sue McDevitt were the first woman's team to climb NIAD (Nose in a Day) in 1992. Another incredible climbing adventure I did with Nancy in 1993 was ascending all 20 of Steck and Roper's 20 classics in 20 days. <br />
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In 1992, the year before <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Hill" target="_blank">Lynn Hill</a> freed The Nose, she ran up it in under 10 hours with me. Amazing in that while we did it so fast Lynn was actually scoping it for the free climbing possibilities for the following year. <br />
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Incidentally, I've climbed El Cap with over 20 different women. In the fall of 2013 I did my only jug less one-day ascent of The Nose with <a href="http://hazelfindlayclimbing.com/" target="_blank">Hazel Findley</a>. Her preference! I have had the pleasure of climbing with incredible climbers, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bobbi.bensman?fref=ts" target="_blank">Bobbi Bensmen</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alison.osius" target="_blank">Alison Osius/Benge</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tori-Allen/202055839832399" target="_blank">Tori Allen</a>, <a href="http://blog.bethrodden.com/" target="_blank">Beth Rodden</a>, and a good number of other women. The women I didn't list, should know I appreciate being able to adventure with them.<br />
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I feel very fortunate to have adventured with the above women and others. I learned something from each of them and because of it accomplished some of my best adventures. I hope you all get to climb with an incredible woman or three in March! To learn more about women in climbing, check out this great <a href="http://americanalpineclub.org/clubhouse/iwd/?mc_cid=7fbe5e93cc&mc_eid=6a0050fc32" target="_blank">AAC article</a>. <a href="http://americanalpineclub.org/clubhouse/iwd/?mc_cid=7fbe5e93cc&mc_eid=6a0050fc32" target="_blank"><br /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjzRrGcRjfqreNpSTwGCXr0zzSbUqkRasRoreYDgeABQIyH4BoO9ca2BBzcqN_QWAa1m7yyezyd9GDEKsQ9rFYTzz84Cs4kN9futDYlyNSR8IRA32lmyV4PWfhShtWaTASYDfYBw/s1600/IMAG1530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjzRrGcRjfqreNpSTwGCXr0zzSbUqkRasRoreYDgeABQIyH4BoO9ca2BBzcqN_QWAa1m7yyezyd9GDEKsQ9rFYTzz84Cs4kN9futDYlyNSR8IRA32lmyV4PWfhShtWaTASYDfYBw/s1600/IMAG1530.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L to R. My sister, Roberta, Niece, Heather, Mom, Maryann, Daughter, Marianna, and Jacki.</td></tr>
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Currently there are three special women in my life; my wife Jacki, my daughter Marianna and my mom, Maryann. I likely wouldn't have ever had the opportunity to pursue a non-conformist lifestyle of being a full-time climber in the 90s without the incredible support of my mom. I found a great picture with all three of my special women plus two other women in my life (my sister Roberta and niece Heather). It was taken at my mom's wedding last year. She married her teenage sweetheart after not communicating for over 50 years, but that's another blog post for another time...<br />
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Until next time!<br />
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*The "Full Palisade Traverse" includes The Middle Palisade, which Jacki did with Peter Coward. I was too tired to do that with her and the rest of the traverse on a separate day.<br />
** "The Linkup" is climbing the Regular NW face route of Half Dome and The Nose of El Capitan in 24 hours. To date I think only three women have done that.Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-39825393929413624212015-02-28T11:27:00.001-08:002015-03-02T16:05:25.679-08:00Get out of the Ditch<br />
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Yep, it has multiple meanings. I think I first heard Yosemite referred to as "The Ditch" by the blasphemous <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gregory.crouch.79?fref=ts" target="_blank">Gregory Crouch</a>. The second meaning of "The Ditch" is a substitution for "The Grind," "the 40 hour work week," or "The City."<br />
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Wednesday (hump day), I finished with a days' work managing <a href="http://touchstoneclimbing.com/diablorock/" target="_blank">Diablo Rock Gym.</a> Headed to the high school to pick up my daughter from track and field practice then dropped her off at her Spanish evening class. I headed home to share a dinner bite with my wife, catch up with my son and throw some clothes in a bag for my Thursday climb. By 6:30pm, I head down to pick up my daughter from class, drop her off at home, give everyone hugs goodbye and start the four-hour drive to Yosemite! Perfect timing too. The commute traffic out of the city had died down and it's clear sailing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haven't had coffee yet.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I arrived at my home in Yosemite West just before 11pm and am asleep within minutes.<br />
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The alarm goes off at 5:40am but I heard <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wmasterman?fref=ts" target="_blank">Will Masterman</a> brewing coffee prior to that in prep for our quick morning gear check. Will arranged the rack the day before and I gave it a quick once over. We were aiming to head up the Salathe route for our "Thursday break in the week." Hmm- one #4, one #3, doubles on #2s and #1s, and triples on everything below that, except the smallest tiny cam we had only one of. Two biners of nuts, 10 quick draws, 6 runners and a host biners. Standard personal gear, jugs, speedy stirrups, one etrier, and two small backpacks. Food: a selection of Honey Stinger products, trail mix, hard Monterrey jack cheese, Field Trip Jerky and assorted NUUN tablets. We were out the door by 6:30am and in El Cap meadow by 7am.<br />
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It was light and initially I thought we slept in too late since it had been light when we left the house, but it was an unwelcoming 34 degrees according to the dash board thermometer when we parked. It felt about that temp when we started walking to the base. 99% of the time it's been my experience that a "lake of cold air" sits in Yosemite Valley in the mornings, just the 75 to 100-foot rise in altitude from the meadow to the base of the cliff is often as much as a 15 degree temperature change. I was looking forward to that as I curved in my shoulders and shuddered at the beginning of the hike.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9N9vvV-fLayVSyZHZc4AE9d1mT0uzZ-9E-vzqh0n47dcehIk0t0WrtWy0wQs4gc4quH_WcnYxtHkU5t1ZhM5H80mnmvuzD1vw89p6HrNiFHl2PsD-Da8b8Y5O67ud3cn1nt80A/s1600/imag2345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9N9vvV-fLayVSyZHZc4AE9d1mT0uzZ-9E-vzqh0n47dcehIk0t0WrtWy0wQs4gc4quH_WcnYxtHkU5t1ZhM5H80mnmvuzD1vw89p6HrNiFHl2PsD-Da8b8Y5O67ud3cn1nt80A/s1600/imag2345.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a><br />
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We arrived at the base of the Salathe and Will was leading the first
pitch at 7:27am! Indeed it had warmed up since leaving the car, but it
was still brisk (probably 50 degrees). I was happy to let Will take the
lead. "Warming up" on a 5.10 crack in such temperatures should be left
to the under 30 crowd. <br />
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Will dispatched the first four pitches in good
time. I jugged all four as the needed warm up for my leads to come. The
sun hit us just as Will handed off the lead to me. You'd think I was
wise enough to plan that! I took the next ones to get us to Mammoth
terraces by a little after 11am.<br />
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By the last
three pitches before Mammoth we were down to our T-shirts! Is it really
February?!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heart Ledges, time for a snack break.</td></tr>
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Having some salty treats like <a href="http://fieldtripjerky.com/" target="_blank">Jerky</a>, cheese, and trail mix is a much appreciated treat along with the energy food we consumed along the way. (<a href="http://www.honeystinger.com/" target="_blank">Honey Stinger</a>, and <a href="http://www.nuun.com/" target="_blank">NUUN</a>). Yep, I've done this a few times.<br />
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We rapped down a nasty fix line to Heart Ledges. I told Will that he should keep our 70 meter line attached to him while I rappelled. A little curious look came on his face and I answered... Just in the off chance that this old line breaks you'll have a way to get down. Kinda doomsday thinking but never hurts to play it safe.<br />
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The rappel, although sketchy with a knot to pass, was uneventful and we started out our climb out left of the Heart Ledges after another brief snack break.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking a selfie "under" or inside The Ear.</td></tr>
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I "got to" to lead the ear pitch. Lucky me. For those who don't know it, the ear is like climbing along an upside down coffee cone/filter. We refer to it as a bomb bay chimney. It gets narrow enough at the top that you can't get your head in with a helmet on, AND reach high enough to just have your #4 cam get a bite on the rock. At 6'1" I am fortunate with my long reach I was able to keep myself protected for all but two moves as I chimney-ed my way out to the lip. Jugging the ear is no less awkward and Will had his fun navigating the follow.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying time at The Alcove.</td></tr>
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We arrived at the Alcove below El Cap Spire, part way up pitch 20 and took inventory of our situation. It was a little after 4pm, a little windy and when not moving, I had all my clothing on. We figured only a few hours of light left and by my prediction of our rate of ascent we'd be topping out around 2am, that is, if we could keep moving. In great spirits as we were climbing on granite in Yosemite, in February! Nonetheless we were content to head back down to the Valley floor. And so we did.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgeTkzn6krXS_vADIXGJuVI6q3Nnh5YVCx2HZzIj0gBNJNAjc4Hgb_FGGbMJvdyxKtAtlJxrDUvBAxp4-M74u9mJxKMO7lr17vJ7I2qOY1QcPzkcE0r3s0Lbe6TH5Jz_cjHApfg/s1600/imag2361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgeTkzn6krXS_vADIXGJuVI6q3Nnh5YVCx2HZzIj0gBNJNAjc4Hgb_FGGbMJvdyxKtAtlJxrDUvBAxp4-M74u9mJxKMO7lr17vJ7I2qOY1QcPzkcE0r3s0Lbe6TH5Jz_cjHApfg/s1600/imag2361.jpg" height="400" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will lowering off the ear with moon in sky.</td></tr>
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As a little tip on light and fast and bringing just enough to be able to safely retreat, but not too much, we nailed it perfect by bringing a 70-meter lead line and approximately a 30-meter X 7mm tag line. This allowed us the option to do a 50-meter rappel, kind of. I've thrown this combination out to a number of people who asked me what is the minimum amount of rope you need to bring (see further notes at the bottom). I believe I've used the system for one rappel before but this retreat was going to be tricky with a sideways lowering to Heart Ledges. (I believe there is a rap route straight down from the Hollow Flake, but I didn't know if the spacing was 50 meters or longer. I also wasn't sure that we had a 30-meter tag line, in fact it may have been 25 or less) I knew there were short pitches between us and the Hollow Flake Ledge where we'd need to lower and go sideways, but I didn't know if we'd get lucky and it would be the magical 35 meters between anchors, or less! Hey, time for a science experiment to learn something! Will (Guinea Pig) tied into the rope and I lowered him off. If he reached the next rappel anchor before I saw the bi colored halfway mark on our handy 70-meter <a href="http://www.bluewaterropes.com/product-category/ropes/dynamic-ropes/" target="_blank">Bluewater</a> rope, then we were good to just have Will clip to the anchor and I could immediately rappel with the gri gri I was using to lower Will. This was the case on five of the seven rappels to the Hollow Flake Ledge. When the halfway mark was passed I knew I had to employ the 7mm on the short end of our lead line. Once Will arrived at the anchor that was farther than 35 meters, I tied an overhand knot on my side of the rope and clipped it to his side. Then I tied the 7mm to the short end of the 70 meter lead line (my side). I rappelled on the side Will was on, the knot locked into the rappel anchor and would not be pulled through. I kept a hold of the 7mm line and once arriving to Will we just pulled the 7mm rope and down came the knot and our biner! Ta da! The lower sideways over to Heart Ledges involved some sneaky stuff, but suffice it to say we made it and rappelled the fixed lines to the ground and we were back at the car before 8:30pm.<br />
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We didn't "summit" but it's all in the journey and even if we'd made "the top" we'd have only climbed out of a ditch. As it was, we had a fantastic day of climbing. As I type this I am really sore all over, with a big smile on my face knowing I will recover from the soreness feeling stronger.<br />
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I did a little business around the Yosemite neighborhood Friday morning and headed back to the city in time for dinner with my wife, video game with son before dropping him off at friends and then catching a high school basketball game. Hope your Thursday was fun as well. You weren't stuck in the ditch I hope.<br />
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Notes on rope choices. Certainly if you know the descent specifics you can be more exacting on what rope combinations to take. Bringing a 60-meter full-size rope and a 5 or 7 mm X 60-meter tag line is an option. I like the 70 meter lead line because it gives you better options for short fixing when leading. I'm known for being flexible so I'll defer to a partner if they are adamant about another combination.Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-19961376935872705492014-10-13T08:57:00.000-07:002014-10-16T08:58:58.317-07:00Humility
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This weekend I headed out at 5:45 am Sunday morning from the
stables parking lot with the goal of climbing The South Face of Mt Watkins with
Will and Naomi. Between “reading” descriptions from The Super Topo guide and
Yosemite Bigwalls guide by Erik and Roger, we figured that we would be at the
base of the route around 8:30 am. </div>
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I put “reading” in quotes above because I only skimmed the
directions in regards to the approach, and peaked at the maps. After all it’s
MT WATKINS right? – How could you walk up Tenaya canyon and miss it? – Well we
did miss it, until we made 5 hours of mistakes in wrong turns and misguided
steep scrambling. </div>
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Six hours and two minutes after leaving the stables parking
lot we arrived at the base of the route! We decided against climbing out of the
ditch given how late we arrived at the base. (translation/clarification: “topping out on
Watkins, El Cap, or Leaning Tower, is just crawling out of The Ditch, so really
do have to “enjoy the journey.”) So, we had a great adventure, exploring
various slopes and tiny trails in Tenaya canyon, found a cool water hole, our
legs are super fit -or will be when we recover, and we now have a gallon of
water stashed at the base of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The South
Face Route!</div>
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I just got through presenting stories to The AAC
International Climbing Meet Friday evening. I was telling them how we have
these incredible wild walls here in Yosemite AND they are so accessible and
close to your car door. –Funny sort of “foot in mouth” adventure for Sunday. I
don’t call 6 hours close to the car door.</div>
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Points to remember: </div>
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-bring people with you that like to adventure. We had an adventure,
the outcome was unkown. We got to explore around a beautiful canyon, in a
beautiful place. Our group was joking and laughing and having a good time.</div>
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-Read CAREFULLY a couple sentences from past travelers,
guidebooks, the net, etc. and save yourself 2 hours, or 3.</div>
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-Love the journey.</div>
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-When you hike up Tenaya Canyon and you reach West Quarter Dome on your right, THEN you will be far enough up the canyon to head left up to the base of Mt Watkins. (West Quarter Dome is the smaller and on the right when looking up at the two quarter domes. http://www.mountainproject.com/v/105898258) </div>
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-when you find a better way don't be stubborn to make the change over to it. Just do it.</div>
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I had a great time sharing stories with the AAC group on
Friday evening and a super time instructing some of them at the base of El Cap on
Saturday morning. I learned a few things “teaching” these experienced climbers.
How lucky am I?- Getting to teach a class at the base of El Cap? I am fortunate that I've picked up techniques from Europeans, Puerto Ricans, South Americans, Brits and Ozzies, Russians, and Asians. I was reviewing some of the ways to use cordelettes with the AAC folks and right there in front of everyone made the decision I'll never double fisherman my cordelette ever again. It reduces the flexibility of the cords use. It deploys </div>
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quicker when left untied, derigs quicker, more flexible in application and in adjusting once applied. I'll have a video and or images to post in the future about this. Yes, yes, I'm sure many of you our there are saying DUH, why did it take you so long to figure that out? (Big Thanks to
Carol Kotchek and the AAC for inviting me to participate.)<br />
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Saturday afternoon I got to go up five pitches on The East
Buttress of Middle Cathedral with Diane Payes. Again, we didn’t top out or even
get out of The Ditch. That was better then OK for us, we got to climb on
awesome granite terrain, with a beautiful alpine glow light on El Cap across
the valley, and earn our meal with The AAC group later that evening.</div>
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I hope you got to summit something this weekend, or crawl
out of a ditch, or just embark on something where you didn’t know the outcome
before starting.</div>
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Cheers,</div>
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Hans</div>
Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-57276076876394493902014-09-13T22:50:00.000-07:002014-10-15T23:18:24.533-07:00keep like minded people around you...<br />
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Holly Webb has been in the Yosemite climbing community for over a decade. She has an impressive <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5:30 am El Cap Meadow</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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list of El Cap ascents. Holly asked me if I’d help her with her “40 by 40 goal.” I said “sure” and then asked just what that was. Holly wanted to climb El Cap 40 times by her 40th birthday. Both Holly and myself currently do not reside in Yosemite and both of us have spouses, work, and kids* to keep us from long protracted adventures up El Cap. I went down the list of routes she may want to do that we could knock out in a day, or that we thought we could do in a day. When it came to The West Face she admitted she had never done the route despite the fact that she had done 27 different routes on El Cap! Done!-West Face it would be. <br />
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The Plan: Meet in El Cap Meadow Saturday morning before the sun was up. check in on the gear and supplies and get the hike done by headlamp before the sun could over heat us. Climb as much as possible in the strategic west facing side of El Cap for as long and fast as possible to avoid the sun, perhaps making the summit before “The Orb” gazed on us.<br />
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Holly was to bring the complete rack. She’s got more new gear then me. I brought the 70 meter Bluewater. We weren’t planning on stretching pitches or short fixing, but it’s nice to have for emergencies if you want to bail. -And of course could be used to extend some pitches if you wanted. We both brought our favorite energy foods and I threw in a holiday beef log. It was going to be hot so we brought 3 liters of water each. (and some NUUN to flavor it)<br />
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Our plan was to free what was fun, french free tougher stuff, or outright aid anything that gave us pause. “Just climbing” the route cause we aren’t hung up on style so much as going up and covering tons of cool ground. -And, it was TONS of cool granite terrain. Despite The West Face being perhaps 2/3rds the length of the tallest El Cap routes it’s still a long route with 16 pitches, many being 50 meters long. If you super imposed it on the east wall it would be taller then the Zodiac.<br />
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About 50 meters from the base of the route we turned off our headlamps and could hike the remaining gully by dawn light. Around 7am we started the route. The first two crux 5.11 + pitches of the route are right off the ground, so it’s a tough start to your morning after the hike. We didn’t bother freeing much of those pitches. We did both completely free the 5.10a airy 4th pitch. It has an ultra classic roof move that looks way harder then it is.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The downward traversing pitch.</td></tr>
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During the next 7 pitches we mixed and matched some free, aid, and french free to arrive at the top of pitch 11, The Grand Traverse. It was around 11:30 am and we figured we should stop for lunch and enjoy some beef log, trail mix, and other goodies in our bellies for the remaining long 4 pitches, rather then on our backs in the small packs we each were carrying. We mixed and matched again until Thanksgiving ledge then simul-climbed
to the top in two long pitches. Topping out in 6 hours and 1 minute from
when we started at the base.<br />
Being “The keeper or Librarian of the Speed Records” I looked up to see
what the fastest known time was previously. I was stunned that the
record for a Female/Male team was 5:59. OOPs we should have taken a
little shorter lunch.<br />
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ohh, and to the title of this post: It's nice to have goal seeking friends, be they in your neighborhood or just on your phone list. If you are going to pursue challenges, invariably you are going to need the support of someone who has challenges of their own. When you find like minded folks, put em in your Rolodex for future adventures. <br />
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*Holly’s kid is a national champion show dog.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timed a ride back on the shuttle, a rare but nice finish.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-81461721002853005192014-07-15T10:45:00.001-07:002014-07-15T11:26:28.894-07:00First One Day Solo Ascent of The Triple Direct Route on El Capitan!<style>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11:17pm Sunday on top of El Cap. 17 hrs 29 mins</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I climbed, by myself, The Triple Direct
(TD) route on El Capitan on Sunday, July 13th, 2014. Non-Climbers: The TD is a route up the
middle of a 2,950-foot-cliff, El Capitan, in Yosemite Valley. A normal party would
plan to take four days on the route. The route has been climbed by very high
level of experience teams in under six hours. I do not know of any recorded
solo speed record to date. I think this might be the first one-day ascent of
the route by a soloist! We’d call that TDIAD (I climbed the route in 17 hours
and 29 minutes. Car-to-car in 20 hours and 21 minutes.)</div>
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I am told it was 106 degrees in Yosemite Valley on Sunday; not
ideal for climbing El Capitan. I choose The TD because I could climb for the
first part of the day in the shade. Then the route goes slightly right around
the corner into upper dihedrals so you get late in the day shade too. If I
timed it right, I’d only be in the sun for a few hours. Predominately this
worked out for me. It’s tough for me to get time to do something big and also
climb the days before to get “tuned in,” so I really wanted to use this day,
hot or not. Thursday and Friday I climbed with my friend Derrick Lindsey on
Tuolumne granite, so that was a great time to get re-familiarized with the
rock.</div>
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Climbers: (non-climbers this may be Greek, not interesting, or
hard to follow.) I started off the ground at 5:48 am. I used a 70m X 9.1mm <a href="https://bluewaterropes.com/" target="_blank">BlueWater rope</a>. I planned to stretch the rope to full length nearly every lead
unless there was some logistical advantage otherwise to do so. I planned to jug,
(ascend the rope), with a 4,000-cubic-inch backpack, a bit big for these things
but nice to have the room for the approach and descent. My rack was: ten quick
draws, ten free biners, four long runners, doubles of everything up to #2
Camalots, one #3 and, in case Alex Honnold is reading or hearing about this, I
didn’t take a #4. I took triples of the ½ cams, BD Gray. I also took four
offset cams. I took about 20 nuts, mostly tiny ones. To my past partners, yes,
I placed a few. I came upon five biners on the route and ended up leaving three
and dropping a quick draw, so I was even on that score. However I inadvertently
left a #1 camalot on the pitch off the Glowering spot. – Go get it treasure
hunters! I self belayed with a Grigri, and brought one aider and one Yates
speedy stirrup. I had one gallon and one liter of water, <a href="http://www.nuun.com/" target="_blank">NUUN </a>tablets, <a href="http://www.honeystinger.com/" target="_blank">HoneyStinger</a> Energy Chews and Protein Bars, and <a href="http://fieldtripjerky.com/" target="_blank">Field Trip Jerky</a>. Although I had a
light long sleeve shirt and wind breaker in reserve I climbed the entire route
in my <a href="http://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/?gclid=CJ-j5ujtx78CFUpqfgod6IcADg" target="_blank">Outdoor Research </a>Ferosi NIAD pants* and short sleeve Astro man shirt.
(*they are lighter then Schoeller pants and have compartments at the knees
which held light padding for my knees)</div>
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I
climbed the first 2.5 pitches in one pitch. (I, un-roped, soloed up the first
30 ft of pitch “1”) I climbed from 2.5 to 4.5 in a pitch, which left me at the
two bolts at the base of the bolted 5.11d section. From there I made it to the
ledge, “Triangle Ledge,” after the last face crux. Then from that ledge I made
a single long pitch to the top of the half dollar. It’s actually 74 meters from
the anchor on that ledge to the anchor on top of the half dollar. I put in a
natural pro anchor 4 meters down from the top anchor. From there I un-roped
soloed, dragging the rope behind me on the easy terrain for two pitches up to
Mammoth Terrace, to avoid jugging that section. I then un-roped soloed the
first pitch off Mammoth to the base of the aid pitch that slopes up and right.
I did this first aid pitch normally, then the next two I linked. I found five two-liter bottles of water left by someone on the Gray Ledges and drank about a
half liter as I still had plenty in my pack to drink. I led up the next
pitches, but had a rope snag so had to cut it short to an 80-foot pitch to
lower down, retrieve my pack and un-snag the rope. I led the long hard arching
left aid pitch just before it turns right to The Muir and combined that with
the traverse over to the lower off point. I lowered my self here leaving some
biners and swung the pendulum over to the big ledges under Camp 4, then pulled
the rope, thus not having to backtrack that portion. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtgn75QvvFRDWyMqS2me9Zbj9gestp0ldgR_2bMWAb8-Cs6Ve9gmMVcIwMMNMJlBy9LRrKkBR9IW8_ZOmpz8OYgJvFspvetqK-csKOaUgFHsm0_QMt_yZdQK8M-EkewH-R4jb8w/s1600/IMAG2652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtgn75QvvFRDWyMqS2me9Zbj9gestp0ldgR_2bMWAb8-Cs6Ve9gmMVcIwMMNMJlBy9LRrKkBR9IW8_ZOmpz8OYgJvFspvetqK-csKOaUgFHsm0_QMt_yZdQK8M-EkewH-R4jb8w/s1600/IMAG2652.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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I tried to hide in a little rock corner from the sun on this
ledge and stall, changing my shoes and eating. It was hot and this portion of
the route was the three or so hours in total that I was in the sun. It was this
section where I really was having to dig deep for motivation to continue on. –
Note to self, never under estimate the sun and high temperatures power to suck
the energy out of you. My consumption of NUUN in my water earlier on the route
surely got me through this bit. From this ledge I led diagonally up to the base
of the Great Roof. I took a fall on my <a href="http://www.petzl.com/us" target="_blank">GriGri</a> within the first ten feet of leading
the Great Roof when a cam popped out on me. I took another four-foot fall
directly onto my daisy after that, ouch. I led the Great Roof and combined it
with the Pancake Flake. From there I made it to Camp 5 with rope to spare.
New discovery for me! I led from Camp 5 all the way to Camp 6, about 68
meters! From Camp 6 I found out it’s 71 meters to the block belay! I improvised
a natural anchor and “tethered” it to the bolts. Although the moon was nearly
full, it was on this lead that I put on my headlamp. From the Block, (that is
not there anymore), I led all the way up the final bolt ladder onto the slab
section just before it traverses to the right. From there it was just a short
70-foot lead up to the finishing anchors. At these anchors I “Shouldered”
everything, then soloed up to the tree to stop the clock at 11:17pm. I figured
basically I made 17 long pitches out of the route. There was ample moon light
on top and two gallons of water sitting at the tree! I drank about two liters
of it and poured a liter in my bottle to have for the descent. After 25 minutes
of laying there panting, resting, eating, drinking, and packing my pack, I
staggered up to an upright position and began the hike down.</div>
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The rappelling crowd was up on top with their 1,000-meter rope
dangling off El Cap. A woman on top said she made the rappel in less than six
minutes! That was sounding really good rather than the two-hour hike down the
east ledges. Alas there were cavers coming up the lines in the middle of the
night because it was too hot in the day to do so. </div>
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I made it back to my family van at 2:09 am. And back to my bed
at 3am. I woke up at 4:15 am to start on Sunday so I did my “BTB” (Bed-to-Bed) time
in under 23 hours! I hope your Sunday was equally adventuresome, or maybe you
took a rest day since your Saturday was full of fun.<br />
<br />
I will be sharing stories next Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014 in Concord at Brenden Theaters. <a href="http://bit.ly/1nEsaxh" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1nEsaxh </a></div>
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#outdoorresearch #diablorockgym #touchstoneclimbing
#nuunhydration #honeystinger #kinesys #fieldtripjerky #petzl #bluewaterropes
#lasportiva #armaid #smithoptics </div>
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Follow me at:</div>
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Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-89728812656231335072012-06-17T11:00:00.000-07:002014-07-27T10:40:35.579-07:00New Nose Record , test post.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy04nMxdkE-9J6SPiCoF57_7nGgSwO8XTPfmvWCUt2cCStntxTCYVNgwzwoEjkaGlxKYIxq7UIwD27K7bs4wwiwQrFZH5pw7L3rd-xEEGSfaT5Rb21N_5dRCZuMXsZiG3N4plkhA/s1600/fbfront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">June 17th 2012 New Nose Record</a></div>
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<span class="userContent">This is a very detailed report of the whole ascent I wrote one week after we climbed The Nose in record time. - more than likely it is more than most of you care to read. enjoy...<br /> <br /> Alex Honnnold and I climbed The Nose route in 2:23:46 on Sunday June 17th. <br /> <br /> I’ve written the following sections below.<span class="text_exposed_show">..<br /> <br /> ----the details of the climb.<br /> ----- statistics and numbers:<br /> ----leading up to it.<br /> ---after the event.<br /> ----articles/links<br /> <br /> <br /> ----the details of the climb. <br /> <br /> Here’s the straight details of the morning that I can recall now that it’s only four days ago.<br /> <br />
Alarm goes off at 4:08 am at my friend’s home, Tom and Theresa, in
Yosemite West. I have to pack up my 9 year old son, 11 year daughter,
wife, Tom Frost, and our bivy stuff. TnT offered to bring to the meadow
anything including two coolers that we couldn’t pack up in the morning
hussle. Theresa got up and helped with a few shuttles of gear, sleeping
bags, and children to the van. The goal to make a 26 minute drive and
meet Alex Honnold in the meadow by 4:50 am. Rats we didn’t turn the key
until 4:34 am, no way we can make it! I text Alex to let him know.<br /> <br />
It’s light by the time we arrive in El Capitan meadow. we have all the
gear set from the night before. a dozen people are already milling about
the meadow and a dribble of cars are coming in. after some small talk
we start walking into the woods headed to the base of El Capitan. <br /> <br />
We get to the base around 5:20 am and there are only 4 people with us.
John Ricco, my daughter Marianna, among them. A few things are organized
and Alex flakes the rope. It feels like 60 degrees out, - way to warm
to be doing a hard climb.<br /> <br /> With approach shoes on we solo up
Pine Line to head over to the third class ledges where the route starts.
At the base of the first pitch Chris Gonzales, Steve Fettke, and Tom
Frost are waiting there with smart phones, big camera, and Frost with an
old B&W film camera! (Frost did the second Ascent of The Nose in
1960) We slip out of our approach shoes and talk through a few places on
the route that require logistical efforts beyond normal simul-climbing.
We repeatedly spout out our mantra of “Safety first, fun second, speed
third.” Alex interjects that he’s good with moving speed up the list
today. I roll my eyes.<br /> <br /> I spoke with Alex about negative splits
in track & field and the concept of pacing. “Start off slow, go, go,
go. Start off fast, just won’t last.” He understood.<br /> <br /> After
some stretching and last minute gear fiddling I turn to my watch to get
things going. It’s 5:49 am. It feels like the temp is high 70s. I hit
menu to Chrono and ask Alex if he’s ready. In so many words he lets me
know he has been ready for five or ten minutes already.<br /> <br /> I have
16 cams*(see leading up to it), 22 quick draws, 3 long runners with
biners, and 11 free biners. For my first 1600 ft lead to the top of The
Boot Flake that works out to one piece of pro per 31 ft.<br /> <br /> The clock is started, I switch it back to TIME and start up the route.<br /> <br /> It’s going to get silly with specific detail here so hold on or skip through it.<br /> <br />
After about 25 ft up the first pitch I put in a #1 Camalot, another 15
ft I place a .4 gray cam-alot, another 10 ft a .75 green camalot, 5 ft
up a draw is clipped to a bashy, 15 more ft a bolt hangar is clipped
with a quick draw. Then it’s 30 ft to the anchor where I clip in a long
runner. 30 ft up the second pitch I put in a .3 blue camalot, 7 more
feet and I put in the 00 purple. This last one is the protection before I
go into the flaring pin scars and funky climbing just prior to the
pendulum point. 15 ft up I clip a fixed wire with a free biner, then 7
more ft I clip a single biner to the lower off bolt. Alex takes me
tight, him now being at the bolt I clipped on the first pitch, he lowers
me slowly 5 to 8 ft and I reach right into the crack and yell down
“climbing again.” Slack comes in the rope and I hit sequences in a pin
scared crack until 30 ft later I am at the anchor for the top of the
second pitch. I clip a draw in here and continue climbing into the third
ptich. 30 ft up I clip a single biner to a cord fixed to a bong. 30
more ft I clip a draw to a bolt. pull through on a draw to a bolt,but
back clean it,. then pull on a tat on a knifeblade, clip a bolt with a
draw, Hang on it because Alex needs to have tension to do the pendulum
lower out on the second pitch, pull to another bolt, then a tat on a
mashed hex, then 15 ft of climbing to the third anchor, clip that with a
draw and continue. Climb 25 ft clip a fixed cam, 10 ft to a fixed pin,
clip it with a biner, 5 ft to a bolt, stem up 10 ft and clip fixed
tat/rope for lower out. Alex takes me tight and lowers me out as I
tension my way to the right. I get to a draw someone left on a fixed pin
and clip into it. Stem over to Sickle, clip a bolt at head height and
yell to Alex to take me off belay. <br /> <br /> I move quickly across
Sickle ledge. At the anchor I clip in the rope with a long runner. I say
good morning to Michael and McKenna who spent the night there. After
well wishes to MnM I glance at my watch a few ft up the rock and 17
minutes have pass since I started at the base of the first
pitch.(approximately) Moving quickly up the 3rd and 4th class I get
about 120 ft from the anchor on Sickle and place a small blue Camalot so
Alex can hang on the rope in order to swing over to Sickle in mid pitch
4. I continue up 40 ft and place a .4 camalot with a draw attached at
“the pedestal point”,(an obvious upward facing tooth) where I lower to
for the pendulum swing. I continue up to the last steep 5.9 hand crack
climbing before the anchor, throw in a #1 camalot for protection then
continue up to the anchor. I clip a leaver biner on the anchor and yell
to Alex to lower me. Alex gets a weighted ride up the 5th class as I
head down, cleaning the #1 as I pass by. Arriving at the .4 I ask Alex
to hold and I swing over to the Dolt Hole Cracks. We hear a cheer from
the forest. While I climb the cracks up to the next lower out, Alex is
climbing up the 5th class to the .4 cam. When I arrive at the bolt for
the free variation I clip in and yell to Alex that he is good to swing
over. Once Alex is in the dihedral below me he yells off and I continue
to self tension on the tat and climb to the right on the 5.10 face. I
clip the bolt at the base of the Stove legs with a long runner to
prevent drag and start climbing the crack. I clip a biner on the first
anchor in the Stove Legs and then a fixed piece some 15 ft above. As I
climb the next 120 ft to the next bolt along the Stove Legs, Alex is
arriving at the bolt I clipped to for him to swing. He grabs the rope
heading up to me and switches the Grigri over to me while untying and
pulling the rope through the Sickle anchor we had pendulumed from, then
re-ties to the end, and continues to simul-climb behind me. I clip the
bolt at the end of the 120 ft, 2 to 3” section, this is anchor #8 on my
notated Super Topo. I then continue up another 30 ft to clip a biner to a
fixed cam. Another 50 ft and I’m at the base of the awkward flare
section. I pause here to catch my breath, it’s an eternity I’m told by
Alex. I place a small cam at the base and lay back the first 10 ft then
work the thin seam out left along with a heel toe in the flare until I
can reach a tat out left which I clip with a biner then continue up in
5.7 terrain, after clippping a fixed pin, I go 40 ft farther and arrive
at the double bolt anchor. I clip a draw there and continue up the
blocky section to to a small overhand where I clip a fixed cam. 25 more
ft and a fixed pin gives me my last protection for the 70ft of 3 to 4”
crack that takes me eventually to Dolt tower. For 90% of this wide
section I use my left fist alternated with a #3 Cam in my right hand. I
get in one fixed tat clip during the 160 ft and a draw on the anchor 30
ft below Dolt. Here I yell to Alex that I am off belay, upon his
response I haul all the rope up and fix it for him to jug. <br /> <br /> A
glance at my watch says it’s been 47 minutes since I started the first
pitch.(approximately) While Alex is jugging I am headed to the right
side of Dolt Tower, I clip the far right bolt and down climb over to the
crack that heads to El Cap Tower. -Keeping the anchored rope in one
hand as a “self belay.” I reach the anchor above Dolt and clip a draw
to it and continue to climb. (anchor 12 on my notated Super Topo) Alex
arrives at Dolt to undo the fixed rope before I run out of the length I
had hauled up. Once Alex is on the far right side of Dolt he yells up
for me to anchor myself so he can swing over. I place the #3 camalot and
hang on it briefly for Alex to swing. Alex yells off and we continue to
climb. When I reach the easy terrain 20 ft short of the anchor # 13 I
yell off belay to Alex. I clip to the anchor and continue up to El Cap
tower, clipping a long fixed tat there then heading up to the Texas
Flake. Once behind the flake I head to the far west end and chimney my
way up. On top of the flake I clip the anchor and yell down to Alex that
I’m at the bolt ladder and he summarily has me on belay seconds later. I
alternate etrier and adjustable daisy on the diagonal bolt ladder
leaving one clipped in half way. Once I reach the thin crack below the
boot I inform Alex I’m at the scary part and he reassures me that he’s
being attentive. Four cam placements and a fixed nut get me to the 5.10
hand portion on the Achilles heel of the boot. From there I alternate
hand jamming and #1 camalot leep frogging until I’m at the wide section
that accepts the #3 cam which I place and leave for reassurance.
Meanwhile Alex is making his way up the bolt ladder. I reach the top of
the boot, clip a leaver biner and yell to Alex to take me. I get lowered
and clean all the pieces I placed, hand them to Alex and get on with
the King Swing. Again we hear a loud cheer from the meadow before I
finish the swing. Once on Eagle ledge I clip the line into the bolt and
yell off. Alex appears moments later. A short gear check and hand off of
the Grigri to me, is the signal for Alex to take the sharp end. I untie
and pull the rope off the top of The Boot while Alex puts some ground
between us. I glance at my watch and see one hour and twelve minutes has
elapsed since we started at the base of the first pitch.(approximately)
Interestingly that is 16 of the 32 pitches and turns out to be exactly
half the time it took to climb the route.<br /> <br /> I pop a few Power Bar
Gel Blasts and swig some Cytomax. Alex yells down that he has enough
pieces in that I am OK to simul-climb. I notice that I forgot to take
the ascenders off Alex so I yell up at him to leave them at the next
piece. I start climbing with about a 5 ft loop of slack between my
Grigri and Alex. My aim to make that the minimum loop size so that if he
hits easy ground when I’m in a slow climbing spot I won’t hose him.
Most of the time I have 10 ft or more dangling. Alex and I simul-climb
through the Gray Bands to the base of the Great roof. Alex leaves a cam
for me to pull through on in the 5.11c spot. We pass by a NIAD team at
the beginning of the Great Roof that let Alex and I go by as they
patiently hung out at the anchor. I made it to the anchor as Alex was
going across the horizontal part of the roof. I readied my ascenders and
Alex yelled down that he was off at the base of the Pancake Flake. Alex
quickly pulled up all the slack and fixed the rope, I began jugging,
while Alex led up the Pancake on a big loop. Alex back cleaned the
horizontal section of the great roof so I did a big lower out from the
left side of the roof to the anchor at the base of the Pancake. I made
it to the anchor only seconds before Alex had led up to the point he
needed more rope. Alex arrived at the 23rd anchor seconds later and was
pulling rope up to fix the line. I clipped my jugs to my side and
climbed the Pancake as it’s a little easier then jugging it. Once I hit
the 5.11 section I slapped on the ascenders and jugged the remaining 40
ft of the pitch. Alex meanwhile was climbing the next pitch and leaving
no gear but a green camalot half way up. Once Alex hit the first tier
of Camp 5 he pulled up the rope, fixed it and continued up the ledges to
the 12.C pitch. I jugged up and put Alex on belay as soon as I hit Camp
5. While he finished that lead I made my way to the very top of the
Camp 5 ledges. <br /> <br /> I peeked at my watch to see that one hour and
58 minutes had passed since we started at the base of the first pitch.
(approximately) I informed Alex of our split time being about 10 minutes
faster then our Thursday run. When Alex hit the glowering spot he
pulled up the line and fixed it. Alex climbed the 5.10 above while I
jugged the 12c below. Alex made quick work of the pitch and was ready to
pull up the slack for fixing to the lower ledges of Camp 6, as I un
tied the fixed rope at the Glowering spot. While I jugged the 5.10 Alex
climbed to Camp 6 and on into the changing corners pitch.I arrived at
the bolt at the lower ledges, un tied it and climbed to camp 6 and 40 ft
up into the Changing Corners pitch before Alex had reached the anchor
and yelled off belay. A party of three whom we had passed at Sickle
three days prior was there at Camp 6 with GoPro camera running. They
were more than accomadating in letting us go by as they were in mid
pitch jugging off the ledge. After Alex fixed the line I climbed up
another 20 ft and then jugged the last 50 ft of the pitch. When I
arrived Alex had already finished the next pitch above and was ready to
pull up the rope to fix for the last time. I jugged this last pitch to
the loose block anchor, anchor #28. I clipped in my ascenders to my side
and started simul-climbing to the top. As I reached the horizontal roof
in the alcove before the Wild Stance anchor, the rope came tight on
me,- signaling me that Alex had arrived at easy ground on the summit and
was putting me on the “magic belay.” -Basically meaning the rope goes
up, but never comes down. So I could simul climb with abandon and/or jug
if needed. Although I was exhausted I climbed as fast as I could.
Despite Alex’s wishes I did bust out the etrier for two moves through
the bolt ladder. I alternated with a quick draw in one hand and my wrist
around the etrier in the other. Just before the angle went to slab I
exchanged smiles and hellos to my friend Paul Hara who was hanging there
with camera shooting away. Once on lower angle ground I was bear
crawling as fast as I could toward the tree and Alex was reeling in the
rope to keep it from getting hung up. After I tagged the tree I tug
around my waist for the stop watch, switched it from “time mode” to
“chrono” and hit stop at 2:23:53. <br /> <br /> I was too out of breath to tell Alex the time, or even a yes or no. I just set the watch down for him to read for himself.<br /> <br /> Friends: Gina, Brian, Christina, and Paul were on top to meet us and take photos.<br /> <br />
Alex said that it took me at least 6 seconds to fumble and find my
watch before I hit the stop button. I knew that I started the watch 1 or
2 seconds early at the base. So, although not up to Olympic track
standards, we estimate that our actual time was 2:23:46 and we are
sticking with that. <br /> <br /> ----- statistics and numbers:<br /> <br /> 2.9 seconds per foot<br /> one piece of gear per 32 ft on the first 1600 ft.<br /> 4 mins 28 seconds per pitch<br /> Both of us on Sickle in 19 minutes, Huber Brothers made it in 16 minutes<br /> Both of us on Dolt Tower in 49 minutes, Yuji and I made it in 52 minutes<br /> Both of us at Eagle Ledge in one hour and 12 minutes, <br /> Both of us at Camp Five in one hour and 58 minutes,<br /> Both of us at the top in 2:23:46<br /> <br /> ----leading up to it.<br /> <br />
Two years ago I called Alex to give him ideas/strategies for getting
the record on The Nose with Ueli Steck. After their attempts last summer
Alex tried to connect up with me for some climbing but we couldn’t
match schedules. Last fall I climbed with Alex for the first time. We
climbed The Nose on Three separate occasions from October 13th, 20th,
and November 1st, 2011. our times were: 4:37, 3:16 and 2:37:30
respectively.<br /> <br /> Over the winter it was apparent to me, (and I
suspect Alex), that if we could just come back to The Nose the following
season, a little work on tactics and fitness would yield us the record.
Of course busy schedules and the possibility of someone lower the time
to beat were looming. <br /> <br /> I didn’t care so much as to when, or
even if, I would get the record. I knew that training for the record
would be rewarding, so I did. I did everything from road biking, to
numerous odd challenges at Diablo Rock Gym. see: <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.touchstoneclimbing.com%2Fdiablorock%2Fclasses%2F322-2012challenge&h=7AQH-5k3e&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.touchstoneclimbing.com/diablorock/classes/322-2012challenge</a> Yes! I also got outdoors and climbed at Lovers Leap and even Yosemite in the months leading up to June.<br /> <br />
It was foremost the incredible support of my wife Jacqueline that gave
me the flexibility to train and the motivation to pull it off. The
community around me at Diablo Rock Gym, and even our bedroom community
in the suburbs, were both supportive, and inspirational, to me. They
made it possible for me being able to get the proper training in.<br /> <br />
On June 13th and 14th 2012 Alex and I climbed The Nose in 2:53 and 2:39
respectively. During these two runs we refined the gear we would
take. Alex incredibly impressed with how fast I could place gear, but
embarrassed that I had to bring so much. On the 13th we climbed the
route in four pitches, me leading the first two, Alex the last two. -
That is if you count a pitch as when we get gear back to the leader. On
thursday we brought a little more gear and did the ascent in two
pitches. Alex was Embarrased that I had to bring the big #3 Camalot. I
also was bringing a gold Omega Link Cam which was awesome for the Stove
Legs, and Boot Flake.- In the end he got me to not use the Link Cam as I
never left if for protection, but only used it as a crutch if I needed a
placement. Generally Alex would say: “Hans you’ve never fallen there,
why do you need to protect it?” I’d come back with “feeling/being safe
helps me go faster.” Alex would get me to take three pieces off the rack
and I’d negotiate two other pieces back on. In the end it was one #3
camalot, two of every cam size #1 and below. no nuts, 22 quick draws, 3
long runners with biners, 11 free biners, one etrier, ascenders, speedy
stirrups, Grigri, 5 locking carabiners, less than a liter of water each.
Friends had descent shoes for us on top, - so the ethics folks can say
we took assistance if they like.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUepWZe4MOKB8-2kJ7o5d6m2__PBwgM6Sr0zFpBCZlwacVfEBQYUaur0dN2a8oHJHwngckRJTZRRUKT_o_5qc_kGbuSYwbcZbUjEvQ60se9eG-ZSNurCgGSHRVEaQXg1gChGCk-w/s1600/Rack22436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUepWZe4MOKB8-2kJ7o5d6m2__PBwgM6Sr0zFpBCZlwacVfEBQYUaur0dN2a8oHJHwngckRJTZRRUKT_o_5qc_kGbuSYwbcZbUjEvQ60se9eG-ZSNurCgGSHRVEaQXg1gChGCk-w/s1600/Rack22436.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /> <br /> We rested nearly 3 days. Alex
went back packing and slept at 10,000 ft on Friday night, I went to the
East Bay and played with kids, managed the gym, and slept at 550 ft. We
met Saturday afternoon in El Cap meadow and went over our strategy one
last time and decided to meet the following morning at 4:50 am in the
meadow. Temps were forecast to be HOT.<br /> <br /> ---after the event.<br /> <br />
I hung out in the meadow with friends, jumped in the river with my
kids. Then drove back to the suburbs of the East Bay. I went to Water
World with my kids, we’ve got season passes! I’ve answered a ton of
interview questions via email, facebook, in person, and over the phone.
Alex did a poster signing in Fresno the Tuesday afterwards and was
delighted to have a large crowd come by to meet him. Alex and I are
doing a show of pictures and video on Thursday the 28th evening 7:30 pm
at Pipeworks gym in Sacramento. I’ll be doing something similar on
Monday July 2nd in the evening at Great Western Power Company in
Oakland. I will do some shows in the North East in September. I am
staying fit and not sure what the next climbing adventure will be. It
may be a biking or other adventure. They’ll be something. Am I feeling
post event depressed? - No, I’ve got plenty of things to look forward
to.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> <br /> It was covered so far in a few media places...<br /> <br /> <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockandice.com%2Fnews%2F2047-honnold-and-florine-set-new-nose-speed-record&h=EAQFjTTAh&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.rockandice.com/news/2047-honnold-and-florine-set-new-nose-speed-record</a> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fresnobee.com%2F2012%2F06%2F18%2F2878165%2Fclimbers-set-record-on-el-capitans.html%23storylink%3Dmisearch&h=yAQF-0xKc&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/06/18/2878165/climbers-set-record-on-el-capitans.html#storylink=misearch</a> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.climbing.com%2Fnews%2Fhotflashes%2Fflorine_honnold_set_new_nose_speed_record%2F&h=JAQE8-alo&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.climbing.com/news/hotflashes/florine_honnold_set_new_nose_speed_record/</a> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Flamorinda.patch.com%2Farticles%2Flafayette-s-hans-florine-scorches-el-cap-again%23photo-1000238&h=HAQHBn38Y&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://lamorinda.patch.com/articles/lafayette-s-hans-florine-scorches-el-cap-again#photo-1000238</a> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsierraclub.typepad.com%2Fexplore%2F2012%2F06%2Fspeed-record-broken-on-el-caps-nose.html&h=tAQG1s87C&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://sierraclub.typepad.com/explore/2012/06/speed-record-broken-on-el-caps-nose.html</a> <br /> <br /> It was announced in the NYT the day before our attempt.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2012%2F06%2F16%2Fsports%2Frock-climber-alex-honnold-tackles-yosemites-biggest-rock-faces.html%3Fpagewanted%3Dall&h=8AQEUxkqb&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/sports/rock-climber-alex-honnold-tackles-yosemites-biggest-rock-faces.html?pagewanted=all</a> <br /> <br /> Great photos: <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elcapreport.com%2Fcontent%2Felcap-report-61712&h=cAQHB8QEO&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.elcapreport.com/content/elcap-report-61712</a> <br /> <br /> History: <a href="http://www.speedclimb.com/yosemite/thenose.htm#98" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.speedclimb.com/yosemite/thenose.htm#98</a> <br /> <br /> more links to video and comments from others: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HansFlorineclimbs" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/HansFlorineclimbs</a><br /> <br /> If you are motivated to take on a challenge come visit the Diablo Rock Gym and pick up our challenge list for 2012.<br /> <br /> all the best. Speed be with you.<br /> <br /> HansHans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-40668247233062357742011-11-25T22:06:00.000-08:002011-11-25T22:35:35.444-08:00ON 11/16/11 I set out to do more <a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11478976/2011DIABLORockGymChallengeList.pdf">challenges</a> in a day than the best record on this endeavor previously set by Nick Diaz, who completed 61 challenges in a day. In order to do this I would need to climb, boulder, swim, ride, run, lift and exercise a ton.<br /><br />Starting at 6:26 am and finishing at 10:05 pm I ended up doing 68 challenges, along with Mike Rogers who joined me for all but two that he did separately than me. - Mike did two challenges I did not do and I did two he did not do.<br /><br />Here's a list in no particular order of things we did during the day:<br /><br />Climbed 40 routes, half being 5.10 or harder, one 5.12 twice<br />Bouldered 35 problems and 3 long traverses<br />Bench pressed my body weight<br />120 jumping jacks, 10 burpees, 100 crunches, 69 situps, ten push ups, four one arm pushups<br />Ran a 9 minute mile<br />did 21 pull-ups, one muscle up, 15 push-ups, 68 lunges, 60 squats, 11 one legged squats, 11 one legged butt to heel squats, 5 squats on a Bosu ball, 5 squats with body weight on shoulders, 200 jump ropes, 10 bar dips, and 12 back extensions.<br />1500 meters on a rowing ergometer, 100 calories burned on an eliptical machine, 100 floors climbed on a stairmaster.<br />Took a Yoga and Cardio Boxing class.<br />held two 25 lb plates smooth sides out with one hand, closed a Captains of Crush #1<br />Campused: 1-3-5, 1-4-6, two handed dyno one and two rung gaps<br />swam 11 lengths of a 18 meter pool.<br />two 10 minute steam sessions<br /><br />I didn't feel "too sore" the day after, but was noticeably tired for a few days. What if every week of your life you did something stressful enough on your body that you felt sore from it? would you be incredible fit for just about anything?Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-62103211537539432062011-11-21T05:36:00.000-08:002011-11-21T05:46:56.212-08:00On October 13th I climbed for the first time with Alex Honnold. (the young man featured on 60 minutes a month ago <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7383158n">http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7383158n</a> ) We climbed The Nose route in 4:37. On the way to the base Alex said: "you don't get out that much, you can lead me up the whole thing if you want." I lead the route to camp four and Alex led the second half.<br /><br />One week later, October 20th, we climbed The Nose again and made it in 3:16:30. I led to the Boot Flake and Alex led to the top.<br /><br />On November 1st we climbed The Nose in 2:37:30. Same deal, I led to The Boot and Alex led to the top. Interestingly we both led for about 1:18. This was just 45 seconds slower than the existing record and 25 seconds slower than my best time set in 2008 with Yuji Hirayama.(Sean and Dean have the best time right now)<br /><br />We've been starting the route anywhere from 8am to 11 am in the morning, depending on our schedules and the temperatures. Temps are as low as 50 in the valley floor but always above 60 or 70 on the wall where we start the climb.<br /><br />You can see an article on our attempt here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/11/02/2600120/yosemite-climbers-attempt-speed.html or see facebook posts here: http://www.facebook.com/hans.florine<br /><br />The weather looks like it has decided it for us. - We'll have to let the record stand for another 7 to 11 months. The route is too wet and likely won't dry out until May or later.<br /><br />I believe now I have the season updates now included in the following pages. http://speedclimb.com/yosemite/compare.htm and here: http://www.speedclimb.com/yosemite/Elcap.htm <br /><br />Give credit where it is due! If you or someone you know has climbed NIAD, make sure they are on <a href="http://www.noseinaday.com/">the list</a>.<br /><br />In case any of you want to train with me in person I'm often at www.Diablorockgym.com (I manage the place) Just last week I did 68 challenges in a single day. see <a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11478976/2011DIABLORockGymChallengeList.pdf">link</a> There is a ton of fitness things we can all do to stay sane during the "dark days of winter."<br /><br />Hoping you all got in your Fall Climbing goals or better yet are still getting after them. (like me)<br /><br />Speed be with you.<br /><br />HansHans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-29601334902859104042011-07-25T10:04:00.001-07:002011-07-25T10:05:49.702-07:00Well I did go up on the week of June 13th and I got up The Nose twice!<br /><br />On Monday June 13th with Lisa Coleman in 15:30:16 Between Dolt and El Cap Tower we passed a Japanese team, Mr Kim and Mr Sianagee. Mr Sianagee had come to Yosemite in 1981 to climb The Nose. He had only made it half way through the stove legs and had to return to the ground. He was already four pitches past his high point of 30 years prior!<br /><br />I rested two days and headed up The Nose on Thursday with Craig Demartino. Craig had lost his right leg below the knee some years back due to a climbing accident. I climbed Lurking Fear with Craig in 2007 in a day.(Craig led half the route) Craig and I passed no fewer than 8 parties and we're passed by a NIAD Team. We passed people from Korea, Japan, Wisconsin, California, and from Yosemite. Our time was 13:47:13. We took a little rest below the Great Roof so I could get a haircut from my friend Sarah Land. This may be a first! A three footed ascent AND a haircut In A Day!<br /><br />As Craig and I arrived at the Wild stance below the final crack and bolt ladder, the last pitch, we ran into,... you guessed it, Mr Kim and Mr Sianagee! At 6:50 pm he was looking like he was going to spend that night on the summit. That must have been one heck of an emotional summit for him. I guess that was a first too, - not even Warren Harding took 30 years to get up the route.Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-37290084466746173352011-06-10T07:01:00.001-07:002011-06-10T07:19:56.116-07:00Funny reading my last post on March 31st stating that Spring was almost here! I think Spring this year was June 1st to June 5th.<br /><br />Gear tip: Buy some Link Cams from Omega Pacific! You've probably heard that they can plug in anywhere and heard that they get stuck easy. Maybe you've heard that they've broken. All true. and they break in particularly poor placements where nearly ANY OTHER CAM has been shown to break as well. yes, they are expensive, but the price is worth the performance they deliver. I've been caught saying that using them is cheating. Tip: do not bury the cam deep in a crack, alas do not bury ANY CAM deep in a crack. Most cams in most placements "walk" deeper into a crack, for ease of cleaning you want to place a cam as shallow in the crack as is safe for holding a fall.<br /><br />I am headed to Yosemite next week with a plan to climb El Cap twice in four days. Although I've been managing Diablo Rock Gym* the past 6 months, I haven't been getting in much crack climbing. We all know that outside climbing has it's skills that take some practice getting back to speed:) I've been making a trip or two to GWPC and BIW to run a lap or two on their cracks. If you need an introduction or re-intro to outdoor climbing, join me: http://www.mtadventure.com/pages/rock/special.html<br /><br />Although it will be less frequent this summer, remember I lead a train for climbing class on Tuesday evenings at 8pm at Diablo Rock Gym. Check their calendar for dates.<br /><br />I hope you'll all make THE LIST this year or report in to me if your name is already missing. http://www.noseinaday.com/<br /><br />For shorter tidbits: http://twitter.com/hansflorine and: http://www.facebook.com/hans.florineHans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-50518893484453520242011-03-31T15:16:00.000-07:002011-03-31T15:20:57.523-07:00Spring is basically here! what should I do about my gear?<br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;">What sort of rack should you build for heading outside?</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;">As point of reference I pull up what Yuji Hirayama and I used to climb The Nose In A Day, (NIAD) in 2002 and "flush out" a rack from there so that you can get up most any climb. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times;">"For our 2002 ascent we carried one #3 camalot, one #2, two #1s, one.75, one .5, and doubles below that,(some of our smaller cams were Metolious tricams). 6 nuts, one cam hook, one etrier, 17 quick draws, 18 free biners, 6 long runners, a Gri gri, a couple lockers, Petzl jugs, and a set of JJs, (jugging loops)."</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">If you are only free climbing you can ignore the etriers, jugs, and JJs.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">Here's the things I'd add to the above rack for anyone who just wants to have a reasonable rack to take on just about any trad climb.:</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">A set of tiny offset Nuts, and 6 more .5 to 1 inch regular nuts.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">A #.5, #.75, #1, and #2 Link-Cam from Omega Pacific (These didn't exist in 2002)</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">Two Cordelets, theses are 5 to 7 mm cords in 18 to 22 ft in length, great for anchors on trees, gear, LARGE boulders, or bolts.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">Offset Metolious tricams are really nice for pin scares or any flaring placement. Get the middle four of the six sizes they make.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">Get a rappel device, I would most recommend a Petzl Reverso as it has Top Belay lock off capabilities that a regular stitch plate device does not have. -the Reverso only costs a small bit more than a standard stitch plate type device.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">If you know you are going to be doing wide cracks then buy another #2 camalot, another #3 and two #4s. There are very few cracks that are continuously wide and require more than this, on the occasion that they do, I recommend asking to borrow from friends. (ask me if you need)</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">Lastly if you know a crack you are headed up is notorious for a certain size for a long distance than add to this rack accordingly or borrow. For the people who really like to have plenty of everything and then some get more in the .5 to 1.5 inch range than I've listed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Times;">Happy climbing,<br /><br />Hans<br /></span></div>Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-88664690127679876532011-03-26T22:28:00.000-07:002011-03-26T22:29:34.087-07:00BIG WALL Speed Competition! Awesome! Figures it is in an Eastern Block area. Wish I could go! http://paklenica.hr/Paklenica_en/Paklenica_BWSC_2011_EN.htmHans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-32675774206727315842011-03-26T09:07:00.000-07:002011-03-26T09:08:48.885-07:00I just committed to going to Boulder CO for the National Championships. I did my first 5.13 in 7 or 8 years. Time to ramp up.Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-14218192026208577072011-03-09T07:50:00.000-08:002011-03-09T07:52:49.962-08:00I am now the manager at Diablo Rock Gym in Concord California. We are having a great time with a community of motivated people all psyched to get fit for various reasons. Stop in if you are in the neighborhood. http://diablorockgym.com/<br /><br />We've got a challenge list going for 2011 that is really getting people fit and they are having fun doing it. That's the key isn't it! http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11478976/2011DIABLORockGymChallengeList.pdfHans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-64217797659882208242011-01-03T21:57:00.000-08:002011-01-03T21:59:22.495-08:00I am offering a day of climbing, (in 2011), to anyone who donates<br />$2,000, in my and their name, to any of the organizations listed<br />below. You must commit and actually make payment to the<br />organization by end of the day Friday January 14th 2011. <br /><br />(no particular order)<br />http://www.accessfund.org/<br />http://www.aynrand.org/<br />http://www.bigcitymountaineers.org/<br />http://www.yobasecamp.com/fund.htm<br />http://www.naturebridge.org/yosemite<br />http://lasf.org/<br />http://www.yosemiteconservancy.org/<br /><br />feel free to call or email me with questions regarding limitations of this offer. (Minimally you must be able to pay for my expenses to get to the climbing place where we share the day)Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-64524966835608175542010-11-03T20:21:00.001-07:002010-11-03T20:27:39.375-07:00You've got a Thermarest or camping pad that sits in your closet or garage for 362 days out of the year. Let's put it to use more often! - Do ab exercises on it!<br /><br />One of the reasons it is difficult to do ab exercises is that on a hard floor or even moderately cushioned carpeted floor your lower back is hurting from the ground pressure on it. If you are wearing a belt or the waist band on your pants is bulky it is worse. However if you've got a pad that you've kept handy in your family room discreetly hidden behind the couch then it's super easy and comfortable to bust out some abs while you are watching TV or in between Face Book and blogging posts.<br /><br />I have been doing 100 abs a day for over 4 years now. Keeping a strong core is really fantastic for avoiding injury in any endeavor. so... Put your camping pads to use!Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-14428911622318071882010-10-16T21:41:00.000-07:002010-10-16T21:54:06.807-07:00Habitual fitness.<br /><br />I am now four years into doing 100 abs a day. Initially it was a challenge thrown out that it would be tough to do 100 reps for 100 days of anything. <a href="http://fitnessrank.com/100club/">http://fitnessrank.com/100club/ </a>- it didn't matter if it was push-ups, squats, or pull-ups. Abs seemed to be the easiest so I tried that first. I failed many times, I distinctly remember getting as far as 79 days consecutively one time and missing a day, Then! having to start over! I can also remember being on a BART train at 11:45 pm one night and realizing I hadn't done my situps yet! Darn the carpet on those trains has no padding. Eventually I did do the 100 day straight run. My friend Rich Fettke actually went a year without missing a day. I managed doing a year with only missing 7 days. I did "make-up days" and realized that to average 100 abs a day from then on out would be a healthy habit. Each year I moved to a different ab exercise. Sit-ups, crunchs, Atomic Situps, bicycles, etc. two years ago I tried adding push-ups to the regime and kept having trouble keeping up. Finally I got where I could do 10 push-ups everyday for a year. Last year I bumped it up to 40 push-ups every day and now have been doing that in addition to the abs for 14 months. this month I started doing 20 squats and 50 hand gripper closings as well.<br /><br />Go ahead and give 100 reps for 100 days a try without missing a single day. I've now done it for Sit-ups, Jumping Jacks, and Pull-ups.Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-14967809731514416822010-10-12T13:28:00.000-07:002010-10-12T13:32:16.272-07:00OK, It's October 12th, - two years to the day that we set the speed record on The Nose of El Cap. And it's Columbus day - this week. "They said it couldn't be done."<br /><br />It was a cool summer and who knows what will happen in the next month, but we all know what is going to happen in two months. - It will be too cold and wet to climb in Yosemite. SOOO get out there and get some climbing in.<br /><br />I got in a great day of three medium length routes at Lovers Leap last weekend. temps were awesome. Did you know I can legally guide at Lovers Leap? not much time left this season to do it. try getting me directly or using www.skaboosh.com <br /><br />happy climbingHans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-72001796012375487782008-07-01T06:40:00.000-07:002008-07-01T06:41:48.380-07:00Yuji Hirayama and Hans Florine ARE going for The world record Wedneday the 2nd of July see the latest here: http://speedclimb.com/Hans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-15410357183629595512008-06-27T13:33:00.000-07:002008-06-27T13:34:38.701-07:00El CApitan , The NOse Record, working on it NOW, June 27th. just go straight to http://speedclimb.com/ to get latest updates.<br /><br />I was on the front of the SF Chronicle yesterday.<br /><br />HHans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30838602.post-39993376022634287422008-02-11T21:50:00.000-08:002008-02-11T21:58:16.304-08:00Online live training/coaching with Hans! set up a time and he'll share his desktop and speak with you live. Hans at speedclimb dot com<br /><br />Train with Hans in the SF Bay area. Hans at speedclimb dot com<br /><br />PLAY in Yosemite, STAY in yosemite. www.hansbasecamp.comHans Florinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03829113895039875771noreply@blogger.com0