Breaking News…Breaking…Breaking News

Hans Florine and Yuji Hirayama have smashed The Huber Brothers Speed Ascent Record On El Capitan’s The Nose.

Here is the report from Speed Climbing News:

July 2, 2008, the boys broke the record this morning by about two minutes. It was a zoo. More hooting and hollering in the meadow than ever and again a bit of a nail-biter. Anyway, Hans asked me to put this up here because he has to get driving to pick up the kids and get to work tomorrow. Between the numbers Chris Gonzales and Jackie took down, he has extensive splits and when he gets back to normal life, I’m sure he’ll have some sort of message here.

So much to tell. I wish I could remember the quote from Tom Frost (second ascent and de facto speed record holder for the Nose in 1960 with a time of seven days), but essentially he said it was exciting and this is what it’s all about. He had the greatest “why speedclimb” quote: “Once you’ve climbed something, you always want to climb it in better style and going faster is one way to do it in better style. Then some guys get competitive and pull their watches out.” That’s a rough paraphrase, but he said it the NPR guy, so maybe the real quote will be on All Things Considered. And speaking of which, in addition to the legendary Tom Frost, present were journalists from the San Francisco Chronicle (who really kicked of the media circus and got the others interested), NPR, New York Times, Fresno Bee and perhaps others, Hans’ old track coach Tom Henderson drove up from Fresno for it, lots of Bay Area friends, Mike Tollefson the superintendant and of course a large cadre of climber types. It’s kind of crazy
that a climbing event would get that much coverage.

So, there you have it.  Many people have been stopping by today to ask about the ongoing speed ascent taking place on El Cap’s The Nose.   I have just received this information and as far as I know, it hasn’t hit the press yet–as you can imaginer, something should be in the local and surrounding area newspapers tomorrow.  Congrats go out to Florine and Hirayama for recapturing their record–it will be interesting to see if the Hubers will descend on El Cap for another attempt.  This competition has been going on for almost a year now.

For more reading on my coverage of El Cap’s The Nose Speed Ascent Record, click the following articles:

• Hans Florine and Yuji Hirayama Miss El Capitan’s The Nose Speed Record By 1 Minute, 45 Seconds
• New El Capitan Speed Record Attempt Today?  Huber Brother’s Record in jeopardy
• Huber Brothers Break El Cap Record–Again!
• El Capitan Speed Record Falls

Related Articles:

• Hans Florine and Yuji Hirayama Miss El Capitan’s The Nose Speed Record By 1 Minute, 45 Seconds
• Free Soloing El Cap’s The Nose: Yuji Hirayama Hints At His Next Big Venture
• New El Capitan Speed Record Attempt Today? Huber Brothers’ Record In Jeopardy
• Huber Brothers Break El Cap Record–AGAIN
• New Speed Ascent Record On Mt. Rainier? Justin Merle Puts Up Quick Time
• Highlining Hell Roaring Canyon with Dean Potter