The Nose (El Capitan)
The Nose is a big wall climbing route up El Capitan. Once considered impossible to climb, El Capitan is now the standard for big wall climbing. It is recognized in the historic climbing text Fifty Classic Climbs of North America and considered a classic around the world.
El Capitan has two main faces, the Southwest and the Southeast. Between the two faces juts a massive prow. While today there are numerous established routes on both faces, the most popular and historically famous route is The Nose, which follows the massive prow.
First ascents
Once thought to be unclimbable, the high granite walls of Yosemite Valley began to see their first attempts and first ascents in the 1950s. One of the most coveted routes was the Northwest Face of Half Dome, and among those coveting it was Californian Warren Harding in climbing jargon, while climbing The Nose solo is called SNIAD. The first rope-solo climb of The Nose was made by Tom Bauman in 1969. The first ascent of The Nose in one day was accomplished in 1975 by Stonemasters members John Long, Jim Bridwell and Billy Westbay. The first free ascent was in 1993 by Lynn Hill, who one year later completed the first free ascent in under 24 hours. Today The Nose attracts climbers of a wide range of experience and ability. With a success rate of around 60%, it typically takes fit climbers two to three full days of climbing to complete.Free climbing
As it became clear that any face could be climbed with sufficient perseverance and bolt-hole drilling, some climbers began searching for El Cap routes that could be climbed either free or with minimal aid. The "West Face" route was free climbed in 1979 by Ray Jardine and Bill Price, but despite numerous efforts by Jardine and others, The Nose resisted free attempts for another fourteen years.The first free ascent of a major El Cap route, though, was not The Nose, but The Salathe Wall. Todd Skinner and Paul Piana free climbed the route over 9 days in 1988, after 30 days of working the route.
The Nose
Jim Bridwell and Jim Stanton climbed the four Stoveleg Crack pitches free in 1968. Other pitches of 5.10 had been done free in the 60s. In 1975, Ron Kauk, John Bachar and Dale Bard climbed 85% of the route free at 5.11+. In 1980 Jardine launched an all-out siege to free climb the route. Starting at the bottom and using dozens of fixed ropes to jumar to his high point, he was able to free all the moves up to Camp Four at 5.11d. However, in obvious violation of free climbing convention, he chiseled several hand and footholds to enable a "free" ascent on three distinct, blank pitches. After much negative feedback, Jardine pulled his ropes and discontinued his attempts. All other climbers at the time felt that in order to totally free climb the Nose, a climber would not only have to free climb the four remaining aid pitches near the top, but also find free variations around the chiseled sections, which has not yet been done. In 1991 Brooke Sandahl bolted and then redpointed a variation to the final pitch bolt ladder of the route at 5.12c. The next year, he led the pitch above Camp Five free at 5.12d and also placed bolts to protect the Changing Corners pitch.Two pitches blocked efforts to free the upper route: the "Great Roof" and "Changing Corners". In 1993, after seven days of work, Lynn Hill came close to freeing The Nose, making it past the Great Roof and up to Camp VI without falling, stopped only on Changing Corners by a piton jammed in a critical finger hold. After removing the piton she re-climbed the route from the ground. After four days of climbing, Hill reached the summit, making her the first person to free climb The Nose. A year later, Hill returned to free climb The Nose in a day, this time reaching the summit in just 23 hours and setting a new standard for free climbing on "El Cap."
In 1998 Scott Burke summitted after 261 days of effort, leading all but the Great Roof, which was toproped, free. On October 14, 2005, Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden became the third and fourth people to free climb The Nose. The husband-wife team took four days on the ascent, swapping leads with each climber free climbing each pitch, either leading or following. Two days later, Caldwell returned to free climb The Nose in less than 12 hours. Caldwell returned two weeks later to free climb El Cap twice in a day, completing The Nose with Rodden, then descending and leading Freerider in a combined time of 23 hours 23 minutes. In August 2016, Miranda Oakley became the first woman to rope solo the route in less than 24 hours.
Speed climbing
Speed climbing The Nose is also popular. Well-trained teams of two produce the fastest times, and there is an unofficial competition to produce the best time. Speed climbing is a mix of aid and free-climbing. Speed records for free-climbing and solo-aid climbing are also kept, but these fields are less competitive.As mentioned previously, Lynn Hill's initial all-free one-day ascent was completed in 23 hours, a record that held until Tommy Caldwell free climbed the route in less than 12 hours.
Holders of The Nose speed record :
| Date | Party | Time |
| 2018-06-06 | Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold | 1:58:07 |
| 2018-06-04 | Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold | 2:01:50 |
| 2018-05-30 | Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold | 2:10:15 |
| 2017-10-21 | Jim Reynolds, Brad Gobright | 2:19:44 |
| 2012-06-17 | Hans Florine, Alex Honnold | 2:23:46 |
| 2010-11-06 | Dean Potter, Sean Leary | 2:36:45 |
| 2008-10-12 | Hans Florine, Yuji Hirayama | 2:37:05 |
| 2008-07-02 | Hans Florine, Yuji Hirayama | 2:43:33 |
| 2007-10-08 | Alexander and Thomas Huber | 2:45:45 |
| 2007-10-04 | Alexander and Thomas Huber | 2:48:30 |
| 2002-09-29 | Hans Florine, Yuji Hirayama | 2:48:55 |
| 2001-11 | Dean Potter, Timmy O'Neill | 3:24:20 |
| 2001-10 | Hans Florine, Jim Herson | 3:57:27 |
| 2001-10 | Dean Potter, Timmy O'Neill | 3:59:35 |
| 1992 | Hans Florine, Peter Croft | 4:22:00 |
| 1991 | Peter Croft, Dave Schultz | 4:48:00 |
| 1991 | Hans Florine, Andres Puhvel | 6:01:00 |
| 1990 | Peter Croft, Dave Schultz | 6:40:00 |
| 1990 | Hans Florine, Steve Schneider | 8:06:00 |
| 1986 | John Bachar, Peter Croft | 10:05:00 |
| 1984 | Duncan Critchley, Romain Vogler | 09:30:00 |
| 1975 | Jim Bridwell, John Long, Billy Westbay | 17:45:00 |
A full list of records can be viewed online.