Your window into the stories, history, and ongoing work to preserve Yosemite’s climbing legacy.

A Note from the Editor

So much has happened in Yosemite this past week. On the Big Stone, Freerider was flashed—in a single push of 22 hours, 16 minutes—by Will Moss, marking only the second-ever flash of an El Cap route and the first completed in a day.

Last November, Babsi Zangerl—supported by Jacopo Larcher—took three days to make the first-ever Freerider flash, a milestone that made headlines around the world.

Moss was supported by Stu Grossman, who’d originally planned a three-day ascent, but the team changed plans mid-route.

“Will climbed with precision, boldness, and a level of commitment rarely seen on the Big Stone. Averaging around three cams per pitch, we rocketed up the wall, and I just focused on not burning out,” Grossman wrote on Instagram.

Stu’s post reminded me of a piece I wrote back in the day about Leo Houlding, whom I supported on a two-day Freerider ascent (with one fall).

As I reported in Climbing: “After a frigid bivi with minimal gear, Houlding began leading again at 8 a.m., placing an average of five pieces in 70-meter pitches.”

Want to learn more about Moss? Check out my 2024 Gripped profile.

As for Yosemite traffic during Memorial Day Weekend, Maliya Ellis of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in this story:

“Yosemite Valley was undeniably busy, though not atypically so for the holiday weekend. By 10 a.m., almost every parking lot displayed a “lot full” sign and cars circled the visitors center lot angling for an opening, while others wedged into makeshift spaces. It took the Chronicle 30 minutes to find a spot.”

Reticent Wall, El  Cap

In other El Cap news, the Reticent Wall just saw its first sub-24-hour ascent. Lance Colley texted me over the weekend:

“Hey Chris, I thought I would let you know—Brandon, Ollie, and I just set a new record on the Reticent Wall. Woo! It was a pretty epic adventure.

Oliver  Tippett’s Instagram post fills in the details: they climbed the 21-pitch line in 21 hours, 57 minutes.

“Ammon, Ivo, and Dean’s 35-hour push on the route has to be up there as one of the most inspiring ascents on El Cap for me. To try to emulate what they did felt exciting and terrifying in equal measure.

“It was so fun climbing with Lance and Brandon [Adams] for the first time. It was incredible to see Brandon cruise the Master’s Corner in barely an hour, with the ominous sound of thunder in the distance at the start of his block to the top.

“It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing…I threw up after eating some dodgy day-old pizza, and Brandon took a few falls, a couple of which left him below the previous belay.

“All in all, a very memorable day on a beautiful part of the wall.”

For more on Brandon Adams, check out my profile in Climbing.

If you’re curious about Reticent’s history, Dougald MacDonald summed it up back in 2006:

“[The] route is considered one of El Cap’s hardest aid climbs. It starts on the relatively modest New Dawn, and then most of the 14 pitches above that route’s Lay Lay Ledge are rated A3 or harder.”

For this week’s feature story, I spoke with Lance Colley about his experience on the Reticent Wall.

Chris Van Leuven

Editor, Yosemite Climbing Association News Brief

YosemiteClimbing.Org

Lance  Colley on Climbing Reticent  Wall in a Day

The trio—Brandon Adams, Oliver Tippet, and Colley—shaved 13 hours off the record

On Saturday, May 24, at 6:30 a.m., Lance, Brandon, and Oliver started up El Cap’s Reticent Wall (5.9 A4+). Colley led the first seven pitches on New Dawn, Tippet took the middle block, and Adams brought the team to the finish line. They tried to time the final section for sunrise, but because they climbed faster than expected, topping out around 4 a.m. Sunday, Brandon led the last crux pitch in the dark.

Regarded as one of El Cap’s most challenging aid routes, repeats are rare, and speed ascents are even rarer. This marked Tippet’s second lap on Reticent; he soloed it in the summer of 2024.

“Whilst it used to be considered the hardest route on El Cap, the years have probably taken some of the sting out of it,” Tippet said on Instagram last year. “It’s the only route I’ve done where I questioned whether I could finish after the wires on a (copper)head snapped and nothing else would stick.”

When I spoke with Colley on May 26 (2025), he noted that Tippet now holds both the fastest solo ascent and the first sub-24-hour team ascent (21:57). “He’s probably the only person to ever climb it twice.”

Reticent is known for 60-meter rope stretchers linking discontinuous cracks with rivets, thin seams, loose sections, and technical hooking. Even with 80-meter ropes, the trio had little spare line for short-fixing. They carried an enormous rack, including “40 or 50 beaks and 100 carabiners,” Colley says, adding that “Ollie and Brandon led most of the hard pitches.”

To keep moving:

“We’re not bounce-testing every piece—if we think it’s good, we just get on it and go. It’s all about constantly moving efficiently.”
Some pitches took upwards of 30 beaks, slowing the follower’s cleaning. To move fast, while one climber jugged the haul line to put the leader back on belay, the third cleaned.
Adams took two falls, ripping beaks and dropping below the anchor each time.
Setbacks included Tippet dropping a Micro Traxion and the lead line taking a core shot.

Colley says Reticent has two clear cruxes—Master’s Corner and The Natural (the final pitch). “Brandon just flew right up Master’s Corner—like no problem,” he says. Adams started The Natural at 2 a.m.

With only two jackets and frigid temps on top, they skipped a summit nap, descended immediately, and were back on the Valley floor by 10 a.m.—first stop: pancakes at the Yosemite Lodge Food Court.

Colley plans more El Cap missions this season, but for aid routes like the Reticent Wall, “Finding the right team is the hardest part—there just aren’t many people interested in climbing like this.”