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

A Note from the Editor

Yosemite is in the news again this week.

NBC News’ Camila Bernal reports in a video:

Park rangers cracking down on illegal BASE jumping at Yosemite amid government shutdown | Tue, Oct 28.

Also making headlines, Gregory Thomas at the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Another 8-year-old just went up Yosemite’s El Capitan. Here’s the backstory

In this story in SFiST (which quotes the San Francisco Chronicle), Leanne Maxwell writes:

Father of 4 Keeps Taking His Sons Up Yosemite’s El Capitan When They Turn 8, Many Say It’s for Fame

Ken Yager, founder and president of the nonprofit Yosemite Climbing Association, found the scenario potentially dangerous. “I can say personally that this obsession with records is kind of dangerous. That’s the wrong reason to climb,” he told the Chronicle. “Also, it takes away from the integrity of the sport, in a way. When it becomes a big media thing, I’m not a fan of it.”

Contrary to what much of the climbing community thinks of [Sylvan Lightyear] Evermore, Hans Florine, who tracks speed-climbing records on El Capitan, believes Evermore’s stunts are harmless. “It’s a natural progression for our sport. You can’t get upset about this stuff,” he told the Chronicle.

“I’ve jugged the whole thing many times—it’s crazy-hard for an adult,” he continued. “If they are being honest about what they’re doing, I think it’s great.”

Today, Oct. 28, Fred Dreier at Outside published this story and video:

Alex Honnold Knows How Hollywood Can Get Climbing Right

Five questions with the Free Solo star about his upcoming skyscraper special, the best sends of 2025, and how Hollywood can nail rock climbing.

Outside recently caught up with Honnold to discuss his various media projects. His podcast, Planet Visionaries, launched its fifth season on October 28. We also chatted about his strategy for getting his kids outdoors, why he’s choosing to climb a skyscraper on Netflix, and how Hollywood can learn to do climbing right.

And two hours ago, on Oct. 28, Pietro Vidi posted on Instagram:

PreMuir Wall (5.13c/d, 35 pitches, 6 days)

First route on El Cap for Cami [Camilla Moroni], and the second for Pie.

After seeing dozens of headlamps on the other lines the nights before, the Muir seemed like a good choice—even though it could have been a bit too hard and sustained as a first route for Cami (twelve 5.12s and six 5.13 pitches). In the end, it turned out to be the best decision, and things went great!

Earlier this week, we wrote that 22-year-old Connor Herson made the first free ascent of Triple Direct on El Cap and, two days later, freed The Nose in 9.5 hours. Both ascents were supported by his dad, legendary big wall climber Jim Herson. Yesterday, we spoke with Connor about both routes, and he also hinted at his next project—which he’s keeping under wraps for now.

This morning, he posted on social media:

Triple Direct • First Free Ascent

What a journey this has been. I’ll write a longer piece about my six-year saga with this route in a few days, but here’s the short version:

Although it’s just a linkup (effectively a much harder start to The Nose, with Changing Corners still the crux pitch), this climb has been on my mind more than most other Valley climbs. In fall 2019, I came painfully close to freeing the route (twice!), unsending Changing Corners by falling off an “easy” exit move. I missed the next three years of valley seasons for various reasons (COVID, wildfires, school, etc.), and Triple Direct fell to the back burner. Still, I never forgot about the route, and I knew I needed to return to it at some point.

Read the feature on Connor Herson below.

Chris Van Leuven

Editor, Yosemite Climbing Association News Brief

YosemiteClimbing.org

Connor Herson Frees Longstanding El Cap Project

After freeing The Nose as a teenager in 2018, when he was “six inches shorter and having a kid’s build,” this season, Herson has freed Triple Direct and, later, freed The Nose in a morning.

Triple Direct

In order: Fall 2018, Herson frees The Nose. Spring 2019, he begins work on Triple Direct, the linkup of Salathé, Muir, and The Nose, with multiple 5.13 cruxes, including the Silverfish (5.13b), the Traverse (5.13a), a heads-up 5.12b crack pitch, and a 5.12d stemming pitch. And though he frees these cruxes in fall 2019, once he’s past the Great Roof (5.13c), he’s unable to free Changing Corners (5.14a/b).

Spring/Fall 2020: Closures due to COVID followed by wildfire smoke, and encountering a wet Great Roof during spring, Herson either delays the project or is unable to complete it.

2021/2022: A slew of other climbing projects, plus his electrical engineering studies (he started college in fall 2022) at Stanford take priority and Triple Direct fades to the back burner.

“Since then, it was kind of always on my mind,” Connor says. “But Tom Herbert and Steve Schneider would remind me like, ‘You should go finish up Triple Direct, Connor.’”

Autumn 2025: Herson raps into Changing Corners (pitch 27) and works out new beta for two days and is able to link it on top rope. He begins Triple Direct on Oct. 6 (and climbs it over Oct. 6 to 8). He pre-hauls his gear to Mammoth Terraces (1,000 feet up), then climbs from the ground, leading every pitch. With his dad, Jim (a seasoned big wall free climber in his own right), belaying and supporting, the duo travels light and makes good time. They did not carry a portaledge, did not fix lines, and Herson did not wear hand jammies. Over three days, they climb, reaching Camp 4 (just below the Great Roof, 22 pitches up on The Nose) on day one.

“We actually arrived at Camp 4 at around 1 p.m. the first day,” Herson says. “And then we just kind of hung out there all day waiting for the sun to get off the Great Roof.”

As expected, the route was crowded, and Herson had to wait for teams to finish leading the Great Roof, which he freed at first light on day two. But then he had to wait for another party to finish aiding Changing Corners (5.14a/b) late in the day, so he spent the night on a ledge and sent it the next morning.

He says, “Coming back to Changing Corners this year was intimidating. It was going to be an entirely different pitch, given that I’m about six inches taller than when I last did it and no longer have a kid’s build. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to do it anymore.”

Changing Corners

Changing Corners didn’t go down without a fight.

“When I was 15, I had both hands in the pin scars and my feet crossed, and did a lot of right hip scumming in the corner. The way I do it now is right hand in the pin scar, left hand on the arete, right foot smearing on the face, and then left foot in the crack and my left hip in the corner, so it’s completely different.”

“I don’t think I climbed any two moves the same as when I was 15.”

To complete the crux moves, he says, “I was doing a right arm bar, kind of like what Lynn Hill did, but I scraped a bit of skin off the back of my elbow during that.

“It was quite warm in the valley, so I was already a bit sweaty. I had a few attempts where I made it up there, like the last move on Changing Corners, and I was just sliding around so much in the arm bar, especially because my elbow was bleeding and I was sliding on my own blood — kind of gnarly, actually.”

To increase friction, Connor wore a short-sleeved shirt; otherwise, his sleeves would have slid around. He tried taping his elbow, but the tape peeled off when he jammed it into the arm-bar move at the crux. Finally, he decided to change his beta.

“I just had to go up and hang and find a new method that didn’t use an arm bar, and then my first try after finding that method, I sent it without the arm bar.”

Connor and Jim topped out a few hours later. Two days later, on The Nose, they returned at 3 a.m. and topped out at 12:30 p.m. for Connor to free the route in a morning.

The Nose

“I think it was one of my favorite days of climbing I’ve had,” Herson says about freeing The Nose on Oct. 11.

Since Changing Corners gets morning shade and goes in the sun at noon, Connor and his dad strategized to start the route well before sunrise to arrive at the cruxes in optimal conditions. That means dispensing of both the Great Roof and Changing Corners before they got in the sun.

He freed The Nose that day without any falls.

Now age 22 and looking back at how he’s changed and grown since freeing The Nose as a teenager, he says, “The other pitches generally felt easier. I feel like the biggest difference I’ve noticed since I was 15 is that the so-called easy pitches feel a lot easier now. Like the in-between climbing between the cruxes — I feel like I’m able to move a lot better.”

“That day was pretty— I mean, it was pretty good.

“We got to the Great Roof right as an aid party was starting up, and ended up waiting about an hour for them. But in terms of the climbing, there were no setbacks. Everything went smoothly on the first try. Changing Corners felt the easiest it ever had. It was a really special day, actually.”

Regarding his time of 9.5 hours, “It’s funny, I guess I now hold a Valley speed record.”