Soulful climbing. Laughing and dancing. Unscheduled days off.

These aren’t typically phrases that bring to mind climbing 5.13 R on El Capitan.

Between May 2 and May 14, American climber Sam Stroh and his Czech partner František D’Agostino, both 25, free climbed El Capitan’s El Niño (VI 5.13c 2,700ft) in a day, Golden Gate (VI 5.13a 3,000ft) in about 26 hours, and Father Time (VI 5.13b 2,000ft) on Middle Cathedral Rock in under 15. Each of these routes exist at the top of most Yosemite climber’s dream ticklist; only eight people have sent Golden Gate in a day, including Emily Harrington in the award-winning documentary Girl Climber. El Niño and Father Time have only a handful of ascents in this style.

“In-a-day is about climbing loads of rock, carrying fewer heavy packs, and being down in time for tea,” Stroh told me. “[It’s] impatience at its core.” In 2021, at age 20, the Texas-born crusher became the youngest person to send Freerider (VI 5.13a) in a day, completing the feat in 18 hours 51 minutes with his partner Graham Webb. But his recent Yosemite exploits have involved pushing harder and harder grades on multi-day adventures, including the fifth free ascent of Wet Lycra Nightmare (5.13d A0), the fifth free ascent of Magic Mushroom (VI 5.14a), the sixth free ascent of Zodiac (VI 5.13d), and even the fourth one-day free ascent of El Corazón (VI 5.13b).

In climbing the trifecta of Golden Gate, El Niño, and Father Time in near-24-hour pushes over a casual two weeks, 25-year-old Stroh and D’Agostino have cemented themselves as leading performers in fast, difficult free ascents on climbing’s biggest stage.

Yet Stroh’s approach to climbing at the highest level isn’t the rigid, scientific cliché you’d expect from a 25-year-old professional athlete. He’s not tucked away in an isolated corner of the Valley, hangboarding from a van like Alex Honnold used to do, or keeping himself on a regimented training schedule like 23-year-old Pietro Vidi.

Instead, Stroh could be found reclining at a busy table in the dirtbag-festered Base Camp Eatery at the Lodge or hacky-sacking around Camp 4. His van was often open, with people gathered around it, laughing, smoking (though Stroh himself doesn’t smoke), and largely at ease, separated from climbing obsession. Many climbers drive into Yosemite tailing a rigorous training block and start another one as soon as they leave; by contrast, Stroh prepared for his May climbing goals with a focused meditation course and ended it by presenting a DJ set in nearby Bishop.

Trading ego for a true partner

El Niño is notorious for runout face climbing and exciting rock quality. It’s one of El Cap’s more sustained free climbs, with around 14 of the route’s 26 pitches graded 5.12 or harder, and R-rated climbing throughout. The first ‘real’ challenge is pitch two: a slippery, slabby 5.13a known as “The Black Dike.”

On May 2, Stroh had already fallen on The Black Dike twice. He was supposed to lead the first several pitches of El Niño; it was the plan he and D’Agostino had designed for their in-a-day attempt. Yet he couldn’t get started.

“As Frantšek was tying in to see what he could do on the pitch,” Stroh recalled, “I noticed anxious and spiraling feelings inside of me. Then, as softly as possible, I redirected my focus into František’s movement and focused on being present and genuinely wishing him the best on his go.”

Stroh met D’Agostino under Camp 4’s legendary Midnight Lightning (V8) boulder in 2022. After that, they ran into each other occasionally while climbing across Europe. “František has a cool approach to climbing that stems from his other life as a painter in Prague,” said Stoh. “We found commonalities between our dedication to climbing style and communication. As I texted him back in December to see if he wanted to be my Valley partner this season, he was pulling out his phone to do the same.”

The pair spent the end of April dialing in El Niño together, and chose May 2 to go for the send. Despite the wary start, D’Agostino was able to lead through The Black Dike, and the pair settled into their flow. By the 12-hour mark however, their headlamps could be seen halted halfway up the wall, spectral in the 3 a.m. moonlight.

“During that 2 to 4 a.m. time slot, we were sleepy, hadn’t had a real ledge to hang out on in forever, hadn’t seen the sun in hours,” said Stroh. “Your brain tells you ‘This sucks. This is never-ending,’ but through experience, you observe the fatigue and lack of motivation, and understand that everything is always changing and evolving. This lull, you know, will pass.”

Stroh and D’Agostino topped out El Niño after 18 hours and 21 minutes on the wall. They walked back to the Valley floor and spent four days jumping in the Merced River, eating homemade sushi, and “anxiously chilling,” as Stroh put it. Possessing the niche fitness to free climb El Cap in a day meant it was time for them to use it once more.

Round two on El Cap

In the scorching, midmorning sun on May 8, after around 22 hours on the wall, Stroh and D’Agostino found themselves squinting up at Golden Gate’s most famous crux, the A5 Traverse. 2,700 feet off the ground, the A5 is an iconic 5.13a pitch involving unique pockets and minimal feet—the last of Golden Gate’s difficult climbing.

“We didn’t really think we’d send,” D’Agostino told me. “We were just excited to have a good try, climb a bunch of amazing cracks on the way to the hard climbing, and climb on The Captain more.”

As the duo traded unsuccessful burns on the A5, the momentum they’d carried through the night began to derail. The 24 hour threshold arrived and passed. At this point, Stroh reached for his mental discipline.

“My ‘mindset hangboarding’ before this season, if you will, was being in a meditation hall 16 hours a day for 10 days straight,” said Stroh. “Not speaking or making eye contact with anyone, you’re cultivating an altered state. It’s intense: the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But it inclined me toward a calm awareness and equanimity.”

At the A5 belay, Stroh curled in his harness and went limp, eyes closed. Onlooking photographer Dan Teitelbaum later remarked, “I thought Sam was napping, by my view of it. He was totally expressionless, hanging there, but he wasn’t asleep.”

Stroh returned from the place he had gone. His eyes fluttered and a loose, light smile graced his face. Then he began climbing and sent the pitch with controlled, yet rapid movement that showcases a ticking pump clock.

“When Sam sent the A5, something in me also shifted,” D’Agostino said. “I went, ‘Oh shit, we’re back. I have to try as hard as I can now.’”

D’Agostino sent via his own screaming battle. Back on track, the pair charged the remaining pitches and summited Golden Gate after around 26 hours of continuous effort (They don’t have the exact time, as both of their phones died).

“We couldn’t believe we actually pulled it off,” Stroh said.

One last climb—for the vibes

Following their fight to send Golden Gate, Stroh and D’Agostino both felt diminished in mind and body. “We each were hoping the other would bail on our remaining objective, so we could be done with our season,” Stroh laughed, declining to add detail on the original, third objective. “Then we talked about it and realized we were both on the same page. So we settled on Father Time as a more easygoing objective for our last climb together.”

“Easygoing” wouldn’t be most climbers’ notion of Father Time. Established ground-up over a period of 60 days by Mikey Schaefer, the 20-pitch centerpiece line on Middle Cathedral has earned a reputation for heads-up face climbing on beautiful stone. It begins with 11 pitches of sparsely bolted slab, then veers back until three consecutive 5.13 cruxes—each with their own unique style of bouldery, endurance-y, and finally, techy—interrupt steeper 5.11 and 5.12 R-rated climbing. According to Schaefer, even Alex “No Big Deal” Honnold once commented that Father Time was “kinda real.”

Stroh and D’Agostino started climbing at 6 a.m. on May 14 and finished the route around 11 p.m. on the same day. “[Father Time] was such a nice one,” Stroh said. “We were chilling by the river, sitting with our successes and hanging with friends, and we didn’t take it super seriously. We were like, ‘the weather’s good, let’s just go try it and see.’ We had so much excess fitness that we were able to go up there and have a good time, just enjoying the climbing so much, because it felt casual compared to our other ascents. It’s a truly beautiful route.”

A different type of dancing

Stroh finished his Yosemite season by doing what was most important to him: spending time with friends on the Valley floor. But even then, Stroh was working to cultivate a different type of experience: he’d be leaving Yosemite on May 15 in order to play a DJ set for climbers and other hippies at a party in Bishop.

“I feel like house and techno music is about the buildup of tension, followed by release,” Stroh said. “This ebb and flow metaphor starts to sound repetitive, but it really does apply to everything in life. Being able to curate a DJ set with that energy is something I’m learning. I did my best to play what I thought people would be psyched to listen to: something that put them into a consistent groove through push and pull, comfort and discomfort. Creating that sensation in others was probably the coolest part of my season.”

At the party, pink and violet strobes bounced off the cluster of boulders surrounding the dance floor. Elite athletes and easygoing dirtbags alike danced in unison to Stroh’s tunes. Everyone had a smile on their face and a sheen of sweat as the rhythm brought them together through the night.

An earlier version of this article listed D’Agostino as Agostino.

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