BURSTThe spring season is in full swing in Yosemite Valley, with several big climbs already completed this year, including three new speed records on El Capitan. Miles Fullman shared in the Yosemite Climbing Association newsletter that the temperatures have finally eased after weeks of relentless heat in the Valley. Cooler air settled in throughout the week, and the strong winds sweeping across the granite made even sun-soaked climbs feel manageable again.
On El Capitan, Taylor Martin and Oliver Tippet climbed Lost in America (5.10 A4, 16 pitches) on May 7 in a record time of 16 hours and 58 minutes. In 2004, Ammon McNeely and Brian McCray climbed it in 18 hours and 4 minutes, according to Rock Climbing Yosemite.
On the 17th they teamed up again and climbed Shortest Straw (5.7 A4, 15 pitches) in a record time of 9 hours and 51 minutes. Martin wrote about their ascent” “It feels really cool to not need a headlamp on a route that once took me around five days to climb.” Then on May 19, they made the first one day ascent of Hole World (5.9 A4, 17 pitches) in 14 hours and 45 minutes.
Taking advantage of the change in conditions, Fullman and a group of friends headed out for an early-season ascent of Cathedral Peak. To their surprise, the approach trail was already almost completely free of snow. Patches of white still blanketed the surrounding high-elevation terrain, but the climbing itself was in excellent condition. “It felt almost too early in the season for things to be this dry,” Fullman said. Despite the lingering snowfields, much of Tuolumne Meadows was already proving to be ready for climbers eager to trade Valley heat for cooler alpine stone.
There is free entrance into Yosemite today (Memorial Day), the first of several, with others being: June 14 (Flag Day), July 3 to 5 (Independence Day weekend), August 25 (National Park Service 110th birthday), September 17 (Constitution Day), October 27 (Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday), and November 11 (Veterans Day).
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