All language subtitles for Reel Rock 14 (2019) (Reel Rock 14 2009) (ENGLISH)

Welcome to the 14th
Annual Real Rock Film Tour.

Presented by The North Face.

Since 1966, we have viewed walls
not as obstacles, but as opportunities.

From the big walls of
Yosemite to the high peaks of the

Himalayas, we were searching
for a personal kind of freedom.

In this pursuit, we found a community,
strengthened by different stories,

experiences, and perspectives.

This community has shown us
that the only way forward is together.

Walls are meant for climbing.

Okay, ready?

Go.

History begins.

You have no idea what to expect.

I know that I can do it.

It's like, game on.

No gear, no balls!

Real Rock 14 is also brought
to you by Black Diamond.

Black Diamond.

We design and manufacture the most
innovative mountain equipment in the world.

Live.

Climb.

Repeat.

Black Diamond.

Yeti.

In the van.

In the dirt.

On the trail.

Wherever you climb.

Yeti is built for the wild.

True Blue Auto Belay.

From the start of your journey, to
the goals you dream of reaching.

Most tested.

Most trusted.

Most true.

Real Rock is also proud to partner
with the American Alpine Club.

Love to climb?

Join the club.

And Access Fund.

Protecting America's climbing.

And now, get ready
for four new films.

The High Road.

United States of Joe's.

An exclusive sneak preview.

And our feature presentation.

The Nose Speed Record.

This has got to be the
coolest race track in the world.

16 minutes faster.

It's time for Real Rock 14.

We're out here in
Roy, New Mexico.

A really big sandstone
bouldering area.

Very remote feeling.

It's definitely flown under the
radar for the past few years.

Which is pretty nice.

There's a good chance that
you'll be the only ones out here.

Nina and I have a
really good relationship.

We go out climbing a lot.

She's super motivated.

Who climbs harder
on the boulders?

Oh, Nina climbs way
harder on the boulders.

Come on, James.

James?

Yeah, come on.

Oh, shit.

Sometimes she can
warm up on my project.

This is so fun.

Nice, come on, Nina.

So cool.

Yay.

When I go out climbing, I'm not
necessarily looking for the hardest grade.

I'm really driven by aesthetics.

Cool.

Nice.

Here, come on.

I want to look for the
most beautiful lines.

That's good.

The ones that make me
react in this visceral way.

Yeah.

And it just so happens
to be the tall ones.

Nina likes climbing taller problems, which
can be a little nerve-racking sometimes.

Nice.

Oh, my god.

That was kind of exciting.

Yeah.

I'll see a line and it'll be
this really cool big thing

and I'll think do I actually
want to climb this thing?

Is it worth it for me?

And if it is, next step is
to check it out on rope.

Make sure I know what the
holds are and what my beta is like.

It's about dealing with the fear on
a rope, really immersing myself in it.

So in the real moment of climbing it,
I can feel that fear still rise up on an

instinctual level, but just be able
to manage it a lot better and be like,

okay, you know, I
feel this fear, I hear it,

I sense it, but I don't
have to listen to it.

It's easy to be
inspired by Nina.

She's always looking
to push it harder.

Looking for the next big thing.

For the past couple years I
had this seemingly far away goal

to climb this beautiful
boulder called Too Big to Flail.

It's in the Buttermilks, which is
world-renowned for very, very big boulders.

It's probably
around 50 feet or so.

You walk up to the
base, You look at the ice,

you look at it and your
eyes just keep going up.

You think, oh my
gosh, it's just sheer.

I first heard about Too Big
to Flail watching Alex Honnold

climb it in one of the real
rocks way back in the day.

I rapped down it and
tried all the moves and just

thinking about doing it, I
was like, this is terrifying.

Seeing Alex on that climb,
my heart was in my throat.

How can he do that?

That's just totally nuts.

Never did I think, oh maybe
I could do that one day.

When Nina started coming
on the scene, 2010, 2011,

she was just one of those
young guns coming up quick.

Doing double digit grades
just kind of effortlessly.

I really like doing
these hard problems.

But I realized I want to expand
a little bit, push myself mentally.

My first highball was
probably this super overhanging

V10 in Massachusetts
called Speed of Life.

It's got a terrible landing.

You have to like jump off to the ledge
behind or you'd fall down this big chute.

I tried for a couple
of years and I fell so

many times, it really
honed my sense of falling.

Nice, get in there.

That gave me confidence to
try these climbs that were taller.

I tried Evolution Direct.

Come on, Nina.

I'm at the lip and
I've got this heel hook.

And I remember everything
happening in slow motion.

Just like, no.

I saw my knee coming up
straight towards my face.

But at the last second, I moved my
knee out of the way, so I was totally fine.

I realized I know
how to fall well.

I could orient myself in
space and control my landing.

I just took a few minutes
and did it next go.

Nice, Nina.

I started to seek out
these massive boulders.

Building my mental strength
in a step-by-step manner.

Anyone can do it.

It just takes practice.

In the last five years, Nina's
been going through a process.

Doing all the steps to
get to the level she's at.

But I also think it just takes
a certain kind of mentality.

Maybe Nina just has that gene
that makes her a little less fearful.

She has this ability to assess the
risk, keep a calm mind, and just go for it.

Two years ago, she
really took another step.

Up with Ambrosia.

Shit, dude.

I was there with her filming
it, and it was kind of terrifying.

On a boulder like Ambrosia,
it's full commitment.

When you're that high
up, there's no falling.

You just kind of hold your breath and
just trust that she wouldn't put herself in

that position unless she was
100% confident that she could do it.

When I did Ambrosia, it was...

perfect.

I had no fear.

I wasn't thinking
about anything.

I just let my body climb.

I got to the top,
and I felt ecstatic.

It felt like a
religious experience.

That's so awesome, yeah!

So sick, dude.

James was there, and he
definitely had the poker face.

I'm glad you didn't fall.

Me too.

He looked calm and collected, but I know
underneath, he was shaking like a leaf.

Were you nervous?

Yeah, I kind of wanted to puke.

I mean, no, no,
not nervous at all.

James understands the
consequences of falling.

When he was younger,
he was free soloing, took

a huge fall, and put
himself in the hospital.

I was climbing in Joshua
Tree National Park.

Laybacking up,
this really cool crack.

I was about 10 feet
from the summit.

I felt myself
barn door a little.

And then I fell.

And I fell 70 feet
and hit the sledge.

I spent 81 days in the hospital
and had eight surgeries.

And it took me about a year to go
from prone on my back to climbing again.

Seeing Nina do a lot of these
highballs, I understand what compels her.

But I never want her to
have an accident like that.

When she first told me
she wanted to do Too

Big to Flail, I wasn't
exactly enthusiastic.

It's just more dangerous.

But you don't want to discourage
your partner from their goals.

It's important just
to be supportive.

Prue rigged the coffee.

Yeah.

Keep her right there.

If she's going to do something like this,
you can't project your own fears too much.

I'm not sure if I would call Too
Big to Flail the next logical step.

I don't know if any of this
is even logical to begin with.

Okay, you're on belay.

The process began.

Top rope it and
check out the moves.

It's slabby, it's insecure,
and it's really reachy.

I had seen Honnold on tiptoes
reaching between these holds.

So I knew that I had
to do it in my own way.

Is the foot hold good?

No.

Fuck.

A couple of people have
fallen off of this middle section.

This guy, Nick,
took a groundfall.

Another climber had to jump
off and fractured his ankle.

But no one's fallen
off the top cruxes.

God damn.

Nina figured out the crux moves.

And then on the top section...

she jumps her feet.

Jumping 45 feet off the
ground without a rope.

That's not ideal.

But she was very
methodical about it.

Cool.

I worked the climb
so many times.

Just getting it down to a point where I
know that I have the physical capability

to crimp on these holds and to place
my feet and to keep moving upwards.

Because when I don't have
a rope, I won't have a choice.

There's no backing off.

I just want to reach this state of action
of my body and tranquility in my mind.

Today's the day.

Just going for it.

We got the pads up.

But this thing's 50 feet tall.

There's not a whole lot
we can do to spot her.

I mean, she's up
there by herself.

Being in tall places...

I love that feeling of absolute
certainty and control and

confidence in a situation
that seems totally impossible.

Totally dangerous.

I'm so psyched.

But I can say with
certainty, I've got this.

I talk to people and they
say, where do you live?

And I say, Emory County.

And they say, well, we
don't know where that is.

Well, it's in southeast
central Utah.

Middle of nowhere.

Things hadn't
changed for a long time.

Until the climbers started
showing up in Joe's Valley.

Our crew of climbers came out
of Salt Lake City in the mid-90s.

That generation of climbers in that
era, bouldering was the new thing.

There was no harnesses.

There was no rope.

This was a new style of
what climbing could be.

We're completely obsessed
with our little world of burning

each other off and trying
to get as strong as possible.

The culture of it
was young punk rock.

Fuck everything.

We're just gonna
go do what we want.

Climbing back then, it
was more on the fringe.

I think we were
definitely outsiders.

Rebelling from what's
going on in the real world.

On the road all the time.

We were fiending for new rock.

So when somebody
says, hey, there's great

boulders two and a half
hours away from Salt Lake.

Let's go.

We drove down to Joe's Valley.

Just like, holy crap.

There's literally tens of
thousands of boulders.

This has everything
we've ever wanted.

This has everything we've ever
looked for in a bouldering area.

Like, this is sick.

There were so many of these,
like, striking black streak boulders.

There was slab bouldering.

Steep bouldering.

Super high bouldering.

The Wild West
mentality of let's go just

around that corner and
see what's over there.

And the more you hike,
the more you're gonna find.

Nice.

Classic climbing.

You just come here
and it was awesome.

Oh, my God!

God!

Stephen, he was really young.

Really friggin' strong.

Mommy!

Can't put that in the video.

Stephen Jeffery, he
went down to Joe's Valley

and basically found
his personal canvas.

He put up some amazing problems.

So it's been, let's
see, 25 years, right?

35 years?

25 years.

I've been coming to Joe's
for over the last 20 years.

You know, 16, 17 years old.

I would come down
in my RV, kind of like

runaway-style kid going,
climbing on these rocks.

It was just complete freedom.

But it felt like an
alien place in a way.

Joe's Valley sits basically
in the dead middle of Utah.

This rural area, it would almost make me
anxious sometimes when I come out here.

Because I was this
naive kid from the city.

And here was a
whole different world.

It was a different
culture down here.

There was a small
town next to Joe's Valley.

I was actually scared to even go
in the grocery store to buy supplies.

Because it's like, man, these
are mean mugging people.

Yeah, check this out.

I remember going in a bar down there with
a video camera, dressed like a climber.

One of the bartenders just shaking
her head at us and pointing at the door.

It wasn't like
they didn't like us.

It's just they knew we
weren't going to fit in.

You know, it's not a
safe place for everybody.

When you go down there,
you're in their country.

I remember camping at
the bottom of the Left Fork.

And some dudes in a
big, giant truck pull up.

And they're like, hey,
you fucking hippies.

And start shooting a bunch of
bullets off over the top of our tents.

And we're just like, ah!

The locals, they didn't know who
we were and what we were doing.

I can remember seeing the strange
guys with the mattresses on their back.

And I'm thinking,
what in the world?

They're doing what?

They're climbing on our rocks?

I mean, I just couldn't imagine that
being anything you'd really want to do.

Ow.

Fucking ow.

Being an outsider and looking
at bouldery just looks really weird.

I want to climb up the
hardest part of this 12-foot rock.

Ow!

It was just... Yeah!

You OK?

Yeah, I'm good.

My first thoughts?

They're crazy.

In my head, I kept thinking, do
you not have rocks where you live?

Here in Emory County,
this is a small community.

Everybody kind of
knows each other.

We're cowboys and coal
miners and power plant folks.

We're quite a
conservative group.

We are Mormons.

So we are very,
very family-oriented.

Yeah, we're very, very churchy
here, I guess you could say.

We all try to protect our own.

So when we saw the rock
climbers coming to the area,

it was like, hey, we don't
know who these people are.

I was a manager at Food
Ranch here in Orangeville.

Food Ranch was the
hot spot for climbers.

So this is where I come whenever I
have a serious case of the munchies.

The owner was scared.

He didn't know
why they were here.

They dressed a little different.

They had the
dreads, the man buns.

You know, we knew that they
were showering in our bathrooms

because the bathroom floor
would be wet, a little smelly.

At Food Ranch, I'd be hanging
out there with my friends and

these people would walk in
and they look like vagabonds.

All dirty clothes, like they've
been out walking in the mud.

Just kind of gross.

I feel so bad.

Especially back then,
like, the climbers were, I

mean, the dirt bag was
the real deal, you know?

Like, your down
jacket was soiled.

You look like a homeless person.

I don't mean this in
no bad way, but they

reminded me of back
in the 70s, the hippies.

Just free-spirited people.

Yeah.

You can tell the climbers just by they, you
know, look a little disheveled and tired.

And in fact, we've heard a lot of
climbers call themselves dirtbaggers.

Yeah.

We were scared to say that because
we didn't ever want to offend anybody,

but they'll tell us
we're dirtbaggers.

And so, you know, they're here.

Where are they coming from?

And coming into our little town.

There were a lot
of people talking.

In fact, there was
a lot of concern.

Are these guys going
to kidnap our kids?

My mom was always like, Cambry,
stay away from those people.

They're probably weirdos.

Yeah, I wasn't exactly the poster
boy for the Mormon community.

Yeah.

My style... Hey,
what's happening?

...was Mad Max versus Flea.

My van always had
some sort of skull.

The bone shifter.

Got my little friend
hanging here.

He's been out in the
sun a little bit too long.

Water fountain.

Whenever Jason would stop at a gas station,
he'd put in $6.66 of gas just to be weird.

Poster boy for being a freak.

We've heard that there's some
goofy motherfucker around here.

I wanted to make people
think, confuse them,

and I think it succeeded
to some extent.

For years, there was
just a small group of

people climbing on
the rocks in Joe's Valley.

But climbing areas
go through changes.

The first turning point of Joe's was the
ascent of Black Lung from Ben Moon.

Ben Moon was one of the most
famous climbers in the world.

He came over from
England to Joe's Valley.

He was trying his
Undone project.

It was absolutely gorgeous.

Nice!

Technical,
powerful, really hard.

At the time, it could have been the
hardest boulder problem in the world.

It became this epic battle
Ben had with the problem.

Come on, Ben, you dozy fuck.

Go, Joe!

Fuck!

I was thinking, I hope no
locals can hear us out here.

Fuck!

Piss off, Snow,
you fucking wanker.

Nice.

When Ben did Black Lung, I mean, this is
like the perfect line in a developing area.

Fucking goddammit,
man, I got that perfect.

It put Joe's on the map.

Published in all the
magazines throughout the world.

You know, you pick up
Grimper in France and there's a

picture of Ben climbing
this iconic boulder problem.

So now everyone wants
to come to Joe's Valley.

The climbing population
started growing rapidly.

All of a sudden, there's a thousand
people going over a weekend.

Sprinter vans just
bombarding up the canyon.

Tents all over the
side of the road.

It's the invasion of the
entire world on this little place.

I could understand locals
being like, oh, it's a nuisance.

Locals worried about
too many people here.

It was us against them
type deal and they're

coming into our towns
and our communities.

A lot of town people really
was kind of against the

climbers coming in and all
that wanted to keep them out.

Two climbers were
sitting on the lawn at

the library and got the
cops called on them.

Honestly, we thought we were
being invaded by a bunch of potheads.

We found a little bit of pot
on pretty much everyone.

We did stop, so... There
was definitely tension building.

I was worried that climbing access
could be taken away or restricted from us.

Because in a lot of areas
across the United States,

people turn against
climbing and even ban it.

And this one is just
too good to lose.

There was this moment of we
need to connect before it explodes.

So one day I was at the food ranch
and there was a sign saying city cleanup.

And it was like, perfect,
let's go to the city cleanup.

So we show up in the morning and
it's a bunch of ladies preparing food.

We look over and there's
these different people over there.

They look a little
bit like bums.

You think, well, maybe
they're homeless.

And then they got up
and walked over to us.

We're here for the cleanup.

When does it start?

And the poor lady's like, oh, thank God,
we were just here thinking you needed food.

Oh, my words.

We were so excited.

We said, are you serious?

You're here to help us?

We were just amazed
that outsiders would

come in and give
something to our community.

The classic part was here I
am shoveling on Main Street.

You know, it's a Saturday.

All my friends from Salt
Lake are coming to climb.

And they see me and they're like,
what, did you get arrested in town?

What are you doing
shoveling the sidewalk?

And I'm like, city cleanup day.

I'm helping out.

I started really thinking about how
climbers could help Emory County grow.

Because the reality was this
area had fallen on pretty hard times.

In Emory County, we've had
heydays and we've had slumps.

A major economic driver
has always been coal.

40 years ago, there was
20-something mines in Emory County.

Now we have three running mines.

So it's not the job
provider that it used to be.

Yeah, the mine shutting down
definitely has been a hardship.

A lot of people had to move.

The power plants
won't last forever.

So we need to figure
out who we are and

what we want to become
in the next 20 years.

There's a lot of concern that Emory
County will become a ghost town someday.

This place was struggling.

They just didn't know they were
sitting on another great resource.

When we walk around,
we see these lines of stone.

We're just like, oh my
gosh, this is incredible.

I was asked to give a presentation
to the city council about bouldering.

People asked me, those
things on your backs, what is it?

One local thought you
climbed with it on your back.

And so when you fell, you
just jumped onto your back.

I put up a photo of a
sprinter van and they all

chuckled, oh yeah, we
see those all the time.

The next photo is the
inside of the sprinter

remodel and how
much all this costs.

Climbing shoes are $175.

Crash pads are $200.

And I was like, believe
it or not, these people

living in the dirt have
money and spend it, right?

So then people were saying that everyone's
a millionaire who's a rock climber.

I was like, these
people are millionaires?

I'm very confused as
to why they're out here in

Emory County instead of
traveling to Paris and stuff.

They left town and came back the
next weekend and there's signs saying,

we love rock climbers.

Food Ranch was the
first to catch on to the idea.

Go in there.

Next thing you know,
there's chalk and crash pads.

This is the weirdest
story, but there was an

empty bottle next to the
dumpster at Food Ranch.

You opened the lid,
smelled it, and like, oof.

And we kept
thinking, what is this?

We started talking
to a climber and he

explained all about the
probiotics and kombucha.

He says, if you
carry it, we'll buy it.

Started carrying it in every
flavor that you could imagine.

The big final connection
for Rock Climber to town.

Was this idea of a festival.

So it started out with me
and my girlfriend Adriana.

We were talking with
some locals about it.

The whole concept
for the festival, it's

about bringing the two
communities together.

Stepping outside your bubble.

Locals coming together with
a bunch of crazy rock climbers.

We weren't sure if it
was going to work out.

Hot dog!

Get your hot dog!

Get your mustard!

We're going to try to get
to know each other better.

They were the best
killing dogs I've ever ate!

Or even maybe learn
some stuff in the process.

Alright everyone,
let's get ready.

Let's get all our crash
pads and everything.

And let's head out to these
boulders over here, okay?

We had all kinds of
folks from town come out.

People who had never even
seen or worn climbing shoes.

Send their first
boulder problem.

My name is Brooklyn Potter.

I'm Miss Emery County.

This is so much fun!

I'm having a ball.

I've tried new shoes on it.

That's great.

Oh my goodness.

The festival was my
first time rock climbing.

I was terrified.

I'm so scared of heights.

It was daunting.

After that, I was hooked.

I got the bug bad.

Is this the line?

No, it's jumping up.

Okay, if you're going to get a
picture, you better freaking hurry.

If I was their age, I would have got
rid of all my fancy trucks and stuff.

I could have just come up
here with one of them pads.

You guys have fun.

We never wanted it to
be just a climbing festival.

We want to show
climbers from all around the

world the local culture
and flavor around here.

So they can kind of understand our way
of life and why we love it so much here.

We started doing a clinic
on how to make jerky.

And you just want it real light.

Pepper makes everything better.

The jerky was so good
last time that I'm back.

Even though I'm a vegetarian.

I hope they keep coming back.

I look forward to meeting
a whole bunch more.

Hi!

Hi!

For the grand
finale of the festival.

We had something
special in mind.

They said, we're
going to do a rodeo.

Showing off their riding
skills while the rock

climbers were competing
in a number of fun contests.

The rock climbers
getting on steers.

Oh, this is such a bad idea.

The first boulder I seen
do it walked out in flip flops.

I'm wearing sandals.

This is unfair.

I thought it's not
going to end well.

The locals, they think
these guys are nuts.

But it's one of the best events
of the bouldering festival.

We're really glad to have
you guys in this county.

At least somebody
wants to come here.

You guys all come from
anywhere you want to come.

We love bouldering.

I hang on with
these two fingers.

He fell off a boulder.

There's not a
boulder I can't climb.

Yeah, he fell off a boulder
and hurt his shoulder.

Would you shut up?

Now, climbing is part of town.

The climbers fit in.

They're welcomed in here.

That changeover, the acceptance
of the climbing culture, it's cool, man.

Like it's a coffee shop now.

We grew up, you
know, LDS Mormons.

And coffee and tea,
you don't drink them.

People would ask us, do you know
where we can get a good cup of coffee?

And we'd always tell them
you have to go to Price.

Which is 30 miles north.

We've transformed the
front room of our house into

a little coffee shop for
the climbers around here.

They just keep coming back.

My favorite part is you become friends
with people from all over the world.

I'm from Ecuador with amazing
people here that is really friendly.

Hola, I'm from Buenos
Aires, Argentina.

Valencia, España.

My name is Krister.

I'm from Norway.

Marseille, France.

Really good coffee.

And a little tiny Orangeville.

No name, country town
in the middle of nowhere.

It's tens of thousands
of people come here.

We count in 71 countries.

It's really nice to have people from
around the country and around the world

bring that diversity into our
community with different ideas.

The rock climbers have made
Emory County a better place.

Good climbers?

Yeah!

The people of our
community, they know that our

future is in bouldering,
our future is in tourism.

I think one of the great things that has
happened is that the local commissioners

have gotten a huge wilderness designation,
like basically the entire San Rafael Swell.

The Emory County
Lands Bill protects a million

plus acres for climbers
and outdoor enthusiasts.

Right now, our country is so divided and
outdoor recreation is that point at which

diverse people can agree on
things and work together on.

And what about,
like, Steven Jeffery?

He's... Moved!

Steven Jeffery just moved there!

Adriana and I became a part of
this community through our festival,

and now we live here.

I love Orangeville, and
I do not want to leave.

Ever.

Steven is the mayor of
Jones Valley Bouldering now.

I mean, he's writing the
guidebook, and he's a local.

I mean, he loves
that place, you know?

Oh Lord, I see
what brings me here.

It's a mother to all my woes.

I want to raise.

When I first started coming
down here 25 years ago, I was

a scared little kid just looking
for boulders to climb on.

If anyone told me this is a place
where I'd be settling down and living,

I would definitely
think you were crazy.

But honestly, I couldn't find a better
place on earth than Jones Valley.

And girls will come in festive clothes And
the boys will wait again Gazing And birds

will sing From tops of trees
And sound like falling angels

When you're in the mountains on a big
adventure, it's an intense feeling to know

that your safety and getting back
down is completely reliant on yourself.

Whew.

I mean, you just
have to climb carefully.

Take it one step at a time.

The mountains are
alive all around you.

And there's stuff that's
beyond your control.

But one of the coolest
feelings that a human can

experience is to feel so
small in a world that's so big.

Climbing, for me, is definitely
about a lot more than just climbing.

And it's more about, like, the
mental journey from beginning to end.

And everything that's, like,
brought me to that point.

You know, it's almost like my whole
life leading me to a certain place.

The nose is 3,000 feet of climbing
straight out the center of El Capitan.

And it's one of the most famous
historic routes in the world.

The speed record on the nose has
always been a serious competition.

The different climbing heroes
breaking the record back and forth.

I mean, climbing El Cap
really quickly is pretty hardcore.

Give me a brief history of
speed climbing on the nose.

A brief history of speed
climbing on the nose.

Go ahead!

The nose was first climbed
in 1958 by Warren Harding.

It was the first rock climb of that
scale that had ever been done.

And it took 40 days.

Since then, people have been
trying to climb it faster and faster.

Earl Robbins did it in a week.

The second ascent of the nose was
a move on the Yosemite chessboard.

And whoever makes the
best moves is going to win.

Each generation writes
its own history on the nose.

In the 80s, Peter Croft
started pushing it faster.

If I can do that
fast, then I've got the

whole afternoon for
you to do something else.

In the early 90s, Hans
Florin entered the scene and

basically ushered in the
modern era of speed climbing.

Speed climbing the
nose is the ultimate

expression of how
competent a climber you are.

To race up this 3,000-foot
wall in under three hours, you

have to have the skills and
endurance, like a marathon runner.

It is the most badass
competition there is.

Fastest time up the most
incredible rock face in the world.

I think this record will
last for a good long time.

All these incredibly talented climbers
started to compete in that arena.

Legendary figures,
like the Hoover brothers.

Make sure you
clip the bottom bolt.

More women got into
the speed climbing game,

like Quinn Brett, Libby
Sautter, Mindsmith Gobot.

It's pretty risky.

You face some really big falls.

Three, two, one.

Hans recruited Yuji Hirayama.

We're down to not just
minutes, but to seconds.

The record went back and forth.

We want to one-up each other.

We want to be number one.

The whole strategy starts
to become more extreme.

At the boot, I run out
the entire back, just hold

the rope with my hands
as Sean swings across.

Basically just less
protection, bigger risks.

No gear, don't fall.

It's coming close
to a certain limit.

Come on!

Just barely squeaked it.

In 2012, Dean Potter
shaved a few seconds off the

time, and Hans had to hitch
his wagon to a new horse.

I'd been looking around for
somebody else I can team up with.

I thought, Alex Honnold
soloed Half Dome.

Let's pull him into the mix.

I mean, Hans did literally
write the book How to Speed

Climb, which I read and
learned how to speed climb from.

So it was pretty
exciting for me.

I think the biggest
takeaway was how

systematically he approached
the entire experience.

I was wondering about that.

You had to memorize
all the moves, all the gear.

You had to know what your
partner's doing in the different places.

You had to figure out all
these different ways to refine

things down, you know, as
near to perfection as you can.

And when you get to
climb that well, it's so fun.

Hans and I set a new record of 2.23.46, and
we were pretty satisfied with ourselves.

Then after five years, these two guys,
Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds, came along.

We're kind of the
dirtbag monkeys.

And they managed to break
it, which is pretty impressive.

When we topped out, you know, I made
a little Instagram post thing, and I got a

text from Alex, literally like less
than a minute after I'd made the post.

Like, hey, congrats, you know.

A quick little like,
hey, good job, guys.

All right, I'm calling Tommy.

In the past, you know the players,
like the Hubers, frickin' Hans Florin,

Yuji Hirayama.

These are pros.

These are like the best
climbers in the world.

And then Brad and
Jim, the dark horses.

I did not see that one
coming, that's for sure.

I barely knew who they were.

They just came out of nowhere
and broke the No Speed record.

How many interviews have
you done on camera before, Jim?

Probably none.

I've done no interviews
on camera before.

See, my vocabulary sucks.

I'm always like, I start talking, and
I'm like, what the fuck am I saying?

What am I trying to say?

They seem kind of goofy and fun.

Yes, crispy.

The pet squirrel.

They live kind
of like derelicts.

All right.

Yeah, welcome
to the place, guys.

Step through the gate.

Watch your head on the skeleton.

We got our stick walls, you know,
to give us a little bit of privacy.

Do you want to come inside?

We've got basic supplies.

The climbing gear, the cam
shackles, the bear grease.

This is the fingerboard.

It's good because
it's got big holds.

These are the ones I grab onto.

We've got this nice
collage of all my friends.

I don't think I actually know any of
those people, but it's a nice collage.

Dean Potter shows us the way.

We fall on Dean's footsteps.

This is where we keep
the katana, right here.

This has been in my family
for at least a generation,

which I guess means
my brother gave it to me.

And, yeah, that's what
we use to combat all evil.

What kind of music
do you listen to?

Mainly death metal.

Yep, the heavier, the faster.

It gets me stoked.

It makes me feel like life is epic,
you know, because life is epic.

Got the heavy drums, you know.

The shredding guitar.

Welcome to the circle of power.

This is where we
come to focus our chi.

Not really, don't know any martial arts
necessarily, but, you know, we're trying

to get all centered
and ready for the nose.

Jim and I put in a lot of work.

Just that season, we've
climbed it 11 times.

Trying to, like, perfect that
strategy just right to where

we can, like, you know,
shave off just a few minutes.

Go by go, we
were running it out.

A little more.

Our rack was getting
thinner and thinner.

From my half, I lead up to the top
of Boot Flake, which is 1,500 feet up.

And I only placed three
cams in that entire time.

How safe was your set?

To say it's, like, safe
would be a total lie.

I mean, it's not that safe.

You know, it's, like, it is
definitely dangerous, but

we would try to, like, make
it as reckless as possible.

Or, let me redo that.

It's, like, the nose record
is absolutely dangerous.

There's no getting around that.

But, you know, the
goal is to try to make it

just as, you know, God
damn it, I can't speak.

What am I trying to say?

Like, try to, the least
amount of recklessness.

Yeah.

Holy shit.

On the record go, like a
dumbass, I just forgot to drink water.

I was like, holy
crap, man, I'm thirsty.

I got up to the Dolt Tower,
and there's a party up

there, and I was like, oh,
can I, can I have some water?

Need coffee or anything?

No.

Is there any water up there?

Yeah, lots.

I was breathing super heavy,
and I tried to drink, and I choked.

Thanks.

Just, like, coughed
into their water bottle.

Yeah.

Heck yeah.

The less you have, the better,
because if you have nothing on you,

then you're light and free,
and you can climb really fast.

Just like being a
runner, you know.

They got those little tiny
shorts that they run with.

Yeah.

I'd go up there, and I
wouldn't wear underwear,

because it would weigh me
down too much, you know.

The closer we're getting to the record,
maybe we're pushing that boundary between

dangerous and reckless
just a little bit more.

You're starting to wonder, can we just,
like, take a little bit more risk and get

it finished, so that we don't have to
come back and take all that risk again.

Part of the strategy is that I need to
be, like, right on Jim's ass for that last

pitch, because the time
doesn't stop until I touch the tree.

Yeah, I'm, like, giving
it everything I got.

I'm just sticking my
fingers through the hangers.

I'm not clipping
them with carabiners.

I heard that at the top, Brad was
literally just holding onto his fingers to

the bolts and just plowing across,
and they had an entire 60-meter rope

hanging between them,
but with nothing clipped.

And you're like, what?

Like, what are you guys doing?

There's one final bolt that I clipped
just so that we're clipped into something.

But this time, I'm like, we're
gonna break the record.

There's no time for anything.

So I skip it, and it's a
little Dean Potter quote.

No gear, no falls!

No gear, no falls!

Brad's down there just, like,
mono-ing through the bolt hangers.

I was like, what does he mean?

Like, there's no gear?

What?

And I remember, like,
pulling over this one

lip, and I was like,
yeah, he's not joking.

There's no gear between us.

Oh, my God, that was cute, man.

Oh, it is.

When Brad and Jim took
Alex out, Alex's record,

Alex started talking
about recruiting me.

There aren't that many potential partners
out there for speed climbing the Nose.

There just aren't that many people who can
physically climb 3,000 feet really fast.

And to me, the most obvious
choice is Tommy Caldwell.

He's a really good drag climber.

He's a really good
granite climber.

I mean, my shoes are named after
him, so that's always a good sign.

Alex is the best climber for
that style of rock climbing.

And so when two monkeys crawl out of
the boulders and take his record, you know,

he's got to team up with
the other types of climbers.

He's got to be the
titan of Yosemite rock

climbing and, you know,
show us how it's done.

But we'll see.

We'll see.

Yeah, we'll see.

You know, there's a video
clip of Brad and Jim climbing it.

Brad called Brad and Jim.

When two aspiring
amateurs did the uncannable.

Oh, it was 2.19 for you.

I thought it was 2.17 for you.

Oh, yeah, now it
seems pretty attainable.

Yeah.

Oh, well, 2.19.

Whoa, look how far he's
swinging for the King Swing.

And look how much
jumping he's doing.

That can't be the
way he actually did it.

That's crazy.

What a junk show.

All their stuff is sitting out, and his
rope is just flossing across the ledge.

Nothing like critiquing someone else's
climbing while you sit and eat chips.

I mean, not to throw them under the bus,
but when you watch the time lapse of the

two of them climbing the whole nose in a
couple minutes, I mean, it looks sketchy.

Oh, man, he's really close.

Yeah, he's so close, and I'm sure
they don't have any gear clipped.

I mean, Brad's like
15 feet behind him.

Yeah.

I mean, Brad could pass
him right there if he wanted to.

Brad should have played through.

I mean, they have the whole
60-meter rope out with nothing clipped.

It's just, it's just... Yeah.

It's just not the way
we're gonna do it.

No.

That's crazy.

Alex had told me a couple times, he's
like, dude, you guys are sketch up there.

That's like, that
seems really sketchy.

I was like, yeah, it's
sketchy, but, you know, that's

why I've got the record
and you don't, you know?

So...

The nose speed record is one
of the big games in climbing.

I mean, I've always been curious, but,
yeah, I always thought speed climbing

was kind of dangerous, and
I've never been the danger guy.

But climbing with
Alex, it's just so fun.

Pretty much any time Alex says, let's
go do something, I'm gonna say yes.

He's my bad influence
friend, absolutely.

How are you guys?

How's the fam fam?

Good.

Good.

Yeah, the fam's
so good these days.

Aw.

But they don't
like it when I leave.

That part sucks, but...

Everything else is... Good thing
you're only gone for a month, huh?

Oh, my gosh.

Are you gone for a month?

Well, they're
gonna come, I think.

Oh, okay, good.

Wow.

I get, like, shaky excited
every time I come here still.

It still happens.

It's pretty rad.

It's pretty exciting.

The last couple years,
my life is so different.

I've got two kids now.

The Dawn Wall
movie's coming out.

I wrote a book.

I've been flying all over
the place doing events.

I just haven't been able to get
out and have these adventures.

But I crave it,
like, to my core.

The whole game of racing
the clock was totally new to me.

But I wanted to at least
see what it was like.

You're wearing a helmet.

I'm wearing a helmet.

First time for everything.

You look weird in a helmet.

Okay, I started our timer, so...

We can just feed tons of slack.

Don't worry about it.

Okay, I've actually
got a piece in.

Normally when you're
climbing, your partner

is holding the rope
and they're belaying you.

You stop and then you
belay them up, you know,

one and then the
other and then the other.

Start climbing, Alex.

If you want to go faster,
you can simul-climb,

where you both
climb simultaneously.

When you're simul-climbing, you
definitely need a partner that you trust.

Your partner should have
a loop of slack out in front of

them so that you have some
freedom of movement as you climb.

And then they also have to manage all
the extra slack hanging down below them.

As the leader, you're placing gear
wherever you want, but if you fall off,

you know that your partner is going to
catch you, but you don't know if there's

like a 10-foot loop of slack
out or a 20-foot loop of slack.

Basically, it's hard to know
what'll happen if you fall off.

So, Tommy.

Yeah.

You can go a little slower,
Tommy, because, you know,

there's only really the two
anchors put between us.

Oh, yeah, okay.

Just don't fall.

Got it.

When you speed climb
the Nose, anything goes.

Any combination of free climbing, aid
climbing, cheating, you're stepping on

bolts, you're pulling
on gear if you need to.

Total free-for-all.

There are always weird
logistical snafus, or like

things happen, and you
just have to deal with them.

How are you feeling?

Pretty good.

Yeah.

Good crash course back
into the world of granite.

I'm gonna start going up the bolt ladder
and then the aid climbing, so I'll be a

little slower and you can kind of
keep me a little tighter through this part.

Okay.

I got you tight.

Okay, I'm on the boot.

I'll just put you on belay and you should
just climb this part, like, casual style.

Oh, my God, dude.

Quinn fell so far.

Dude.

Jesus.

I know.

And as you climb this, think about
how, like, weirdly slippery and, like,

kind of weird it is.

Yeah, it is kind
of slick rock, huh?

The main thing with speed climbing the
nose is that you shouldn't fall off ever.

But, you know,
it's hard to fall off.

It's 5'10".

You know, like, you
never have to do any hard

moves because you're
cheating as much as you can.

You're pulling on draws.

You're stepping on bolts.

It feels pretty comfortable.

I think sometimes
Alex is just so...

He, like, is so confident in
himself that he tends to just...

like, think that other
people are as solid as he is.

But it's not the case.

Our first run, I led,
like, the last 500 feet.

I was climbing along
and I got to a place where

I was like, oh, it's a
little bit harder here.

I didn't realize it was wet.

Falling!

Whoa, are you okay?

I just slipped out
of a wet crack.

I had a piece of gear right at my feet and
I fell, like, I don't know, 50 or 60 feet.

Falling!

Well, I slipped off wet crack.

Whoa, are you okay?

Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.

Whoa, jeez.

What's that?

I said, oh, jeez.

I just put in a piece, luckily.

Oh, yeah, it's sweet.

Yeah, sorry about that.

No, no, that's... Fuck.

It's all right.

How do you kind of lose?

Okay, Alex, keep
it a little tight here.

Okay, I got you good.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Nice, Tommy.

We climbed it in
four and a half hours.

Okay!

It was kind of
mind-blowing for me.

That was fun, though, man.

Yeah, that was pretty good.

It's gonna be a good workout.

Yeah, so are we thinking we'll
climb the nose again tomorrow?

I feel pretty good right now.

I feel like we could...
I'm down if you're down.

Tommy, he was surprisingly
enthusiastic about it.

Speed climbing kind of
suits his schedule right now.

I mean, honestly, he's in
the middle of a book tour.

I was surprised.

I feel shockingly, like, good.

Great, yeah.

It's definitely a good way
to maximize the amount

of climbing you do in
a short amount of time.

Hey, Tommy, how's it going?

Hey, how you guys doing?

How you guys doing?

Are you climbing today?

Yeah, we climbed
El Cap already today.

Oh, nice.

What route did you climb?

The nose.

Oh, nice.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Just a little fitness lap.

I've got Alex's already.

Oh, yeah?

Or Real Rock, L.A.

Right.

I totally... Are you guys getting
on something this afternoon?

No.

El Cap again?

I'm getting in my bed.

Okay.

Thanks.

Tommy took a 50-minute break
and he took a 50-foot whipper today.

Did he really?

With a whip.

Are you serious?

Yeah.

Fuck.

He took a 50-foot whipper.

Did you film it?

You got it on film?

Oh, yeah.

Money shot.

Come on.

There you go.

Even if you're a 5'15
climber, the 5'10 cracks

can still get you when
you're speed climbing, man.

Maybe you're flying in the night before
and you haven't climbed in Yosemite in a

while, so you decide to team up
with Alex and sprint up the nose.

You know, that's when
you can take the whip.

When you're in, you
know, a 5'10 wet lie back.

Yeah, but me and Brad, we
spend a lot of time in Yosemite.

We don't travel anywhere else.

I have yet to go on any
book tours, you know?

Yeah.

Uh, yeah.

I'll fall anywhere, like,
doing the nose fast.

Yeah, you're not
supposed to fall.

Just like, oh, shit.

Maybe they've
got a new strategy.

Wow.

Bringing more cams.

What a... They have a huge rack.

They have a huge rack, yeah.

I mean... Just a start.

Yeah, just a start.

It'll get thinner.

Yeah.

Alex is like, no,
dude, I swear, it's safe.

We could totally make it safe.

And then each time they go up
there, he'll probably be like, just, oops,

we forgot the other .5.

Let's organize the rack
so that you're all... Yeah.

You may as well just organize it
straight under your harness... Yeah.

...so you're ready
to leave tomorrow.

I've been really surprised by Alex's
willingness to keep it a bit safer.

I feel like we should just start trimming
down the rack a little bit as we go.

Although I'm already seeing it
when we're going through our rack.

He's like, oh, we can
remove this piece.

We can remove this piece.

And I'm like, let's
not take that too far.

Let's drop the cam hook.

Screw that.

Maybe I'll leave
these micro nuts.

So we don't have to
worry about the gray roof.

We'll maybe need to put another
nut in the gray roof tomorrow.

If it's this nut, then I'm not going to
feel that much more secure anyway.

Do you want to
drop the green C3?

Uh... Are you scared of that?

Yeah, sure.

Just take one thing
off the harness.

Sure.

You're all racked up.

Yeah, that's,
like, not horrible.

Oh, it does feel
heavy, actually.

Oh, well.

That's why we'll trim it down.

Yeah.

My wife isn't exactly
stoked about this.

I mean, she's like, everybody
thinks it's pretty dangerous.

With all the carnage in the, you
know, in the past year on that route,

makes me hesitate a bit.

There have been a lot of
semi-legendary falls on the

nose where people fall,
like, 100 feet down the wall.

I was climbing with Uli
Steck when he took a fall.

Oh, shit.

He's a little banged up
and, you know, bleeding

a little bit, but he
was basically fine.

The Huber brothers, I think Tomas,
took some epic whipper off the nose.

And then just a week ago, Hans'
flooring fell off and hit a ledge.

I'm pretty sure I've broken
one or both of my legs.

Shattered both his heels.

Insert ice packs.

Oh.

Ice and elevation, baby.

And rest.

Hans has climbed the nose,
like, 109 times or something.

That's where I
fell, right there.

And then to just take a fall like that
and break both his legs is pretty grim.

I mean, I think Hans' injury, the way that
we climb, I always thought that that kind

of injury was, you
know, was a possibility.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Breaking your legs, you're
gonna recover from that.

Road to recovery, baby.

Yeah.

I feel like that
risk is acceptable.

But six months ago, Quinn Brett,
a total badass, fell off of the top of

Boot Flake and broke her back,
doing exactly what we're doing.

When Quinn's accident
happened, my emergency pager

goes off and there's someone
who needs to be rescued.

And it's one of our friends, Quinn
Brett, who had just taken, like, the most

enormous fall you possibly could off of
the Boot Flake, doing the same tactic that

Brad uses to get up there,
which is, you know, place no gear.

She had gotten all the way to the end of
the pitch, somehow slipped, and then took

the 100-foot fall and hit the
Texas Flake and fell behind it.

I was told that she was dead and that
we were going to do a body recovery.

We went up to get her down and then
we went up and then it turned out she was

still alive, and luckily they did an
amazing helicopter rescue, got her off

really quick, but she had
shattered her spine and

probably would be paralyzed
for the rest of her life.

I'd climbed the
nose 12 or 13 times.

I did speed records on El
Cap and throughout other

formations in the valley
and in Zion and in Rocky.

For me, speed climbing, I just really like
moving, covering terrain really quickly.

You find yourself in like
what they call the flow state.

You're moving, you're moving, your brain
is firing, you're problem-solving really

quickly and your body is
moving really efficiently.

Had I summited that day, I would
probably still be speed climbing.

I mean, it was a pretty awesome
feeling until the moment I took a fall.

Quinn lives in my
hometown in Estes.

I see her all the time and
you see how her life has

changed and you're just
like, wow, that's pretty heavy.

So, you know, I'm a father now.

I can't really do
things that are...

You know, I got to keep my scene
pretty buttoned up for the most part.

Have fun, guys.

See ya.

Be safe.

So, we got Jim here doing the
rigging to help get the cameraman in.

How are they looking, Jim?

They're looking pretty good.

Yo, Tommy, you
in the boat ladder?

Yeah, like, ran out
of draws, basically.

It's a little strange to be up here
watching the guys who are trying to break

our record, but I'm psyched to see
their tactics and a little bit of heckling.

Tommy's kind of botching
it on the eight sequence.

Fucking cruxing out.

Hold on.

What's up?

Cruxing out.

My fault.

Yeah, I got you really tight.

Can you take for a second?

Yep.

I got you.

I gotta work this part out.

I placed a purple C3.

Yeah, I couldn't quite reach it.

Obviously, Tommy free climbs like a
madman, but to put it all out there for

something like this
is a little bit of a risk.

Yeah, you should have saved yourself
one sling as an eighter, you know?

Yeah.

Actually, I have an eighter.

Just remembered that.

Gumby Ann.

The eight climbing fucks me up.

Yeah, it always does.

When I got up to the boot
flake, I was thinking about Quinn.

I decided to put in a piece,
even if it slowed us down.

At least for now.

I'm not sure if this is the best way,
but... Yeah, I mean, we can talk it over.

Poor guy.

I mean, the thing is, really, Tommy
should have just sold the boot, but he just

doesn't want to, which I
totally understand and respect.

But so, in order for him to get the
gear back, it means he has to lower,

and it's just a
little junk showy.

I'm good there.

I don't know.

Where do you go to?

You're at the king swing, right?

No, no, I'm above it now.

Oh, you are.

So here, I'll just
lower you down to me.

Er...

Oh, no, wait.

You just go back
up, and it'll lower me.

Yeah.

Right?

Need to get you
the gear, though.

Yeah, you can just
drop it down the line.

Oh!

Wrapped in the nuts.

Just the way I like it.

I was wondering if
that was gonna happen.

Hi, guys.

Yo!

How fast were you guys
to here on this go, Tommy?

Uh, 138.

Nice.

Jim, how long did it take
you guys to get here?

Yeah, I feel like we're kind of
like, we're not fully race-paced yet,

and I think what
would... 51, eh?

51 minutes.

Whew!

That seemed, like, not
quite right, you know?

Yeah, maybe not.

We kind of need to start going
fast, just so we understand it.

You know what I mean?

Like, anybody can do a 4 1⁄2-hour
burn on the nose, and be like, that's cool.

Anybody.

Anybody.

Anybody can.

Anybody.

But doing, like, a 250
lap on the nose... Yeah.

...is getting into,
like, some real...

Yeah.

Like, that's fast.

Sweet.

I'm honing in on being
an elite-level climber.

Man, we're getting close.

Yeah.

I mean, the Donoval thing was
pretty cool, but it took 19 days.

Yeah.

You know?

Yeah.

We kind of need a smaller rack.

We need to drop a
bunch of the cams.

Drop number two?

Uh, yeah.

Drop the jacket, drop
the nuts, drop the clothes.

You know, the Gregory.

I feel like we
could drop a micro.

Okay.

Micro off the rack.

I kind of want to
drop more cams.

Like, could we drop a one?

Uh...

Yeah.

That's not that many cams.

5 a.m.

and we are about to go climb the
nose for the third time in three days.

So is the strategy
similar to yesterday?

Yeah, but less cams.

Fewer cams.

Fewer cams.

Mhmm.

We're kind of.

Yeah.

Make a grammatically
precise film.

Perfection starts with our spoken
word at the base of the root.

The last couple days, I've been flowing
better and getting a little more fit.

I never realized how
frickin' fun speed climbing is.

Climbing El Cap in, you
know, a couple of hours...

that's unbelievable.

It's just got to be the
coolest racetrack in the world.

Yeah, I went 16 minutes faster.

Whoa, buddy!

If we do the same split at
the top, we'll be at three hours.

I'll do my best.

I mean, the real beauty of speed
climbing, it's like approaching perfection.

When you actually climb
smoothly up the whole wall, there's

no wasted movement, no
wasted gear, like, no wasted time.

And you're in this...

perfectly choreographed
dance with your partner.

It feels amazing.

It's crazy climbing with Alex.

Honestly, up there,
it's a whole new level.

Like today, he got kind
of psyched and started

to go fast, and he
was just running it out.

When you're going speed style,
there are basically two options.

You can simul-climb,
or you can short-fix.

The leader gets to the anchor...

and then pulls up all the extra
rope, ties the rope off to the anchor,

the second starts
to ascend the rope.

You just have 100 feet of rope
laying there in a pile, and you just start

charging up the wall
with no protection, really.

Short-fixing, whenever
you fall as the leader, you're

looking at falling to the
end of that 100-foot rope.

But Alex is willing
to take the risk.

He's so different in that way.

Like, I've fallen, you know, 50 feet plus,
probably 10 times on El Cap or something.

Uh, Alex never has.

He doesn't want to fall at all.

And he doesn't fall at all.

What was your time?

Uh, 2.57.

I'm feeling pretty encouraged
at 2.57, because Alex

climbed the route with
his shoes looking like that.

And it was really wet.

And it was our
third day in a row.

It's just so ridiculous to be on
top of El Cap at 9 in the morning.

I know.

It's like, oh, what
a... I love that.

Like, in some ways, today felt,
like, less grueling than yesterday.

Yeah, I totally agree.

I felt sort of tired
and slow, but...

Um, but, yeah, I mean, it didn't feel... I
kind of think we can go sub two, dude.

We'll see.

That would be awesome.

We'll see.

Oh, my God.

Breaking this record,
it feels possible, I think.

But Alex really wants to
do it in under two hours.

Yeah.

It's gonna... it's
gonna be hard.

I've always sort of had the life goal
of climbing the nose sub two hours.

It seems possible, but it
seems kind of crazy, really hard.

You know what I mean?

Kind of like the
two-hour marathon.

It's a big
psychological barrier.

Going sub two, I think
I'd be pretty proud.

But, uh, you know, we'll see.

Ready?

Go.

Started exactly 620.

We are off to the races.

This time, we pushed
it a little bit harder.

Nice, Tommy.

You!

I say, you're
looking pretty good.

Yeah.

All right, geez.

By their fourth attempt, Alex and
Tommy were moving way further.

I was across the valley
filming with a telephoto lens.

You got a friend up there?

Yeah, they're trying
to break the record.

Oh, sweet.

Oh, damn.

Who is it?

Uh, it's, uh, Alex Hall
and Tommy Caldwell.

Oh, okay.

Never heard of them.

You know, they're trying to make
a name for themselves, really.

Tommy was cruising.

I mean, I was having to,
like, jostle and move around

the camera a bunch just
to try to keep up with him.

Oh, nice.

Here he goes.

He's about to
charge the stove legs.

I was getting a
little too psyched up.

Like, I was letting it
get out of my comfort

zone in terms of
how fast I was going.

I have to untie and pull the rope through
to undo one of the pendulums we do.

So I had just
taken the Grigri off.

Let's see.

There he is.

And I just, like, slipped out.

Holy shit.

Dude, Tommy just took a
fucking monstrous whipper.

Like, a hundred feet.

I'm like, I can't tell.

Like, he's climbing
back up to Alex right now.

It was, like, right when I
was shifting, like, the frame.

I just fell until I
yanked against Alex,

who was tied into the
other end of the rope.

And then I just started
climbing right away.

Dude, you whipped
a hundred feet.

You were literally like, oh,
I hate that I always do that.

And then you swung over
and punched back through.

And I was like, oh, my God.

I was outrageous.

It's crazy.

Even with taking a
huge fall, they're still

going to maybe go faster
than they have before.

After Tommy took his
hundred-footer, up higher on

the root, I slipped out of
a crack while short-fixed.

I probably would have
taken a 50- or 60-footer.

But I caught the
rope with my hands.

I just don't really know.

I don't really know
what happened.

But the rope burned my hand a little
bit and tore a chunk out of a finger.

Yeah, buddy.

Nice work.

231.

That was a lot faster, but
really, like, not that cool.

Yeah, totally.

We kind of botched.

Does it hurt?

Yeah, I mean, it burns.

Yeah.

I mean, it's like
a huge open hole.

On the other hand, I self-rest.

I basically caught the rope and caught
myself rather than take a hundred-footer,

which is definitely a big plus.

Yeah, we fell in the same spot.

Was that the exact same spot?

Yeah.

That's crazy.

Exact same spot.

That's crazy.

It was at least 100 feet.

I was like, I'm still falling.

I'm still falling.

I was like, I hope Alex didn't just untie
and I'm just going to fall to my death.

I had time to
think about all that.

It doesn't feel
quite as fun today.

Yeah, it was my inner chop chop.

I know.

We're both, like,
kind of horrified.

Man, oh, man.

What a morning.

Yeah.

It's a little horrifying, too,
because people are, like,

watching today, too, and
be like, oh, this is cool.

I know.

I wonder if anybody's
watching when I fell.

I know.

I hope nobody saw that shit.

Yeah.

There's a special window that we can
jump through for measures from the outside.

Here!

I'm going to get you.

Okay.

I'm going to get you.

I'm going to get you.

Yeah.

Who's calling?

Me!

Who is?

You're calling.

Hello?

Hey, how's it going?

Daddy!

You want to say hi to Daddy?

Hi, Daddy.

How fast did you climb today?

Way faster.

Hi, Dad.

How would I be?

Watts.

How did it go?

How did you go today?

I'm going to be a bass jumper!

Well done, Daddy.

Do you know how to
open or close a canister?

It's slightly less than ideal.

I'm gonna be a baseball player.

And Alec also fell and grabbed the
rope and tore a huge hole in his finger.

Awesome.

Are you okay?

Yeah, yeah, I was sick.

But we've got it set up so that we're
only running it out where it's clean.

So taking a baseball is, you
know, not that dangerous.

When Tommy mentioned the speed record,
I wasn't really attracted to the idea.

When Quinn had her
accident and then Hans

fell off the nose, it
was just an eye-opener.

I was like, oh man, you
can get really messed up.

But Tommy loves
climbing with Alec.

They're kind of
unstoppable together.

And they truly
believe it's safe.

I don't know speed
climbing very well.

But my understanding was like, you guys
are gonna climb fast and you have this dot.

And you know what you're
doing, so you just don't fall.

But then they
both fell in one day.

But we're not gonna
do that anymore.

Yeah, but how do you avoid it?

After taking those falls, we felt like
we needed to dial it back a little bit.

This is where I whipped the other
day and Tommy whipped here.

Even Alec seemed
a bit shaken up.

He has the wrong
impression of speed climbing.

251.

We didn't take any
100 foot falls today.

Yeah, no injuries.

Tommy and Alec, they're
going fast, you know.

But there's such a
difference between like

going three hours fast
to breaking the record.

I think it might be possible
to get there without redlining.

They kind of got to get it
together pretty quick here.

I mean, it's mid-May and you know,
if it drags on into June, it gets hot.

And it gets crowded.

The nose has just become
so incredibly popular.

Everyone wants to do the nose.

So you just get people
from all over the world.

It's packed.

It would be the nose if we
weren't jockeying for position.

Get out of the way.

The wall climbers come up.

And it gets frustrating
passing like five to ten parties.

Two seconds to go.

Go, Tommy, go.

Thank you.

It kind of smells
horrendously of urine.

Welcome to the nose, huh?

It really is kind
of a challenge.

A challenge to try to not
get stuck behind people.

The strategy is you
don't ask to pass.

But you're really friendly.

You know, you're
like, what's up, guys?

Oh, you're from Germany.

Sick.

Cool, yeah, it's your
first time out here.

And you're like talking
to them the whole time.

And meanwhile, you're just kind of
slowly climbing through their juncture.

And you know, before they
know it, you're like above them.

You're like, all
right, guys, have fun.

Good luck.

And you just keep climbing.

Hey, guys, I'm here now.

Thanks, man.

No worries.

Where are you from?

Netherlands.

Netherlands.

All right.

Well, have fun.

You too.

What was the time?

All right, 2.25.

2.25.

2.25?

Yeah.

Damn.

2.25 is pretty good.

All right, should we go
down and eat a sandwich?

Let's go see your kids.

I know.

I haven't seen your family yet.

Hey, daddy.

Hi.

Hi.

Hey, bitch.

Hey, baby.

Hey, how's it going?

Good.

Do you remember me?

How are you feeling?

Good.

Good.

Did you watch us at all?

I think I saw you
towards the top.

How's it going?

Oh, yeah, Brad.

Did you guys do the nose?

Our time today was 2.25.

What was your time?

Five minutes away.

So what are we doing?

Are we going off?

Let's go fast, yeah.

Go fast.

Let's feel fine.

We got to make sure
they start at the exact same

foot of the route that
we start at, you know?

Making sure all the clocks work.

Yeah.

It seems like they might
break the record, but we'll see.

It's a little hot, and there's
some parties on the wall,

so, you know, it might be
a little more difficult today.

When me and Brad were going
for it, we were nervous, like, oh, boy,

this is going to be
stressful, you know?

Today, yeah, these guys
are the ones with all the stress.

For us... Oh, we
don't have any stress.

We just get to chill and watch.

That's good.

Did you guys start from
this pedestal or that one?

Brad would monkey up this way.

It kind of makes more sense to start
right here and just like bam, bam, bam.

I mean, you're the professional.

Go.

Remember the Han saying,
start out slow, go, go, go.

Start out fast just won't last.

And there they go.

History begins.

Taken the swing.

Hell, yeah.

Ow!

Ow!

Okay, yeah.

Uh.

Uh.

Started.

Got him.

Got him.

Alright Tommy, come here when you
get to that piece and I'll swing you over.

Okay, I'm there.

Nice work Tommy.

Thank you.

Tommy and Alex left all their gear
at the base, so we're bootying it.

They don't need it, they get free stuff,
but me, I work and steal for my living.

Let's see what the time is.

They did really
fast on the sickle bit.

They're at 30,
almost 38 minutes.

That morning, there
was an audience.

Becca was there with
Alex's girlfriend, Sonny.

I think he heard you.

They got Hans sitting out
there, broken ankles at all.

And Brad and Jim.

Secretly hoping that they'd watch
them make a bunch of mistakes.

Is there a part of you guys
like, I hope they get stymied?

No.

Yeah.

I don't think so.

Do you see daddy?

Uh huh.

Do you see daddy in there?

Yeah.

He's in the boot.

He's on the boot?

Yeah.

Do you know where
the boot is, Fitz?

You can see a perfect
little boot up there.

The boot plate is always
an exciting moment.

Yeah.

That's my favorite pitch.

Yeah?

Yeah.

It's my least favorite pitch.

I just get gripped thinking
about Quinn when I'm up there.

Go for it.

Go for it.

Go for it.

This is a cam on the boot.

Oh, yeah, there you go.

What is he doing?

I bet that makes Becca happy.

Yeah.

You gotta tell me, Cal.

Daddy's standing on the boot.

Okay, tag!

He lowers down to grab it
before Alex does the swing.

That's definitely a
time waster right there.

Yeah.

Okay, here we go.

We've been checking the time
after Alex does the king swing.

It was an hour and one minute.

We were five minutes
faster than before.

I just knew it was game on.

It was time to go
as fast as I could.

Oh, man, they got someone
starting up the Great Roof in a minute.

Might get hosed.

When I was getting up to the Great Roof,
these two Basque women, who we'd passed

twice before in the week, had
just finished eight climbing the pitch.

And so there was already rope
hanging down and gear all over it.

He covered the
corners with the brakes.

He can't put his fingers in.

It's mildly annoying when you can't
put your fingers into the places you want,

but it means that I can just pull on
their quickdraws and just climb through.

Go, Alex, go!

You didn't come yesterday.

No, no, we had a break.

You had a break?

Yeah.

What's up?

Watch me get here.

Set?

Yeah.

What if you just get pumped?

Pumped?

Oh.

Ooh, to the top.

To the top, yeah, to the top.

Yeah.

Alex gets to the anchor, short fixes there,
and then I just jog as fast as I can.

Okay.

All right, gracias, Esperar.

Si, si.

Oye, record hecho, eh, Alex?

When I got to the Great Roof, we
were right on pace, for the record.

But then I just start getting tangled in
the equipment from the Basque ladies.

Go, Tommy, go.

And I have to switch
my whole system.

Putting G-Mars
on, taking them off.

Figuring out where to put them.

There's this other rope.

I'm worried it's
going to get stuck.

Just clustering.

I lowered out, and then I went to
pull the loop, but it was just caught.

The only quick solution I
could think of was to untie and

pull the rope as fast as I
could, and then tie back in.

Alex had gotten stopped because
he didn't have any rope left.

He's just kind of like waiting for me right
in the middle of the crugs of that pitch.

Something got
twisted in that anchor.

I have to untie.

Sorry about that.

No, it's not your fault.

What's going on?

You know where they're at, Hans?

Alex is right where I fell.

Oh.

So I pull my end.

Then I just start
trying to tie back in.

Every time you speak on the
nose, you run into situations

that you haven't
necessarily dealt with before.

There's always some
kind of weird thing.

And the real test is how
quickly you can deal with

it and manage, and then
just keep moving forward.

It was definitely the
right call for Tommy just to

look at it and be like, oh,
here's what I need to do.

Untie.

Pull, pull, pull.

Retie.

Here we go.

And there we go.

Oh, shit.

Okay.

Nice work.

Way to deal.

Adios.

Okay, adios.

Venga,.

That probably
wasted two minutes.

Look at him go.

But, you know, Alex just
started to boogie up the

steep cracks at the top
like nobody else ever had.

Climbing like a
beast in no fall terrain.

And we made up
tons of time there.

Alex, didn't you
have any questions?

On each of the last six
pitches, I have positions

where I could probably
take a 100 to a 200-foot ball.

So I didn't look at
any splits or anything.

You don't really want to
think about pace too much.

You want to just go as hard
as you can and just execute.

Just focus on what we're doing
and then just find out on top.

Whoa, shit.

He's just fucking...
Wow, that's amazing.

Tommy's at the wild stance.

Alex is on the
final boat ladder.

The last pitch is like the full
glorious sprint to the finish line.

It's completely exposed,
totally outrageous.

Your hand-over-handing
bolts are like...

Just leave it all on the
table, punching it to the top.

It feels so heroic.

Whoo!

OK, Tommy, I'm
running to the top.

Get some!

Go, Tommy!

I wasn't checking
my watch at all.

I was just trying to go
as fast as I physically can.

I'm just running uphill with a
bunch of weight hanging off me.

And then the goal is
to get to the finish line.

The goal is just to pull the rope as tight
as you can and then start pulling on Tommy.

OK, Tommy!

Come on, Tommy!

I see him.

He's pulling hand-over-handing.

Come on, Tommy!

The tree is in sight.

I'm running up the final
slabs as fast as I can.

Come on, Tommy!

All of a sudden, I just
get jerked to a halt.

I just started panicking.

I was like, oh, no!

Come on, Tommy!

And again, I had to
fricking untie the rope.

And it probably took me, like, two or three
times as long to untie as it should have.

Finally got it untied
and ran to the tree.

Yeah, buddy!

When Tommy ran up to the tree without
the rope, I was like, that's unorthodox.

Did you just untie at the end?

Yeah, my rope got caught.

Oh, yeah?

Good call.

I didn't even really
realize what had happened.

I didn't even really
realize what had happened.

Alex just kind of
casually walks back.

Two-ten-fourteen.

Two-ten-fourteen.

Good job, Daddy!

He's standing on top!

Boom!

Nice, dude!

That felt good.

Yeah, yeah.

It still wasn't quite, like,
perfect, though, you know?

Yeah, no, I was, like... I got the
rope stuck, like, several times.

Yeah, me too.

That was good, though.

You got the record.

Yeah!

You got it back.

Nice work.

That was sick.

Yeah, I got it by kind of a lot.

Like, almost ten minutes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, legit.

Now we just gotta
shave ten more.

Oh, Jesus.

That definitely hurt a lot more.

Yeah.

Breaking somebody's
record is fun.

You know, it's nice to one-up
your friends or whatever.

Brad's calling.

Oh, nice.

Brad, go, Brad.

Congratulations.

You did it.

Yo, we took it.

We took it.

But not quite by enough for it to be
out of the question for you guys, though.

You know, we might
have to go again.

Sick!

But the idea is that you're seeking out
that feeling of perfection where they're

like, this climb went as
well as any climb can go.

And so, you know,
when we got to the top in

210, we're like, oh,
that felt really good.

And we did it pretty quickly.

But, you know, it
wasn't quite perfect.

Yeah, I think both of us were immediately
like, oh, we could do better than that.

We're not done with this.

It does seem
possible to go faster.

Yeah, I mean, we could for sure
shave ten minutes off that one.

I feel like we're just getting
close to our potential at this point.

And so that two-hour
mark is very enticing.

We just decided that
we should keep going.

Try and do it in
under two hours.

You know, I think any
reasonable person would break the

no speed record and hang up
their rack and they'd be done.

But Tommy and Alex, they
wanted to break two hours.

It's kind of this mythical
time that people have

wondered about, like,
oh, is it even possible?

My thought is that if we
break two hours, that'll

be getting pretty close
to, like, this is perfect.

Like, this is the
best that we can do.

It's going to be real hard.

Like, is it going to hurt?

But we're going to
try again tomorrow.

And who knows?

Maybe we'll just cut
off another ten minutes.

Yeah, fellas!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Hey!

What's happening?

How's it going, buddy?

He's sleeping.

Oh, sorry.

He did it.

Yeah, he did it.

Nice job.

Good job, Hans.

Good effort, guys.

Yeah, it felt good.

Let me insult the
history book here.

Oh, yeah.

We broke the one-hour,
six-hour, and five-hour

mark, all broken by Peter
Croft and Dave Schultz.

Dean Potter and Timmy
O'Neill broke the four-hour mark.

Eugene Honch broke
the three-hour mark.

Alex hasn't broken
any hour marks.

Oh, that's got to hurt.

He's got to go for the two.

We'll break two.

We'll have to break two.

That's fair.

Yeah.

So, yeah, go again tomorrow?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

They plummeted off El
Capitan in Yosemite this morning.

The two climbers were attempting El
Cap when something went horribly wrong.

The climbers identified as 46-year-old
Jason Wells of Boulder, Colorado,

and 42-year-old Tim
Kline from Palmdale.

Rangers still figuring out how
these climbers fell Saturday.

The next morning we were
getting ready for another attempt

on the nose and we found out
there was an accident on El Cap.

Two super experienced
climbers, Jason and

Tim, they were using
speed climbing tactics.

On another route called the Salathe,
which is just to the left of the nose,

it's unclear exactly what happened,
but somehow fell off the wall.

It was like... pretty heavy.

With an accident like
this, you never really know

if maybe they did upgear
and maybe it pulled.

Or maybe a rock
pulled and cut the rope.

There's so many variables.

I mean, it definitely makes you pause
and think about your choices a little bit.

Are you guys thinking you're
going to climb tomorrow?

Well, I don't know.

I mean...

But the reality is, if you're speed
climbing on the nose, you've already

thought about, you know,
how an accident could

occur, what it would
be like to fall off.

You're already doing your absolute best
to minimize the chance of that happening.

Like, there's always an anchor.

Like, we're always
at least, like...

You know, I think that for Tommy,
the bigger challenge is his obligation to

his family and, you know,
making sure that Becca

feels comfortable with
his decision-making.

It's just the kind of
thing where it's like, I

want a guarantee, but
there's no guarantee, so...

I just have to trust you guys.

But... that's scary.

I was feeling a little bit wigged
about just reaching tomorrow.

Sure were.

Yeah, making sure
there's no gear and...

Maybe, like, take a second
look at those fixed pieces.

So, we decided to go
and take it a little more chill.

Mostly to just test
out the psyche.

I mean, to go sub 2, I feel like
you've just got to be like, ah, so stoked,

and it just definitely took a bit of
the wind out of the sails for me.

We went back up, taking the
time to reanalyze everything.

It felt really solid to me.

It felt safe.

It's just a question
of how to go faster.

The one place I know I could
save some time is the boot flake.

We'll go faster if I
just skip that piece.

That's a line I'm just
not willing to cross.

Yeah, I thought
that was fun today.

I didn't feel wigged.

It felt super fun.

No, today was so fun.

Actually, I'm glad that we
retouched all the safety stuff, too.

I think it's totally fine.

Yeah?

Yeah.

So, I would have to shave
another 5 off the bottom?

Yeah.

The last piece of the puzzle was
how to go faster on that bottom section.

I had set up a self belay,
rehearsed every move

so that I could climb
it totally flawlessly.

If I could shave that 5 minutes, I'd
be holding up my end of the bargain.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Congratulations.

Oh, thanks.

We're going again today.

Let's say today is going
to be a little less casual.

Nice and relaxed.

Okay, ready?

Yep.

Whoa, Tommy.

Tommy was charging to sickle.

I mean, most people spend
the whole day getting to sickle.

Wow, 11.06.

Holy shit.

And there goes Tommy,
blitzing to sickle in 11 minutes.

It's completely outrageous.

Get it, get it, get it.

Anchor's flipped.

All right.

Cruising up to 12.

Where are you guys from?

I don't know.

Oh.

I get you wrong.

Oh.

Oh.

I'm on the bolt.

Okay, I'll have you on in a sec.

You're on normal, boy.

I got the pizza.

Man, that was really fast.

56.

Wow.

Five minutes faster.

Nice work.

Okay, let's fix.

Tommy puts in an amazing effort
and puts us in a position to succeed.

Now I'm obligated to do my best
and see us through to the end.

Crushing, dude.

Alex is wild.

Rocketing up these
steep, amazing pitches.

2,500 feet off the ground.

God, he's like just
so in his element.

Seeing him climbing with
absolute grace and confidence.

I mean, that's perfection.

Yeah, Alex.

All right, thanks.

Climbing with him up there, I get to
not only witness but to be part of that

mastery.

Come on, Tommy.

Okay.

And do something together
that feels transcendent.

Come on, Tommy.

Come on.

Go fast.

Yeah!

Yeah, Tommy.

We do it.

Yeah.

Oh, my gosh!

Oh, gosh.

Oh, my gosh!

What do we got?

I'll come show you.

Oh that was so sick dude!

Good work!

Fuck yeah!

Yeah!

Dude, 158.

158.07 Whoa!

Killed it!

Yeah!

Sick!

That was sick!

Wow, beat it by two minutes!

Yeah, let's never do this again.

Good work dude.

You were charging.

I actually smelled
burning rubber at one point.

And I was like,
that's appropriate.

Hello.

Hey baby.

You did it!

We did it!

Come on, are you guys psyched?

Yeah!

The thing is, if we kept going forever, I
bet we could get to like 145 or something.

Oh god.

Who wants to do that?

Yeah.

We don't need to do that.

I don't want to do that.

Alex said he felt emotional
when he saw the timer.

Are you gonna cry, Alex?

No, no.

The feeling has passed.

I already feel like we kind of sucked
and we should have done better.

Well, I'd be crying if you
guys didn't do it right now.

Yeah.

Feel hands.

Congratulations, guys.

Oh, you saw it.

Yeah, thanks.

Pretty exciting, huh?

Are you guys done?

Yeah, we're done.

Yeah, we're done.

We're good.

158.07.

We're calling it good.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm psyched with that.

Hold on.

Hold on.

158.07, right?

Yep.

Yep.

Okay.

That's the official
time that we'll go.

Yeah, that's the official time.

You can go ahead and, you
know, etch that into stone.

That's the official time.

That probably knocks Brad
and Jim out of the game.

That was the goal all along.

Yeah, exactly.

Who cares about breaking two?

Let's just break Brad's spirit.

Just kidding, Brad.

Ugh.