The solo speed record on the Salathé Wall—one of Yosemite’s most historic and demanding routes—stood untouched for a decade. That changed on May 11, when Brant Hysell, a climber from Lake Tahoe, reached the summit tree of the 3,500-foot line in 19 hours and 57 minutes, improving the previous fastest ascent from 2013 by eight minutes. His mark seemed poised to last. Then Alex Honnold heard about it.
On May 23, Honnold returned to Yosemite Valley and completed the same route in 11 hours and 18 minutes, reducing Hysell’s time by more than eight hours.
“I’ve never had the Salathé solo speed record,” Honnold told the San Francisco Chronicle. “When my friend held it, it would have felt strange to take it from him. But if it’s someone I don’t know, it’s game on.”
This sudden escalation raises questions about why this route matters, how difficult it is, and what makes these attempts significant. Here is a clear breakdown.
Why the Salathé Wall?
Although it lacks the mainstream visibility of routes like The Nose or The Dawn Wall, the Salathé Wall holds historic importance. First climbed in 1961 by Royal Robbins, Tom Frost, and Chuck Pratt, it was established in a style far ahead of its time. The trio ascended the wall in nine and a half days using only 13 bolts, avoiding the heavy siege tactics common in that era—an era in which hundreds of bolts were often drilled for upward progress. Warren Harding, for example, placed roughly 300 bolts during his 47-day first ascent of The Nose.
While The Nose follows the central prow of El Capitan, the Salathé Wall ascends the east face, taking a path roughly 500 feet longer. Free climbing The Nose is technically harder, but when climbed with aid, the Salathé is equally demanding.
The route also has a notable free-climbing legacy. In 1988, Todd Skinner and Paul Piana completed the first full free ascent. Steph Davis became the first woman to free climb the route in 2005.
How Difficult Is the Salathé Wall?
Free climbing the entire route requires completing sections graded 5.13b, and these cruxes appear near the top—only a few hundred feet below the summit—when fatigue is at its peak. For most climbers, the route is completed as a combination of aid and free climbing, typically over three to four days.
For Honnold, who free soloed large portions of the climb and used a rope only for the most difficult segments, the effort functioned more like a sustained physical test than a long expedition.
“There’s nowhere else you can experience the type of fatigue you feel climbing El Cap in a day,” he said. “It’s a specific kind of fitness you gain only in Yosemite.”
What Is Rope-Soloing, and How Do These Ascents Work?
Hysell completed his ascent alone using rope-soloing, a style that is technically complex and time-intensive. In rope-soloing, the climber manages protection, rope systems, and movement without a partner. Long routes like the Salathé are divided into pitches because standard ropes measure around 200 feet. A rope-solo climber builds an anchor, climbs the pitch, then rappels back to retrieve protection before ascending again.
This means each pitch is effectively climbed twice and descended once—an approach substantially slower than climbing with a partner.
Honnold, by contrast, free soloed most of the wall, using a rope only on the most demanding sections. He also holds the overall team speed record on the Salathé—4 hours and 55 minutes—set with the late Sean Leary in 2009.
Not Everyone Welcomed the New Record
Following Honnold’s ascent, Hysell’s partner, Brittany Elyse, criticized the timing of the attempt on social media, stating that Honnold “couldn’t let someone else have attention for more than a week.” She acknowledged that records are meant to be broken, but argued that surpassing the mark so quickly—by such a large margin—felt unnecessary.
She also noted that Hysell completed a true rope-solo ascent, suggesting that comparing the two styles directly is difficult: “I’d love to see how fast he could do the Salathé if he properly rope-soloed it and did all the work that takes.”
Why This Record Matters to Honnold
Since the birth of his second child, Alice, Honnold has been staying closer to home in Las Vegas and focusing on personal climbing goals rather than large expedition-driven projects. In a recent interview with Outside, he mentioned he was not pursuing major objectives in the Himalaya or Pakistan, preferring climbs that fit well with family life.
The Salathé Wall seemed to strike the balance he was looking for: challenging, historic, and achievable within a single day.
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