Alex Honnold Climbs 13-Pitch Epinephrine 5.9 in 34 Minutes
He bested the previous record by nearly four minutes
Alex Honnold has climbed Epinephrine, a classic 13-pitch 5.9 in Red Rock, in 34 minutes and 51 seconds, beating the late Brad Gobright’s record of 38 minutes and 15 seconds.
Honnold talked about his climb on social media: “I’ve been thinking about Brad Gobright a lot lately – something about hiking briskly in fall temps always reminds me of him… After he died, I thought maybe he should just keep the record indefinitely as a nice tribute.
“But as the season has changed this year I haven’t been able to resist taking a few laps up the route, just to see. Today I did 34:51, and I feel an urge to thank Brad for the continuing motivation. I appreciate him getting me up early one more time to go outside and try my hardest on something big.”
Epinephrine was first climbed in 1978 by Jorge Urioste, Joanne Urioste and Joe Herbst and is considered one of the top routes in Red Rock.
Gobright, known as a speed climber and bold free-soloist, died at the age of 31 when a rappelling accident in Mexico. In 2015, he and Mason Earle made the first free ascent of The Heart Route on El Cap.
In 2016, he and Scott Bennett climbed three routes on El Cap in 24 hours: Zodiac, The Nose and Lurking Fear. In 2017, he and Jim Reynolds set a speed record of two hours 19 minutes and 44 seconds for The Nose, which was beat by Honnold and Tommy Caldwell. With Honnold in June 2019, he made the second free ascent of El Niño on El Capitan in 14-and-a-half hours.
“I miss Brad, but at least he’s still here pushing me,” said Honnold. For more of Gobright’s epic climbs and stories, be sure to visit his Instagram.
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