Pete Whittaker First to Rope-Solo and Free El Cap in a Day
The top British climber has been perfecting his big wall solo skills over the past few seasons
Pete Whittaker just free-climbed Freerider 5.12d in a day, using rope-solo techniques. He climbed the 37-pitch routes in 20 hours and six minutes. The two previous all-free rope-solo sends were by Jorg Verhoeven in four days and Sephane Perron in seven days, both up Freerider.
Do people get how impressive @petewhittaker01 ‘s 1 day roped solo of el cap was?
— Andy Kirkpatrick (@psychovertical) November 11, 2016
Photographer Dustin Moore was on hand to capture the action and wrote after, “So incredibly psyched for Pete Whittaker. He just completed the first in-a-day all free ascent of El Cap via Freerider in 20hrs and 6 minutes. This shot (below) is of Pete making the infamous ‘hardest move on rock,’ a tricky 5.11c move. Climbing the pitch off of Heart Ledge 3.5 hours after leaving the ground. He started Wednesday at 3:02 p.m. and finished Thursday at 11:02 a.m. Such a badass!”
In August, Whittaker rope-soloed University Wall, the Grand Wall and Freeway in Squamish in an 18-hour push.
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