Two Valley Climbers Complete Yosemite Triple Crown in a Day
Jordan Cannon and Scott Bennett linked the three walls in under 24 hours
Jordan Cannon and Scott Bennett have linked three Yosemite big walls in under 24 hours. The two top Valley climbers completed the Triple Crown, which includes The Nose, Half Dome and Watkins. Theirs might be only the sixth time it’s been completed in a push.
They climbed The Nose in five hours and 25 minutes, the Northwest Face of Half Dome in three hours and 46 minutes, and the South Face of Watkins in four hours and 25 minutes.
In July 2012, Alex Honnold became the first climber to solo the Triple Crown in 19 hours at the age of 26. Honnold estimated that he had free-soloed about 95 per cent of the terrain. “Climbing through the night, you’re always more tired than you should be because of the time and being by yourself, it’s weird,” he said. “I was climbing in a hybrid style where I had to keep switching back and forth between using a rope and not.” Also that year, Honnold free-soloed the 5.11c West Face of El Cap on May 22 and sped up Half Dome in a record one hour and 22 minutes.
Cannon’s climbing resume is up there with the most impressive of the active alpine, big walls climbers these days, with the second free ascent of The Giraffe V 5.13bR on El Gran Trono Blanco in Cañon Tajo, Mexico, leading every pitch; a free ascent of the Freerider VI 5.13a on El Capitan in 14.5 hours; a free ascent of Airstream V 5.13b on The Incredible Hulk; and the first all-gear ascent of Pump on a String 5.13c at Donner Summit.
And Bennett is well-known for his speed records. In 2016, he and the late Brad Gobright climbed Zodiac, The Nose and Lurking Fear in 23 hours and 10 minutes. In 2018, Bennett climbed the complete north ridge of Mount Stuart in five hours and 57 minutes, beating a 2015 record by Colin Haley and Andy Wyatt of six hours and 45 minutes.
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