Less Than 23 Minutes Needed for This Famous Six-Pitch 5.11
Since the early 1990s, climbers have been trying to best the fastest time up The Naked Edge
The Naked Edge in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, is a classic six-pitch 5.11b. It was first climbed by Layton Kor and Rick Horn in 1964 (complete), and first freed by Jim Erickson and Duncan Ferguson in 1971. The 140-metre climb has several cruxes, including some stout 5.11 moves high up,
The race to have the fastest time up The Naked Edge took off in 2014 with six records set from April to October. The two teams that were gunning for the record consisted of Stefan Griebel and Jason Wells, and Scott Bennett and Brad Gobright. Two tragic events put a stop to the fastest-time showdown. In 2018, Wells, along with Tim Klein, died in a fall on El Cap. And Gobright died in an accident while descending from El Sendero Luminoso in El Potrero Chico in the fall of 2019.
For five years, no climbers had beat Wells and Griebel’s 2015 time of 24 minutes and 29 seconds. In 2020, John Ebers and Ben Wilbur managed to shave a shave 15 seconds off and climb it in 24 hours and 14 seconds. The race was then on to see if it could be climbed in under 24 minutes.
Fast forward to Oct. 22 when Griebel and Kennedy roped up for an attempt to beat the speed record. With people cheering them on, they managed to beat the 2020 record by over a minute. Watch clips from their ascent below.
Speed Record History
10/22/2022 — Stefan Griebel, Joe Kennedy: 22:44
5/22/2020 – John Ebers, Ben Wilbur : 24:14
9/19/2015 – Stefan Griebel, Jason Wells: 24:29
10/8/2014 – Scott Bennett, Brad Gobright: 24:57
9/24/2014 – Scott Bennett, Brad Gobright: 26:16
8/15/2014 – Stefan Griebel, Jason Wells: 26:33
6/9/2014 – Scott Bennett, Brad Gobright: 29:53
4/22/2014 – Stefan Griebel, Jason Wells: 35:01
4/9/2014 – Stefan Griebel, Jason Wells: 40:36
1/?/2013 – Scott Bennett, Brad Gobright: 44:00
5/?/2012 – Stefan Griebel, Jason Wells: 49:44
12/?/2010 – Scott Bennett, Blake Harrington: 1:13
9/6/2006 – Bob Rotert, Dave Vaughn: 1: 22 (car to car)
1991 – Michael Gilbert, Rob Slater: 1:30 (car to car)
Naked Edge 2022 Record
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