El Capitan: "Freerider" on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California, was the route that made his name famous over the globe. It's rated 5.12d/7c overall at roughly 33 pitches over 3,000 feet, with the toughest (crux) pitches being 5.13a/7c+ and 5.12d/7c. The average grade for the whole climb is about a 5.4.
Vogelbaurt Ridge: There are only three routes ever climbed on this steep North Face wall of the Eiger mountain in Switzerland. The hardest, "The Lost Arrow", is a five-pitch route graded 5.14a. The other two, "Lion's Head" and "Mummy", both start off as 5.14b climbs but get easier as they go up.
Dome Rock: This is one of the most difficult free solos out there. It's located in the Canadian Rockies near Kootenay National Park and has 14 pitches covering 3,000 feet of vertical relief. The route was first done by Tom Hargis in 1994 and it has not been repeated since then. It's estimated to be between 5.14c and 5.15b depending on how you count the moves.
Cima Ovest: This is the highest free-solo climb in the world. It's located in the Italian Alps near Monterosa, and has 18 pitches covering 3,500 feet of vertical relief.
El Capitan Climbing Routes Many believe it to be one of the finest climbing routes in the world, and several of its signature pitches have achieved international acclaim. This 31-pitch climb is graded 5.14a (8b+) while free and 5.9 C2 when using assistance. It is considered to be one of the hardest climbs in the world.
The route was first climbed on August 4, 1973 by a group that included Royal Robbins, Peter Croft, Tom Leinbach, and Dave Brower. The group made the ascent from the Yosemite Valley floor, following a trail of previous climbers' pitons and natural propping, and used fixed ropes to aid their ascent.
It is estimated that good physical condition and some training can lead to success about 1 out of 10 attempts. The best climber in the world is believed to be American Kevin Jorgeson, who has free climbed all four of El Cap's major routes within a year of each other: Dawn Wall, Mickey Mouse Route, The Nose, and El Capitan West Face.
El Capitan is located in California's Yosemite National Park. The climb is most commonly done as a long day hike from the parking lot at Glacier Point Road, but there are also two campgrounds available near the base of the mountain.
Honnold is the only person to have free soloed El Capitan and holds the record for the quickest ascent of the Yosemite triple crown, an 18-hour, 50-minute ascent of Mount Watkins, The Nose, and Half Dome's Regular Northwest Face. He has also been known to do some pretty crazy things on his days off!
The history of human exploration goes back thousands of years, but it was not until the early 20th century that people started climbing mountains simply for fun or challenge. American Edward Norton Bonney (1857-1942) was one of the first climbers to climb with no intention other than enjoyment or competition; he invented modern rock climbing when he used a grappling hook to attach himself to a cliff in Utah in 1883. However, it was not until almost a century later that someone truly put these techniques to useable effect - by which I mean, without dying. This man was named Edmond Boulanger de Montfort and he free climbed El Capitan in three days time, ending up on top of the world age 23. Since then, hundreds of people have free climbed this mountain, but only one person has free solided it: Alex Honnold.
El Capitan is a huge monolith located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, near Lake Tahoe. It's considered one of the most difficult climbs in the world, if not the most difficult.
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