Landmark Climb: Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell Scale El Capitan In Under 2 Hours
The feat has been compared to the four-minute mile or a two-hour marathon — "but vertically," one climber adds. Still, they beat the impossibly steep odds Wednesday in California's Yosemite Valley.
The first time a group of humans managed to scale El Capitan, a granite monolith rising 3,000 feet sheer from California's Yosemite Valley, over the course of about 18 months. In the six decades since, those who followed in their footholds lessened the time it takes to reach the top — but, with some rare exceptions, even the most seasoned climbers generally take several days to complete the trek.
