Climbing The Nose of El Cap in 4 days with 2 first time big wall climbers

Graham and I had seen Keith crush 5.12 at Mission Cliffs in San Francisco for the past 2 years and always wondered who the 5'2" old man crusher was. We eventually befriended Keith and found out he had only been climbing in the gym for 6 years and recently started trad climbing outside. His previous outdoor climbs included, The SW Buttress of Cathedral Peak, Commitment, half of the Kor-Beck on Middle, and epicing on The Grack. One night in May over a couple beers, Keith informed Graham and I that it was his dream to climb El Cap. Graham recommended the three of us give it a go and I quickly agreed, thinking it was an awesome idea. I spent some time with Graham and Keith in SF teaching them some big wall basics and compiled a list of videos and books for them to review in order to prepare. Keith spent hours lapping Beaver Street wall in SF on jumars and Graham actually decided to learn how to build an anchor for the first time since we both started trad climbing 2 years back. We finally set a date and packed for 5 days on the wall with the intension to do it in 4. Here is the video of the ascent. Unfortunately my camera batteries were pretty much dead by the end of the trip so I couldn't take much video footage the last 2 days. I've honestly never been so worked on a climb. I ended up repelling and jumaring approximately 1/3 of the Nose in addition to leading every pitch but one and hauling the vast majority. This one was a true adventure of a different variety.

[@tombone63]

This is INSPIRING!! I was high school buds with Keith. We had a sort of Grateful Dead cover band and would just kind of show up at people's places in the country and go "Uh, we're gonna jam, k?". I am playing professionally now. Good to see pal Keith kicking ASS half a century later!

[@muprock]

You have such a positive and patient attitude. It's generous of you to take your friends along!

[@dannydevito6407]

"yA GUYS READY TO KING SWING IIITTT" *silence*

[@rushthezeppelin]

Wow I can't believe Lynn is still freeing the nose at her age. That's some awesome dedication to her craft.

[@ebee6874]

Causally says "Check out who's down there, It's Lyn Hill" 16:05

[@eugenetsitlik1559]

Yeah bro, I would be freaking out, good for him

[@tanner791]

@@eugenetsitlik1559 he was pretty stoked hahaha

[@gonamok]

Great job. I climbed the nose in 1979 and remember it like it was yesterday. My partner led the bolt ladder in the dark and he had to belay on a few manky 1/4" bolts right below where the angle kicks back at the top of the ladder due to rope drag. Our only headlamp then gave out and i had to lead the 5.7 slab by feel in the dark. i couldnt see the bolts and ended up doing the whole pitch with no protection. Scary, ya but we made it. What a beautiful route.

[@telephonic]

Mad props to you Man!!

[@TraeHampson]

Respect!

[@Starwarsnerfman]

Man this is so legend, best way to spend quarantine is watching yosemite big wall climbing like this. Such a rush it must have been!!! Freaking killer stuff man

[@Starwarsnerfman]

with lynn hill and nina caprez as well?!?!?! You lucky SOB!!

[@zebediahmartin9559]

3 mins in: "I've led and hauled every pitch" I just had to laugh out loud, lmao good stuff man. Sounded WORKED.

[@micahbowe3046]

So I do climb but I don't have too much knowledge on big wall climbing, why does only one person usually lead and then the others just jumar, is it just for efficiency or just so everybody gets worked evenly?

[@rbmh]

Amazing Climbing, Extremely Steep Huge Cliff. incredible to watch, keith is incredible for 67, im 55 and no way could i ever do that. Great Video, Beauftil Mountains.

[@Rycamcam]

Any chance you still have the list of books and videos for getting into big wall climbing? Inspiring video btw! Thanks for sharing

[@tylerharris5494]

Hey Tyler, would you be willing to share the list of videos/ books you recommended Graham and Keith? i think a lot of people including me woulf get a lot of help from it! thank you!!

[@vqna.]

How do you guys sleep there without rolling off?

[@pereinarbakke5955]

It would be very interesting to see the list of videos and books you gave them to review in order to prepare.

[@Mysiamesecatblue]

All of those ropes and colors when you are tugging the load. Gotta stay focused

[@Mike_In_Idaho]

That was amazing!! Thank you for sharing that. And Keith!! Seriously, what an inspiration. I'm 48 and I've been gym climbing for a year and been outdoors 5 times and just want to do it the rest of my life. Thanks for letting me know that climbing El Cap could be in the cards someday. I've been to Yosemite and scrambled around at the base of El Cap on the rock, but no serious climbing yet. Can't wait to go back and do a few pitches for fun.

[@Balgore8]

This 65 year old is doing this shit wtf. You guys barely look off the ground and its been 4 days and a 20 hour session straight? WTF.

[@irakperez]

Your video was so instructional beta to me! thank you so much!

[@thestu4602]

Nuts...I wanted to puke just watching, but still couldnt give this a thumbs down! Great vid cheers for posting!

[@ZiggyTrippz]

Why it take 4 days to climb the nose when it took Alex 4 hours to climb the entire face? Not a climber here, I'm genuinely curious

[@private0941xx]

Love your videos bro, raw. Why did wanted to climb at age 67? Thats badass

[@gavcar7036]

This is something that I love watching but don’t ever see myself doing this I’m not even scared of heights it’s just I don’t trust the equipment

[@beezymeech]

holy FUCK 0:41 Alex FREE SOLO'D THAT WHAT THE

[@motorizedmisfit-artist8535]

@6:42 the scariest thing I’ve ever seen online. I’m petrified of heights. How do you do this!?! Amazing content!

[@beingaware8542]

Holy Shit! Lynn and Nina! My heros! "It goes freeee boys!" and Silbergeieir! One heel wonder Nina! and great climbing Tyler!

[@Naafun]

Epic footage of the King Swing! My hands are sweating...

[@formzino]

I love climbing but have no desire to climb something that big

[@flowify1236]

This climb is pretty easy if you don't trad climb it.

[@paintham9430]

Passing the great roof would be a huge accomplishment, i just imagine Lynn hill on that thing. Edit: Much less passing by Lynn Hill, that’s a hell of a trip. I bumped into Sherman the vermin at Jtree, such a fun experience to get out of the gyms.

[@shaneembry7565]

Climbing that at 67 is savage. Just watching on my phone made my feet go numb.

[@JoeKunsch]

did you get to talk to Nina and Lynn? That would be so cool to see a climbing legend on the wall.

[@JoeKunsch]

@Narly waves wow, bit rude don't you think? lol

[@shanemeyer9224]

@joe kunsch yeah he sounds like a douche bag, because it would have been super awesome watch a legendcclimbing in the flesh

[@amdrewf3456]

67 shesh and looking like he's 30 to 40 damn good shit man stay healthy climbing is a great way to do it

[@tanner791]

30 - 40 is a bit of a stretch but yeah he looks great

[@ericlakota6512]

Tyler do you take people up for hire id feel safe learing with a dude like you i im 25 year tree and iron worker. But never climbed a rock it looks you dont leave the guys behind with less skills

[@robertdini1930]

what size omni block are you using?

[@dmacleod89]

I'd be interested in the list of videos and books you recommended to Keith if you wouldn't mind sharing. Awesome videos man!

[@Schwtz]

Dude, what the fvck.. i give yall props for this... i dont know how yall do it, 1 mistake... 1 failure in the equipment. its over. my palms are sweaty knees weak.. forgot what he wrote down Moms spaghetti ... moms spaghetti..... EDIT: keith is the freaking man! a huge inspiration for all, especially older people,, i thought he was late 40 early 50s he said 67 i said wow..

[@xiaotu134]

Go watch alex honnold el capitan free solo. He did this same climb with no equipment at all

[@Schwtz]

@@xiaotu134 yes i know i seen that years ago, but regardless climbing gets my palms sweaty ha

[@camdenburke3039]

@@xiaotu134 He didnt do this same climb. He did a different route called freerider with some variations in it.

[@Sean-dq4zo]

Just casually running into Lynn Hill nbd.

[@WestHaddnin]

These videos are as close as I’ll ever get to doing this haha thanks for posting these

[@michaelcramerichliebemeinl5150]

I (71years) always enjoy watching those climbing videos, especially when it comes to yosemite valley. But this one almost gave me a heart attack, at around 7:05 (the king swing you call it), was defintely to much for an elderly man. Great job, thumbs up.

[@davidschulz6207]

No wonder you can only do it in 11 hours

[@trainingtools2012]

You come across as the nicest bloke. Good on you mate.

[@skinnyguygains2459]

i love the camera shots that are straight up. such a monolith of rock. I’m going to climb this one day before i die.

[@leopers9225]

10:26 did you not yank on the friend?

[@rawdawgg_]

Damn these guys are def stoked!

[@Algernon7]

As a non-climber that's interesting in what you guys do, how long does it usually take to set up and tear down camp every day? It seems like a lot of work.

[@ericlakota6512]

Great job helping keath up your one hell of good climber.you crank up their deff know what you doing i always thought i could never do that but i think i could do it with you helping

[@szldkfj]

The ultimate nightmare is waking up to find you're on the ledge of a mountain

[@yeller212wmj7]

Keith is is really inspiring me, first I gotta start doing pull ups.

[@kdogmyguy]

Full send! Awesome to see your guys journey! Very inspiring! I hope to be there some day! Your videos on Half Dome and El Cap show me that I am totally capable!

[@yvindwestrum1439]

Nice. Liked the ending!

[@Invertmini1212]

Man.. Just dangling on that rope and thats it between you and the ground… The trust you have in your gear and the placements.. Like what if those bolts give way, is there a second back up rope?

[@tomrobinson2839]

Mate, i wanna big wall in Yosemite so badly. Done a fair bit of trad but never any big wall stuff before so not really sure where to start

[@wlouisharris]

Amazing climb. I've only done beginner climbs so watching the skill and strategy it took to get 2 other guys up El Capitan is really awesome.

[@shanemeyer9224]

I know, he is a fantastic climber and insanely knowledgeable!

[@galdmatic9504]

fuck this was awesome. wow. thanks for capturing

[@WCRenner]

Such a great video! Hoping to do this in 2 years

[@andyallen753]

Sick!

[@Maymounkov]

Hi Tyler. Very sweet video! Can you share where you bought the metal sling (permadraw?) for your haul kit in the video? Thank you.

[@Darindg22]

Skotswallgear.com

[@styrofoamx229]

So fucking badass, sick climb 🧗‍♀️

[@nguyennguyen4263]

How do you get the rope back when you climb down? Can anyone explain for me

[@Chance-ry1hq]

That was one complicated climb. Congratulations well done.

[@mikethompson2007]

Love the video, the attitude and the skills!

[@JB-rt4mx]

Rappelling...to Rappell 😁

[@stephenfreas4056]

Great video! You showed more of the route than any video I've seen. You made me feel like I was there. And I hope to be there someday!

[@mrboyban]

Go up there with two newbie, that is insane, what next? Perhaps two newbie free solo? You're very lucky!

[@shanemeyer9224]

I truly wanna know how "newbie" they are because every single thing you do and touch can kill you, those climbers did well and even if they were strictly jugging and cleaning lines that's absolutely brutal work days on end!

[@themeatpopsicle]

I love your videos so much. They're a great slice of life and the chill vibes are awesome.

[@VirtanenDK]

Great stuff, he is 67 and it's the first time on a big wall 👍 😀 looking so fun. Also a good teacher, the whole time he was optimistic and calm...... The 3 dude, we did not see much, but we'll done on your 1 climb.... stay safe all 😷

[@davidcisneros1075]

Man, shout out to the people that make that equipment.

[@johnryan8808]

How is that fun? I dont understand, or would stand under.

[@234i9]

Omg meeting Lynn Hill on the Nose?!?!

[@makeyourself1988]

This is class. I am petrified of heights but I would love to be able to do something like this. Amazing.

[@nigelpearson1403]

Great video

[@legojackgaming]

Watching someone climb this normally makes me appreciate and respect Alex honnold even more

[@JohnSmith-ed1sr]

Is the 67 year old guy seriously out of his harness standing on a ledge with nothing but a piece of dynema around his waist? not smart

[@DizzyVizion]

3:14 Happy Birthday Keith! 🤣 To get up there at that age though is pure beastly! Huge respect to the man

[@macklinroberts7818]

I cant believe how casually he slips in the rope anchors into the wall.. Doesn't even tug on it to check before attaching his rope onto it with 100% confidence it won't slip out. My palms have never been so sweaty watching a youtube video

[@januszj.8547]

Good job,well done ,congrats !

[@patrickcattell9696]

bad arse

[@paulmitchell5349]

Way to go ,Old Guy !

[@travellovernikhil2127]

Good luck guys 👍👍 You guys are doing great God bless you 🙏🙏 Love you guys

[@josephastier7421]

4 days for the Nose with n00bs is a pretty good speed. Nice!

[@cwoodside907]

Good job!! Can you give me some beta on the king swing pitches? Obviously, the leader gets lowered, then swings across and climbs up. But, how'd you get the 2nd(and 3rd) across without them taking a major swing once they break down the anchor? That's one section of the route I'm trying to piece together. I don’t have the topo right infront of me, but I thought the next pitch, was only a little higher than the boot flake and far enough to the left to cause your 2nd a big swing.....

[@tylerkarow]

The last person has to lower out using a big bite of rope. I didn't place any gear on the pitch so no one would have to clean but that is optional. The anchors are about 40' apart horizontally

[@paulschapman2037]

Just saw this place this week you are insane!!!!💪💪💪🌞

[@blainewinters8492]

Was that you're first time on El Cap in general?

[@tylerkarow]

I climbed Lurking Fear with a couple friends in June so this was go #2.

[@GamingAegis]

@@tylerkarow awesome man! Looking to get into big walling and setting up a trip to yosemite. In your opinion is lurking fear or west face of leaning tower a better first climb?