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A3 I .'t,. ., ~ , Twospeeddemonshaveturnedthemostfamousbigwallofall intoaverticalracetrack,butastheyrushtoglory,theirpeers THEwonder:Howlongbeforea spectacular-andlethal-crash? II"' II:" t: CLIMBINGWAR

BY YI-WYN YEN utes when Herson stopped to fixa broken shoelace, they covered the route in 3:57:27. This time Florine rushed to congratulate himself, sending out a snarky e-mail to sev- HE NEWS spread through Yosemite eral climbers, including Potter and O'Neill. "Even I'll Valleylast Oct. 15like a Santa Ana wild- admit this one is goingto be hard to break;' Florine wrote. fire: Dean Potter and Tim O'Neill had Turns out it wasn't hard to break at all. On the morn- scaled EI Capitan's Nose route in less ing ofNov.2, Potter,30, and O'Neill,33, eclipsed Florine's than four hours-three hours, 59 minutes and 35 sec- mark by a half hour, in view of their nemesis, who for onds, to be exact-a benchmark previouslybelieved to be five straight mornings had dropped offhis infant daugh- as untouchable as the four-minute mile had once been ter, Marianna, at a day-care center and raced over to for runners. Word of the feat, as it so often does when it Yosemite Meadow to see if his rivalswere on EICap. Un- involves Potter, soon reached Hans Florine, who had bowed, Florine resolved to launch another assault on the Nose, but it had to wait: the day before he had broken 11'1 held the Nose record of 4:22. He caught up with Potter ~Iilj and O'Neill outside a deli where they had been cele- three fingers while climbing EICap'sAquarian Wallroute. brating with several other climbers. "Good job;' Florine The duel between Florine and the Potter-O'Neill team said, handing the pair a gift: a pint of Ben &Jerry's has transfixed denizens ofthe YosemiteValley,the long- chocolate fudge ice cream. "Guess I'm going to have to time mecca of the world's fastest climbers. Like onlook- go up there and bust it again;' ers at a NASCARrace, many climbers regard the rivals O'Neilllaughed and thanked Florine for the ice cream. with a mixture of fascination and foreboding, awed by Potter, barely able to conceal his contempt for Florine, their brealmeck speeds but dreading a spectacular crash his longtime rival, shrugged without looking up. Neither on these vertical racetracks. "I'm in the same boat with O'Neill nor Potter doubted that the brashly self- most climbers,who can't comprehend how fast these gUys promoting Florine,dubbed HollywoodHans by his peers, are going;' says Chris McNamara, who has scaled EI Cap would soon be charging up the 2,900-foot Nose in an 54 times and owns the speed records on five ofthe wall's attempt to reclaim the record he had held for nearly a 42 timed routes. "They're definitely pushing the border decade. In the highlyinsular, but hypercompetitive world between safety and climbing outside your abilities;' of speed climbing, where records topple as frequently O'Neill doesn't disagree. "We're all pushing en- as Third Worldgovernments, no record is more venerated velopes further and further;' he says. "It's just a nat- than the Nose mark. "It's killer, man, the speeds these ural progression of applying our talents." That's the guys are going;' says one veteran big-wall climber who's mantra of not only the speed climber but also the en- close to both Florine and Potter. "These guys wouldn't tire extreme-sports set. As their sports have soared in /' be putting their lives in serious danger-and I mean se- popularity in the last decade, snowboarders, skate- rious danger-unless there was some major glory in it:' boarders, surfers and kayakers as well as climbers have Indeed, nine days later the 38-year-old Florine was been under pressure to find fresh ways to wig out their back out on the most famous big wall of them all. His partner was Jim Herson, a 41-year-old computer engi- HIGHNOONThe first ascent ofthe Nose took 45 days; neer from Emerald Hills, Calif.Though they lost 10min- last fall Potter (shirtless) and O'Neillfinished by lunch.

A4 PHOTOGRAPH BY HEINZ ZAK t >"""~"" J

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1~1Ij, "I offered to climb with Dean," says Florine, "but he said, 'I'm into doing aU that fast stuff.' What a load of crap."

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ROCKSTARMENTALITYWith his aggressively flamboyant to break the record you have to be willing to self-destruct;' he persona, Hollywood Hans has been driving Potter up the wall. says. "Maybe it doesn't become too fast or too dangerous until the three of us die." fans and sponsors, even as a scornful public derides their at- tempts as little more than elaborate suicides. For climbers, first FOR THE last fiveyears Potter and Florine have floated uneasily ./ ascents remain the surest way to fame and sponsor dough, but in the same treacherous ether, chasing each other up and down the the number of routes still unclimbed is dwindling rapidly, and in 13big walls ofYosemiteNational Park,including Half Dome, Cathe- Yosemite there are none left. The response of men like Florine, dral Spires and the crown jewel, El Cap.With each successivepush Potter and O'Neill has been simple: If they cannot be first, they up the Nose, big-wall climbing's bitterest rivals teeter closer to the will be fastest. edge ofmadness, gradually eliminating a pound ofprotective gear And if that means paying the ultimate price'? The thought has here, a bottle ofwater there, to cut down on weight and shave min- crossed O'Neill's mind. "It's called the kiss of death: In order utes offthe most recent record. "I don't care about going sub-three

A6 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

'.' [hours];' says Borine, who, with Herson, has planned another as- ONE-UPMANSHIPPotter has tried to avoid being roped into a sault on the Nose for later this summer. "I just want to go lower war with Florine, but friends say he's just as ambitious as his foe. than Dean and Tim. This is so competitive. I just love it!" 1t's.enoughto make Potter gag."Every time I go out and do some- erage speed climber between 12and15 hours. Or the first ascent of thing, Hans panics and starts trying to beat me;' he says. "He's like the Nose,~ 1957and '58: Warren Hardirig,a bon vivantfrom North- a dog humping your leg."Though outwardly less .competitive than ern California, spent 45 days over 18 months literally carving his Borine, Potter is no les~ambitious. "Each time I climbed the Nose, route by drilling some 200 expansion bolts into the sheer granite I felt like I had broken down the wall a little;' he says. "It can still be face, infuriating environmentalists but fascinating just about every- refined way down.'The Nose will be climbed in under three hours. one else.Through newspapers and radio the entire nation followed Somedayitwillgounder2Yz.Maybetwohourswillbe impossible,. intently as Harding and his team of two other climbers established but if it happens, I'll be the one who does it." , four campsites on ledges along the way, all of the sites linked by Contrast that with a typicalascent of the Nose,which takes the av- 1,200 feet of rope secured by nearly 700 pitons. Hundreds of pounds

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of supplies were winched up by a clumsy device called the Dolt 1~~li Cart-a pull cart with two bicyclewheels. The circuslikesight caused traffic jams on the main road below, which at one point prompted a ranger to yell at Harding through a bullhorn, "Get your ass down from there!" In October 1958 a ranger demanded that Harding complete the climb by Thanksgiving or abandon it. Finally, on Nov. 12, after a continuous 12-day push, Harding stag- gered over the rim of the Nose. "It was not at all clear to me who was the conqueror and who was conquered;' Harding would say a year later. "I do re- call that EI Cap seemed to be in much better condition than I was." fin So began the popularity of big-wall climbing in the U.S., with Yosemite as the sport's epicenter and Harding as the free-spirited forefather. In late February, Harding died ofliver failure at age 77,and as night fell on the YoseIniteVal- ley on May 25, some 400 climbers gathered in a granite quarry be- ,n. hind an abandoned gas station in Bishop, Calif., to celebrate his life.The diverse group included erstwhile rock stars such as Royal Robbins and Yvon Chouinard, aging Vulgarians- members of the famously hedonistic sect of climbers who have been part of the Yosemite scene since the '60s-and big- wall vagabonds who had hitched hun- dreds of miles. Some recalled Harding's infamous drinking binges while others told salacious tales of his womanizing. At the end of each of his first ascents, for example, a bottle of champagne and a beautiful woman (who had been ferried up a much simpler route) would be waiting. Though his skills didn't match those of his contemporaries Robbins and Chouinard, Harding didn't care to work hard enough to improve. "Screwing is more enjoyablethan drilling bolt holes,"he liked to say. !II! Nevertheless, says veteran Yosemite climber Mike Corbett, "People were just drawn to him, and no one's been able to match him. He was so full of life." So,too, was the YoseIniteValley.While beachboys on longboards were prolifer- ating along the Southern Californiacoast in the early '60s, Harding's antiestab- lishment band of climbers-including boozers, dopers and drifters-was mak- ing merry some 280 miles to the northeast. After descending upon Camp 4, the venerated four-acre dirt patch just east of EI Cap, the climbers provoked park rangers by mooning tourists and steal- ing campers' food. They held raucous parties long past midnight. They were incorrigibly loud, except when authorities asked them about matters like the whereabouts of 240 40-pound bales of pot that disap- peared from a smuggler's plane that crashed in the Valley in February 1977. For all their hedonism, these wall rats were also supremely gifted athletes ~d left no rock unsealed in the valley. By the early 1970s every meaningful big-

AS SPORTS ILLUSTRATED ~ 'S. ~1, wall route in Yosemite had been established, and climbers turned nalizes his need for speed in more spiritual terms. As a teenager in to setting speed records. By the mid-' 70s advances in climbing New Boston, N.H., he spent afternoons scaling Joe English Hill, a technique and gear had enabled climbers to reach the peak of 250-foot cliff near his home, wearing Chuck Taylors and forgoing the Nose in less than 24 hours. During an unprecedented 15-hour rope. Explaining his preference for free soloing, which eschews climb in 1975,Jim Bridwell, John Long and BillyWestbay ditched both rope and placement gear, he says, "I want to strip climbing their haul bags and carried a mere !yogallons of water-not to down to its purest level,where 1climb onlywith my hands and feet. mention two packs of Camel straights, which they lit up while For me, it's about man trying to live [to the fullest]:' on each of the route's 34 pitches. "We thought we were so studly," Still, Potter is no less determined than Florine to make climbing Bridwell says. "We didn't think about trying to set another record, history. After hearing that Florine would try to set the record for because the whole point was just to break 24 hours. These guys soloing both the Nose and the Half Dome's Regular Northwest Face are a new breed. What they're doing is on July 28,1999, Potter, who was climb- phenomenal:' THE GODFATHERAfree spirit and a gifted athlete, ing in Colorado'sEstes Park,flew to Fres- The first of this new breed, which ar- Harding drew national attention to an obscure sport. no on the morning ofthe 27th, took a taxi rived in the YosemiteValleyin the early 85 miles to Yosemite and pulled off the 1980s, included Peter Croft and Dave feat himself that afternoon. (Florine Schultz, speed-climbing pioneers who eclipsed it a day later.) Last year, two employed riskier techniques such as weeks before breaking the Nose record simul-climbing, in which two roped-up for the first time, Potter and O'Neill com- climbers'ascend together. Croft and pleted the Thple Link, scalingYosemite's Schultz, soon joined by Florine, turned three largest walls-El Cap, Half Dome the Nose into the autobahn, complet- and Watkins-in a shade over 23 hours. ing ascents in nine hours and 15 min- Earlier this year Potter cranked out three utes, then 8:02, then 6:40. When Croft first ascents in Patagonia, including a and a partner went sub-five in 1991, sub-10-hour charge up the famouslybru- Florine inquired about teaming with talll,073-foot Fitz Roy massif. 'I him to try to set a new record. Croft "There's no question that Dean is way filii agreed, and in June 1992 the duo took competitive;' says Rick CasOOer,a speed the wall in 4:22. "Everyone thought climber and close friend of Potter's. "He what they did was mind-blowing;' says he's not because he doesn't want to O'Neill says. "I thought that record look like Hans:' would never be broken:' Not long after Croft dropped out of ONE MORN I NG in early May,Potter's the Yosemite scene, in 1994, Florine thoughts drift to other death-defying as- sought out Potter-who by then had set cents as he maneuvers up 420-foot several speed records-to be his partner Tombstone, a nearly vertical face along :11 in busting the seemingly unbeatable Kane Creek in Moab, Utah. Even if four-hour mark. "I offered to climb with Florine succeeds in pinching their Nose Dean, but he said, 'I'm not into doing all record, Potter and O'Neill aren't likelyto that fast stuff; " Florine recalls, mimic- answer with another attempt until the king Potter's low,brooding voice.Florine fall. Under consideration is slacklining, flips his bleached platinum hair and or tightrope-walking, across 120 feet of snorts. "What a load of crap." the Grand Canyon on a one-inch-wide It's not hard to understand Potter's piece of nylon rope. (Potter will wear a snub. The two climbers couldn't be safety harness to prevent his falling to more different. Florine, the self- the canyon floor.) proclaimed fastest climber in the world, TWoravens circle overhead as Potter has completed 96 ascents of EI Cap over sneaks a peek at Tombstone's summit, 23 timed routes. The chest-beating mil- some 30 feet above him. After letting itary brat is also eager to share other out a deep sigh, he rappels safely to the particulars of his resume: making the base of the wall. "I felt distracted;' he fastest ascent of Chile's Torres del Paine (1997), winning three says. "One more move and 1would have slipped. I've told myself '" ~ N Summer X Games gold medals in speed climbing (1995, '96 and so many times that falling means death. I'm totally afraid of > '97), and marrying former Elizabeth Arden model Jacki Adams falling." ~ (2900). But Florine didn't help speed climbing's quest for respect Still, he acknowledges, you'll probably be able to spy him high ~ when, in 1998, he explained his nine-day blitz of California's 15 above the Yosemite Valley sometime before year's end, chasing ~ 14,000-foot peaks by saying: "We're not hoping to prove any- history yet again. Just then a chilling caw echoes off Moab's bril- ~ thing. We say we're doing it for the environment, but that's just so liant sandstone walls, and Potter watches the first raven fly off ~ we can get sponsors:' into the distance, the other raven in pursuit. He understands this I Potter, in contrast, is thoughtful and introverted, and he ratio- too: Florinewon'tbe far behind. 0 z ~

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