How Fast Have Teams of 2 Climbed The Nose in Yosemite? Fast.
I've been reading Alex Honnold's new book, Alone on the Wall, which discusses his speed ascent of 2,900 foot Nose, as well as a history of previous ascents. The first "speed ascent" of The Nose was in 1975 by Jim Bridwell, John Long and Billy Westbay, with a time of 17 hours, 45 minutes. The most recent speed ascent, done by Alex Honnold & HansFlorien was 2 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds in 2012.
Almost 15 hours faster. Insane.
Here's a look at the progress of the Nose speed ascents over the last years. You'll notice that once you hit 2002, the climbers were beating each other by minutes and, in some cases, seconds.
| Year | Team | Time |
| 2012 | Hans Florine & Alex Honnold | 2:23:46 |
| 2010 | Dean Potter & Sean Leary | 2:36:45 |
| 2008 | Hans Florine & Yuji Hirayama | 2:37:05 |
| 2008 | Hans Florine & Yuji Hirayama | 2:43:33 |
| 2008 | Alexander & Thomas Huber | 2:45:45 |
| 2007 | Alexander & Thomas Huber | 2:48:30 |
| 2007 | Hans Florine & Yuji Hirayama | 2:48:55 |
| 2007 | Dean Potter & Timmy O'Neil | 3:24:20 |
| 2002 | Hans Florine & Jim Herson | 3:57:27 |
| 2001 | Dean Potter & Timmy O'Neil | 3:59:35 |
| 2001 | Hans Florine & Peter Croft | 4:22:00 |
| 2001 | Peter Croft & Dave Schultz | 4:48:00 |
| 1992 | Hans Florine & Andres Puhvel | 6:01:00 |
| 1990 | Peter Croft & Dave Schultz | 6:40:00 |
| 1990 | Hans Florine & Steve Schneider | 8:06:00 |
| 1986 | John Bachar & Peter Croft | 10:05:00 |
| 1984 | Duncan Critchley & Romain Vogler | 9:30:00 |
| 1975 | Jim Bridwell, John Long, Billy Westbay | 17:45:00 |
It wasn't until the early 2000's that climbers started to account for seconds when doing speed ascents.