Two American rock climbers from Utah with less-than-household names recently set a new speed record in Yosemite National Park.
On October 20, Tanner Wanish and Mike Vaill, both 32, scaled El Capitan, Half Dome, and Mount Watkins in succession—collectively known as the Yosemite Triple Crown—in 17 hours and 55 minutes. Their time shaved approximately 35 minutes off of the previous record, set in 2018 by Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds.
“We were just trying to go sub-24 hours, so it was kind of amazing to learn we’d broken the record,” Wanish told ϳԹ.
The Yosemite Triple Crown is one of the toughest objectives in big-wall climbing, requiring mastery of a broad range of climbing skills, as well as physical endurance and impeccable planning. The massive link-up ascends more than 7,000 vertical feet spread between 71 pitches on three different iconic rock faces, with nearly 20 miles of hiking in between. Simply breaking the 24-hour mark places the duo in exclusive company: only eight other parties have done so since famed climbers Dean Potter and Timmy O’Neill first went under 24 hours in 2001. In 2012, Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell became the first (and so far only) team to freeclimb it—using gear for protection but not aid—completing the link-up in 21 hours and 15 minutes. Later that year, Honnold set the record for completing the Triple Crown as a team of one, doing it in 18 hours 55 minutes.
A former Navy SEAL, Wanish has only been rock climbing for four-and-a-half years. But the Salt Lake City-native has already ascended some of the hardest routes in the park.
“I was shooting above my pay grade because I feel like that’s how you get better,” Wanish said. “With the Triple Crown, we didn’t have any guarantees or know we were going to succeed there.”
Wanish and Vaill, who lives in St. George, started climbing together in Yosemite in 2021 after connecting via the Mountain Project website. They first ascended the Nose—the 2,900-foot route on El Capitan—in October of that year. “We climbed 50 hours straight through two nights to beat a storm,” Wanish said.
In subsequent years, the duo took on harder routes in Yosemite and succeeded. In 2022 they ascended the northwest face of Half Dome and the Freerider route on El Capitan. In 2023 they took on the NIAD (Nose in a Day), hoping to complete the ascent in 16 hours. They did it in nine.
“I remember we were sitting up at the tree on top of the Nose, wide-eyed and silent after what we’d done,” Wanish said. “In that moment, it was like the whole valley opened up to us, like we could climb anything.”
A week later, they completed their first link-up: the Nose and the northwest face of Half Dome, a challenge known as “Double.” Wanish called it “the best day of climbing ever.” Before they’d even topped out, they’d decided to try the Triple Crown in 2024.
After receiving advice from other Triple Crown climbers, they decided to follow the standard order of climbs: Mount Watkins, then the Nose on El Capitan, before completing the Northwest face on Half Dome. The unofficial rule for timing the route is that the clock starts when the first climber touches the first wall. It ends after both climbers top out on the third route. The clock doesn’t stop for hikes or drives in between routes.
Wanish and Vaill touched the rock at the base of Mount Watkins at 4 P.M. on Saturday, October 19. Wanish took the lead for the first half, with Vaill taking over to the top. Climbing in blocks like this is standard for speed attempts, as it’s more efficient than switching leads every other pitch. Their total time to climb the 2,200-foot route was 2 hours and 55 minutes.
They got back to Wanish’s van at 8 P.M., and his wife was waiting to drive them to the El Capitan meadow. They ate dinner and organized their gear during the drive.
“At the meadow there was a big group of friends waiting on us,” Wanish said. “They were all cheering and it was so good for morale—we knew we were going into a long night.”
They started climbing the Nose at 9:30 P.M. After two hours of climbing in the dark, Wanish hit a low point. “I felt overwhelmed,” Wanish said. “Maybe that’s not the right word. I just knew we had another seven hours of darkness and cold, and another 6,000 feet of climbing ahead of us.”
He swapped the lead with Vaill about halfway up, as planned, at the pitch known as Camp IV. While belaying Vaill, Wanish crammed as many Trader Joe’s Fruit Bars into his mouth as he could stomach. They topped out in 5 hours and 25 minutes and raced down the East Ledges to the meadow where Wanish’s wife was waiting with a big plate of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and plenty of coffee.
“I was eating handfuls of eggs like an animal,” Wanish said.
After a 15-minute drive to Half Dome, the duo had to hike the so-called “Death Slabs” approach to reach the rock face. Normally the hike, which includes Class 4 scrambling, takes three hours to complete. They did it in an hour and a half. “We were charging,” Wanish said.
They hit the wall at 6:30 A.M. and began simul-climbing the 2,200-foot route. Simul-climbing is an advanced technique where both people are simultaneously climbing up the wall together, tied to the same rope, with pieces of protection continually placed between them by the lead climber.
It took Wanish and Vaill 3.5 hours to scale the 2,200-foot route. When Wanish hit stop on his watch, it was 9:55 A.M. on Sunday, October 20. They were astonished by the 17 hours and 55 minute time—it was well under their goal of 24 hours.
“We should go for a fourth wall, we have tons of time left,” Wanish said.
They heard yells and cheers from Wanish’s wife and their friends, who’d been watching with binoculars from the meadow below. Wanish pulled out his phone and sent a photo of his watch with an ecstatic Vaill in the background to Maxim Climbing Ropes, his sponsor. A sponsor representative texted back that the time was the new fastest mark on the Triple Crown. Maxim turned around and posted the news, along with Wanish’s photo, to its Instagram account.
“It was a nice surprise,” says Wanish. “Maybe we should have patted ourselves on the back more, but we were already talking about the ways we could have improved.”
Besides, they already have a new Yosemite climbing objective, one that they hope to complete in October. As for now, Wanish wants to keep the ambitious challenge a secret. “It will be even bigger than the speed record on the Triple Crown,” Wanish said. “I can tell you that.”