How Yuji Hirayama and Hans Florine reclaimed the record

July 2, 2008: “Go Hans! Go Yuji! Go Hans! Go Yuji!” a crowd of onlookers howls from below the 3,000-foot prow of El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park, California. The cheering spurs on Yuji Hirayama and Hans Florine, mere specks on the Nose (VI 5.9 C2; 2,900 feet; 31 pitches), as they charge to reclaim the speed record held since October 2007 by the German brothers Alex and Thomas Huber. The crowd’s excitement grows as they near the top — this is the duo’s third and final attempt, in a week, before Hirayama has to return to Japan.

The Climbers
Hirayama, 39, and Florine, 44, are an unlikely, yet complementary, pair. On the wall, Hirayama takes the lead, moving with fluidity, commitment, and power, red-lining his body and then finding out how fast he went after the fact. Florine, as the second, moves in a flurry of details, using systems refined over the years to keep safety margins high.
Both men are lean and cut, but while Florine is tall and lanky, and pale from his fulltime desk job, Hirayama is broad-shouldered and golden from years of climbing outside for a living. Hirayama is serene and Buddha-like, while Florine is intensely driven. Both men are married and have two kids. Florine lives in the Bay Area, hours from El Cap, and Hirayama lives in Hidaka “Nowhere Near El Cap,” Japan.
The veteran Florine has played and won the speed-climbing game for decades — he’s climbed the Nose 68 times and holds many other El Cap speed records. Hirayama, on the other hand, entered the speed-climbing arena just six years ago, after two World Cup championships and years of high-end onsights (up to 5.14b) and hard bouldering (he recently sent two V14s in Japan). Together, this supercharged duo performs at the very limit of the possible. In 2002, they set a record time of 2:48:50 on the Nose; it stood for five years.

A Better System
Hirayama and Florine constantly refine their approach, ruthlessly cutting operational fat. For example, the pair experimented with (but abandoned) lead-swapping six years ago, and now Hirayama takes the lead position exclusively. “It’s ridiculous to think anyone can jug or climb up to the leader, and arrive rested,” says Florine. “As in business, specialization yields better results for the team.”
The pair gained still more efficiency by extending pitches. “If you define a pitch as a place where you hand off gear,” says Florine, “we do the route in four: first at the pendulum out of Sickle Ledge, then at the King Swing, then at the Great Roof, and last at the Glowering Spot” — an average of 725 feet per pitch. The pair have streamlined their rack to a terrifying minimum, too (see “Record-Breaking Rack,” facing page). Alternatively, the Hubers shared leads, using a system so refined they switched no gear, as the second already had collected the necessary pieces on his rack.
Hirayama and Florine follow simple rules. If it’s on the route, it’s fair game — ratty slings, rusty pitons, bolts — they’ll grab the gear in spots to go “French-free.” But mostly they’re pulling glassy El Cap granite — stacks of 5.10 and 5.11 free climbing. Hirayama does all the leading, and Florine the cleaning, seeing to the belaying (with a Grigri) and rope-safety management. While during the Hubers’ climb, the second jugged much of the route, Florine jumars only 520 feet (less than a fifth) and climbs the rest at the same pace as Hirayama.