280 Routes in a Day

Californian Michael Reardon free soloed more than 280 routes at Joshua Tree over 19 hours in late April. Reardon, who has done several “mile days,” or more than 100 routes in a day, at Joshua Tree, this time set the bar at two vertical miles of climbing. His ground rules were that he could climb up or down a route but must reach the true top of each and climb in control (i.e., not jump) to the bottom of downclimbs. He also allowed himself some repeats. During the marathon, he soloed 251 different routes, ranging from Moonbeam Crack (5.13a) and three different 5.12 climbs to Ambulance Driver (5.1) and three other 5.1 routes. About one-third of the 250-plus climbs were 5.9 or harder.