On Tuesday, October 10, Alex Honnold鈥檚 solo record of the Nose, set in 2010, fell quickly and quietly. By late afternoon, Nick Ehman had outpaced the prior record of 5 hours, 50 minutes, topping out after 4 hours, 39 minutes. Both climbers used a mix of aid and free climbing.听
The first Nose-in-a-Day solo was completed in 1989 by Steve 鈥淪hipoopi鈥 Schneider in 21 hours 22 minutes. Over the past thirty-plus years, the feat has only been accomplished by a select few, including record-setting climbers Dean Potter and . Climbers completing the feat have used a variety of techniques, including free soloing, rope soloing, and 鈥淢etroviching鈥濃攗sing daisy chains to clip into two or more pieces; the term was coined by Russ Mitrovich, who used the technique on a rope-less speed-solo of Zodiac.听
Ehman, originally from Bloomington, Indiana, has worked in Yosemite Valley since 2020 as part of the Search and Rescue team. Over the last few years, he has fallen in love with the Nose, estimating that he鈥檚 completed it at least 36 times. 鈥淚鈥檝e spent a lot of time thinking about [soloing] it,鈥 Ehman says. 鈥淏y getting really comfortable short fixing without self-belay 鈥 doing that for the last three years up there allowed me to feel like if I went back up to rope solo it I wouldn鈥檛 feel like I needed to do traditional systems like belaying myself with a Grigri.鈥 Taking the Jardine Traverse enabled Ehman to use a shorter rope, which he considers key to his success. Not only did it allow him to feel light and unencumbered, but it also provided a sense of calm. 鈥淚 knew that if I wasn鈥檛 feeling it, I could just fall back on different tactics that would be more comfortable. [It meant] being able to start up it with a short rope and less gear, but still have a lot of peace of mind,鈥 he says.
On that morning, Ehman wasn鈥檛 setting out to beat Honnold鈥檚 time: He was merely aiming to spend a gorgeous day climbing some of his favorite lines. 鈥淚 knew it was something that I wanted to try, but I didn鈥檛 think that morning that that was something I was going to do,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 just felt so good when I tried it鈥. I felt super secure and that just gave me more confidence that built throughout the route.鈥 As Ehman went on, the smoother he felt, the more the record creeped from the back of his mind to the forefront.听
As he topped out and took his phone off airplane mode, Ehman was quickly hit by waves of emotion and an outpouring of support from friends and family. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little surreal 鈥 I had such a good time and I鈥檓 really psyched,鈥 he says. News of his achievement quickly spread via Facebook and ElCap Report author Tom Evans.听
Honnold was congratulatory, telling Climbing, 鈥I鈥檇 love to talk to Nick about his whole experience鈥揾e must be feeling super dialed on the Nose. No one has really been playing the speed climbing game for several years; it鈥檚 great to see someone getting after it again,鈥 he says.听
Both climbers played coy when asked if the 4:39 mark would stand for long. 鈥淚鈥檓 content with it, but I know I could go faster if I wanted to,鈥 Ehman says. Will Honnold ever make a return to take possession of his record once again? It鈥檚 doubtful, but not impossible. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure if I鈥檇 ever try to go faster. It would take a lot of time in Yosemite and I鈥檓 just not there as much anymore. But it sure would be fun,鈥 he says.听