On the Nose

The Nose is the most famous rock climb on earth, tracing the 3,000-foot prow of the granite formation known as El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Climbers didn't figure out how to scale it until 1958- five years after Everest. In 1989, a young climber named Hans Florine attempted to ascend the Nose, an effort that took him 46 hours. He would go on to climb it an unprecedented 101 times (and counting) and whittle his total effort down to a mere 2.5 hours-a feat that has no parallel in modern outdoor sport. Florine's story is at once an audacious adventure that spans nearly three decades, providing a rare look inside the adrenaline-charged world of big-wall climbing in Yosemite Valley, and a testament to the power of persistence.