NIAD is not a " real thing ".

Nose in a day climbers are, without exception, impressive athletic superheroes.

But, they are not climbing " The Nose ".

They are climbing El Cap via an alternative path that skips some of the best and classic features ( see The King Swing ). Certainly, they are not climbing The Nose route. Nor are they either free climbing or aid climbing, they are yarding on preplaced slings to bypass the original route and difficulty, and doing two separate traverses that skip hundreds of feet of The Nose.

So, I'd be impressed much more if these so called NIAD climbers were actually climbing the route and doing the moves. They are not. 

If you did not climb The Texas Chimney or do The King Swing, you did not climb The Nose of El Capitan. If you are pulling on sections of slings that are 3-4 feet in length and preplaced by others to avoid tricky aid placements, you are rad, but you are not climbing The Nose. You are doing some misnamed variation.

Such an iconic route should not be devalued by those skipping the difficulties and claiming speed records to climb on and around The Nose.

They are El Cap speed climbers.  They are not climbing The Nose.

So Lynn Hill didn't free "The Nose"?

nathanael wrote:

So Lynn Hill didn't free "The Nose"?

No.

She did a variation.

She also bolted the pancake flake.

At least I was told it was her and those bolt studs still remain as some sort of grotesque reminder of why people should not drill next to perfect cracks

You do realize that yarding on gear is the definition of aid climbing right? I mean, you could argue that nobody has “climbed” The Nose if you are going by your definitions. So anyways, FA of The Nose is up for grabs. Anyone want to partner up for this ground breaking ascent?

Trolling grade: D+

Obviously A.B.s attempt to replicate Warren Harding’s climb in both Days Spent and Shit Hauled is one of the only Pure ascents of the Nose 

They’re not doing the Nose aid route. They are doing “The Nose in a Day” route. Both routes as well as the Free Nose all climb the feature referred to as the Nose of El Capitan.

please refer additional questions to customer service of this website.

Cherokee Nunes wrote:

please refer additional questions to customer service of this website.

You mean Kevin D? ( Lol )

What Lynn Hill should have done is named her route like they did with Free Rider.

Again I started this post with mad respect for the athletes and what they do but having recently done the nose and seeing what they do I can tell you that they are NOT  climbing The Nose.

And you're right you need climbing anything goes but you actually have to go the original path.

I' had a long versation with the climbing ranger while getting my big wall permit recently and she told me that the reasons why the permits were instituted were because the nose in a day and other professional free climbers leaving static lines fixed everywhere and on top of the cliff

Remind us why your opinion on this matters again? It’s just climbing… nobody needs to meet your “standards”

Mike Climberson wrote:

Remind us why your opinion on this matters again? It’s just climbing… nobody needs to meet your “standards”

Hey, hey, hey - do you even know who AB is? (me, neither :)  

Have fun and stay safe. That's what counts in climbing.

Good try, but majority of niad ascents i know of, including mine and the record-setting ascents, do the king swing. Take that quarter and shove it! 

John Clark wrote:

Trolling grade: D+

that’s a bit generous

Clearly what we desperately need is more classic / traditional ie hauling aid parties on the nose, that take 2 or more days per ascent. Nevermind all the other classic aid lines on the captain that never have anyone on them. We’ve got to cut back on these pesky “in a day” parties clogging up the route, especially when they skip my favorite pitches. Unacceptable. Furthermore and also, all these countless free attempts on the nose have got to stop. Connor Herson, go climb your 100 5.15s somewhere else. We all know how much you and your dad love fixed ropes. Thanks for the permit system el cap free climbers. 

In closing;

Brian Prince wrote:

Good try, but majority of niad ascents i know of, including mine and the record-setting ascents, do the king swing. Take that quarter and shove it! 

I’ve never done the Jardine Traverse, but I understand it doesn’t really save much time - 5-10% or some such.

Cole Darby wrote:

In closing; ...

Now THAT is a proper rant. Thanks CD for digging up that classic. 

Maybe they could call it something else..

Just riffing but what about NIAD?

Maybe it could even have its own Topo in the guidebook? 

Lol

This guy's got be trolling us, right? Lol

Not a bad troll, I applaud the effort, I just think it’s more of a variation on a pure lampoon of the NIAD.