Yuji Hirayama sets new Salathé record
Yuji Hirayama climbs the Salathé, Yosemite in 13 hours. This is the second, one-day free ascent after Tommy Caldwell.
 It's on everyone's lips: Yuji Hirayama has set a new record free climbing the Salathé in 13 hours, literally racing up the 1100 mythical meters to the top. First climbed by Robbins, Pratt and Frost, Yuji's time for this second one-day ascent is truly impressive, cutting 6 hours off Tommy Caldwell's 19 1/2 hours first-ever one day ascent last August. Yuji Hirayama had already climbed the Salathé in 1997, in a historic attempt to on-sight the entire route. At the time he failed at the last hurdle, in what would have been one of the greatest performances in Yosemite (and not only). The 33 year old winner of the World Cup 2000 has now returned and is on even greater form than ever before. The real question is: what new records lie in store? Caldwell climbs Salathé in a day (23/08/02) The Salathé Wall - El Capitan (Yosemite) 1961 First ascent: R. Robbins, C. Pratt, T. Frost Length: 870 m (35 pitches) grade: 5.13b First free ascent: Todd Skinner and Paul Piana (alternate leads) |
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