Within the vast expanse of Yosemite National Park, rock climbers have been pushing their limits for decades, always with one question in mind: What can be achieved in just 24 hours?
This self-imposed challenge, or 'game' as some climbers refer to it, has been the driving force behind climbing icons like Dean Potter and Alex Honnold. They have raced against the clock to scale Yosemite's three largest walls, known as the Yosemite Triple Crown, as swiftly as possible.
However, this month, a pair of relatively unknown climbers, Tanner Wanish, 34, and Michael Vaill, 32, have raised the bar even higher. Not only did they break the Yosemite Triple Crown record by a staggering half hour, but they also managed to scale El Capitan, Mount Watkins, and Half Dome in just under 18 hours. An impressive feat, but Wanish and Vaill were not done yet.
With their eyes set on yet another monumental achievement in the Yosemite Valley, the pair announced themselves as the 'Valley Quadfathers'. They achieved this by adding a 1,200-foot face known as the Washington Column to the traditional Triple Crown. Despite the additional challenge, they still summited all four walls in a mere 21 hours and 50 minutes.
When combined, these four walls represent over 8,000 feet of vertical climbing. Learn more about their epic journey here.
The partnership between Wanish and Vaill, which was forged just 3 years ago during a climb on El Capitan, was crucial to their success. Wanish spoke of the importance of finding the 'right partner' for such monumental objectives in a recent Instagram post: 'With the right partner, it’s really incredible what you can try to get done.'
The Yosemite Triple Crown has been one of rock climbing's most esteemed records since 2001, when Dean Potter and Timmy O'Neill were the first to scale all three mountains in less than 24 hours. Since then, only eight other parties have accomplished this feat. Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell are the only climbers to have free-climbed the Triple Crown (using gear only for protection, not for upward movement). The previous speed record for the Triple Crown was set by Jim Reynolds and the late Brad Gobright in 2018.
As for the newly minted Yosemite Quadruple Crown, only time will tell if other climbers decide that climbing four walls in a day is the new benchmark. But regardless of future attempts, Wanish and Vaill will always hold the title of the original Yosemite Quadruple Crown creators.