Denali Sees 8-Hour Speed Ascent Via Cassin Ridge

What a time we live in. With Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell recently climbing Yosemite’s El Capitan in under two hours, the nascent summer of 2018 had already seen one incredible speed record. Now, with news just emerging Friday that alpinist Colin Haley just climbed 20,310-foot Denali in 8:07:00, we are truly blown away.

Haley, who free-soloed the extremely technical Cassin Ridge on June 5 for his speed record, is known for pushing the limits of alpine climbing, has summited Denali 16 times and ticked off speedy first ascents all over the world.

RELATED: Honnold And Caldwell Break 2 Hours On The Nose

The Cassin Ridge, a demanding 8,000-foot ice and rock climb, rated at 5.8 M4 WI4, was first climbed in 1961 by Italian alpinist Ricardo Cassin over the course of several days. The most recent speed record was put up by Jon Griffith and Will Sim in 2011 at 14 hours 40 minutes.

After attempting the speed record several times in previous years with partners, Haley decided that going alone was the only way to beat it. After spending several weeks acclimatizing on different routes on the mountain, Haley packed his bag the night of June 4th with nothing more than ultralight crampons, an extra layer, a few energy bars, ice tools, water, and his music player. No rope, no harness, no protection. A little over eight hours later, Haley stood on the summit.

A few days later, two American women, Anne Gilbert Chase and Chantel Astorga sent the first female ascent of the Slovak Direct route, a 9,000-foot 5.9X M6 WI6+ climb. It is considered the most challenging and most direct route on the mountain and had only been climbed eight times prior.