The headlines have been blowing up: “Hannes Puman climbs The Nostril free through Schnoz Variation,” reads Planet Mountain; “Hannes Puman frees new variation on The Nostril,” states UK Climbing; and “Exceptional Yosemite debut by Hannes Puman” echoes LaCrux.com, including, “This tough various to the Altering Corners pitch has in all probability by no means been free climbed earlier than.” Most not too long ago, Climbing revealed “El Cap Rhinoplasty: The Nostril Will get Straightened.”
The 26-year-old Puman, from Sweden, spent two months in Yosemite. He traveled with Jamie Lowther from Scotland, his companion for The Nostril, and Swedish climbers David Johansson and Jakob Östman.
In mid-November, I met the group over lunch with Matilda Söderlund and William Hamilton in Mariposa, west of Yosemite Valley. As rain bounced off the restaurant roof, Puman and his crew listed their upcoming plans for when the climate cleared.
Whereas we wolfed down Mexican meals, Puman mentioned he was eager to sort out not solely the toughest and most well-known climbs within the Park but additionally Yosemite’s old-school classics—together with the grovely Misplaced Arrow Chimney, a 5.10 all-things-wide climb established in 1947. I supplied to mortgage him large cams and padding for his knees and elbows and requested what he had climbed thus far that season.
Puman talked about that offwidths and chimneys are uncommon in Sweden, however he wasn’t afraid of giving them a go. Then, he rattled off his spectacular checklist from the previous few weeks, which included lots of Yosemite’s most difficult and iconic climbs. Beneath is an inventory of what he did throughout his two-month go to to Yosemite this season.
Astroman (5.11c, Washington Column) and The Rostrum with the Alien End (5.12b, Rostrum), Moist Lycra Nightmare (5.13d, Leaning Tower, taking a complete of at some point), The Phoenix (5.13a, Yosemite’s first 5.13, Cascade Falls space), Cosmic Particles (5.13b, Chapel Wall), Separate Actuality (5.11d/5.12a, Wildcat Falls space), which he additionally campused in method sneakers, and Crimson Cringe (5.12a, Cascade Falls). He additionally did Guide of Hate (5.13d, in Elephant’s Graveyard), Ultimate Frontier (5.13b, Fifi Buttress), Freerider (5.12d, El Capitan), and two days later began the Nostril through the Schnoz, 5.14.
As for traditional blocs in Camp 4, he ticked Bruce Lee (V8), The Farce (V8), Thriller (V10), Dominator (V12), and flashed the Kauk Slab (V8), King Cobra (V8) and Midnight Lightning (V8). In Tuolumne, he additionally did 5.13d Peace and 5.14a Love (Medlicott Dome).
Over the next weeks, Puman and his crew frequently visited Mariposa. They rented a camper van for 2 months, which all of them crammed into, and infrequently visited my residence. Within the mornings, they pulled out their two-burner range and cooked porridge. On wet afternoons, we baked muffins and cooked ribs whereas watching the unique El Capitan movie. Additionally they drew inspiration from my climbing guide library, which included Stonemasters, The Valley Climbers, Stone Mountains, and Desert Towers. I used to be joyful to mortgage them necessities – a portaledge, an expedition fly, a haul bag, broad cams, and knee and elbow sleeves, which had been essential objects for his or her ascents.
Born in Eskilstuna, Sweden, Puman’s background is in competitions, together with sport climbing, bouldering, and velocity climbing. (He lives in Gothenburg immediately.) He’s a junior world champion and European Youth Cup winner in lead climbing. He’s redpointed 9a (5.14d) and despatched as much as E9 trad.
Along with his 2023 ascent of Ache Makes Me Stronger in Frankenjura, Puman flashed as much as 8c+ (5.14c). In 2018, he climbed the huge roof La Fuerza de la Gravedad (E9; The Drive of Gravity) on his second try, marking his first crack climb.
In 2020, he made the primary ascent of Niemesis (9a), Sweden’s hardest sport climb, situated in Niemisel—a route later repeated by Söderlund.
As soon as, in 2017, on his technique to the World Cup, Puman additionally ticked L’arcademicien des crépis (The Academician of Plaster), graded 8c, at Céüse, France.
And although he educated with the most effective of them and made it a whisper from qualifying, Puman narrowly missed competing for the Olympics, representing Sweden, saying, “I form of have two jobs as a climber. One is competitions. The opposite is out of doors climbing. I obtained supported for the Olympics; indoor climbing is a giant sport in Sweden.” He’s sponsored by Adidas Terrex, 5 Ten, and Petzl.
Concerning his motivation for his inaugural journey to Yosemite, Puman says, “I imply, I’ve been eager to go right here for a very long time.”
Puman talked about that cracks past tight palms (1 Camalot) are uncommon in Sweden. That implies that earlier than coming to Yosemite, he hadn’t performed a lot climbing involving palms, broad palms, fists, offwidths, or chimneys.
Regardless of that, he tailored rapidly. After we met at my place not too long ago after Puman freed The Schnoz, he emphasised the variety of fist cracks on The Nostril. He held his balled-up fists, saying, “So many broad cracks.”
He additionally described working The Schnoz and the way it required him to make use of the whole lot of his attain—“totally star-fished out”—to seize the micro crimps. Puman rated that pitch 5.13 with a V9 boulder drawback. He animatedly demonstrated the beta, shadow-climbing the strikes as we talked.
He additionally recounted his battle on the 5.13c Nice Roof. To save lots of small cams for the end, he loaded nuts into the rope-length crack till he reached excessive on the pitch, then fired in spring-loaded gear. He described repeatedly falling out of the fingertips jams as a result of the pitch was so moist. With every try, he needed to adapt his beta, looking for drier holds. Puman mentioned he tried the Nice Roof over two mornings and two night classes earlier than succeeding.
On earlier day journeys excessive up El Cap (however to not the summit) with different companions, Puman had tried Altering Corners however was unsuccessful. He described twisting himself right into a pretzel—utilizing opposing knee bars—as he fastidiously unraveled his means up the notoriously technical pitch, rated 5.14a/b.
Finally, Puman opted for the Schnoz variation. “I talked to Ivo Ninov and Thomas Huber, who gave me a historical past lesson on the Schnoz,” he texted. Alex Honnold tried the pitch twice earlier within the season however got here up empty-handed. On the ultimate transfer on the Schnoz, Honnold shredded his fingertips, forcing him to desert his free try.
Throughout that afternoon chat, Puman shared the entire expertise of his ascent of The Nostril. Puman mentioned he was mentally exhausted from doing Freerider so near the Nostril and that Lowther was typically drained on the route as a result of it was his first large wall. It was their first time climbing on a rope collectively, however issues went easily total. Nevertheless, excessive on the route at Camp 6, the workforce confronted a setback when Lowther dropped his cellphone right into a crack under their bivy.
As an alternative of abandoning it 30 ft down the place it landed amongst different junk, the climbers improvised: Utilizing a nut instrument on the haul line, they fished it out from behind an enormous flake. Together with Jamie’s cellphone—important for his journey info and journey pictures—they retrieved a #5 Camalot, a nut instrument, and even a ratty outdated pillow, which they threw of their trash bag.
Over six grueling days, Puman freed The Nostril, whereas Jamie freed what he might, skipping solely the cruxes and the extra intricate traverses.
Concerning The Schnoz variation, Brooke Sandahl wrote in The Climbing Zine: “I spied an alternate means left of the Altering Corners and, along with Dave (Schultz), bolted it. It went straight up off the belay and climbed a piece of good pure edges until you bought to a stance the place you may stand no-handed. (The Huber brothers [with support from Ivo Ninov] would add a belay right here.) Then it minimize useless proper… With temps too sizzling, we performed on it a bit however actually couldn’t maintain the crux piano transfer as a result of warmth.”
Sandahl recounted Lynn Hill’s historic free ascent of The Nostril in 1993: “She was too quick to achieve the holds on my various, so she was pressured to comply with the unique nook. I remarked at her crazed sequence of cross-stemming, arm barring, arête pinching, and pin-scar jamming in a dynamic tango that I’d by no means seen the likes of earlier than or since.”
Quick ahead to Hannes Puman’s ascent on the Schnoz over Dec. 5 to 11, 2024. He reported that some holds had snapped on the unique Schnoz, however different climbers found a brand new sequence. With an extra bolt positioned by Ninov and Huber, the variation went at 5.13 with a V9 stopper crux. Not like Alex Honnold—who ended up with bloody fingers—Puman managed to keep away from such carnage.
“I had an unforgettable expertise with Hannes climbing The Nostril on El Capitan for six days,” Lowther posted on Instagram. “This was my first large wall, and it was a lot enjoyable experiencing all that comes with it. A lot teamwork and problem-solving are concerned, which all provides to the entire journey.”
Reflecting on the climb, Puman wrote on Instagram: “It’s fairly unimaginable that I managed to free all pitches. I didn’t climb Altering Corners; I did the Schnoz/boulder [problem] as an alternative. So far as I do know, it has by no means been [freed], and this was the primary ascent. We spent six days on the wall, and I had two days of relaxation between releasing Freerider, which took 5 days. I’m drained and joyful. I can’t thank Jamie sufficient for being an incredible companion.”
Two days earlier than releasing 31-pitch Nostril, Puman and his companion Jakob Östman accomplished a free ascent of 32-pitch Freerider—marking Puman’s first time up El Capitan. They started their climb instantly after a storm, leaving the wall soaked in sections on account of runoff.
Regardless of damp cracks and completely soaking sections, the duo accomplished an all-free ascent, with each climbers releasing each pitch.
However they did have setbacks. After pre-hauling their gear to Hole Flake Ledge, about 1,000 ft up, they found that mice had gnawed by their haul line and punctured holes of their water bottles, which they refilled from runoff. Their haul rope was so riddled with core photographs that they practically bailed however patched it up with duct tape as an alternative.
“The collected water was yellow and brown, however we drank it anyway,” Puman says of refilling their compromised and patched water bottles. They used this broken rope for fixing, forcing them to slip their ascenders over lengthy stretches wrapped in tape the place the sheath had torn away.
Puman recounted main Hole Flake, which works down practically a complete rope size, over through a ledge after which up an ever-widening crack and not using a single piece to maintain rope drag down. He saved saying, “Man, there’s plenty of broad climbing on that route. I didn’t anticipate a lot.”
Then he added that for the reason that offwidths drained him, and he didn’t need to re-read them in case he gassed out and gave up or fell, he discovered it rests every time attainable and paced himself. This was very true on the Monster offwidth on pitch 19, which he mentioned felt like a three-hour lead however, in actuality, was nearer to 1 hour. He reached the anchor beat, and so they continued.
When the 2 arrived at my home after Freerider, Puman was desirous to return to El Cap for a free try of The Nostril. Östman, nonetheless, was exhausted and prepared for an prolonged relaxation. With David Johansson again residence recovering from hand surgical procedure, Jamie Lowther partnered with Puman for the ascent of The Nostril.
Concerning earlier on the journey, Hannes advised me about sending Moist Lycra Nightmare. Darryl Hatten and Angus Thuermer established it in 1977 as Moist Denim Daydream (5.6 A3), and Todd Skinner and Jim Hewett first freed it in 2004 and rated it 5.13d.
Puman flashed many of the route and nailed the cruxes inside only a few quick goes. On the last roof crux offwidth (5.13a), he slid out of a rooster wing and located himself dangling by his arms on the backside of the outward, downward-flaring crack. By some means, he did a pull-up, wedged himself again into the flare, and accomplished the ship. Then he advised me about flashing King Air (V10 R).
Positioned on the huge LeConte Boulder, throughout from Housekeeping Camp and close to Curry Village, King Air is an iconic highball drawback that the late Dean Potter first climbed. Mountain Mission describes the climb as, “Jumpstart to sloper jug. Make some onerous strikes on bank card crimps from right here till you get to the first rate ledge. From there, make an enormous transfer as much as crimp, and don’t die on the topout.”
Hannes recounted his expertise on the boulder, saying he arrived on the finish of the day, debating whether or not to strive it on a high rope first. As an alternative, he determined to only go for it.
“I used to be like, okay, I can simply attempt to see the way it feels. If it feels okay, I’ll strive; if not, I’ll bounce. However the first crux was surprisingly tough, after which I obtained to the ledge. The second crux got here, and it was positive; not so dramatic, however you’re like, 30 ft off the bottom.”
Although it wasn’t the headline ascent of their journey, Puman and Johansson had an epic on Misplaced Arrow Chimney (1,100 ft, 5.10a). The journey left Johannson with a damaged hand, and the duo spent all night time descending the Yosemite Falls Wall.
After we first met over lunch, Puman had spoken excitedly about Misplaced Arrow Chimney—his dream route. The wild climb was first accomplished over 5 and a half days in 1947 by John Salathé, the daddy of massive wall climbing, and Anton Nelson. As Robin Hansen wrote within the American Alpine Journal, “This feat ushered within the period of Yosemite climbing that knew no limits.”
Nevertheless, issues didn’t go as deliberate for Puman and Johansson. Halfway up the route, Johansson pulled a small rock from the crack he was hand jamming, inadvertently triggering a cascade of rocks. A big stone slammed into his hand, and a microwave-sized block tumbled out, narrowly lacking Puman, who was under on the anchor. Along with his hand pinned within the crack, Johansson needed to yank it free, breaking his thumb within the course of.
Regardless of the damage, Johannson managed to complete the pitch. Nevertheless, he was pressured to remain off the sharp finish for the rest of the climb. Ultimately, the workforce began the descent, which was a 14-hour ordeal as they rappelled off route at midnight, spending the complete night time navigating the Yosemite Falls Wall. For anchors, they looped slings over chockstones, left cams, and carabiners.
That afternoon, a drained and battered Puman and Johansson confirmed up at my home, sharing tales of their endless retreat.
Johansson flew residence to Sweden for surgical procedure, leaving Hannes and Östman to rack up and head for Freerider instantly after the following storm handed. Two days after finishing Freerider, Puman and Lowther headed up The Nostril.
After I requested Puman what was subsequent, he replied: “We had been all actually eager on going to Patagonia subsequent season.”
To see extra of William Hamilton’s pictures, go to his web site and Instagram web page.
