Back in May, while hanging out in El Cap Meadow, I overheard a friend talking about Leah’s goal to climb The Nose naked, and instantly I wanted to be a part of that climb. A couple weeks later, sure enough, we set off at 4:38 a.m. After about ten minutes of climbing, I pretty much forgot I wasn’t wearing anything. Both of us had done plenty of naked ascents before (this was my first time naked climbing with a rope) so it was comfortable territory.
by Jonathan Fleury (this story was published in Volume 11, now out of print).
We topped out at exactly 4:38 p.m. It was hard to forget that moment because as I was running up the final slabs with loops of rope dragging behind me trying to pull me backward, Leah yelled, “You have one minute, and it will be exactly twelve hours!” We were both really proud because this was the fastest either of us had climbed The Nose.
All in all, the climb went amazingly smooth and felt very freeing. To be honest though, it didn’t feel that wild, which is probably why I failed at trying to write a full-length article about it for The Zine. Other than a few minor scrapes from chimneying and some tanning in places that hardly ever see the light of day, we came out unscathed. The weather was perfect, and we were only cold for short periods of time.
It was a great adventure and definitely a climb I will never forget. But seriously, with the beauty of that wall, how could you forget any climb on El Cap? Moral of the story, get out there, get naked, and go touch some rocks!
Jonathan Fleury is a seeker of adventure in the vertical realm. When he is not climbing rocks, he spends his time jumping off them, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, and working as little as possible to fund his habits.
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