Famed Bay Area climber Florine rescued after fall on El Capitan
Renowned rock climber and Bay Area resident Hans Florine was rescued Friday after he fell high up on Yosemite’s El Capitan the day before, bounced off a ledge and was saved from a fatal plunge by his safety gear.
Florine, 53, who has set numerous speed climbing records on the famous rock, was recovering from broken bones in his left ankle and right heel at Community Regional Trauma Center in Fresno after rescue crews winched him to the top and a helicopter lifted him off the mountain.
Reached in the hospital, Florine, who lives in Lafayette and runs a climbing gym in Concord, was lucid and in good spirits despite obvious pain, but he said he felt “stupid” putting rescuers through such an ordeal.
He said he had been climbing more than seven hours on a training run on the fabled Nose route when, at 1:40 p.m. Thursday, a nut he was standing on popped out 2,300 feet up the rock face. He fell 23 feet, hit a small ledge feet first, plunged over and came to a stop hanging upside down.
“I was on a rope like I always am, but the rope didn’t come tight before I hit the ledge. I had a helmet on, and I put a big dent in the granite wall,” Florine said. “I knew from impact that my legs were not to be messed with. I could see just looking at my ankle that it wasn’t a good thing.”
Florine managed to right himself, and his climbing partner, Abraham Shreve, lowered him 400 feet to a ledge, where they waited for Yosemite Search and Rescue.
He posted a photo of himself on Instagram and wrote, “Well, there is a rescue going on, on El Capitan. And it’s me.”
The rescue crew hiked to the top, dropped a line to him and lifted him to the top at about 10 p.m. Thursday. He spent the night on the summit, taking painkillers, and was picked up by a helicopter Friday morning.
Florine has held the speed record on the Nose route numerous times. His latest record, set in 2012 with Alex Honnold, was broken in October by an astonishing four minutes by Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds. Florine had told friends that he was training for a possible attempt on the record of 2 hours and 19 minutes.
At least two dozen people have died in a variety of horrifying mishaps on El Capitan since 1905. The first death on the Nose route happened in 1973, when 19-year-old Michael Blake of Santa Monica fell 2,800 feet after his hand slipped and his equipment failed.
“I like my odds — 178 times on El Cap and only rescued once,” Florine said of the danger.
He confessed that he wasn’t sure he was really going to go for the record, let alone beat it. Now he can’t, but his injury hasn’t dampened his dedication to the sport.
“We’re working with a lot of disabled climbers at my gym in Concord, so I’ll be wheeling in next week to see them,” he said. “My upper body is going to get really strong.”