For the first time in rock climbing history, two female climbers have completed the infamous Yosemite Triple Crown.
On June 8, Kate Kelleghan and Laura Pineau made history as the first women to complete the feat, scaling El Capitan, Half Dome and Mount Watkins in 23 hours and 36 minutes. Filmmaker Thibaud Marot says he's been in the California park working on a documentary with the duo.
"Most of the time the girls move so fast, which doesn't allow to have huge images," writes Marot on Instagram.
The achievement comes just two months after the pair broke the women’s speed record on the Naked Edge, a 5.11b in Colorado's Eldorado Canyon, pulling off a time of 37:08, which they tracked using a Coros Vertix 2S.
Boulder native Kelleghan, a speed climbing veteran, and France's Pineau have been in Yosemite for the past month, according to their Instagram accounts.
The Yosemite Triple Crown links the park's three biggest walls for a grand total of 77 pitches, 8,032ft of vert and 11 miles of hiking. To qualify as a Triple Crown, climbers need to complete it in under 24 hours.
In 2001, Dean Potter and Timmy O’Neil pulled off the first ascent of the Yosemite Triple. Alex Honnold (of course) became the first to solo it in 2012, and in October 2024, Tanner Wanish and Michael Vaill set a new record, completing the feat in just 17:55.
