Whisenant set a speed record on Yosemite’s Lurking Fear route and climbed The Nose twice in one day in May; his childhood friend remembers him as 'fearless, but with a gentle soul'

Whisenant hit the headlines in October 2024 when scaled El Capitan - the iconic summit in Yosemite National Park which stretches 3,000ft into the sky - in record time.

Jake Whisenant, the Yosemite speed climber who holds the record time up El Capitan's Lurking Fear route, has died in an accident in the Sierra Nevada. He was 30.

Yosemite climber Jake Whisenant died in a Sierra Nevada accident on August 3, 2026. He was known for his speed ascents of El Capitan's challenging routes. Whisenant and Brant…