Kate Kelleghan and Laura Pineau first women to do the Yosemite Triple Crown

On June 8, 2025, Kate Kelleghan and Laura Pineau etched their names into Yosemite history as the first all‑women duo to complete the legendary Yosemite Triple Crown in a single push—climbing Mount Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Dome via their classic big‑wall routes. Starting in the late afternoon, they moved with relentless efficiency, linking 77 pitches of vertical climbing and covering over 11 miles (≈ 18 km) of high‑elevation hiking. In a stunning display of endurance and teamwork, they summited all three giants in 23 hours and 36 minutes, shattering longstanding gender barriers in the big‑wall climbing arena. (c) Thibaut Marot

How and why did you get into this adventure?
[Pineau:] One of the reasons (maybe the reason) I got into this adventure is my unconditional love for Yosemite. From the very first time I set foot in the Valley, I knew this place was going to be a turning point in my climbing life. Yosemite is the kind of place where your ego politely waits at the door while you go back to square one. You learn patience, you repeat your drills, you fall, and start over. Again. And again. Until the glacier-polished cracks finally let you in. Very quickly, I noticed that every climber in the Valley had the same word on their lips: the NIAD – The Nose In A Day. That’s when I discovered speed climbing in cracks, and just how much speed is woven into the Valley’s climbing history. It’s also when I heard about the ultimate test: The Triple Crown — climbing Mt. Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Dome in under 24 hours. Nine men’s teams had done it. Women? Zero. Then one day in April 2024, while chatting with friends, I heard that Kate Kelleghan from YOSAR was looking for a partner to give the Triple a shot. Cue internal panic… followed by a flash of madness: why not me? I messaged her right away, told her I had never done any speed climbing, but that I was about to try my first NIAD the following week. If that went well, I’d be in—the result? 12 hours and 36 minutes. I was tired, but convinced. It was a big YES.

Can you describe the Triple Crown? The routes, the faces, the order, the start, the finish?
The “classic” Triple Crown order is: start with Watkins, move on to El Cap, and finish (with maximum sweat and style) on Half Dome. But climbing isn't just climbing — it’s also a lot of hiking. We kicked things off on June 7 at 11 a.m. with a 3.5-hour approach hike to the base of Mt. Watkins. Then 4 hours and 10 minutes of climbing, 1 hour of hiking down, and back to the car. During the one-hour drive to the Nose, it was multitasking madness: eating, icing our feet in a cooler, and playing harness-Tetris to reorganize everything before round two. At 10:40 p.m., we launched onto the Nose. Seven hours and twenty-five minutes later, we topped out. It was 6 a.m., and it already felt like we’d lived three days in one. No naps, no summit brunch — we ran the 1,000-meter descent straight to the car, then drove 20 minutes to the base of Half Dome. From there, we powered through a 1,000-meter uphill hike in 1 hour and 45 minutes (robot legs, engage) to buy ourselves a bit of margin. We started the final climb at 9:40 a.m. and topped out at 3:36 p.m., in the middle of a dramatic thunderstorm. Lightning was close enough to keep us moving… and praying.

How did the practice runs go? Times? Was the goal to get under 24 hours?
We arrived in the Valley on April 12 and spent six weeks eating, sleeping, and sweating Big Wall. Our goal was to get faster and survive the process. Thanks to our Coros watches, we tracked all our climbs and monitored for overtraining (yes, it’s a thing). Here’s our progression:

The Nose: 12h53 → 8h49 → 7h39 → 7h05
Watkins: 9h03 → 5h57 → 5h15 → 4h47
Half Dome: 9h05 → 6h05

The mission was clear: link all three walls in one single push, no sleep, under 24 hours. All previous teams had done it under 24h, so we knew the bar was high. No breaks, just a machine fueled by electrolytes and stubborn determination.

What’s the point of speed records in big wall climbing?
Climbing El Capitan — 1,000 meters of vertical granite — in just a few hours is… addictive. But it’s not a risk-free addiction. Speed climbing means strategic choices, higher-than-usual risks, and nonstop awareness. For most of the Triple, I had a free solo mindset: no falling allowed. Every move had to be controlled. There was no room for error, except that you can’t always predict when your foot slips or a rock breaks loose. That’s why I don’t encourage anyone to get into this style lightly. It’s a very mental balancing act, where you spend 24 hours at 100% focus, no safety net. At the end, I was proud — of course. But mostly relieved to have made it through.