Brad Gobright

Brad Gobright (June 16, 1988 – November 27, 2019) was an American climber known for free solo climbing.[2][3][4]

Brad Gobright
Personal information
Born(1988-06-16)June 16, 1988
Orange County, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 27, 2019(2019-11-27) (aged 31)
El Sendero Luminoso in El Potrero Chico, Mexico
OccupationRock climber
Climbing career
Type of climberBig wall climbing, Free soloing
Highest grade

Gobright was born in Orange County, California, and began climbing when he was six.[5] He dropped out of college in 2009, working odd jobs during winter and climbing during the rest of the year.[5]

Gobright and Mason Earle made the first free ascent of The Heart Route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 2015.[6] In 2016, he and Scott Bennett climbed three routes on El Capitan in 24 hours – Zodiac, The Nose and Lurking Fear.[7] In 2017, he and Jim Reynolds set a speed record of two hours 19 minutes and 44 seconds for The Nose on El Capitan.[8] With Alex Honnold in June 2019, he made the second free ascent of El Niño on El Capitan in fourteen-and-a-half hours.[9]

On November 27, 2019, Gobright fell about 300 meters (980 ft) to his death on the El Sendero Luminoso climb at El Potrero Chico in Nuevo León, Mexico.[10][11] The accident happened while rappelling down the face of El Sendero Luminoso with his partner Aidan Jacobson, after the pair had completed a quick climb of the face.[11] Jacobson fell a shorter distance and survived with injuries. It was reported that the two men were simul-rappelling, a technique in which two climbers descend opposite strands of an anchored rope, with their bodies acting as counterweights to each other.[10]

Filmography
  • Safety Third (2017)[12] – A segment in Sender Films' Reel Rock 12, the 27-minute documentary shows Gobright's bold trad and free solo climbs including his free solo ascent of Hairstyles and Attitudes (5.12b/c) on the Bastille, Eldorado Canyon, Colorado.
  • Two Nineteen Forty Four (2017)[13] – The 8 minute film shows Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds's October 2017 speed record of 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 44 seconds on The Nose, a route up El Capitan in Yosemite, California.
  • The Nose Speed Record (2019)[14] – Featured in Reel Rock 14, the 63 minute documentary features Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell's successful effort to beat Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds's speed record on The Nose of El Capitan. Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds's previous speed record was 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 44 seconds. The new speed record set by Honnold and Caldwell was 1 hour, 58 minutes, and 7 seconds. The documentary shows footage of both teams climbs and the friendly rivalry between them.

Selected notable climbs
  • 2015, The Heart Route (VI 5.13b) El Capitan, Yosemite, US – First free ascent by Brad Gobright and Mason Earle on June 19, 2015.[15]
  • 2015, Hairstyles and Attitudes (5.12c) in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, US – First free solo ascent by Brad Gobright in November 2015.[5]
  • 2017, The Nose (VI 5.8 A2) El Capitan, Yosemite, US – Former speed record of 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 44 seconds set by Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds in October 2017.[16]
  • 2019, Golden Gate (VI 5.13), Muir Wall via The Shaft, El Nino via Pineapple Express, El Capitan, Yosemite, US – Brad Gobright has sent Golden Gate VI 5.13a in a 16.5 hour push for his third free route on El Cap this season in a day. Earlier this spring, Gobright sent Muir Wall via The Shaft and El Nino via Pineapple Express.[17]

References
  1. "Brad Gobright Mountain Project Profile – Basic info". Mountain Project. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  2. "Brad Gobright Facebook Profile – Basic info". Facebook. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  3. "Brad Gobright – Ep. 005". Wilder Mind Podcast. March 28, 2019.
  4. Levy, Michael (November 27, 2019). "Brad Gobright Dies in Accident in El Potrero Chico, Mexico". Rock and Ice. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  5. Heller, Seth (January 2017). "Solo Act: The Brad Gobright Profile". Rock and Ice. Retrieved November 29, 2019. (This article was published in Rock and Ice issue 239 (January 2017) and republished online on November 28, 2019.)
  6. "The Heart Route on El Capitan climbed free by Mason Earle and Brad Gobright". Planet Mountain. June 22, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  7. "Three El Cap Routes in a Day for Brad Gobright and Scott Bennett". Rock and Ice. July 5, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  8. Ridley, Harriet (October 24, 2017). "Reynolds and Gobright Break Speed Record on the Nose". Rock and Ice. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  9. Levy, Michael (June 11, 2019). "Honnold and Gobright Make Second Completely Free Ascent of "El Nino" on El Cap via "Pineapple Express" Variation". Rock and Ice. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  10. "Brad Gobright: Free solo climber falls to his death". BBC News. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  11. Farrer, Martin (November 29, 2019). "Brad Gobright, renowned US rock climber, dies after fall in Mexico". The Guardian. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  12. "Safety Third". 2017.
  13. Greszko, Tristan (2018). Two Nineteen Forty Four. Vimeo.
  14. "The Nose Speed Record". 2019.
  15. MacDonald, Douglas (February 8, 2016). "Heart Route on El Cap Goes Free". Climbing. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  16. Lucas, James. "Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds Set New Nose Speed Record". Climbing. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  17. "Brad Gobright Sends Golden Gate 5.13 on El Cap". gripped.com. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
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