Half Dome, Yosemite (CA)

[ucsbwalker]

Dean Potter has the ascent (1h19m) and RT (2h17m52s) FKTs via a non-standard route, May 3, 2015.
Tina Lewis has the women's ascent (2h31m18s) and RT (3h38m36s) FKT, October 6, 2017.

Note: Dean Potter and Graham Hunt were tragically killed in a wing suit accident in Yosemite National Park just 2 weeks after Dean set this FKT. Fly free Dean & Graham!

The standard route on Half Dome is the Half Dome Cables Route. It runs from the valley floor to the top of the Dome in 8.2 mi (13 km) (via the Mist Trail), with 4,800 ft (1,460 m) of elevation gain. The length and difficulty of the trail used to keep it less crowded than other park trails, but in recent years the trail traffic has grown to as many as 800 people a day. The trail climbs past Vernal and Nevada Falls, then continues into Little Yosemite Valley, then north to the base of the northeast ridge of Half Dome itself. This is the route used by every FKT aspirant prior to Potter, who's more technical route is indicated below.

Men's Half Dome FKT progression:
Kyle Williams, 1h27m12s ascent /2h23m51s RT, 9/28/2014
Rickey Gates, 1h28m47s ascent / 2h28m18s RT, 07/08/2010
Ryan Ghelfi, 1h32m54s ascent / 2h30m50s RT, 6/16/2008
Hari Mix, 1h34m22s ascent / 2h38m21s RT, 6/10/2005
Buzz Burrell, 1h47m ascent / 2h49m RT, 9/23/2004
Mark Spencer, 1h38m45s ascent / 2h51m56s RT, 6/19/1982

Rickey Gates' data are reported as follows:
Landmark Time
Vernal Footbridge 7:54am
Summit 1:28:47 h:m:s
Descent 59:31 m:s
Total 2:30:50 h:m:s

Prior to Gates, Ryan Ghelfi had the FKT at 2h30m50s (ascent in 1h32m54s), set June 16, 2008, as discussed here. Ghelfi beat Hari Mix's time of 2h38m21s (June 10, 2005). Earlier FKTs are reported by Rick Deutsch as:
Buzz Burrell, 2h49m (1h47m up, 1h02m down), Sept 23, 2004.
Mark Spencer, 2h51m56s (1h38m45s up, 1h13m11s down), June 19th 1982.

For the women, Tina Lewis holds the ascent (2h31m18s) and round-trip (3h38m36s) FKT via the standard route. Lewis recalled doing the ascent under 2 hours in 2015, but didn't have a record of that trip.

*** Belt Buckle Route! ***

Rickey Gates and partner Elizabeth Thorp have created a series of custom belt buckles commemorating some of the most iconic and hotly contested FKT routes! Half Dome certainly qualifies. Each buckle is awarded to the FKT holder, and passed on when that FKT is superseded. Currently this buckle is held for Dean Potter by his partner, Jennifer Rapp. There are no known women's FKTs for Half Dome.

Note from admin: I have edited the OP to summarize what we know about past and current FKTs.

[Kyle Williams]

My name is Kyle Williams. I am a 21 year old trail runner originally from Walnut Creek, CA but attending school in LA. On Sunday September 28th 2014, I ran the round trip from Happy Isles to the top of Half Dome and back in 2:23:51.

Normally people announce their FKT intentions before their attempts, but I only had the idea to go for it about a week before. I was volunteering with the Yosemite Conservancy in Wawona (South Yosemite) for the month of September. To tell a short version of a long story, I ran in high school (at De La Salle) and suffered a serious of injuries and setbacks from June 2011 until June 2014. It seemed like I never managed to string together more than a week or two of training. This summer I have been lucky and persistent enough to enjoy a streak of healthy running. So it was only near the end of my stay in Yosemite that I realized I might be strong and healthy enough to give the record a shot. It was a cold morning as it had rained all night so I was content with a late start (10:29am). The rain helped and it hurt. It helped when I was running through Little Yosemite Valley because it made the sand a little more runable. It hurt as some footing was less trustworthy. I fell coming down the Mist Trail, hitting my right knee, shoulder, and head. Obviously I didn't pause my watch during any of the run. My splits were as follows:

Happy Isles: 0:00 [10:29am]
Vernal Footbridge: 6:46
Top of Vernal Falls: 16:05
Top of Mist Trail (by the Bathroom): 32:00
"2.0 miles" sign: 56:00
Base of Sub-Dome: 1:12:24
Base of cables: 1:20:48
Summit: 1:27:12

Bottom of cables: 1:30:19
Base of Sub-Dome: 1:35:10
"2.0 miles" sign: 1:44:20
Top of Mist Trail (by the Bathroom): 2:01:54
(I forgot to take my split at the Top of Vernal Falls)
Vernal Footbridge: 2:19:22
Happy Isles: 2:23:51 [12:54pm]

I have hiked Half Dome 5 or 6 times before (on annual Yosemite trips with my family) so I was pretty familiar with the trail. I had a Vanilla Gu 20min before I started and ran with a 22oz water bottle and a set of Clif Shot Bloks. I started the run faster than I expected but felt pretty strong for most of the ascent. The ranger that does the permits saw me from a distance and I was able to shout my information and not have to stop, which was nice. It was difficult to eat and run at the same time because my jaw was too cold to effectively chew the Shot Bloks. I ended up feeling dizzy going up the Sub-Dome so I started hiking and ate the rest of them. I ran in a pair of the Saucony Fastwitch 6.

I think there is potential for the trail to be run in 2:15 or even 2:10. Someone like Kilian Jornet could probably go under 2:00. Only time will tell (no pun intended).

Here is a link to the GPS data, collected with my Garmin ForeRunner 910XT (on the higher accuracy setting): connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/604644981
I have never tried to share a Garmin Connect activity before so let me know if there is more I should do to share it. Is posting this information here sufficient? Also feel free to ask me any questions! I'm leaving for a weekend trip to Bishop but I'll be back on my computer Monday.

Added by admin: More info on this and previous Half Dome FKTs here. Video interview with Kyle Williams here (thanks to Rick Deutsch).

[Peter Bakwin]

Dean Potter reports ascent time of 1h19m, RT time of 2h17m52s, via a non-standard route, May 3, 2015.

Reporting on his Facebook page, Potter said "It's amazing what can happen with the hybridization of Outdoor Arts such as trail running and climbing. Thanks for the inspiration Scott Jurek!" His route is sketched below (looks like the standard route was used for the descent).

Bill Wright adds some comment on the ascent route: "An old hiking guide I have described an old route up to a lookout up there from which you can see five world-class waterfalls: Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, Nevada and Vernal Falls, and that the falls - Illiouwet or something like that. It's so steep that it isn't maintained or advertised by the Park anymore, much like the old Cables route on Longs and the Lady Mountain route in Zion. Of course, you have to solo the 6-7 pitch 5.7 of Snake Dike via this route. As that is holdless friction climbing, you don't want to be caught in any rain."

Trail Runner Magazine has a brief article and more detailed route description, and the story was picked up by outsideonline.com.

[BorneBend]

RIP .... he will always be there ... he was one of the amazing ones !!!
Hard to swallow, when great people pass doing the things they live for !!!

www.outsideonline.com/1981591/dean-potter-killed-base-jumping-accident

[Clint Cummins]

Hari Mix's ascent time in 2005 was 1h34m22s
from
www.speedclimb.com/yosemite/trailrun.htm

[alivecubed]

Hi guys, amazing job Kyle on your fkt and sharing your data.

I plan on doing this and attempting to break the FKT on March 17th of this year. I will be doing this for Dean.

If anyone has any guidance on permitting process in the "off-season" I would love to hear it. From online research it is my understanding that no permit is needed when the cables are down. I have a thought that I may be wrong, and I don't want to be so any guidance here would advance the possibility of doing this.

Also to note, I expect a good bit of snow on this trek. I haven't seen the landscape as of yet but I want to keep the integrity of sharing my advance knowledge of doing this FKT.

Thank you,

Alex