Jake Whisenant, a 30-year-old Mammoth Lakes climber known for setting a speed record on Yosemite‘s El Capitan, died last week in an accident in the Sierra Nevada, according to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office Coroner. The medical examiner recorded the date of death as Aug. 3.
No further details about the circumstances have been released. But tributes have flooded in from the climbing community. Bailee Moore, Whisenant’s lifelong friend, confirmed his death in an Instagram post, writing: “It is with an impossibly heavy heart that I share the passing of my lifelong friend and confidant — Jacob Daniel Whisenant.” She added that the family finds solace knowing he died doing what he loved in the beautiful Sierra Nevada.
Whisenant made headlines in October 2024 when he and South Lake Tahoe climber Brant Hysell climbed the Lurking Fear route on El Capitan in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 32 seconds. Gripped reported that the ascent broke a speed record previously held by Yuji Hirayama and Nick Fowler. The pair had completed the same route in just over four hours two days earlier, Whisenant later told Gripped.
The record-breaking effort was a feat of endurance and skill. Whisenant, in an Instagram post at the time, described tapping into a flow state and having an absolute blast on his favourite rock. He noted that having the audacity to take a record held by legends was something he didn’t think was possible. Both he and Hysell were full-time 9-5ers, not sponsored professionals.
Whisenant remained active in the Yosemite climbing scene. In May, the Yosemite Climbing Association reported that he and Noah Fox climbed the Nose twice in one day, completing the effort in 14 hours and 38 minutes. Fox, who had climbed with Whisenant in the months before his death, wrote on Instagram: “I had the privilege of climbing with Jake these past few months and these are memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
