Brad Gobright

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

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

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

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. 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. 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.

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.
• 2015, Hairstyles and Attitudes (5.12c) in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, US – First free solo ascent by Brad Gobright in November 2015.
• 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.