Time & Date: Tuesday, November 1, 2016 @ 7:30 PM (Social hours and free beer for members at 6:30)
Directions: From Highway 101 at Santa Rosa go west on Highway 12 to Stony Point Road Exit. Go straight from the middle lane at the light onto Occidental Road. The Round Table Pizza is on the right just down the road.
Hans Florine is a big-wall climbing legend in his own time. He holds the speed record on the Nose route of El Capitan, a 3,000-foot granite cliff in Yosemite Valley that’s considered the Everest of the rock-climbing world. Ascending the Nose takes most climbers anywhere from 12 to 96 hours. Florine, along with climbing partner Alex Honnold, did it in an astounding 2.5 hours. But Florine’s story is not one of super-human athletic prowess; it’s one of persistence and dogged determination. In 30 years of climbing, Hans has ascended the Nose a mind-blowing 100 times, more than anyone else ever has, and most likely ever will.
In his new book, On The Nose, Florine describes the most dangerous, pivotal, and inspirational of those climbs, providing a rare look inside the adrenaline-charged world of competitive climbing in Yosemite Valley. Perhaps more interestingly, Florine attempts to answer the question why. Why would anyone undertake one of the greatest adventure epics on earth 100 times? His answers provide unique insights on how to live a satisfying life, how to achieve big goals, and how an otherwise ordinary guy can become a rock star.
In addition to his climbing accolades, Hans Florine is the co-author of Speed Climbing, has written articles for Rock and Ice, Climbing, and Master’s Athlete and has produced the multi-media series How to Climb the Nose. Hans served as executive director of the American Sport Climbers Federation from 1992 to 1996 and is currently an Ambassador for The Access Fund, as well as manager and shareholder at Touchstone Climbing & Fitness, the largest climbing gym chain in the country.
Hans is a professional motivational speaker, delivering keynotes at trade shows, conferences, and college auditoriums worldwide, from local rotary club meetings to Fortune 500 events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two children. For more details about Hans’s new book see: http://onthenosebook.com.
