World’s fastest climber to speak at ISU Sept. 15

Hans Florine, “the world’s fastest climber,” will give a multimedia presentation about his light and fast climbing adventures on the big rock walls of Yosemite at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, in the Idaho State University Pond Student Union Building Ballroom.

His presentation is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the ISU Outdoor Adventure Center and is presented in conjunction with the 25th Pocatello Pump bouldering competition running Sept. 16 and 17 at Ross Park in Pocatello.

Florine is an international rock-climbing champion, a three-time ESPN X Games Champion, and seven-time National Champion. He holds numerous speed-climbing records in Yosemite National Park and around the world. One of his more notable achievements is climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National park in two hours and forty eight minutes. Hans wrote the book, literally, on “Speed Climbing,” available from Chockstone Books.

According to his Web page www.hansflorine.com, “Hans is obsessed with speed. He times virtually everything: driving distances, widget production, diaper changes, loan closings, newspaper reading. Hans has produced an audio program called ‘Speed Is Power,’ currently available in a box set along with 13 other success authors, the likes of Denis Waitley and Vince Lombardi Jr.”

Florine earned a business degree with emphasis on production operations and human resource management, which gave him his initial insights into how to apply effective speed to nearly everything.

Speed climbing is where Hans has made his biggest mark. On rock, Florine has repeatedly set and broken one of the most coveted speed records in the world: The Nose of El Capitan. He also holds numerous speed records in Yosemite National Park and all over the globe.

For the past 20 years Florine has been competing, climbing, speaking, teaching, guiding, and adventuring in North and South America, South East Asia, India, Australia, South Africa, and Europe.

Florine has produced, directed, rigged, modeled, and acted in projects with: National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Outside, Spire Production’s “Painted Spider” video, Italian TV with Lynn Hill, The Climbing Show-Bruce Borowsky, Climb International II-Michael Strassman, HSI Productions, TerraQuest, Jim Thornburg, People Magazine, Men’s Journal, Extreme Connection, Barbara Dewitte Productions, HKM Productions, Sarah Fergusen TV special, ESPN, and various other photographic/commercial shoots.

For more information on this presentation of the Pocatello Pump, call the Outdoor Adventure Center at (208) 282-3912, or visit the Internet site http://www.isu.edu/outdoor/pump.html.