Leary was widely regarded as one of the most talented Yosemite climbers of his generation He had climbed El Capitan dozens of times and set the speed record for climbing the Salathé Wall with Alex Honnold in 2009 He also set a new speed record on the Nose with Dean Potter in 2010 broken in 2012 by Hans Florine and Honnold That same year he climbed three El Capitan routes in a day with Honnold In 2012 he and Mayan SmithGobat set the mixed malefemale speed record for the Nose