El Niño (Pineapple Express variation)5.13b/c

El Niño, presented in the film as the Pineapple Express variation on El Capitan, is a modern big‑wall free route composed of many sustained, technical pitches rather than a single isolated crux. The line requires sustained finger strength, route reading on granite, and managing protection and logistics over multiple pitches while moving ground‑up. The film frames the ascent as a test of ground‑up free climbing ethics and techniques on El Cap, showing how incremental progress, hauling and fixing choices shape an extended free push.