Renowned climber back in Valley 1 year after terrifying fall along El Capitan

World-renowned climber Hans Florine is back in the Central Valley, just one year after his terrifying El Capitan accident left him recovering at a Fresno hospital.

It is hard to believe that he is able to stand on his two feet after a 21-foot fall along El Capitan in May of 2018 left him stranded for nearly five hours while waiting for help.

This would have been his 110th ascent up the nose route and Hans thought it would be his last.

Now a year and 29 days have passed and Hans is embracing a new normal - recovery.

Remarkably after breaking both legs, the world-renowned climber only had to go through one surgery that lasted 8 hours.

Doctors in the Bay Area were able to repair both broken legs with brackets and metals.

However, it was not the physical therapy that was the biggest challenge.

Hans says for him, it was accepting help from other people.

"I had people changing my clothes, wheeling me in and out of bathrooms, helping me to get changed in the shower, inviting me into their single story home... yeah, that was tough for me," he says.

After he overcame that obstacle, he began his healing journey - learning to walk again before climbing, putting him in position to several months later join a lead climber along the very summit that almost robbed him of his passion.

And now he is back in Fresno for the bouldering competition at Metalmark.

He is ready to climb again and also inspire other climbers to never give up.

"I think life is hard. The harder you are on yourself, the easier it is for you," he says.