Tommy Caldwell was met by his wife Rebecca after he reached the summit following 19 days apart, Kevin Jorgenson kissed his girlfriend Jacqui on making it to the summit of El Capitan on Wednesday. "This is not an effort to 'conquer,'" Jorgeson said Tuesday on Twitter, from 2,000 feet (610 meters) up the side of El Capitan. I've been this mindless monkey for the last 20 years, and I'm trying to remember how to use my brain, and that seems like a healthy thing. Now, in a strange twist, the Dawn Wall has returned to the spotlight under very different circumstances. In the Aksu Valley, the four climbers were taken captive by militant rebels of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The Dawn Wall has more difficult pitches than every other free route on El Cap combined. And experience. The glue helps keep the tape from separating at the overlaps while he climbs. Throughout the climb, both men needed to take rest days to allow their skin to heal. A French press for coffee and their iPhones (charged with a solar panel). The story became a global inspiration, garnering over 34 billion media impressions, and was covered by every major news outlet, including The New York Times,National Geographic,TIME, Vanity Fair, Good Morning America, CNN, ESPN, and more. Both climbers admitted that their hands were 'pretty beat' following the feat, Jorgeson shows his hands after he and Tommy Caldwell completed their historic free-climb ascent of El Capitans Dawn Wall, in Yosemite National Park on Wednesday, Jorgenson grips to the walls with his bare hands as the climbers scale the rock face in Yosemite park, Kevin Jorgenson, 30, (pictured left) and Tommy Caldwell, 36, (right) spoke on Thursday about the toll the historic climb had taken on their bodies, Jorgeson attempts to repair damage to his callused and aching hands - while suspended thousands of feet up El Capitan, Caldwell applies balm to his poor hands, where his injured index finger is visible, after the effects of a tool-free climb up 3,000ft of rock began to take its toll. Caldwell's odds-defying feat was the culmination of an entire lifetime of pushing himself to his limits as an athlete. Six years later, they spidered into sporting lore. Before starting to climb, there are steps taken to get the hands in optimum condition. Thats my Dawn Wall. We all had tears in our eyes. Last Saturday, two and a half months after Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed their historic, 19-day free climb of El Capitans Dawn Wall, Jorgeson visited Vail, Colorado, to present never-before-seen footage of the climbs most dramatic section: pitch 15, a 5.14d traverse that nearly ended Jorgesons expedition. I was constantly checking in with Tommy, Was that all right? After pitch 14, Caldwell, 36, the more experienced climber of the two, kicked into high gear. In 1988, Todd Skinner and Paul Piana became the first to free climb El Cap via one of its major routes: the Salath Wall. I was used to the failure, I was used to the progression, I was used to all of it, whereas speaking is a brand-new thing. Every athlete at his peak is going to perform with a different mental cocktail. Free climbing means using one's hands and feet to ascend a rock's natural features, employing ropes and other gear only to stop a fall. Click to see a history of achievements on El Cap. Its not enough to just be confident. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson conquered what many call the world's most difficult rock climb, using. Its a popular practice, and research shows it has real health benefits. The pair ate canned peaches, bagels with thick slices of chorizo and occasionally sipped whiskey. According to James Lucas, a former Yosemite Valley bum and now associate editor at Climbing magazine, approximately 800 pounds of food and water were hauled up the wall over the course of the ascent. In 2013, Caldwell fractured a rib when he dropped a hundred-pound haul bag that was attached to his harness via a hundred-foot rope; the force of the bag hitting the end of the line pulled the rib out of place. The climbers described the experience as 'incredible' and said it was 'pretty surreal' to wake up on Thursday and not be suspended in a tent from a sheer rock face. Some behind-the-scenes details, however, are left out. Read more about our policy. During one clip, Jorgeson attempts pitch 15 at night, with cameras hovering overhead. But sink in those bricks so they barely stick out from the wall. The story of the Dawn Wall is the story of Tommy Caldwell. How was Rome founded? Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson climbed into the history books on Wednesday after reaching the top of the 3,000ft, granite face of El Capitan without tools - but the epic feat was not without sacrifice, especially for their hard-working hands. Were both processing the aftermath of this. Tommy Caldwell: This seems kind of lame, but skin durability. Can fasting help you live longer? El Capitan: The courageous pair closing in on the top of the 3,000-foot peak in Yosemite National Park on Wednesday afternoon. In the spring of 2008, six months after starting the Dawn Wall project partly to take his mind off his recent divorce, Caldwell met Rebecca Pietsch, a woman who seemed "way out of my league," says Caldwell. Because the warmth of the day can cause their hands and feet to perspire, the two often started climbing at dusk. It all lined up to create this one moment in which my skin was good enough and the conditions were perfect.". They were really bruised and cracked and nasty for three weeks. Their 19-day push to complete the. Jorgeson said: 'What made us stick with this climb for so long, which Tommy envisioned seven years ago, was realizing this dream and seeing it through.'. We do not accept money for editorial gear reviews. The wall has been scaled before, first by legendary climber Warren Harding in 1970, but never before without climbing tools. Fucker! he screams as he drops off the wall and swings back and forth in the dark abyss. The success reenergized the team in a major way, as Jorgeson caught a second wind. The defining moment of their kidnapping came when the four climbers found themselves alone with just one rebel fighter, and Caldwell shoved the gunman off a cliff. I think we all admire people who are dedicated, but at some point you start to wonder where the line is between dedication and obsession, Kelly Cordes, a climber and friend of Caldwells, says in the film. OUTSIDE: What made you think you could climb pitch 15 after failing so many times?Jorgeson: Nothing. It was a big blow to the whole community, so we started a foundation in his name and designed these really cool shirts from a drawing he did in the dust on the back of his pickup truck. Tommy Caldwell, 36, and Kevin Jorgeson, 30, reached the summit of El Capitan on Wednesday afternoon They are first to ascend the Dawn Wall without bolts or climbing tools Jorgeson forced. Then all the callouses fell off, and now my skin is soft again. Its a popular practice, and research shows it has real health benefits. Whatever public profile Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson had before they free climbed the Dawn Wall of El Capitan, it certainly got a lift once they reached the top. 'That's a deep, abiding, lifelong friendship, built over suffering on the wall together over six years,' she said. Photograph by Jimmy Chin, Nat Geo Image Collection, Photograph by Brett Lowell, Big Up Productions/Aurora Photos. Heres how different cold and flu drugs work, Searching for traces of the ancient Chola dynasty, This desert oasis is a time capsule of Egypts grand past, This mysterious son of a witch founded Glasgow, Singapores art and culture scene is a love letter to its city, An adventure across Abu Dhabis diverse landscapes, Photograph by Bligh Gillies, Big Up Productions/Aurora Photos, Photograph by Corey Rich, Big Up Productions/Aurora Photos. Tommy was too hoarse to talk after the climb, which meant you answered every interview question. So, the pair continued, year after year, to work on their projectthrough early snowstorms in 2010, an ankle injury that sidelined Jorgeson in 2011, and a government shutdown and then a fractured rib that took Caldwell out in 2013. January 15, 2015, 8:24 AM. The film follows free climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson as they made what seemed to be an impossible attempt to climb the rock face known as the Dawn Wall, a 3,000-foot-high cliff . Warren Harding and Dean Caldwell (no relation to Tommy) aid climbed the "Wall of the Early Morning Light," aka the Dawn Wall, for the first time in 1970. Animal-friendly laws are gaining traction across the U.S. COVID-19 is more widespread in animals than we thought. Alex Honnold carried up lip balm and sunglasses one day. ", Posting on her blog, Rebecca wrote, "The Dawn Wall started out as a little bit of an escape from a deep pain Tommy felt from the sadness of splitting up with his former wife. Two climbers in Yosemite National Park achieved a lifelong dream and made history. Since then, he has dedicated most of his professional climbing career to exploring the nuances of the many climbing routes crisscrossing El Capitan's towering granite flanks. Several dozen people, including relatives of the climbers, and about two dozen photographers, gathered in the meadow looking up at the face as the climbers made the final push for the summit. On January 9, Jorgeson finally broke through and completed pitch 15 without falling. "The Dawn Wall has been the only constant in my life for the past seven years, he said last week by phone from his portaledge. The Dawn Wall has been the only constant in my life for the past seven years. But in this special case I do it and and take my hat off to Tommy and Kevin by now. 'It was more other parents saying, ''Hey, your son is at the top of a backstop.'''. It was more a question of, mentally, can you get to that place where you're calm enough and confident enough to do it all under pressure and in sequence start to finish. Even with all that work, skin conditions, humidity, air temperature, a calm and unattached state of mind, and a well-rested body also all need to align. But Tommys writing, and Im doing a lot of speaking. The Dawn Wall includes interviews with Caldwells parents, Jorgesons mom, friends of the climbers, and John Branch of the New York Times to provide an outside (read: human) perspective on the ascent. For training purposes, Caldwell once free climbed two routes on El Capitan in a 24-hour period. At that point, Jorgeson had never climbed El Capitan, or even spent the night on a rock climb. They escaped, hiking 18 miles (29 kilometers) to freedom. Some are as lame as My Dawn Wall is to eat five Big Macs in a row. But while we were in the lodge in Yosemite, taking interviews two days after we topped out, this woman with a walker came up to Tommy and me and said: Are you those climbers? There are photos of me [as a] naked little kid in the back of the truck with a bunch of life jackets and boats. Tommy Caldwell, however, might be the one exception. When you buy something using the retail links in our stories, we may earn a small commission. Caldwell says he received an e-mail from Jorgeson "almost immediately" after Progression was released. The Dawn Wall has also been an opportunity for Caldwell to be a mentor to Jorgeson. Follow him on Twitter. Simply finding the route took him a full year of exploration. The Dawn Wall is the steepest, tallest, blankest section of El Capand one of the monolith's most storied sectors. "Optimism, perseverance, dedication and the importance of dreaming big.". (See pictures from the photographer who is documenting Caldwell's and Jorgeson's attempt to make history.). It took them two to three hours to hike down the mountain. Hes still bummed about that. As a whole, I felt stronger at the top than I did when we started. For six days they survived on no food and little water and eventually escaped when Tommy pushed their remaining captor off of a cliff and they ran 10 miles to a military outpost. - Variety, "The Dawn Wall" documentary is now available worldwide on Netflix, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Carly Zakin & Danielle Weisberg (TheSkimm), Fox and Rob Rich (Sibil Fox & Robert Richardson), Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers (Pantsuit Politics), Vanity Fair: "Meet the Two Men Who Free-Climbed Yosemites Perilous Dawn Wall", NY Times: "El Capitans Dawn Wall: Coverage of the Ascent at Yosemite", Completed the historic first ever free ascent of El Capitans Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park, considered the hardest climb in the world, Endured 19 days of climbing and living on the side of the 3,000 tall cliff face, Inspired millions of followers around the world following the ascent, Featured by every major news outlet, including The New York Times,National Geographic,TIME, Vanity Fair, Good Morning America, CNN, ESPN, and more. It was the biggest and steepest unfreed swath of rock remaining on the 3,000-foot granite monolith. On Jan. 14, 2015, just after 6 p.m., Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson clambered over the rim of the Dawn Wall, 3,000 feet above the floor of California's Yosemite National Park. On the evening of January 8, 2015, Tommy Caldwell (right), 37, and Kevin Jorgeson, 31, sat in a collection of portaledgeshanging cot-tent hybridsthat dangled halfway up El Capitan's. It was arguably the toughest pitch on what many have called the most difficult climb in the world. They also took physical punishment when their grip would slip, pitching them into long, swinging falls that left them bouncing off the rock face. Not in a day, and not by twins. The final segment featured Caldwell swinging around a featureless section of the Dawn Wall, calling out the next generation to come and help him finish the next-level route. "If I couldn't do it, then maybe someone else could.". Caldwell climbs pitch 16, one of the most difficult sections of the Dawn Wall. -bo', The two climbers balance on a razor-thin ledge during the climb of the momentous El Capitan which tested their endurance to the very limits, El Capitan rises more than 3,000 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor and on their journey to the summit, the climbers often began climbing at dusk to avoid the heat of the day, Tommy Caldwell, in red, celebrated when he too reached the top just minutes later after their epic climb which began on December 27. "Hard to put the feeling into words. Downing Street slams US President's criticism of new laws to restrict impact of strikes Ouch! I want to use rivers like a trailhead for exploring, discovering, and developing totally unseen canyons around the world where trails don't go, roads don't go, helicopters don't gothe more remote the better What amazing cliffs and boulder fields are out there that no climber has ever set eyes on before simply because you have to use a river to get there? TC: Well, it's different. (credit: CBS) Tommy. Even in January, it was still too hot for free climbing in the direct California sun, forcing Caldwell and Jorgeson to do most of their climbing at night. For Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson, the adventure lies not in just getting to the top of the great granite monolith. Looking after their hands was not the only concern for Caldwell and Jorgeson on their way up El Capitan - there were practical matters to be taken into consideration. The Dawn Wall was about dreaming as big as I could and becoming the man that could do it. 'I feel like the most proud person in the world right now,' said Caldwell's 39-year-old sister Sandy Van Nieuwenhuyzen, hours before the climb was completed. On January 14, 2015, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson topped out El Capitan's Dawn Wall in Yosemite Valley to a circus of friends, family, and media. "I thought that the film would at least show the climbing world what this line was all about," said Caldwell. About 200 people were waiting for them, including Caldwell's wife and Jorgeson's girlfriend, who welcomed them to the top with hugs and kisses. 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He fell 11 times, resting every other day to let his shredded fingertips heal. Climbers fall, hang, and rehearse each and every move, over and over. In this Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015 photo provided by Ted Distel shows Ke Distributing body weight among hands and feet, and maintaining a perfect balance among these constantly moving appendages, is yet another crucial element. That's what shut us down over and over again We really had to conserve the amount of time that we would grab the holds. Men with erectile dysfunction who take Viagra are 25% less likely to Why Yosemite Climbers Super Glue Their Fingers, El Capitan: How did the climbers do it? The film makes it seem as if Caldwell and Jorgeson were alone on the wall, when in reality they had a dedicated support crew who helped make the ascent possible. Every few days, one of the friends waiting on the ground ascended 1,200 feet (366 meters) of rope to bring the team a new cache of supplies and water. Standing on the side of the stage in front of a capacity crowd, Jorgeson explained that the prospect of failure became very real toward the end of his weeklong battle with pitch 15. All rights reserved, See pictures from the photographer who is documenting Caldwell's and Jorgeson's attempt to make history, Read why Caldwell and Jorgeson are sanding and Super Gluing their fingers for the climb. But as the pair moved up the wall and first Caldwell and then Jorgeson successfully made it past the most difficult sections, a much broader, global audience became captivated by the imagery of two men clinging to the most improbable-looking surface of rock by the very tips of their fingers, thousands of feet above the ground. 'I have bruises and cuts, and I'm taking ibuprofen every morning,' Jorgenson, 30, admitted. Overtourism is threatening life on Burano, a bucolic island in the Venice Lagoon. The Dawn Wall required a partnership to do that climb, and likewise, managing this aftermath in a way that keeps us just as close as friends and partners is like the next project. Heres how to save yours from ending up in a landfill. What was it like to be the lone voice?That was a bummer, because I had the pressure of speaking for both of us. It made us nervous early on as parents, but we got used to it,' the father said. On the evening of January 8, 2015, Tommy Caldwell (right), 37, and Kevin Jorgeson, 31, sat in a collection of portaledgeshanging cot-tent hybridsthat dangled halfway up El Capitans 3,000-foot Dawn Wall, considered the worlds hardest rock climb. Caldwell free climbed his first El Cap route in 1999, and he has returned to the monolith every year since to find new challenges. In 2001 while working with a table saw, he accidentally cut off his left index fingera debilitating loss when your life's passion involves hanging by your fingertips. Nineteen days after they set out to achieve one of climbing's most difficult challenges, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson reached the summit of the 3,000-foot rock known as El Capitan in. At night, they sipped whiskey. By age 17, he was an International Champion and by age 25 was considered one of the strongest climbers in the world. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson finish their quest to be the first to free climb the Dawn Wall.