Tommy Caldwell climbs El Capitan: 'My wife says I function better up on a big wall'
Caldwell and Kevin Jorgesen set off 19 days ago to free-climb the Dawn Wall
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.After years eight years of practice, pitches and slow progress, it "only" took Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgesen 19 days to free-climb the world's toughest rock climb.
Tommy Caldwell, 36, began exploring the route of the south-eastern face of El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park eight years ago, gradually working on pitches with a number of different climbing partners.
He joined forces with 30-year-old Kevin Jorgesen six years back and that's when progress began to speed up, with the pair spending weeks and months on the route as they attempted to find the best way to free-climb the rock face, meaning ropes are used only to break a climber’s fall, not to assist in their ascent.
Speaking to EpicTV before the climb, Caldwell explained how weird it would be once he had completed the project. "It’s been a huge part of my life for a decade now and it’s hard to imagine not having that as a thing that drives me every day".
The pair were met at the summit by a crowd of around 40 family and friends who had trekked the long way round. Since the mountain was first scaled by climbers in 1958, others have ascended by several dozen routes. But until now, none had succeeded in defeating the Dawn Wall, a baby-smooth, approximately 900-metre sheer granite rock-face, so named because it catches the day’s first rays of sunlight.
Caldwell's climb is more remarkable given that every time he took a break from plotting pitches and practising, he would have to relearn everything the next time he returned to El Capitan.
"I have to rework stuff. There’s a lot of pitches that are right at my limit. You have to get the muscle-memory thing going, you have to relearn the intricacies, it's incredibly technical climbing. So, if you’re just a tiny bit out of position, you fall off and it takes a bit to re-learn all of that."
Caldwell was already a "rock star" in the climbing world. Other climbers spoke of his prowess in the field before his legendary ascent: Emily Harrington said, "Ive always looked up to him...for being really passionate about climbing", while Hazel Findlay concluded, "Tommy is basically the master of big wall free climbing".
Yet it is perhaps Caldwell's wife who summarised her husband best: "My wife always says that I function better up on a big wall than I do anywhere else in life," Caldwell explained.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments