For the first time on December 27 th, Tommy Caldwell, 36, and Kevin Jorgeson, 30, started their ascent up one of the world’s largest and most difficult cliff-climbing routes using only their hands and feet. With ropes only as safety equipment, and not as climbing aids, the only thing separating the two climbers from their dream is the Dawn Wall of El Capitan, the 914-meter-long granite monolith in Yosemite National Park, California in the United States.
Although the Dawn Wall route has been climbed before in 1970, Caldwell and Joregeson are attempting to be the first people to ever free-climb the route. They have been actively preparing to do so for five years .
On their 15 th day, Jorgeson managed to pass what is known to be the biggest challenge along the route, the notorious stage 15. Meanwhile, Caldwell was successfully at stage 20, but decided to drop back to support his climbing mate in hopes that they would complete the climb together.
“Now I am in full support mode until @kjorgeson catches up. Today Kevin managed to climb pitch 15 in the most inspired climbing moment of his life. It was such an intense and incredible thing to witness. It’s not over yet, but things are looking good,” tweeted Caldwell, while updating his followers via Instagram saying: “The last few days have been some of the most memorable climbing days of my life. Yesterday I finished the last two 5.13+ pitches of the climb. This marks the end of the major difficulties. I kind of lost it when I pulled onto Wino Tower knowing that this seven year dream is looking more and more like it could become a reality.”
With nothing more than their fingertips to hold them, the razor sharp granite wall gave Jorgeson severe cuts on his right hand which held him back. The injuries led the team to take three days of rest hoping that Kevin’s skin would heal.
“The granite flakes when you grip it, creating tiny razor sharp edges which cut the skin deep. Kevin has taped up his fingers to protect them, but underneath, the skin is dry like toast,” says Tom Evans, a fellow climber and photographer in contact with the pair.
But despite the speculations that Caldwell might set a successful closure to this climb on his own, he comments that: “More than anything, I want to top out together. We gotta make that happen. It would be such a bummer to finish this thing without Kevin. I can't imagine anything worse, really."
For Caldwell, his touchdown at Wino Tower at 610 meters up El Cap means he has crossed the two-thirds mark of his journey. But when will the climbers celebrate the success of their climb, and will they do that together?
Everyone is keeping a watchful eye on the developments of this inspiring climb.