Two climbers have made history by becoming the first to ever scale the notoriously difficult Dawn Wall of Yosemite National Park's El Capitan without using ropes and equipment for anything but safety.
Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson reached the summit at 3:25 p.m. PST Wednesday afternoon after nearly 19 days spent on the wall.
The Dawn Wall is nearly 3,000 feet of sheer granite that is almost entirely smooth and completely vertical. The trek is the most difficult route up El Capitan and widely considered one of the most challenging climbs in the world.
While plenty have climbed El Capitan before them, Jorgeson and Caldwell were the first to free climb this particular route, meaning that ropes equipment were used only to safeguard in case of a fall but never to aid the climbers.
After 19 days of battling the hardest, longest free climb in the world, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson embrace at the end of the difficulties of the Dawn Wall of El Capitan @tommycaldwell @kjorgeson #DawnWall A photo posted by Corey Rich (@coreyrichproductions) on Jan 14, 2015 at 3:53pm PST
The climbers kept a far-flung crowd of supporters updated on their progress through regular posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The posts offered people all over the world an up close and personal window into life on the wall and added perspective on the enormity of the feat.
The duo has faced plenty of setbacks on the road to achieving the historic feat. On one segment of the journey, Jorgeson told the New York Times he fell 10 times at the same spot. He waited for two days, studying footage of his failure and letting his fingers heal. Finally, he made it past the obstacle as those gathered in the valley below cheered.
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Post by Kevin Jorgeson.
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Post by Kevin Jorgeson.
Their progress has also been slowed by perpetually bloodied fingers, treacherous ice falls and bone-chilling winds. The climbers took rest days as needed to heal and a camera crew brought food and batteries.
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Post by Tommy Caldwell.
But it hasn't all been rugged living in the wall-side portaledges that the pair have called home for more than two weeks. An upside of the numbing cold is that the climbers can keep fresh fruits and vegetables without them spoiling, allowing for wholesome meals. One Facebook photo posted by Caldwell showed the pair watching Netflix on a phone during downtime.
- @sword_duke, check the view: #askdawnwall pic.twitter.com/PQKONmkiqU— Kevin Jorgeson (@kjorgeson) January 3, 2015
A crowd of family and supporters, including Caldwell's wife and Jorgeson's girlfriend, had anxiously awaited the climbers at the top.
About 40 people are at top -- family, lots of climbing friends, some media. The people hanging off ropes? Photographers, incl ours.— John Branch (@JohnBranchNYT) January 14, 2015
Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson celebrate after free climbing the Dawn Wall. P/Max Whittaker http://t.co/1npv2AQ9AY pic.twitter.com/ot15iYFHnD— Andrew Stanfill (@madshrew) January 15, 2015
American free climbers celebrate after reaching summit of Yosemite's El Capitan http://t.co/342mwqr56a pic.twitter.com/aRRHNOXFQZ— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) January 15, 2015
The historic feat even got the attention of President Barack Obama, who tweeted his congratulations to the climbing duo.
So proud of @TommyCaldwell1 and @KJorgeson for conquering El Capitan. You remind us that anything is possible. -bo pic.twitter.com/XcDwHqv2ry— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 15, 2015
When asked by the Times earlier this week what his first order of business would be after weeks on the wall, Jorgeson answered: "A shower."