A historic mountain climb that began two days after Christmas finished at 3:00 p.m. PST yesterday afternoon as Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson became the first people to free-climb an infamously difficult section of Yosemite’s El Capitan called the Dawn Wall.
Free-climbing refers to the fact that Caldwell and Jorgeson completed the three-thousand-foot ascent without the aid of ropes. (Ropes are used to tether the climbers in case of a fall, but the pair actually, physically, climbed the face of the mountain with only their hands and feet.)
The duo spent over two weeks living on the Dawn Wall, making the climb together before Jorgeson became stuck on the fifteenth leg (or “pitch”) for ten days, while Caldwell went ahead of his partner. Jorgeson eventually overcame the obstacle and caught up to Caldwell, and the pair resumed the conquest together on Monday, January 11, reaching the summit four days later.
You can read more and look at stunning photos of the pair’s incredible feat at National Geographic.
