19 days to nail an ‘impossible’ ascent
A PAIR of Americans completed what had long been considered the world’s most difficult rock climb on Wednesday, using only their feet and bare hands to scale a 900m vertical wall on El Capitan, the granite pedestal in Yosemite National Park that has beckoned adventurers for more than 50 years.
Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson became the first to free-climb the rock formation’s Dawn Wall, a feat that many had considered impossible. They used ropes and safety harnesses to break their falls, but relied entirely on their strength and dexterity to ascend, grasping at cracks as narrow as razor blades and as small as coins for purchase.
The effort took 19 days as the two dealt with constant falls and injuries. But their success completes a yearslong dream that bordered on obsession for the men.
Caldwell was the first to finish on Wednesday afternoon. He waited on a ledge for Jorgeson, who caught up minutes later.
The two embraced before Jorgeson pumped his arms in the air and clapped his hands above his head. Then they sat down for a few moments, gathered their gear, changed their clothes and hiked to the nearby summit.
About 200 people were waiting for them, including Caldwell’s wife and Jorgeson’s girlfriend. Hiking down the mountain would take the pair two to three hours.
In the meadow far below, relatives watching on telescopic monitors began to cheer. Caldwell’s mother, Terry, said her son could have reached the top several days earlier, but he had waited for his friend to make sure they got there together.
“That’s a deep, abiding, lifelong friendship, built over suffering on the wall together over six years,” she said.
President Barack Obama sent his congratulations from the White House Twitter account, saying the duo “remind us that anything is possible”.
The ascent of the world’s largest granite monolith began on December 27.
Caldwell and Jorgeson camped against the wall, eating and sleeping in tents fastened to the rock hundreds of metres above the ground.
They battled painful cuts to their fingertips much of the way and needed to take rest days to heal. They used tape and Super Glue to help protect their raw skin. At one point, Caldwell set an alarm to wake him every few hours to apply a special lotion to his throbbing hands.
They also endured physical punishment whenever their grip slipped, pitching them into long, swinging falls that bounced them off the rock face. The tumbles, which they called “taking a whipper”, ended with startling jolts from their safety ropes.
Caldwell, 36, and Jorgeson, 30, had help from a team of supporters who brought food and supplies and shot video footage of the attempt.
The pair ate canned peaches and occasionally sipped whisky.
The pioneering ascent follows five years of training and failed attempts. The pair got a third of the way up in 2010 when they were turned back by storms. A year later, Jorgeson fell and broke an ankle. This time, as the world followed on Facebook and Twitter, Jorgeson was stalled in a lower section that took 11 attempts over seven days.
“As disappointing as this is, I’m learning new levels of patience, perseverance and desire,” Jorgeson posted online. “I’m not giving up. I will rest. I will try again. I will succeed.” – Sapa-AP