Dawn Wall 2015
January 10, 2015 8:52 AM   Subscribe

Rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson are nearing completion of an attempt to free climb the Dawn Wall (pic, route map) of El Cap in Yosemite. Over 3000' tall and consisting of 30 pitches (14 rated above 5.13), this will become the hardest free climb in the world.

They have been on the wall since Dec 27, and will likely be there for at least 5 more days. Free Climbing (different from free soloing) is the most common style of rock climbing. It involves the ascent of a route without the use of aids like ladders, etriers, and ascenders. Aid climbing is common on 'big wall' climbs like El Cap, where the rock is often devoid of sizeable holds. Climbers are tied into ropes and rest at the ends of pitches, but to complete a redpoint, they must finish a pitch without taking a fall or weighting their rope.


The dawn wall is divided into 30 pitches. Each one is rated with a difficulty scale (the Yosemite Decimal System is used in the US). The YDS is used to rank everything from walking (1.0) to the hardest technical climbs (currently 5.15c). Because of the evolution of climbing gear and technique, ratings above 5.10 have been subdivided into letter grades 5.xA-D. Most beginner climbs are rated around 5.6/7, intermediate climbers are usually capable of 5.10-12, and 5.13+ are usually experts or pros. The first 18 are the hardest, with only 3 rated below 5.13.


On a multi-pitch route like the dawn wall, the technicalities of what qualifies as a clean ascent gets a little complex. Caldwell and Jorgeson are red-pointing each pitch in order without returning to the ground, but are getting some support from the ground via fixed lines and using a base camp in the middle of the wall instead of hauling it with them the entire way. Typically, a team ascent would only require that one person lead (bring up the rope) each pitch. But Kevin and Tommy are attempting to each lead every pitch. With Jorgeson finally completing 15 last night, it seems likely they will achieve this goal.


Caldwell has been working the pitches of this route for nearly a decade with a few different partners. He started climbing with Jorgeson in 2009. In 2011, Jorgeson fell and broke an ankle, and Caldwell broke a rib in 2013. In November 2014, they completed the last of the pitches, proving to themselves it was possible to free climb the entire route in one long attempt.


The winter season was chosen for this attempt because cold rock tends to be easier to climb. Hands sweat less, and shoe rubber works better. Many of the climbs are even happening at night. On a wall as blank as this, the few holds that exist are tiny ledges described as razors, which take a toll on fingers. Caldwell has finished all of the 5.13+ pitches, and now the last major challenge is Jorgeson completing 16, the dyno (dynamic) pitch. In their practices, Caldwell was not able to reliably complete this move and for this attempt, climbed a variation around it. Jorgeson is still planning on the original route, including the 8.5 foot leap. After this, the climbers are expected to have an easy time finishing over ~5 days, with the top of the route being (relatively) easier 5.11/12 climbing.


Other links:
posted by stobor (48 comments total) 57 users marked this as a favorite
 
What an excellent post, thank you. If you want yet more information the SF Chronicle has been doing some good original reporting, too.

One thing I hadn't appreciated about a free climb is "The climbers have to go back to the belay, or anchor point, and do the entire pitch over when they fall, which is often." That's a lot of re-climbing. Also I don't know what's more surprising; that they fall at all or they fall frequently.
posted by Nelson at 9:03 AM on January 10, 2015 [2 favorites]


Excellent post. Thanks!
posted by rtha at 9:06 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Really interesting and great post, but knowing nothing about rock climbing, I am still super confused, forgive me:

1) They've been on a rock wall since late December, how do they eat / sleep / relieve themselves / etc?

2) What does it mean that they use a base camp in the middle of the wall? You mean they go back to the middle of the wall every night? But wouldn't they have to climb back up again?
posted by pravit at 9:08 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


They use ropes to get themselves back to the section they're working on from the base camp after sleeping each night, I believe. They're using ropes for that and to catch their falls, but not to aid the climbing.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:20 AM on January 10, 2015


I'm amazed they appear to be on the verge of completing the Dawn Wall. Considering it took years to figure out how to climb the crux pitches individually, and with the toll this takes on your body, doing it all in one push just seemed impossible, like it would be another few years before they'd manage it, if ever. Incredible stuff. great post too

Also: with pitches rated up to 5.14d in difficulty it'll be the hardest multipitch climb in the world. There are single pitch sport climbs that are harder; the Czech climber Adam Ondra recently climbed a route he dubbed Change in Norway tentatively rated 5.15c (or, French 9b+ - another rating scale). And there are 5-10 move boulder problems that are harder than Change. But what the fuck, the Dawn Wall is soooo long, and so hard.... yeah, it is the hardest climb in the world.
posted by Flashman at 9:28 AM on January 10, 2015 [3 favorites]


apologies, pravit, I meant to include a bit about that. When climbers spend multiple days on a route like this, they usually use a 'portaledge.' Basically a tent that you can secure to the wall.

You can see one in most of the linked articles. Here is an article about their downtime. They haven't really been on a ledge or surface large enough to walk on since they started!

To move around the wall when they aren't attempting a pitch, I believe they use ropes and ascenders. One of the videos (i think) mentions that moving around the wall ends up being a good warm-up. I haven't seen a definitive answer of if these ropes were hung before their attempt or not. Purists would say an attempt should not use gear that indicates access to the top of the route. But what these guys are doing is so crazy hard that most are overlooking small stuff like that. There will always be room for someone to find a way to do it cleaner or faster!
posted by stobor at 9:31 AM on January 10, 2015 [4 favorites]


great post. Thanks.
posted by So You're Saying These Are Pants? at 9:34 AM on January 10, 2015


Valley Uprising out soon! Expensive but screw it. I'ma have a viewing party.
posted by jcruelty at 9:40 AM on January 10, 2015


They use ropes to get themselves back to the section they're working on from the base camp after sleeping each night, I believe.

So basically once they've free-climbed a section, it's like reaching a save point, and they're allowed to get back to that position from base camp using ropes? Is that the idea?
posted by eugenen at 9:41 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


1) They've been on a rock wall since late December, how do they eat / sleep / relieve themselves / etc?

They poop in tubes they take with them!

One thing I'm still unclear about is why so much of the climbing is at night?

Also great post! I love this kind of thing. I could never do it myself, but it's badass that these dudes are.
posted by Lutoslawski at 9:50 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


UGH FINE. I'll get out of bed and got to the gym! Geez!
posted by cthuljew at 9:51 AM on January 10, 2015 [8 favorites]


5.12 no thanks. 5.13 anything....ugghh. 5.13++ day after day. Incredible. Thanks, great post.
posted by sety at 10:03 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


One thing I'm still unclear about is why so much of the climbing is at night?

I'm not a climber, but the articles say that hands don't sweat and shoes grip better on cold rock.
posted by nevercalm at 10:15 AM on January 10, 2015 [2 favorites]


That dyno move is fucking crazy.

As brutal as this climb is on the body, I can't even imagine how much mental toughness it takes. Keeping together enough to know how to correctly tie the knots you need to tie and clip which bit where is amazing.
posted by rtha at 10:19 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


I've been following this amazing climb, excellent post!
posted by fatbaq at 10:28 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


They poop in tubes they take with them!

Poop tubes are just where you stick the poo; most climbers will take a dump into a bag, and stick the bag into the tube.
posted by miguelcervantes at 10:41 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Holy shit. I'm hardly the same species as these people. This video speaks to the incredible mental toughness what with being kidnapped and held at gunpoint and pushing your captor off a cliff....
posted by runincircles at 10:46 AM on January 10, 2015 [3 favorites]


I can't believe humans do these things.
posted by edheil at 10:53 AM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


If you look closely you can see that they are actually hundreds of tiny geckos zipped up inside hi-tech human suits.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:01 AM on January 10, 2015 [6 favorites]


On climbing at night, it's been unusually warm in California so I think nighttime is the only time they can have it cold enough. To make it more complicated we've had an inversion where it gets warmer the higher you go.

The NYT article links to an earlier Rock & Ice episode about the base camp. There's a foot-wide ledge to stand on which is what makes it so homey.
posted by Nelson at 11:15 AM on January 10, 2015


Wow, this is just amazing. Great post. One of my children is really into climbing. I'm simultaneously looking forward to showing him this and terrified he'll someday end up in one of those flimsy little tents attached to a cliff.
posted by Cuke at 12:14 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Thanks! very very cool!
posted by From Bklyn at 12:41 PM on January 10, 2015


Yeah, I know this one guy who climbed the Cliffs of Insanity while carrying a Spaniard, a Sicilian, and a princess.

really cool post
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:55 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Great post--but I can't look. Just can't.

*looks*

Holy shit.
posted by LarryC at 1:35 PM on January 10, 2015


I had two colleagues die falling from that rock back in the late '70s. Dumbest sport ever.
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:02 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Mental Wimp, as a former sidecar racer and motorcyclist who has dreams of wingsuit BASE jumping, I posit that there are many dumber sports.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 5:36 PM on January 10, 2015 [5 favorites]


I posit that there are many dumber sports.

Indeed. I'm an indoor climber now (although I have climbed multi-pitch outdoors, which feels almost entirely different), and there are plenty of ways to climb relatively safely.

That said, I am a bit astonished that neither of these guys are wearing helmets. If Caldwell swings upside down on one of those lead falls, or if Jorgeson kicks something loose while he's on lead, someone could be badly hurt.

Like this woman.
posted by suelac at 6:33 PM on January 10, 2015


Also, this is an excellent post, thanks for making it!
posted by suelac at 6:45 PM on January 10, 2015


Reading the coverage of this in the NYTimes got me inspired to look up a bunch of free soloing video*s on youtube and NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE


*i know, not the same thing, but
posted by entropone at 7:56 PM on January 10, 2015


...there are plenty of ways to climb relatively safely.

Yeah, that's what Frank said when I asked him why he did it. It didn't keep him alive.
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:37 PM on January 10, 2015


You should probably stop biking. And driving. And taking showers. And swallowing things. All highly dangerous.
posted by cthuljew at 12:37 AM on January 11, 2015


I climbed El Capitan once. I made it about four feet but then looked down at the several million tons of nasty rocks in the scree, some of which had accelerated and fallen more than half a mile, I was suddeny scared and bailed.

The speed climbing record for El Capitan is insane, 2:23.46. Young, strong, very healthy I was a fucking mountain goat and the record holders climbed El Capitan at the same rate I managed to hike up Half Dome.

Some people are made of sterner stuff than I. I am at peace with that.
posted by vapidave at 1:24 AM on January 11, 2015 [3 favorites]


You should probably stop biking. And driving. And taking showers. And swallowing things. All highly dangerous.

Wut? So, everything is equally dangerous? Somewhat humorous stance to take, I'll grant. But, no I don't commute by bike to work (3 x more dangerous per mile than a car here in the US of A; equally dangerous to a car in Europe) and I wear a seat belt. I get vaccinated, and I don't participate in sports that have a significant mortality rate. But thanks for the advice.
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:50 PM on January 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


Bouldering (ropeless climbing to low heights), sport climbing (mostly bolt protected lead climbing with little objective danger) and indoor climbing (climbing indoors on artificial rock structures), showed a small injury rate, minor injury severity and few fatalities. As more objective/external dangers exist for alpine and ice climbing, the injury rate, injury severity and fatality were all higher. Overall, climbing sports had a lower injury incidence and severity score than many popular sports, including basketball, sailing or soccer; indoor climbing ranked the lowest in terms of injuries of all sports assessed. Nevertheless, a fatality risk remains, especially in alpine and ice climbing. In the absence of a standard definition for a 'high-risk' sport, categorizing climbing as a high-risk sport was found to be either subjective or dependent on the definition used.

As Caldwell and Jorgeson use bolts and pre-placed protection in the route, I would posit that this is a sport climb, a sport that does not have a significant mortality rate and should not be considered "high-risk".

I am a bit astonished that neither of these guys are wearing helmets. If Caldwell swings upside down on one of those lead falls, or if Jorgeson kicks something loose while he's on lead, someone could be badly hurt.
The risk of experienced climbers swinging upside down in a lead fall is a lot smaller as they don't get their feet stuck behind a rope and know how to fall. There may not be a lot to kick loose on 5.13+ routes.
posted by Akeem at 1:54 AM on January 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


Yosemite climbers rest before final push to summit (SF Chronicle)
For 7 days, my momentum was halted by Pitch 15. It took everything in my power to stay positive and resolved that I would succeed. Now that momentum has returned to my side, I’m staying just as focused and resolved because a lot of hard climbing remains.
posted by Nelson at 7:38 AM on January 12, 2015


Yosemite free climbers hope to reach summit by Wednesday
Caldwell and Jorgeson left the rock formation known as Wino Tower on Tuesday morning and were said to be making fast progress. The entire route consists of 31 pitches — segments between two belay points, where safety ropes are secured to bolts. Each pitch ranges up to 150 feet in length.

By Tuesday evening, Caldwell and Jorgeson were planning to advance seven pitches so they could be in position to complete the last four pitches by Wednesday. The climbers were planning to bivouac for the night at a formation known as Ship’s Bow.
posted by Nelson at 9:45 AM on January 14, 2015


They did finish those 7 pitches yesterday, and are just starting the final 4 (5.12b-5.13a). Live video feed here - telephoto from the valley floor.
posted by Flashman at 10:17 AM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]


They made it!
posted by rtha at 3:49 PM on January 14, 2015 [4 favorites]


I really suck because I keep thinking that given they could haul themselves back to wherever they left off before and resume climbing from wherever they fell off the wall after falling and being caught on their safety ropes this is less free climbing the whole route and more free climbing a whole lot of tiny parts of a route and then stitching them all together in post-processing. What they did is incredibly difficult and I sure as hell couldn't do it but to me the goal seems like it should be to make the whole climb without falling off the wall?

Like eugenen says, what they did was the equivalent to using save points. I wonder if anyone can beat it on the equivalent of Ironman mode where if you fall off the wall you have to start over.
posted by Justinian at 10:43 PM on January 14, 2015


Justinian, you've articulated a really simple version of a big internal debate in the climbing world. Climbers talk about this using the shorthand, "style." The style these two climbers used is the modern standard for approaching these intensely difficult and very long climbs. But even they would acknowledge that a better style would be to do the route in one push without a lot of "save points," so to speak.

The best style would be to climb it all in a short period of time with no falls, no hanging belay's (that is, only stopping where there are ledges wide enough to stand on), no retreating back to camp lower on the wall, and no pre-placed gear (let's not get into that one). For this particular route, that would be a borderline impossible effort; it's too hard. It would be like trying to ride a bicycle coast-to-coast without ever stopping for more than a meal or bathroom break.

From a climber's perspective, this is a huge, groundbreaking achievement. I don't think anyone would deny that if pressed. But there will be a long conversation/argument about what they could have done differently, and someone will almost certainly come along and try to improve on the style of their ascent. Which I'm sure both climbers would love to see.
posted by that's candlepin at 7:55 AM on January 15, 2015 [4 favorites]


Oh, and Tommy Caldwell is no stranger to impeccable style ascents of El Cap. He's done the famous "Nose" free in a day, then did two routes on El Cap (the Nose again, plus "Freerider") free in less than 24 hours. Both would be considered career-crowning accomplishments for most climbers.
posted by that's candlepin at 8:00 AM on January 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Really the best style would be no equipment at all. I mean Captain Kirk almost did it back in 1989. Later in that movie he meets God.
posted by Nelson at 9:49 AM on January 15, 2015


On the off chance that you're serious, Nelson, that's a not a unique view. Climbing icon Michael Reardon is supposed to have said something like, "Barefoot, chalkless, onsight soloing* is climbing. Everything else is a compromise."

*Barefoot and chalkless are relatively obvious. Onsight means climbing a route with zero prior knowledge of it beyond name and difficulty. Soloing means no rope.
posted by that's candlepin at 11:26 AM on January 15, 2015 [1 favorite]


Thanks candlepin! Yeah, I realize it's probably completely impossible to make this particular ascent in one go because of the sheer size and difficulty of the thing.
posted by Justinian at 11:47 AM on January 15, 2015


Soloing means no rope.

Soloing means climbing without a partner. You can solo (slow but safe) using a rope and self-locking device.
Free soloing would be climbing without any protective gear.

so
“The only real climbing is barefoot, naked, chalkless, on-sight free-soloing.”
posted by Akeem at 12:43 AM on January 16, 2015


...they could haul themselves back to wherever they left off before and resume climbing from wherever they fell off the wall after falling and being caught on their safety ropes this is less free climbing the whole route and more free climbing a whole lot of tiny parts of a route

Just to clarify: when you're leading a pitch and you fall off, you don't just start climbing again at the point where you fell off (unless you're just mucking about & practising before a 'real' attempt); you lower to the ground or the belay, pull the rope (plus remove the protection if that's the type of route you're doing), and start again from the beginning of the pitch. So yeah, save points but only at limited intervals. Any route of this length has to be broken down into pitches, interspersed with belay stances where you can catch a breath or 'respawn': a rope is only so long (c. 150-180ft) or else natural belay points or ledges are found on a route. Even if you did have a 2000 ft long rope, the weight and drag of the rope after it was paid out for a couple of hundred feet would make upward progress impossible.

“The only real climbing is barefoot, naked, chalkless, on-sight free-soloing.”

Generally when climbers talk about soloing, or climbing, that's what they say. It's understood what you mean without having to append a 'free' to it. It's more likely that you'd specify 'rope-soloing' or 'aid-climbing' if you had to. Anyway that comment of Michael Reardon's (who I wouldn't say was an icon but he did have a reputation for soloing very bold routes, before he was killed soloing - a wave swept him off a cliff in Ireland) is kind of silly. It's like saying that riding inside the train instead of on the roof is a compromise, or using a surfboard instead of body-surfing. Some compromises are just necessary for a better experience: shoes definitely, a rope so you can climb harder stuff without having to worry about dying.
posted by Flashman at 6:29 AM on January 16, 2015


I agree that the Reardon line is silly, and that he's only an icon to some in the climbing world. But I think it articulates a feeling that folks unfamiliar with climbing often have when they read about stuff like the Dawn Wall. Basically, at some level all the gear and tactics that are natural consequences of climbers pursuing more and more interesting, inspiring, and difficult objectives feel like cheating. Put that in the context of other sports and it quickly fails the straight face test. Would you tell a kayaker they're cheating by using a paddle? A boat? A flotation device?

There's also all the stuff about danger/risk that it's hard to understand from the outside, and that got batted around up-thread. It all combines to make folks who don't have lots of experience with climbing pretty skeptical of it.
posted by that's candlepin at 10:21 AM on January 16, 2015




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