Push Begins On El Cap For Caldwell & Jorgeson

Push Begins On El Cap For Caldwell & Jorgeson

Posted November 14, 2010 at 9:56 am · Comments { 5 } ·

After years of hard work and preparation Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson set off yesterday morning to attempt a ground up send of their project on El Capitan’s Dawn Wall.  In his last blog entry before the push Jorgeson lays out the plan for the first day which was to try to get to the top of pitch 8 followed by a more drawn out effort on subsequent days given the difficult pitches in the middle of the wall.  As the pair mentioned in their recent Climbing Magazine interview the goal is for each pitch to be led free by one climber and followed free by the other so they have quite the challenge ahead of them.

Dawn Wall Project topo – Click to enlarge

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology (and above average cell phone reception on the side of El Cap when compared to the rest of Yosemite) Jorgeson was able to update the world on their progress yesterday via Twitter and Facebook.  Here are a few of his updates:

Had an hour long battle with pitch 3. Finally did the delicate traverse crux third try and went to top. Onward.
November 13, 2010 4:01 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@kjorgeson
Kevin Jorgeson
Great lead by Tommy on pitch 6 to finish just as it got dark. Putting on my headlamp and getting ready to follow.
November 13, 2010 7:27 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@kjorgeson
Kevin Jorgeson
Day one is a wrap. Didn't get to pitches 7 and 8 today but plans are made to be altered....
November 14, 2010 12:47 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@kjorgeson
Kevin Jorgeson

As you can see they didn’t quite make the top of pitch 8 like they had planned but with 2 weeks to spend on the wall they have plenty of time to figure things out.  Big Up’s Josh Lowell is along for the ride to chronicle their efforts so there is definitely more to come on this topic.  Stay tuned…

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5 Responses to Push Begins On El Cap For Caldwell & Jorgeson

  1. DreamingGnar November 14, 2010 at 12:09 pm #

    I’m so excited I think I just peed myself…

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  2. Paully November 14, 2010 at 1:39 pm #

    I REALLY hope they do it and I wish them the best of luck. This is probably the proudest project anybody has on planet earth…

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  3. Nerdelz November 14, 2010 at 2:39 pm #

    It’s so strange to see it all happening live, to a degree. I wonder if the “instant access” feeds a natural curiosity, or heightens, intensifies, and agitates that natural curiosity into something else.
    Either way, I’m all in. I’m super excited to see these guys pull it off.
    It’s an inspiring event, potentially history in the making for the sport, and it’s rad to see it happen.
    Thanks for the update Gnarc, and the cool topo.

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  4. Luke November 15, 2010 at 2:12 pm #

    Saw their headlamps up on the Captain last night. Amazing weather in the valley right now!! (finally) Perhaps even a touch hot today.

    Pscyhed! Go for it!!

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  5. Mark November 16, 2010 at 12:19 am #

    You can also read Tommy’s wife’s blog from the wall:

    http://tommyandbecca.blogspot.com/

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