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Kruk & Kennedy Weigh In On Cerro Torre Controversy

Kruk & Kennedy Weigh In On Cerro Torre Controversy

Posted January 26, 2012 at 1:14 pm · Comments { 24 } · Photo: Kruk & Kennedy on the summit of Cerro Fitz Roy from a couple of years ago

Jason Kruk and Hayden Kennedy weigh on the recent Cerro Torre controversy

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The Plot Thickens On Cerro Torre

The Plot Thickens On Cerro Torre

Posted January 24, 2012 at 7:04 am · Comments { 11 } ·

The plot thickens on Cerro Torre as Kennedy & Kruk’s “fair means” ascent of the Compressor route is quickly followed by David Lama’s first free ascent.

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Deep North: A Trip To The Arrigetch Peaks With Caldwell & Kennedy

Deep North: A Trip To The Arrigetch Peaks With Caldwell & Kennedy

Posted January 23, 2012 at 8:02 am · Comments { 0 } ·

Courtesy of Patagonia comes a short video of Tommy Caldwell & Hayden Kennedy exploring the Alaskan Bush

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Kennedy & Kruk Climb Compressor Route By “Fair Means”

Posted January 17, 2012 at 7:04 pm · Comments { 5 } ·

A lot of sites, including Alpinist, have picked up on the update Colin Haley posted on his Facebook wall indicating that American Hayden Kennedy and Canadian Jason Kruk pulled off the long-awaited “fair-means” ascent of the Compressor Route on Cerro Torre’s Southeast Ridge in Patagonia. The line was infamously bolted using a gas-powered compressor drill by Cesare Maestri during the line’s first ascent in 1970, and this is the first time someone has successfully climbed the line without the use of this bolt ladder. No word on how they managed to pull this off without a camera crew and a slew of extra bolts to aid said camera crew. Developing…

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Watch Tommy Caldwell & Others Tonight On The Discovery Channel

Watch Tommy Caldwell & Others Tonight On The Discovery Channel

Posted December 9, 2011 at 7:35 am · Comments { 1 } ·

Set your DVRs to catch Tommy Caldwell and a cast of others on The Discovery Channel tonight

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Trotter Does First Repeat Of The Prophet (5.13d R)

Trotter Does First Repeat Of The Prophet (5.13d R)

Posted November 28, 2011 at 8:30 am · Comments { 2 } · Photo: Sonnie Trotter & Will Stanhope on The Prophet

Tommy Caldwell wasn’t the only person hard at work on the flanks of El Capitan this fall

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Caldwell’s Dawn Wall Push Over…For Now

Posted November 14, 2011 at 2:16 pm · Comments { 0 } ·

In an update on his Facebook page yesterday Tommy Caldwell indicated that he’s given up the hope of completing his Dawn Wall project in a single push, instead opting to go down to the ground to recuperate before returning to his current highpoint to forge higher.  After over two weeks on the wall he was able to match his highpoint of pitch 12 from last year but was unable to send pitch 13 despite a prolonged battle.

Update:  Caldwell returned for a brief attempt on Pitch 13 but decided to pack up and head home for the season:

In so many ways, free-climbing El Cap seems absurd and contrived. But it drives me in a way that I love, satisfying a deep-rooted curiosity. A need to explore not only what I see, but who I am. I choose to immerse myself in this project again and again because it stretches my imagination and reminds me that I am capable of much more that I am usually aware of. It would be empty without the allure of success. But it doesn’t always end that way. At least for now.

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Caldwell Matches Previous Highpoint On Dawn Wall Project

Caldwell Matches Previous Highpoint On Dawn Wall Project

Posted November 8, 2011 at 11:52 am · Comments { 7 } · Photo: Tommy Caldwell and team hunkered down on El Cap

Tommy Caldwell’s push to free a new route up El Capitan’s Dawn Wall is 10 days old now and the events over the weekend were really something.

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Tommy Caldwell Explains His New Approach To Sharing Dawn Wall Updates

Posted November 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm · Comments { 0 } ·

Tommy Caldwell has freed the first 11 pitches of his Dawn Wall project and is now working on pitch 12.  Of course, you already knew this if you’ve been following the updates and pictures on his Facebook page.  For someone who has normally been rather reserved when it comes to the online climbing world, this new level of sharing by Caldwell has caught many by surprise.  In this post on The Cleanest Line he explains to friend Kelly Cordes some of the thoughts behind this change:

Although it felt a bit unnatural at first, I decided to embrace the circus on this project. There are many reasons for this. First of all, it becomes a circus whether I like it or not. The Ask a Climber Program here in Yosemite has put the climbers on El Cap on display. There are daily blog updates complete with photos of what is going on. If you can’t fight ‘em, might as well join ‘em.

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