All the pitches of the Dawn Wall Project have now gone free!

Wonder what Pitch 10 looks like? Here's a great shot from Brett Lowell of Big UP Productions.
Day 3 was supposed to be a rest day, but there's some seriously cold and windy weather on the horizon. So, we decided to push through the fatigue left over from pitches 1-9 and climb today anyway.
The goal was simple. Pitch 10, 5.14a.
50' of two finger pin scar lie backing protected by 7 consecutive beaks leads to a 20' permanently wet section for both hands and feet. Nails. After a good rest where you can dry your hands and shoes, you climb 35' of 5.12 terrain. This all leads up to a crux undercling boulder problem capped by a nerve wracking, tenuous face traverse to the anchors (pictured).
After 3 attempts each, Tommy Caldwell and I both sent. Now for a rest day!

Rough rest day on the wall....watchin Netflix 1,200 feet up El Cap....

Rough rest day on the wall....watchin Netflix 1,200 feet up El Cap....

the topo Clint re-posted (which went public a year or two ago) says pitch 11 goes at 12+, but Tom's El Cap Report (thanks Tom!) lists the 11th pitch, which went down today, at 13c. That's quite a difference. Maybe the belay was moved, changing the difficulty of the pitch?

Day 5 on the #DawnWall. After resting yesterday, the boys put down pitches 11 and 12 today. When we shot their push in 2010, 12 was the pitch that shut down @kjorgeson, so getting through it today marked a team high point. Now the crux 5.14+ traverse pitches loom next. @tommycaldwell sending 11 pictured here, photo @brettlowell

This New Year's Eve was great on the Dawn Wall. We climbed pitch 11 and 12 and they felt awesome. This means Kevin blasted by hishigh point and I am 1 12d pitch away from my high point. Now we really get into the meat of it. photo @brettlowell

A few friends needed groceries so I brought eggs, cucumbers, crackers, salami, bourbon, and candy to the guys on the Dawn Wall. The ice blocks crashed onto camp once but conditions seemed perfect. Kevin managed to redpoint Pitch 12, a 5.14b technical arch for the first time. he was probably motivated by the sour Skittles. Tommy sent as well. This is the 3rd 5.14 pitch. The boys are entering the meat of the climb with 5 5.14+ pitches in a row. Shine the lights boys @tommycaldwell @kjorgeson @patagonia

Day 5 Recap: New Year's Eve
Yesterday was equal parts exhilarating and utterly terrifying.
The day began with a series of major ice falls right above our camp. It's hard to describe the feeling of helplessness as you watch huge chunks of ice explode and plummet toward you. A direct hit by the large chunks would have been serious. Maybe it wasn't actually that bad....Maybe we got lucky. Depends on how you look at it I suppose. Either way, I had a little anxiety stored up throughout the day as a result. My eyes rarely left the skyline unless I was climbing.
Oh right, the climbing. The goal for the day was to get through the Molar Traverse, 5.14b, which shut me down on our 2010 push. First, we had to climb the awkward corner of Pitch 11, which Tommy led like a champ and I followed on TR (pictured). Then, it was time to throw down on Pitch 12. I went up once to quickly rehearse the moves, then began lead attempts. On my first go, I numbed out and fell onto a fixed pin at the crux (backed up by a 000 C3). On my next go, everything went smooth and I managed to redpoint the pitch! After a few warm up attempts, Tommy followed on TR and we called it a night!
Now, we get to the meat of the route: three consecutive pitches of 5.14/+. Game on.
Thanks to Big UP Productions for the photo!
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