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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Jan 14, 2015 - 05:21pm PT
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i hope i'm not the only one who feels relived that they pulled it off, and that they did it as a team, and that someone tagged the dyno pitch.
i really love the pairing of the grizzled veteran and the boulderer. and as someone who has been mostly a soloist and boulderer for the last decade, i've really come to appreciate roped teams. even, in this case, including roped teams with support crews.
really weird world, that i wouldn't have expected back in the 1980s-- tommy has done a textbook alpine-style, fast-and-light cutting edge prize (the fitz traverse with honnold) and now done a cutting-edge siege prize. used to be, one aspired to the one or the other.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Jan 14, 2015 - 06:01pm PT
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I'm guessing about 2 percent of us can jump. I'm not one of them, not even close (quick for a white guy, though).
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Tvash
climber
Seattle
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Jan 14, 2015 - 06:02pm PT
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these guys have their own reality show before they get their own reality show. heart pumping watching them top out. well earned, well deserved.
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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Jan 14, 2015 - 06:10pm PT
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That's a cool NBC clip, hey, Brian Williams to boot and Tom Evans!
This has been so fun to watch. So proud of them!
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Jan 14, 2015 - 06:12pm PT
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Amazing. And with style.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Jan 14, 2015 - 06:22pm PT
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Best afternoon of television I ever watched.
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John Mac
Trad climber
Littleton, CO
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Jan 14, 2015 - 06:38pm PT
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Let's just say that this afternoon was not the most productive day I've had at work for a while!
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Jan 14, 2015 - 06:54pm PT
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The last time a Caldwell did an FA on the Dawn Wall, Nixon was president, I don't think he gave Caldwell and Harding even a "Sock it to me!"
Props to Obama's twitter feed!
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Rankin
Social climber
Greensboro, North Carolina
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Jan 14, 2015 - 07:08pm PT
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Q. What do you hope this does for climbing?
CALDWELL I would love for this to open people’s minds to what an amazing sport this is. I think the larger audience’s conception is that we’re thrill seekers, out there for an adrenaline rush. We really aren’t at all. It’s about spending our lives in these beautiful places and forming these incredible bonds with friends and family. It’s really a lifestyle. It’s superhealthy, and the climbing world is some of the most psyched, great people around. And if that love can spread, that’s really a great thing.
--from the Q & A with Tommy and Kevin on the front page of the New York Times.
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Gene
climber
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Jan 14, 2015 - 07:09pm PT
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Amazing. I am pleased that the TEAM spent the time required for both to do the traverse pitches and complete the project together. Major props on many levels beyond the technical mastery.
I wonder in 10 years if Tommy will consider the Dawn Wall, the Fitz Traverse, or two free El Cap routes IAD his finest achievement, assuming he doesn't up the ante. After all, each new climb you do is just training for the next.
As to Kevin, not bad for a boulderer. The lad showed amazing guts and perseverance.
I am also happy that Tom Evans got the recognition he did as a photographer and spokesperson for the Tribe.
Good times.
g
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crøtch
climber
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Jan 14, 2015 - 07:22pm PT
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I caught a lengthy conversation with Doug Robinson on the BBC news this evening. Good job Doug!
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Jan 14, 2015 - 07:25pm PT
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Really cool to watch this today. So happy for everyone involved. Today is a proud day for climbing. Thanks Tommy and Kevin, biggest congrats on finishing this project.
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Tvash
climber
Seattle
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Jan 14, 2015 - 08:22pm PT
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I gotta say, watching this amazing feat as it happened, with all the unabashed enthusiasm here, was a great experience. It took a lot of the dreariness out of our snow free winter up here :D
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Jan 14, 2015 - 08:52pm PT
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In a sense, this event rounds out my climbing career, such as it is. Harding, Merry, and Whitmore completed their ascent of the Nose about a year after my first climb, the Owen-Spaulding route on the Grand. I remember, as a teenager, reading the AAC Journal account with an almost total lack of comprehension, but still with a sense of wonder at the determination it took to confront and resolve what seemed at the time to be insurmountable difficulties.
I can't help feeling that Caldwell and Jorgenson have written the concluding chapter of a story that began 57 years ago. Not that there haven't been and won't be further amazing developments, but this particular ascent has the air of a quest, a triumph, once again, of an indomitable spirit of optimism and a profound love of the game.
Although there are naysayers, I don't think the uncertainties and challenges were any less real and daunting in 2015 than they were in 1958. The nature of those uncertainties and challenges has certainly evolved, but the project was as daunting, in its own way, as anything ever undertaken by climbers. I honestly can't imagine how anyone who has given over some part of their life to climbing can't, at this moment, be rejoicing to see a quest of this magnitude come to such a wonderful conclusion.
Cheers to Caldwell and Jorgeson!
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aguacaliente
climber
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Jan 14, 2015 - 09:29pm PT
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It's fascinating to watch this unfold and to see it break into the larger public attention / media sphere. Gives a little hint of what it might have been like to see the circus in 1959 or 1970. I watched the final top out on the video stream, then clicked over to the NY Times homepage and the leader at the top (above the title) was Breaking News: Climbers Summit Dawn Wall. Several days ago I would never have thought they'd put it in the leader. What is also cool is that I think some of the message that Tommy and Kevin are giving on how this is about perseverance, not being daredevils, is getting across. The Times article had a good quote from Tommy about that.
Huge props to them for getting it done, and to journalists like John Branch who take the time to understand it (and to his newspaper for being willing to pay for the time it takes to do quality coverage in a bottom-line world).
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jan 14, 2015 - 09:46pm PT
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Inspired by Keven's fight to the death near miss Kent,
This quote is from Tommy's November 18 facebook post, where he announced that he had led p14.
What it means is that Kevin nearly led p14 that day, tried very hard, but fell near the end.
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MisterE
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Jan 14, 2015 - 09:59pm PT
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Jawon
climber
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Jan 14, 2015 - 10:11pm PT
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Is there any way to get a recording of the live stream? I think I would prefer watching it before the soundtracks and editors get to it. The "real life" version with the rests, waiting, fumbles, getting off-route... you know, what real climbers do.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jan 15, 2015 - 02:43am PT
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Collected links (mostly to supertopo threads) for the Free Dawn project from 2007-2015:
http://web.stanford.edu/%7Eclint/yos/longhf.htm#freedawn
Also, I modified the original topo to correct some ratings and add pitch numbers.
The pitch numbers almost line up with Sloan's topo, except he has an extra short 5.13 pitch below Wino Tower.
The current pitch count by grade: 7-8 x 5.14, 10 x 5.13, 8 x 5.12
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