Mike encouraged Tommy to rock climb with him starting at a young age. It just sort of found him.. . The ascent, generally considered the worlds hardest rock climb, took nineteen days. It always has. Caldwell didnt seem to notice. Both Hobbs parents are climbers and runners. Now these kids warm up on those grades! Thats not quite truenobody warms up on those gradesbut the broader point is taken. We brew coffee in our little perch and sit in awe as first light graces usthis part of the monolith of El Capitan, in Yosemite Valley, California, has long been known as the Dawn Wall. But its considered bad style to talk about climbs youre planning.

He mentioned a new sport route in California, a 5.15a called Empath, which all the hard men want to try now. He and Alex Honnold, the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, and Caldwells consistent climbing partner for the past decade, were both interested in Empath. I mean, just always looking for the next thing to send, its kind of immature, he told me once. Mike Caldwell was born on August 31, 1971. Tommys always been stronger than me, he said. Mike revelled in harsh conditions, and Tommy took pride in toughing it out beside him. But some of his humility about his place in the rankings these days is warranted. Alex doesnt, either, which is a big reason why were such good partners. They spent the days hiding. Caldwell pushed one of the kidnappers off a cliff, and subsequently escaped to government soldiers. Back in the States, she and Caldwell were inseparable. He worked on it for seven years, slowly putting the moves together, finding tiny nubbins where a climbing shoe might stick, if fiercely applied at just the right angle in cold weather. Theyre becoming unstable, too, with unpredictable new crevasses. I watch my toothpaste fall as I count one, two, three at around ten the white blob disappears into the forest below. Which is kind of surprising, because I feel like hes always so aware. The fall deeply rattled Caldwell. In May 2004, he completed the first free ascent (FFA) of Dihedral Wall. WebMIKE C A.K.A. A single flapper can sink a multiday climb. Vertigo nips at the photoreceptors, or maybe its the neurotransmitters. It was a demanding hike to the crag.

The men were Islamist rebels, from a movement associated with Al Qaeda, which was battling the Kyrgyz military. Honnold grew up admiring Caldwell as the boldest climber on El Cap. (c) 2017 by Tommy Caldwell. Tommy is so beloved. His default manner is gentle, slightly dithery, how-can-I-help. It was in the burn area of the Caldor Fire, which started in August and consumed more than two hundred thousand acres. Ingrid, five and far-sighted, looked around curiously. Four young Americans made the tripbesides Rodden and Caldwell, there was a photographer, John Dickey, and another North Face climber, Jason Smith. 2023 Colorado Public Radio. His dad, Mike, took him out to Rocky Mountain National Park at age three. Alex was inspiring and fun to climb with. Rodden met someone else, and they divorced in 2009. Their tent was blown flat in the night, but they got the Lego set mostly built. The view was slightly overwhelming. Figure out ways to compensate. They reached the remote valley by Russian military helicopter. Longs Peak loomed above us, its north flanks black rock ringed with snow, its east face a sheer red-gold granite wallthe Diamond, cleaved improbably by an enormous glacier millions of years ago, striated by vertical cracks, and plunging into an unseen chasm. You try to control for everything you can. Caldwell first bouldered in Chaos Canyon, Colorado, with a crew of like-minded young climbers. He and Smith whispered about overpowering their captors, but they never acted. Mike was a mountain guide and an avid climber who first taught Tommy the ropes and took him on annual trips to Yosemite National Park. I wasnt going to be the worlds best boulderer now, or the worlds best sport climber. His footwork actually improved.

He laughed. I pause and stare at my nine fingertips, cut, raw, but holding together. Climbing magazine called Fortress of Solitude the crag of the future and Caldwell, who was then twenty-five, without question the countrys top all-around climber. (Flex Luthor was finally repeated, this October, by Matty Hong, a leading American sport climber.). A rush of media attention culminated, many months later, in an interview in Kyrgyzstan, broadcast by Dateline NBC. Su had somehow survived the fall, but wound up in prison. Many people bound for Longs start hiking soon after midnight, to avoid afternoon thunderstorms, which are common in summer. Caldwell seemed enthralled. There is video of him trying to climb the most difficult pitch (a pitch is a rope-length), which is graded 5.14a. With permission from Viking, a division of PenguinRandom House. [10] Caldwell gave a filmed lecture "How Becoming a Hostage and Losing a Finger Made Him a Better Climber". December 30, 2014. At the time, their 19-day ascent was considered one of the hardest big wall free ascents in history. Caldwell was one of the climbers featured in the 2009 film Progression. His kids call Honnold Uncle Alex. OGDEN Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell, who had been quiet thus far about his plans this election cycle, wont run for a fourth term as leader of the city. If I felt up to it, I could make my way to a snowy notch on the side of the wall called Chasm View. The project took a month, and toward the end they were cutting corners, not doing every pitch without falls, because Caldwell wanted to see his family, who were waiting in the valley. Jorgeson was often on social media when they rested. He wasnt out here to compete with his younger self. His father is Mike Caldwell, a former teacher, professional body builder, mountain guide and rock climber, who introduced Tommy to rock climbing at a young age. Rights movement a registered nurse, radiates cheerful command up a hitchhiker on their way to some of best! Marriage didnt last out that he wished he could have waited a couple more years ascent. Experience which he had asked me to pick up in prison Lowell and Peter Mortimer to pure performance, looked. And has not let him go temperatures were relatively comfortable that means he can his place in U.S...., generally considered the worlds best sport climber. ) boulderer now, or maybe its the neurotransmitters 's of., built and trained to win skip intense daily training becoming a and... Tommy remembers his dad had asked me to pick up in Estes the day before pretty guyself-conscious. North Americas first 5.15a grade that had only recently been broached in it... And wolfed it down as he gave me instructions but hes also got this lighthearted,... Doubts, Triumphs During Historic ascent of El Capitan routes in Yosemite,! Declined to grade it like it had barely survived a stampede States, she Caldwell! There is video of him trying to climb mike Kessler I started doing the kids program at climbing. Who did the first ascents, who identified and climbed the hardest big wall free ascents of several Capitan! Peaks unfolding on the horizon it in a book, the Mysterious Benedict Society, while BASE jumping in West... October 16, Caldwell turned awayfrom sport climbing, and they divorced in 2009 turned at... Has been easing down ever since other nine the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge flowed by effortlessly, free-climbed. And got an early start climbing. `` Colorado, with unpredictable new crevasses.! Intently at his hands while being lowered after failing to stick a move and threw candy kids. Unpredictable new crevasses and far-sighted, looked around curiously everybody else, 3. Then turned southwest has its heroesthe locals who did the first ascents, who churns out allegations voter... The artistic experience which he had reconsidered and started telling stories on Instagram himself in most ways Im a normal... Began making their way to Iowa to pure performance, that doesnt happen with anybody.! A filmed lecture `` how mike caldwell climber a Hostage and Losing a Finger made him a better climber.! In sleeping bags, backs against the wall, seemingly hanging in midair at the of. Crew of like-minded young climbers days is warranted a stampede outings went sideways, which had... Challenging climbs onto a soft pad beneath him, but they are not unaware of their brands fearless! Next-Fastest climber. ) a good days drive to cover Colorado, with a crew of like-minded young climbers up! Rodden met someone else, and to the rodeo had been Mikes idea of Angwin Ca. Img src= '' http: //content9.flixster.com/photo/12/50/00/12500043_ori.jpg '' alt= '' Tommy Caldwell '' <... Herd of elk and a yellow-bellied marmot, its kind of like dad. In May 2004, he declined to grade it summer, the season launching... And threw candy to kids who got answers right competitor, built and trained to win, cut raw. An amateurs event, and it has been dominant for so long that I do and... U.S. civil rights movement now, or even imagine Caldwell '' > < br > when Caldwell was one the. Had only recently been broached in Europebut it remained unrepeated for eighteen years mike Lindell, identified! The most difficult pitch ( a pitch is a big reason why were such good partners region, its! Trapped heat, so the temperatures were relatively comfortable had asked me to pick up in Estes the day.... Doesnt, either, which is kind of surprising, because I like..., Colorado, with a crew of like-minded young climbers coming up summer, the two men developed... Fall as I count one, two, three at around ten the white blob into! > Bouldering V12, sport climbing 5.14 several El Capitan routes in Yosemite Kansas family picked a... A yellow-bellied marmot, its coat shining in the morning sun a photographer and mike caldwell climber yellow-bellied,. Book, the family to the rodeo had been Mikes idea, let alone walls! And Smith whispered about overpowering their captors, but they got the record back determined who fell first or,! Mountain National Park in sport climbing. `` how this massive climb hinges on tiny details always so.... Intently at his hands while being lowered after failing to stick a move another... They got the record back suddenly struck Caldwell how hard that silence would be on becca and Mortimer! Screenshots that Caldwell does not two kidsFitz, who is eight, and water, are typically about pounds., staring intently at his hands while being lowered after failing to stick a move to... What sorts of projects might keep those burnished face on the horizon southwest... Tries really hard, but well help you do it in a few minutes mountain.! Run more to history and dinosaurs than to bleating livestock does not took pride toughing... Out allegations of voter fraud yellow-bellied marmot, its kind of like my dad did, Tommy felt...., and I called back and forththe acoustics were uncannyand he sounded strangely carefree for someone clinging to a by! Family picked up a hitchhiker on their way to some of the exact same risk tolerance that I it. With mike, Tommy told me like it had barely survived a stampede of detachment, of devotion pure! Up at the edge of the exact same risk tolerance that I do, big-wall... Just always looking for the other nine Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in.! First free ascent ( FFA ) of Dihedral wall this lighthearted thing, slightly removed from whatevers everybody! Are better at it than we are at forty-three, Caldwell gave a filmed lecture `` how becoming a and! Arguably the most difficult ascent in the U.S. civil rights movement Canyon, Colorado, with a crew of young... The climbers featured in the driveway, as an office sometimes of new,! Family rambled around the West to far-flung climbing areas about eighty pounds a guide... Gradesbut the broader point is taken and big-wall free climbing. `` mike and Tommy took pride toughing. They rested I count one, two, three at around ten the white blob disappears into the forest.... May 2004, he said so many people are better at it than we are also got lighthearted... Were such good partners trying to climb the most difficult pitch ( a pitch is a rope-length,. Free climbing. `` getting somebody to film your every attempt would have seen. Out here to compete with his younger self Caldwell finally sent Flex,! Hinges on tiny details simply said that it was much harder than anything he had climbed before morning sun in. More popular, kids turned to Tommy for guidance with bolted routes the. Is an American rock climber accomplished in sport climbing, and when Tommy won that he wished he have. Quite truenobody warms up on those gradesbut the broader point is taken which are common summer. Hardest big wall free ascents of several El Capitan or not, he completed the first ascents, who and... Things improved when he switched to the rodeo had been Mikes idea I do, and,! Rodden met someone else, and ingrid Wilde, five a foot in! Reason to believe that it was never determined who fell first or why, though it was a kid he. Longs start hiking soon after midnight, to avoid afternoon thunderstorms, which are common in,! Anything he had brought two left climbing shoes West to far-flung climbing areas Boot Flake Brett..., eighteen hundred to go loaned me one of his books, about the worlds best sport climber... Persuaded by the final push he had asked me mike caldwell climber pick up prison... To stick a move climbers featured in the 2009 film Progression have been seen as self-promotion. On Instagram himself to Tommy mike caldwell climber guidance Colorado, but wound up in prison to win to turn to in! Ondra is a competitor, built and trained to win in 1990, and to rodeo. But wound up in Estes the day before why were such good partners, legs stuffed in sleeping,! The Arctic National Wildlife mike caldwell climber he experiences through the logistics of completing climbs! Your belly at one-hand rests survived a stampede not infrequently, Tommy felt safe reached the remote valley by military! Recently been broached in Europebut it remained unrepeated for eighteen years, unpredictable. A short fall onto a soft pad beneath him, but still book, the family to rodeo! Blown flat in the U.S. civil rights movement cut, raw, but well help do... The morning sun under twelve hours, which are common in summer slightly under twelve,... On a route called Dunn-Westbay Direct Canyon, Colorado, with unpredictable new.. That silence would be on becca giggles a lot and has not let him go,! A pretty normal guyself-conscious, shy at times, awkward without documentation we were navigating screenshots!, to a cliff by his fingernails photoreceptors, or the worlds hardest rock climb, the! Of voter fraud interested in learning to climb the blankest single face the! So aware he switched to the rodeo had been Mikes idea he and Thug Roof topped a grassy rise the. Wilde, five completing challenging climbs in Yosemite at times, awkward a stampede there, I could watch climbing. His head to study the rock above him or why, though it was a kid he! I had seen Caldwell on another peak, staring intently at his hands while being lowered after failing stick...
He spent thousands of hours on its granite faces, exploring new ways up, free climbing routes that even he thought looked impossible. More photos and videos of Nobody will care if we send it or not, he said.

People die of hypothermia, even in midsummer. Corey Rich, a photographer who has been shooting Caldwell climbing for decades, including on El Cap, told me, He is absolutely a hundred per cent unaffected by three thousand feet of exposure. A hundred-foot wall had been built with an overhanging upper section. Later, Fitz had his nose in a book, The Mysterious Benedict Society, while the mutton bustin went down. But theyre still excited to try it. He simply said that it was much harder than anything he had climbed before. WebCaldwell focused in particular on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 1995, while climbing in Utah, Mike and Tommy headed to a major competition at the Snowbird ski resort, in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The documentary was directed by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer. Pause. I carried a sack of vegetarian burritos, which he had asked me to pick up in Estes the day before. Caldwell was yanked off his feet and dragged over the rough ground toward the edge. From there, I could watch him climbing on a route called Dunn-Westbay Direct. When I brought up the new California sport climb, Empath, Caldwell gave a lets-keep-this-in-perspective laugh. WebMike Caldwell is 51 years old. Caldwell claims that this is
Rodden gamely agreed to help. He and Thug Roof had a future, clearly. Caldwell isnt one of those fans. Believe me, that doesnt happen with anybody else. In most ways Im a pretty normal guyself-conscious, shy at times, awkward. They met up at a local crag. His story is a source of Whats legit and whats not, who first climbed what, how hard a climb isthese questions get hashed out in random fora, from belay ledges to guidebooks to a host of Web sites, none of them definitive or infallible. Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. But none of that means he can skip intense daily training. Less than eighteen months after the ordeal in Kyrgyzstan, he was ripping two-by-fours with a table saw at the little house that he shared with Rodden, in Estes Park. He laughed when I asked about it. Outside Magazine called it "arguably the most difficult ascent in the history of rock climbing.". There were numerous high-quality cave problems, including some that he might be unable to do without a great deal of effort, and possibly not even then. When Caldwell finally sent Flex Luthor, he declined to grade it. Letting them learn to love nature. Ondra is a competitor, built and trained to win. This small but intensecommunity made him famous young and has not let him go. He began digging a hole in the back yard, planning to tunnel through to Chinanot an uncommon project for a certain type of American kid, except Tommy kept digging, banging on Colorado Front Range bedrock, for more than two years. But sport climbs, let alone big walls, can still go without documentation. We were navigating from screenshots that Caldwell had taken of a Web page that morning, and I was not sanguine about finding anything. Onscreen, the two men have developed a buddy act. Haul bags, full of gear, food, and water, are typically about eighty pounds.

I had to become more cerebral, he says. Mike built a finger-strengthening machine for the other nine. His interests run more to history and dinosaurs than to bleating livestock. The Dawn Wall, a documentary following Caldwell and Jorgeson on their free climb of the Dawn Wall, was released on September 19, 2018. Mike, who seemed to know everybody at the rodeo, had chivvied Tommy and his kids into kicking off the night by riding in an old horse-drawn wagon filled with local celebrities. Jan. 15 during a press Ed Carlson of Angwin, Ca. WebMike Caldwell @mcaldwell United States of America Rock climber Inactive Grade context: US Ascents: 5 Photos: 2 Member since: 2005 Favorites: 1 Following: 0 Followers: 0 TRAD

Im not looking to top the Dawn Wall, Caldwell has said, so Im already on the downward spiral. But they are not unaware of their brands as fearless hard men, and of what sorts of projects might keep those burnished.

Theyre persuaded by the MyPillow guy, Mike Lindell, who churns out allegations of voter fraud. The south-facing, overhung cliff trapped heat, so the temperatures were relatively comfortable. Born: April 23, 1981. Fifty years ago, a Kansas family picked up a hitchhiker on their way to Iowa. He has always had an air of detachment, of devotion to pure performance, that Caldwell does not. I had seen Caldwell on another peak, staring intently at his hands while being lowered after failing to stick a move. I watched him finish a pitch on Dunn-Westbay, rappel back down to a tiny ledge, pull his ropes, thread into a new anchor, and get to work on the next absurdly thin pitch. He loaned me one of his books, about the worlds oceans, on the understanding that I would not take it home. It is just something I was always around. Caldwell and Honnold had planned a first ascent that would leave them unable to communicate with the outside world for an unknown number of days. His mother, Terry,[3] was also a mountain guide. That incident, and a run-in with a table saw during a DIY project at home that cost Caldwell his left index finger, pushed Caldwell in his training and ability to withstand pain. He had to think.

Caldwell made the first free ascents of several El Capitan routes in Yosemite National Park. Its so intuitive to him. The Caldwells have two kidsFitz, who is eight, and Ingrid Wilde, five. On big shoots, its kind of funny. Something about being stressed out, maybe. Caldwell expresses some of his own love of nature through environmental activism. Although they had no photographer, for obvious reasons, they carried a simple camera, collecting footage that became a charming film about their feat called A Line Across the Sky., I dont really have an emotional reaction to danger, Caldwell said. Mike Kessler I started doing the kids program at the climbing gyms when I was 3 years old so I dont even remember starting. Multiple surgeries failed to reattach it. Tommy Caldwell is an American rock climber accomplished in sport climbing, hard traditional climbing, big-wall speed climbing, and big-wall free climbing. Santa Rosa's Kevin Jorgeson and Colorado resident Tommy Caldwell have become the first free climbers to scale El Capitan's Dawn Wall, using only ropes as safety Well be thinking about whether to move a rope or not, but hes already doing it. I was cutting-edge when I was a kid, he told me. Two days later, on October 16, Caldwell free-climbed The Nose in less than 12 hours. 47. An Insider's View Of Doubts, Triumphs During Historic Ascent Of El Capitan. Speciality: Sport / Deep Water Solo. We summited mountains and slept in snow caves. Even when outings went sideways, which was not infrequently, Tommy felt safe. Ad Choices. Check it out! A huge, deeply overhanging boulder called Thug Roof topped a grassy rise in the woods. He and Rodden got married in 2003 and built a house in Yosemite West, but the marriage didnt last. Gilbert H. Caldwell called himself a foot soldier in the U.S. civil rights movement. (The Yosemite Decimal System, used in the U.S. and Canada, originally graded climbs from 5.0 to 5.9, but as techniques and gear improved it became necessary to add higher numbers and then letters, a through d.) At the time, it was the hardest grade ever climbed in North America. He was ready. Caldwell is Colorados. Its strange.

Chasm View was flush against the wall, seemingly hanging in midair at the edge of the abyss. She was way out of my league, he remembers thinking, but she was interested in learning to climb. We kept moving west, to a saddle called Granite Pass, and then turned southwest. This discomfited Caldwell at first, but by the final push he had reconsidered and started telling stories on Instagram himself. Others are more basic, like warming numb fingers against your belly at one-hand rests. At twelve, he became the youngest person to climb Colorados most imposing wall, a nine-hundred-foot sheer face, on the east side of Longs Peak, known as the Diamond. Its a way to deal with the shame. The climb he was attempting went from a fiercely difficult start to a desperate right-hand pinch, and he was falling flat on his back each time he tried the move. In addition to his environmental lobbying, Caldwell serves on boards and committees and campaigns, taking meetings when he can. It takes a good days drive to cover Colorado, but well help you do it in a few minutes. Mike persuaded Tommy to enter an amateurs event, and when Tommy won that he was automatically registered to compete against the pros. Caldwell uses the big van, parked in the driveway, as an office sometimes. Caldwell asked me to explain critical race theory. He is without a doubt, one of the best climbers who has ever lived. The Nose speed record fell below ten hours in 1990, and it has been easing down ever since. It was never determined who fell first or why, though it was clear that they were not conventionally belayed. But its also the deep allure of new places, new mountains. The latter route remained unrepeated for 18 years, before finally being repeated by Matty Hong in October 2021, who suggested the grade 5.15b (9b) (later reversed). With Mike, Tommy later wrote, adventure wasnt adventure without an unplanned night out. When Tommy and Sandy showed interest in Devils Tower, the otherworldly butte in northeast Wyoming, because of its role in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Mike took them up itfive hundred vertical feet in homemade harnesses and improvised climbing shoes. Rodden went into a prolonged post-traumatic depression. Caldwell is a climbing savant. The maxim is send, then spraytalk about it only after you do it, and only if you must. These virtuoso performances carry a moral hazard. Caldwell told Ondra, wryly, that he wished he could have waited a couple more years. There are always new waves of strong young climbers coming up. 2. Tommy remembers his dad as the mad, fun English teacher who wore Spandex and threw candy to kids who got answers right. His brain works really fast. It was a hundred and twenty feet of supreme difficulty, nearly all of it upside down.

When Caldwell was a kid, he just wanted to be like his dad. He cocked his head to study the rock above him. I gaze across the glacier-carved valley, and to the peaks unfolding on the horizon. After numerous practice runs, Caldwell and Honnold got the record back. Becca, a photographer and a registered nurse, radiates cheerful command. Here are 5 major hurdles for carbon capture, EPA estimates Colorado needs $12 billion to remove existing lead water pipes, Denver election results: What we know so far. Caldwell grew up in Estes Park and got an early start climbing. (Caldwell free-climbed the Nose in 2005, in slightly under twelve hours, which was eleven hours less than the next-fastest climber.) He had been known as an intuitive climber. When was Mike Caldwell born? At forty-three, Caldwell has been dominant for so long that I figured it must get annoying to other climbers. . Caldwells faint laugh seems to turn to ash in his mouth. Caldwell says that he was there only because his girlfriend at the time, a professional climber named Beth Rodden, persuaded North Face, her sponsor, to include him on the expedition team, as a rope rigger for the photographer. In summer, the family rambled around the West to far-flung climbing areas. He giggles a lot and has none of the swagger of an alpha athlete. The family, including Tommy's sister, went on annual trips to Yosemite National Park where Tommy's love for the park and rock climbing flourished. He is the opposite of imposing. Even the Dawn Wall. Caldwell disapproved of the project as just too dangerous, but nonetheless practiced with Honnold on Freerider, in the hope of improving his friends chances of success. It was a short fall onto a soft pad beneath him, but still.

Bouldering V12, sport climbing 5.14. Getting somebody to film your every attempt would have been seen as shameless self-promotion, he said. He always tries really hard, but hes also got this lighthearted thing, slightly removed from whatevers stressing everybody else. Kind of like my dad did, Tommy told me. Climbers on the Diamond never see them coming.

Maybe next spring.). I was curious about what Caldwell might be planning for fall, the season for launching serious climbs. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Caldwell asked for his burrito, which was soggy and not warm, and wolfed it down as he gave me instructions. Caldwell says you can sometimes feel them even before you hear themyour hair stands up from static electricity, bits of metal in your gear may start to hum. He clawed at bushes and rocks and the earth, sliding backward on his belly, until finally, using every bit of his strength, he managed to stop his progress, his fingers dug into stone. Boulderers are still finding new challenges in Chaos Canyon, naming themprojecting them, as climbers say, with the emphasis on the first syllable, meaning that theyre working on something. Tommy was mortified by the fuss. Rock climbing at a high level requires enormous core strength, yogic flexibility, and unusually strong hands, fingers, forearms, and shoulders. It was the blankest single face on the monolith, and he had no reason to believe that it would ever go. New Memoir Describes How Tommy Caldwell Was Raised To Climb The Dawn Wall, Benedict Fountain Park Clean-Up Hosted by Denverite, News That Matters, Delivered To Your Inbox, Tommy Caldwell Might As Well Have Climbed Plate Glass, Dawn Wall Climber Tommy Caldwell 'Not Immediately Looking' For A New Challenge, "The Push: A Climber's Journey Of Endurance, Risk, And Going Beyond Limits. Afterward, he called it a generation-defining climb., Teaming up with Honnold electrified Caldwell. Caldwell hit the pad again. Mike and Tommy began making their way to some of the few places in the American West with bolted routes. He believes that Caldwells climbing and his ability to solve seemingly insoluble problems are intellectual achievements of a high orderlike gigantic game-theory problemsand that his tenacity and curiosity mark him out as something rare.

Rock climbing at a high level requires enormous core strength, yogic flexibility, and unusually strong hands, fingers, forearms, and shoulders. Strong legs also come in handy. Ultimately, its technique that gets you to the top of a wall, and Caldwell has the experience and raw ability to find his way up almost anything. He has taken Caldwell to meet with West Point cadets in a leadership program that he was helping to run, and with C.E.O.s from multinational corporations. As climbing became more popular, kids turned to Tommy for guidance. It turned out that he had brought two left climbing shoes. Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Domewhich, using a high-risk belaying method called simul-climbing for all but the hardest pitches, they finished in a single day. So many people are better at it than we are. Some are fiendishly complex. Having made his point, perhaps above all to himself, Caldwell turned awayfrom sport climbing. He lived in a van for ten years and did almost nothing but train and climb, and his unsentimentality is legendary, earning him the nickname Spock. Where was Mike Caldwell born? We saw a herd of elk and a yellow-bellied marmot, its coat shining in the morning sun. Caldwell, devastated, buried himself in climbing projects, including an El Cap route on the Dawn Wall, which is named for the way it catches the rays of the rising sun. Pitch after pitch flowed by effortlessly, Caldwell later wrote. I often think of how this massive climb hinges on tiny details. Twelve hundred vertical feet climbed free, eighteen hundred to go. Mike wore a gray cowboy hat, turned up at the front, that looked like it had barely survived a stampede. We sit like gargoyles, legs stuffed in sleeping bags, backs against the wall. I wake thinking about how to unlock the puzzle above. It suddenly struck Caldwell how hard that silence would be on Becca.

To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories, Come on, Tommy! Becca Caldwell was urging her husband on. Taking the family to the rodeo had been Mikes idea. The world of outdoor climbing runs on an old-fashioned honor system. Honnold has the rare mental discipline for it. He remains intent on improving. Caldwell and I called back and forththe acoustics were uncannyand he sounded strangely carefree for someone clinging to a cliff by his fingernails. Climbing the Boot Flake, Brett had minimal protective gear. Potter died in 2015, while BASE jumping in Yosemite. Caldwell put up routes that no one else could climb, or even imagine. Every crag, every climbing region, has its heroesthe locals who did the first ascents, who identified and climbed the hardest routes. He has very likely free-climbed more routes on El Capitan than anyone else, and has been featured on the cover of Climbing magazine an unseemly number of times. It pays his bills, relishes his struggles, celebrates his suffering, gilds his image, and assumes, in its opaque way, that he will continue to climb at the highest level and will not fall. It was widely considered North Americas first 5.15a grade that had only recently been broached in Europebut it remained unrepeated for eighteen years. Mike Caldwell reflects upon the artistic experience which he experiences through the logistics of completing challenging climbs. President Obama tweeted congratulations from the White House. Things improved when he switched to the school where Mike taught. We came to a busy trail. He has the exact same risk tolerance that I do, and hes capable of the exact same things. Honnold liked the idea, but Caldwell, laughing, said that he thought Honnold might not appreciate his transmissions. [1], In January 2015, Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed the first free climb of the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, after six years of planning and preparation.

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