UPDATE: Tommy Caldwell Sends Dawn Wall Crux!
After six years of working on the crux-pitch of Yosemite’s Dawn Wall, Tommy Caldwell has sent it. Hello.
As Caldwell wrote on his Facebook, “Oh my goodness!!! After six years, I finally sent this beast of a pitch. Inspired by Keven’s fight-to-the-death near miss. This officially means all the hard individual pitches have been redpointed. I am so psyched my hands are shaking.”
Ten-part video series on Dawn Wall
When, and if, Dawn Wall is sent, it will be the world’s hardest big wall free climb. Caldwell has made the first free ascent of these notable Yosemite big wall climbs: Magic Mushroom 5.14 in 2008, Dihedral Wall 5.14 in 2004 and the West Buttress 5.13+ in 2003. In 2005, he made the third and fourth free ascent of The Nose 5.14. In 2012, with Alex Honnold, he made the first all-free ascent of the Yosemite triple crown.
Dawn Wall By the Numbers, by Kevin Jorgeson
Jorgeson wrote on his Facebook, “We have four more climbing days before we take a week off for Thanksgiving to let our bodies recover a bit. Then, if all goes to plan, we will prepare for a send push some time in December.”
Climbing Days: 20
Rest Days: 11
Total Hours Climbing: 120
Total Hours Night Climbing: 80
Feet to Crux Pitches: 1,100 (380 metres)
Best Jumaring Time Base to Crux: 40 minutes
Best Rappelling Time Crux to Base: 10 minutes
Total Feet Jumared: 22,000
Hardest Pitch: 14 (first traverse)
Likely Grade of Pitch 14: 5.14d
Confidence Level for Pitch 14 Send: eight out of 10
Highlight So Far: Team send of Pitch 7, 5.14a
Tommy’s Crux: The Dyno
My Crux: Pitch 12, 5.14b, The Molar Traverse
Split Tips: 0
Grated Knuckles: three (all mine…)
New Sequences Found: seven
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