All language subtitles for The Dawn Wall 2017 (The Dawn Wall 2017) (ENGLISH)

Hello?

Hey guys, this is John Branch
from the New York Times.

How's it going up there?

Good, John.

How high up are
you guys right now?

We are about 1,200 feet
up the wall at our base camp.

This has been our
home for nine days now.

Tommy, I get the
bottom line question here.

Why are you doing this?

What's the point
of all this for you?

On the air tonight with the
story of two men attempting to

free climb the famously steep
face of El Capitan in Yosemite.

Inch by nerve-racking
inch, using only

their fingertips to grasp
razor-sharp edges.

Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgensen
attempt the hardest climb in the world.

No one has ever...
...free-climbed the Don Wall.

3,000 feet of
straight-up granite.

A climb watched by the world.

You guys have captured
the world's attention.

Tommy Caldwell.

In the back is El Capitan.

They're trying to make history.

I long thought impossible.

El Capitan's infamous Don Wall.

As a kid, Tommy
was slow at everything.

He had a lot of
difficulty in school.

The teachers actually
at one point told us that

he was mentally retarded
and would never learn.

I was like developmentally...

...delayed.

Through, probably still.

Um...

I was this very
fragile little kid.

Incredibly shy.

But meanwhile...

...my dad was like
the symbol of a man.

He's like this big
bodybuilder dude.

And mountain climber.

Larger than life.

Tommy was small.

He was way behind.

Didn't crawl until
he was over two.

I think my dad felt the best
way to prepare this fragile

little kid for the world was
to toughen him up a little bit.

So he took me on
all these adventures.

Three years old,
strapped on the skis.

Camping in a snow
cave during a blizzard.

Every summer we'd go
to Yosemite with my family.

And my dad would take me
climbing on these giant walls.

Some of the craziest climbing
stunts you could ever do.

And he did it
with a six year old.

The things that
Tommy's dad took him on.

Today you would have child
protective services coming after you.

He basically took hardship
and rephrased it as growth.

He was loving.

But he definitely let me suffer.

The word that was in
my mind was resilience.

Seems to me one of
the best gifts you can give

your kid is an ability
to deal with adversity.

By the time I was 14 or 15 there was climbs
that I could do that my dad couldn't.

Tommy's strong.

Climbing was the first thing in my
life where I could stand out a little bit.

So Tommy was 16.

And Snowbird held the
Snowbird Invitational Day.

That year.

This big climbing competition.

We thought we would drive over there and
watch the comp and get some autographs.

We just went there
to be fans really.

And the day before the
big competition they had a

citizen's comp that anybody
who shows up can enter.

So I entered that.

My first competition ever.

Well, Tommy won.

And I don't know if this
was an official policy

or just something they
dreamt up on the spot.

But they asked Tommy if he wanted to
enter the World Invitational the next day.

Hello everyone.

I'm James Brown.

And welcome to Snowbird, Utah for the
International Sport Climbing Championship.

Expert climbers will test their skills
against a man-made 120-foot wall.

There were 12 competitors.

The icons of climbing.

And it was so intimidating.

So it's going to be a
very challenging field.

In fact, Tommy's the only one in
there that we haven't heard of before.

Nobody had ever heard of me.

I was just like this
scrawny little kid.

I was videoing Tommy as
he goes climbing up this thing.

Nobody has made
it past that roof.

He got past the final roof.

So Tommy's winning.

I can't believe it.

I started shaking.

I just dropped the camera.

I completely lost it.

Tommy got to the top.

Unbelievable.

The only climber to
complete this climb.

So all of a sudden, Tommy went
from nobody at all to winner of Snowbird.

I mean, that was
just unbelievable.

It changed his whole life.

Tommy became known as
one of the best young climbers.

But he didn't grow up
the way most of us do.

Through high school,
he didn't have girlfriends.

He didn't have a social life.

He just went climbing.

I was doing this
series of competitions.

And I met this girl, Beth.

She just caught my attention.

Totally.

I was like, whoa.

Tommy just had like this
really big, goofy, endearing grin.

We both lived and
breathed climbing.

Tommy's this climbing savant.

And then he meets Beth, you
know, the female version of himself.

He's head over heels.

I just found ways to
go wherever she was.

I found out she was
going to Yosemite.

So I followed her out there.

We ended up climbing
a big walk together.

You know, we were next
to each other all the time.

24 hours a day together.

Sleeping 1,000 feet off the ground on this
portal edge, which is like a hanging cot.

You sleep head to toe.

Like, there's just
more room that way.

So I laid down.

And then she laid down like the same way
that I was, with her head at the same end.

And I was pretty
excited by this.

I was like, ooh, goodness.

This is getting exciting.

I just hadn't been
in love before.

And I just fell hardcore.

Right off the bat.

It just clicked.

We had so many dreams of
traveling and climbing together.

And then we got invited to
go on a big adventure trip.

An expedition to Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan is this beautiful
mountainous country in Central Asia.

We'd seen pictures from
friends that had been there.

And it looked like a
paradise for climbers.

I was a photographer
working in the outdoor industry.

And this amazing opportunity
came about for me to

shoot an expedition with
Beth and Tommy and Jason.

We were just four young
climbers looking for a big

adventure in a new and
unusual part of the world.

We chartered a helicopter
into the Karasu Valley.

Unbelievably beautiful.

Just felt like kind of
a dream come true.

Out in the middle of this adventure with
this girl that I was totally in love with.

A week and a half into our trip,
the four of us were sleeping in

port-a-ledges, a
thousand feet up the wall.

And we wake up to gunshots.

These piercing close gunshots.

Bullets hitting the wall right
between our port-a-ledges.

We're sitting there like, oh
my god, we're getting shot at.

You can't run away,
you can't do anything.

We're just sitting
ducks up here.

We looked down and you
could see these figures.

These guys waving
at us to come down.

We rappelled down to the ground.

We're encountered by
four guys, heavily armed.

They took us to our base camp.

All of our tents were cut open.

A lot of our food was
splayed around the meadow.

They had us start
hiding our camp.

And so suddenly
it kind of hits us.

We're hostages right now.

Later

we learned that these guys were part
of the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan.

These rebels that wanted
to overthrow the government.

We were caught up in this battle between
these rebels and the Kyrgyz military.

All of a sudden, the Kyrgyz
military helicopters start to fly over.

Soldiers show up on the
hillside and this battle breaks out.

The rebels start pointing
their guns at us, yelling, hide!

And we dive in these trees.

The rebels had taken a
Kyrgyz soldier hostage.

They took the other captive.

And they just shot
him in the head.

I just remember shaking uncontrollably and
Tommy just holding me as tight as he could.

Are they just going
to kill us next?

Once it's dark, the
gunfire dies down.

And the rebels start marching
us through the mountains.

It's four rebels,
the four of us.

It's really cold.

We're at 11,000
feet in elevation.

We don't have warm clothes.

We don't have any food.

We had no idea
where we were going.

We would hike through the night.

And then during the
day, they would hide us.

They hid us in
the craziest spots.

Burying us in holes in the ground so
that we wouldn't be seen by the military.

This went on for six days.

Day two or three, hunger
really started to set in.

You know, we're sort
of just wasting away.

At first, I thought
they're taking us back

to their base or they're
taking us somewhere.

There's a purpose to this.

Finally, we realized they
were leading us in a giant circle.

Like, these guys
clearly don't have a plan.

Jason and John started to scheme
about how we could get away.

I mean, things were
getting super desperate.

They were ready to take
matters into their own hands.

At one point, two
of our captors left.

We never saw them again.

We found out later
that they got killed.

On our sixth night of captivity, the
two captors that were remaining with

us decided that one of them would go
in one direction to try and get some food.

And then we would head
off with the other one.

So we get left alone with the
one rebel climbing up this cliffside.

We were comfortable on
the terrain and he was not.

If we're going to escape,
this is the opportunity.

Jason and John decided
they would try and push our

remaining captor off this
cliff and then run away.

John and I were trying
to look for a point that we

could throw him off, but he
kept going and kept going.

And we just couldn't
quite push him.

As we got to the top, I realized that
our opportunity was going to be over.

And I decided that this
was what I had to do.

I had to go and I needed to push this guy
off this cliff in order to save our lives.

Tommy came over to
me at this point and he

said, you know, do you
think I should do this?

I was thinking,
yes, no, yes, no.

So I just didn't say anything.

I took that as that she
would be okay with it.

So I...

So I just ran up behind him and I put one
hand on his back and grabbed his gun strap

and my other hand went on
his chest and I just gave a push...

to send him
flying off this cliff.

We saw him hit a
ledge, bounce off of it,

and just fall out of
sight into the darkness.

Tommy completely broke down.

He had his head in his
arms and he was crying.

I couldn't believe
what I had just done.

I had just killed somebody.

The whole world came
crashing down on me all at once.

You know, we were
all trying to reassure him

and say that, you know,
you're not a bad person.

You've just saved our lives.

They really tried to comfort me, but
there was a sense of urgency that we

better get going because we didn't know
if the other captor was going to show up.

We knew from hiking in
earlier where there was

a military outpost that
we could try and run to.

So even on almost no food for
six days, adrenaline kicked in.

So we ran for four hours through
the darkness down this valley.

We were greeted by this
man yelling at us with this gun.

Throw up our hands, start
yelling that we're Americans.

And luckily it was
the Kyrg Army.

This huge wave of
relief came over us.

I mean, this horrible situation
that we had been in was over.

They gave us food and
water, military fatigues,

and then we got
helicoptered out from there.

Radio's in New York.

Here is Jane Pauley.

Four young Americans
face a life or death choice

with the ultimate
question to kill or be killed.

When we got home, there
was this crazy media circus.

You guys are walking with
this captor on a very rocky cliff.

Tell me what you did, Tommy.

We just ended up
pushing the guy.

You pushed him over the cliff?

Yeah.

What happened at that moment when
you realized, I've actually done this.

I've killed somebody.

You know, I thought
that I was an evil person.

I said to Beth, I was like, how can you
love me after I did something like this?

And, um...

After Kyrgyzstan, Tommy had
tremendous personality changes.

Speaking so softly.

I was like, what is inside
me that allowed me to do this?

I'm just an entirely
different person.

Yosemite is known as the
Mecca of world rock climbing.

And the crown jewel of
this Mecca is El Capitan.

It's just this iconic
3,000-foot-high monolith.

When you see that thing for the first
time, I mean, it takes your breath away.

The steepest, blankest,
sort of most forlorn,

impressive part of El
Cap is the Don Wall.

People have done a handful of free
climbs up El Cap to the right of El Cap.

To the right and to the left.

But the Don Wall has
never been climbed.

Just the sheer magnitude
of blank rock on the thing.

I mean, it just
looks impossible.

Until Tommy Caldwell came along,
nobody had actually considered trying it.

If Tommy and his partner Kevin
can actually do this, it will be the most

continuously difficult
rock climb ever done.

Nothing else is
even close to it.

It's December 27th, and we're planning
on heading up for like two weeks plus.

We'll see.

The goal is climb it in a single push,
which means we're going to leave the

ground, live on the wall, and
not come down until we're done.

We're going for it.

I'm nervous.

We've put in so much work
leading up to this moment.

There's nothing left to do but just take a
couple deep breaths and start climbing.

Day one.

Yup.

It's going to be awesome.

The Don Wall itself
is 3,000 feet tall.

The route that they think they have figured
out is comprised of 32 individual pitches.

Each pitch is its own challenge,
like the stages of a race.

A pitch is a rope length
long, about 150 feet or so, and

ends at a ledge or a natural
resting place on the rock.

Yeah, man, good work.

When you end the pitch,
you anchor yourself to the wall.

Okay, take one down,
30-something to go.

And hold the rope or belay
as your partner comes up.

Once you've both done that pitch without
falling, you can move on to the next pitch.

When you're free climbing, you're using
your hands and feet to climb the natural

features on the rock without
any assistance from the rope.

Good job.

Yeah, man.

You take turns leading
each pitch, placing protection

in the cracks to catch
you in case you fall.

Yeah, come on.

Got it.

Oh!

If you fall, you just go back
down to the beginning of that pitch.

And then the other guy tries it.

They have a certain number
of pitches they're trying to

get through each day to stay
on track to finish this climb.

The first few pitches
are relatively easy.

But as you get
higher on the wall,

the wall gets steeper.

The holes get smaller.

And the climbing
gets way more difficult.

It's hard to articulate the
level of detail that's required.

You can't make any mistake in where you
grab the hold and how you place your toe.

You're pushing and pulling
as hard as you possibly can.

Yeah.

Always on the
verge of slipping off.

Oh, no!

Oh, good slip.

We climb all day into the night
trying the same pitch until we both do it.

I'm just trying to keep up.

Tommy is just a man possessed.

Come on!

Finish this.

Come on!

Yeah, man!

Yeah!

I'm just trying to keep up.

Come on, Tommy!

Come on!

Come on!

Come on!

Come on!

That was awesome, dude!

Thank God I didn't fall.

When you're trying a big
wall like this, the work does

not end once the climbing
is done at the end of the day.

You've got to haul up
hundreds of pounds of gear.

Set up portaledges.

This thing is pretty good.

It's pretty flat
even, I would say.

And gag down some food.

I actually brought a bag of kale
on the wall to put it in our burritos.

This is like the
hardest thing you could

ever do on your fingers,
climbing this route.

Just grabbing razor blades.

I tape up any wounds with
Neosporin for healing, then

I wake up probably twice
in the night and reapply.

Getting pretty obsessed.

Putting away lips.

Then you got to hope
you can get a little sleep.

The next day is gonna be
more of the same, but harder.

And it's gonna go
on day after day.

Two weeks, three
weeks, nobody knows.

After Kyrgyzstan, we're trying
to absorb what had happened.

Beth is like really traumatized.

I started to have nightmares
and couldn't sleep and I

did not want to be separated
from Tommy at that point.

Beth and I are like bonded at
the hip, like I'm sort of her rock.

We go to church a few times.

We haven't been to
church in like ten years.

We're just like searching.

We're like, what does this mean?

We go to a therapist.

It's like nobody knows how
to deal with this situation.

I think my way of
dealing with it was to just

get back on that horse
and go climb again.

This has always been my safe
place, my way to deal with life.

I didn't know what to
think about Kyrgyzstan.

Part of me was feeling
kind of empowered.

I was like when the ship
really hit the fan, I was able

to like do what needed to
be done to get us out of there.

Tommy jumped right
back into climbing.

And slowly, we got
back into our groove.

We're both professional
rock climbers, doing

these really cool
climbs all over the place.

He started setting
these lofty goals.

Trying to climb harder
and harder routes.

And then about a year
after Kyrgyzstan, we

were remodeling this
like tiny little cabin.

And Tommy was using
his parents old table saw.

Tommy did something that
he should never do, which is he

tried to pull a small piece of
wood through the table saw.

If the blade catches on the wood, it
sucks your hand right back into the blade.

I heard Tommy scream.

I fucking cut off my finger.

I cut off my finger.

Completely cut his
finger off instantly.

It was over in the bushes.

Beth finds the finger
land in this pile of sawdust.

We throw it on ice,
drive to the hospital.

My dad comes in and he's
like, you have to fix his finger.

And so for two weeks, they
tried to reattach the finger.

Three different surgeries.

But it became apparent that
the finger wasn't gonna survive.

This one doctor who was a
climber came in and told Tommy

that he was gonna have to
come up with a new career now.

There was no way he was gonna
make it as a climber any longer.

Oh that was either the
wrong thing or the right

thing to say because
it sure fired him up.

I was like fuck that guy, he
doesn't know what I'm capable of.

I remember the first
time he tried to climb.

He was like, whoa.

You know, I was like whoa.

When I heard he cut his finger off, I go,
well, you know, so much for Tommy Caldwell.

The grip in climbing is you
wrap your thumb over your

finger like that and pull
down on the little edges.

And if there's no finger there,
the physics are all wrong.

I don't know about that.

Everybody around me
except for Beth and my

parents looked at me
and they're like, he's done.

That's so sad.

I knew it wasn't
going to be easy.

But ever since Kyrgyzstan,
I just have this fire in

me that is different than
anything I've had before.

He had all these little jars
of rice and beans and gravel.

You know, you're supposed to
jam that nub of a finger in there.

I just abused the thing to retrain
the nerves, to toughen them up.

Those six days of captivity in
Kyrgyzstan were so profound.

They were profoundly painful.

At first, I felt overwhelmed
with fear and fatigue and hunger.

But at some point, I felt
something come over me.

This reserve of energy.

This confidence.

Like I knew I was cold,
I knew I was hungry,

but those things
didn't matter anymore.

I think we all have this
idea of where our limits lie.

If you're hurting
really bad, you get to a

point where you're like,
I can't endure anymore.

And it takes something
to force you past that.

In Kyrgyzstan, I realized that my
preconceived limits were totally off base.

That we are capable of so much
more than we really could ever imagine.

There was this really hard climb
nobody had done that he tried

the year before he cut off
his finger and he couldn't do it.

Come on, Tommy!

A year later, he came back
without the finger and he did it.

It cuts off his finger.

Oh, no big deal, I'll
just get better after that.

I have no idea
how that's possible.

That's when Tommy took his game to the
biggest stage on Earth, which is El Cap.

At that time, there were only a
few free climbs that went up El Cap.

Some of the hardest
big wall climbs ever done.

Just to climb one of these
routes would have been a

monumental achievement for
the best climbers in the world.

And then Tommy walks
into the valley missing a finger

and just started knocking
them down one after the other.

Over the next five years,
he went on a rampage.

I did basically all the
existing routes on El Cap.

Salve Wall.

Zodiac.

El Corazon.

Golden Gate.

The Nose.

Then he starts speed climbing
these routes, linking one into the other.

Two El Cap routes in a day.

6,000 feet of climbing.

I mean, that was unheard of.

You did it!

And then I started
looking for new routes.

Tommy started looking between
the lines for his own first ascents.

It added that element
of the unknown.

This what if, like maybe
that could be climbed.

I think Tommy had
become hypnotized.

Trying to figure out
where is the ultimate limit.

I did the first ascent
of the Muir Wall.

The West Buttress.

The Dehedral Wall.

Magic Mushroom.

Anybody that does a first ascent on El
Capitan has their place in history forever.

Tommy did five of them.

Anything he could
dream up, he did it.

And everyone in the climbing
world is just like, what the hell?

He's Mr. El Cap.

The best big wall climber ever.

And Beth was with
him all the time.

Climbing all of
these routes together.

We just poured our hearts into climbing
and supporting each other on these goals.

It was quite a team.

They were known as
the first couple of climbing.

It was one word, Beth and Tommy.

We get married.

We ended up buying property
like 20 minutes from El Capitan.

And building a house there.

I'm just going to live in Yosemite and
raise our kids there and keep climbing.

I was good friends
with them both.

And we were next door neighbors.

They seemed so happy.

I'm like, wow, this life that
I never even saw coming

in the first place is starting
to just magically appear.

Things are going seemingly
really well, at least from my mind.

But I'm noticing
over time little cracks.

Little cracks started to form.

First inklings of almost
like hostility towards me.

There was all
this weird tension.

And I was just like, well, you know,
we've been together for eight years now.

Marriages go through
troubling times.

We'll get through this
and just keep climbing.

I think there is a
natural growing apart.

Desires we had
outside of climbing.

I think going through a
super intense experience.

Like Kyrgyzstan.

I mean, we were so young.

Years later, there was probably
a lot that started to come out.

Healing that I hadn't done.

And at some point, the
climbing we had wasn't

enough glue to hold
it together anymore.

In Kyrgyzstan, Beth was extremely
traumatized by those six days.

And Tommy was the
person who saved them.

And so from that, I think a sort of
dependency probably developed.

That isn't necessarily the
same thing as true love.

Eventually, she started feeling
something for somebody else.

And...

I don't know how
to summarize this.

This is kind of a hard
thing to talk about.

But that relationship with her
and this other man just solidified

in a way that she couldn't
walk away from that anymore.

And she wanted that
more than she wanted me.

Once the divorce fully happened.

I...

Yeah, I was just crushed.

I drove to the rim
of Yosemite Valley.

And was looking
across at El Capitan.

It felt like El Cap
was all I had.

Early in the morning, there's this one
panel of the wall that illuminates first.

And that's why it's
called the Dawn Wall.

The last unclimbed
big swath of stone.

I had looked at it a little bit before
and knew that it was way too hard.

Like I'd never be able to do it.

But I was just hurting so bad that I
had to figure out a distraction in life.

Like I couldn't just sit
there and like feel the pain.

I decided to go up there alone
and beat myself up on the wall.

It was just a way to cope.

I walked around the
back to the top of El Cap.

I started rappelling
down from above.

And I put in a camp
so I could stay up there.

And I started going through
this process of searching

for a way to climb
this section of the wall.

The specific path
was totally unknown.

You look for
weaknesses in the rock.

Corners that you can
wedge your body into.

Cracks for your hands and toes.

Little edges for
your fingertips.

Anything that you could possibly grab
onto that would make this wall climbable.

At first it was just
hanging on the rope.

Analyzing the surface of the
rock to see if there was holds.

Just finding something
to obsess about.

So I wouldn't obsess
about my divorce.

I think it's probably
important that it was

like an impossible
level of rock climbing.

When you absorb yourself in
some magnificent challenge.

There's no space to be
thinking about anything else.

You know if you're heartbroken.

Just throw yourself
at an impossible wall.

So I'm sitting up there
through this storm.

My wife has left me.

She was the only person I had
climbed with for like ten years.

In my portal edge at night.

Weeping and really
feeling sorry for myself.

Trying to find this elusive thing
that probably didn't even exist.

I was concerned.

It just seemed to be
suffering at that point.

And I wanted to see
what this was all about.

So early on in the game
I went up there with him.

I convinced my dad to
come up here and belay me.

So I could start actually trying
to climb sections of the route.

What the heck?

I really had my doubts as to whether
it was going to be a viable climb.

But during that period of time.

He became convinced that
it was somehow possible.

Tommy spent an entire
year swinging around.

Looking for a route
up the Don Wall.

Trying to connect the dots.

From the bottom
all the way to the top.

So you can someday hope
to pre-climb the whole thing.

Eventually I found a route that
seemed like it was theoretically possible.

Like I found the path
through the maze maybe.

But I realized there was no way I
was going to be able to do this alone.

It's just a monumental project.

Without Beth.

I needed to find her.

I needed a partner.

Somebody that I could rely on.

To help me solve this puzzle.

Maybe I should wake
Kevin up with some coffee.

Stretchin'.

That's a good idea.

I felt a little rugged
when I first woke up.

How are you feeling?

Still stuffy and sore throat.

Yeah.

Kinda achy.

I think I got whatever you got.

After the first couple
of days on the wall.

There's a small little cadre of
people down in the meadow.

Following their progress.

You can get a telescope
or a pair of binoculars.

Look up at this
spectacle happening.

Oh my god.

Is he naked or what?

Yeah.

He's got a thing.

My name is Tom Evans.

I've been for many years
photographing climbers on El Cap.

I usually don't
come in the winter.

But this is big
news in climbing.

And we've all been pulling
for him for many years.

I was on a little
vacation from work.

And I decided to come out from Sacramento
to watch these guys climb the Don Wall.

It's definitely a
moment in history.

To be able to be a part of that
and witness it is pretty phenomenal.

Pushing forward.

From here on up
every pitch is like...

Pretty legit.

We've gotta pace ourselves.

Maybe one or two pitches a day.

Nice.

Yeah.

Good.

Yeah, Kevin.

Nice, dude.

Cool.

Nice, dude.

That was sick.

It's day three on the wall.

And we sent pitch ten.

Yeah.

Boom.

Things are going good.

Things are going good.

And the forecast is calling for
super cold, windy temps tomorrow.

So we're gonna rest.

And at the heart of this whole
relationship is really for the time being,

getting the right facts, the best times,
and getting a piece of the map on the

right time for you This is
actually what it looks like.

This is... This is bad.

There's a speed here.

It's when I step on his豆을.

There's no mold.

There's nobody else on the wall.

Last night, the temperature
dropped 30 degrees.

To be up there under these
conditions, it's horrendous.

I don't know how they do it.

On El Cap, the wind
blows straight up the wall.

The ledge would float up and
then bang, back into the wall.

Oh boy.

Tommy feels right at home.

I don't know what's wrong
with me, but I love this shit.

You might be smart to
stay in the ledges today.

Because of the windstorm the
day before, all of this moisture

froze, like salt on a margarita
glass on the top of El Cap.

And as soon as the
sun hit the top of the

wall, that ice just
started to shower down...

on top of us.

These missiles
flying by our camp.

You hear it before you see it.

I'm like, this is kind of
like a deadly situation.

That was fucked up, man.

Did you get hit by any big ones?

No, but that was pure luck.

That was scary.

I hate that shit.

Found some more big chunks.

Tommy forgot his helmet.

Heads up, Tommy!

Tommy doesn't
seem too concerned.

What the fuck?

What's new?

Tommy, he was made
for something like this.

But for me, it took a long time
to get comfortable on the wall.

You can understand Tommy
grew up in the mountains.

You know, he spent
the better part of his adult

life on El Capitan
trying to do free climbs.

But this guy Kevin was
raised in Santa Rosa, I think.

You know, wine country.

There's not a lot of rock
climbing in Santa Rosa, California.

First ascent.

Don't fall on the Camaro.

I found climbing
through the local gym.

Bye, honey.

Have fun.

Be careful.

I got really into this particular
form of climbing called bouldering.

It's typically 30 feet or less.

Doesn't require any gear.

Bouldering is just about athleticism
and difficulty in its purest form.

Bouldering is all about trying
the hardest individual moves.

And Kevin quickly
became very, very talented.

He was one of the
best in the world.

And it was, in fact,
the first thing in my life.

At only up to about 30 feet.

Nice.

In 2009, I was at kind of the
top of my game in bouldering.

And looking for something new.

I kept hearing about this futuristic
thing that Tommy was working on.

I had zero big wall experience.

Tommy and I didn't
know each other at all.

But I just sent him a message, out of
the blue, hey, do you need a partner?

And to my utter shock, he said
meet me in Yosemite in October.

I knew Kevin by reputation.

He was this amazingly
strong bouldering kid.

And I thought to
myself, what the heck?

Maybe he could be an asset.

Plus, he was the
only one interested.

Everybody else
thought I was crazy.

Show up.

I remember standing there with
Tommy, who's a legend figure in my life.

I feel like such a fucking dork.

Who am I?

I've never climbed El Cap.

What a noob.

You know, fiddling around on boulders,
that's a far cry from being on El Capitan.

First thing I had to
do was sort of test him.

I gave him like an
80-pound haul bag.

A soul-crushing load.

We hiked to the top of El Cap.

We spent the night on top.

Woke up early the next day.

It's 3.15 in the morning,
cooking up a little breakfast.

You never get up at 3 in
the morning to go bouldering.

And start rappelling
down the face.

You... You start
walking backwards.

It's like stepping off
the edge of the earth.

You instantly have 3,000 feet
of exposure under your butt.

How's

it going up there, Kev?

Good, I got the bag.

And my shoes?

And your shoes.

Cool, thank you.

It's scary to be a
total beginner again.

I don't know any of this stuff.

Trying to figure out
how to Jumar a fixed line.

Ugh.

How to set up a portal ledge.

Sorry, Kev.

I'll just hold this quarter in.

It's okay.

It's okay.

How to take a dump
on the side of the wall.

I get every moment.

All close up.

Yeah.

At this point, I have no
idea what I'm getting into.

No idea that it's about to
consume six years of my life.

When Kevin joined on
with Tommy, it was the first

time since getting divorced
that Tommy had a partner.

I didn't know what we
were up against, but I was

going on in faith that
this is Tommy's world.

He's got the clear vision of what this
could be, and I'm just going to trust that.

The basic strategy early on was
not to climb the route from the bottom.

It was to identify the hardest
sections and focus on those first.

There were all
these question marks.

Come on, Tommy.

Okay.

Take that.

Well, I got the pizza with my
right hand instead of my left.

Working it out.

Constantly working it out.

Early on, most of it was
figuring out what didn't work.

Right in the middle of the wall.

We were going to have
to traverse sideways.

Come on.

I don't see any holes.

But I try to harness some
of Tommy's optimism.

After the traverse, there's this
eight and a half foot blank section.

Completely smooth.

Nothing that you
could even get past.

You had to get your
fingernails behind.

The only way was to just leap.

This crazy dynamic move.

A dyno.

I didn't really believe it would
be possible until I saw Kevin try it.

Yeah, man.

Pretty close.

He showed me that it was.

Come on.

All you got.

Above the dyno, you have pitch
after pitch of super smooth granite.

Extremely polished.

Because of Tommy's missing index finger,
he's using his thumbs in crazy ways.

Holy.

That is hard.

13D.

13D.

13C.

14A.

To understand the difficulty of this route,
you have to understand climbing grades.

Climbers use a numerical system
to rate the difficulty of each pitch.

The higher the number
is, the harder the pitch.

Once you get into 513, 514
level, that's virtuoso territory.

The Dawn Wall has more hard pitches
than every other route on El Cap combined.

I always thought it was futile, in
terms of doing the whole thing.

This is a pipe dream, man.

Come on.

The next few years were a grind.

Coming back every spring and
every fall for months at a time.

Come on.

Living on the wall
takes a huge toll.

This is what El Cap
does to your feet.

We'd stay up there a few days.

Oh my God, that's
a lot of air time.

Go down.

Rest.

Try again.

There were always
new problems to face.

Get out of here.

Oh, man.

Come on, Kevin.

Do it, man.

Oh!

Really close.

Oh, I sprained my ankle.

You okay, man?

Oh, shit.

So many reasons to give up.

Oh, shit.

I think I broke or dislocated a
rib, so we're headed to the clinic.

Maybe I'll just pop it back in.

They're just gonna pop it right back
in and we'll go back up later tonight.

But Tommy was committed.

Come on!

Come on, Kevin.

Come on!

There were times I
thought he was totally crazy.

Come on!

When we weren't together on the wall,
we would go home to our own worlds,

check in on loved ones.

It's gross.

I can see the oil on your hair.

Okay, I'm totally being a mom.

Try to get some good rest and find
motivation for the next round of attempts.

When I wasn't on the Dawn Wall,
I was living by myself in Colorado,

training and obsessing.

I was really lonely, honestly.

I met this girl named Becca.

We started dating.

He was thoughtful and considerate, but
from the beginning, it was pretty obvious.

His mind was completely
occupied by the Dawn Wall.

It wasn't just a climb.

It was all-consuming.

We were trying to build a relationship,
but he would go out to Yosemite for months

at a time, giving
everything to the Dawn Wall.

For years, Tommy put
his whole life on hold.

Damn.

So he could give every last
ounce of his body and soul...

to this impossible quest.

I could never tell if
we were wasting our

time or we were in
pursuit of something grand.

Come on!

I'd go out to Yosemite and I'd
watch him from the meadow.

It looked completely ridiculous.

Oh, shoot.

You know, I think we all admire
people who are dedicated.

But at some point, you
start to wonder, where

are the lines between
dedication and obsession?

He was going through
emotional agony.

This climb has
been gut-wrenching.

I want this for him so badly.

He fell off.

Man, I mean, you've failed
on this thing like 800 times.

How can you continue to beat
your head against this wall?

After years of effort, it didn't feel
like we were any closer to our dream.

He's worked so hard.

Why am I crying right now?

This project, ah!

This makes me wonder if he
bit off more than he could chew.

Oh, it's so good
to have you down.

After all this failure, I started to wonder
if maybe this climb really was impossible.

Maybe I wasn't good enough.

Morning.

Morning.

Tommy and Kevin
have been up there.

This is their eighth day.

They're halfway up the wall.

They got past 70-mile-an-hour
winds and the icefall.

They've climbed a
lot of difficult rock.

Now they've got today
a very hard section to do.

They're here.

They've got to go
across this traverse.

14D, I think it is.

If they can get that done,
oh, they're well on their way.

The hardest individual part of this
3,000-foot puzzle is the traverse.

The bottom section
of the route follows a

vague series of cracks
and corners in the rock.

But after 1,000 feet, those
cracks and corners dead end.

300 feet to the left,
there's another series

of features that
angles up to the top.

The trick is, how do
you traverse the 300-foot

blank section right in
the middle of the wall?

There's this band of rock that's a
slightly different color and texture.

Everything above and below
it is impossible to free climb.

But the composition of that band
is such that it has a few holes on it.

Over the last six years, we spent over 100
days trying to get across this traverse.

Thousands of tries
on that single pitch.

And never done it.

Now we have to do it
for the very first time.

It's like Tommy's getting ready.

In the moment, on the push.

Go get it.

It's really unnerving.

You're just waiting to
slip off at any moment.

It's kind of funny, like this
3,000-foot wall that's coming

down to millimeters of skin
contact on your fingertips.

It becomes such
a zoomed-in world.

There's one way to get across.

And it's made up of all these little
sequences that have to be done perfectly.

You miss a hold,
it's impossible.

You grab it wrong,
it's impossible.

We're trading attempts.

Tommy ties in and
just flips that switch.

All right, go get it, Tommy.

You grab these sharp
holds, like razor blades.

Span as far as you can.

So stretched out.

I suddenly felt this confidence.

I knew exactly how each
finger was going on to each hold.

Where the little ripples on the
rock were digging into my shoes.

After years of working on that pitch,
it just came together in this amazing,

magical way.

Come on!

Come on!

I can't do it!

I can't do it!

I don't know!

I don't know!

When I heard that Tommy had done Pitch
15, I was like, you gotta be kidding me.

For the first time, these guys actually
have a shot at maybe doing this thing.

When Tommy got across,
it was a big moment.

Everything was rolling,
and now it was my turn.

Over the years, we realized sometimes
the best conditions are at night.

It's colder, it's drier, so there's
better friction on the rock.

At first, it's scary.

But after a while, you
forget how high off the

ground you are, and you
can focus just on the climb.

I tried it a few times.

I wasn't that close.

We rappelled back to our
camp below the traverse.

I was stoked for Tommy,
a little stressed for myself.

So Tommy's made it
through the traverse.

He still has to get past the dyno
and the long run to Waino Tower.

But first, he has to wait
for Kevin to catch up.

Hello?

Hey guys, this is John Branch
from the New York Times.

How's it going up there?

Good, John.

You know, Tommy, I know that
you made it through 15 last night.

It's very exciting, so I appreciate
you guys taking a few minutes to talk.

You know, we're always
looking for stories that are

a little bit out of the
mainstream sports realm.

Every time we
start a hard pitch...

I knew about the Don Wall
and Tommy Caldwell's quest.

And when I heard that
Tommy did pitch 15, I thought if

it was ever going to happen,
this might be the time.

We recognized this is
not only probably the best

climbing story of the year,
but maybe of our generation.

Quickly typed up a story and
the next day it ran in the paper.

It was on the front page of the
New York Times and it just exploded.

It was the most viewed
email story at NYTimes.com.

Tons of comments,
lots of questions.

People care about this.

When John Branch, the Fool's surprise
winning journalist, got a hold of it,

it just sort of got its own momentum and
it just got bigger and bigger from there.

There was follow-up
stories and a flood of media

requests from every major
news outlet in the world.

Picture this.

Our next guests talk to us as they
were suspended high up in midair.

We're sitting in a
portal edge, which is

basically a hanging cot
with an aluminum frame.

That's professional climber
Tommy Caldwell 10 days into what's

considered one of the world's
most daunting climbing challenges.

This is crazy.

Best of luck.

Great, thank you so much.

I guess we hang up.

I don't really know.

They don't tell us what
to do when it's over.

Oh my God.

We're going to climb
all the way up that thing.

How many days does it take?

All of a sudden there are like crowds
of people congregating in the valley.

It's turned out to this
incredible and historic feat by

two American climbers perched
on a cliff above Yosemite.

The famously steep
face of Al Paz El Capitan.

The whole media thing
was very strange for me.

The climb of the century.

It's just been extraordinary.

A real cliffhanger.

Did I just say that?

They're just saying
these ludicrous things.

Two American hikers.

Daredevils.

Thrill seekers.

Adrenaline junkies.

Scaling the cliff
known as El Capitan.

That's not even El Cap.

Inching up without
any climbing tools.

I'm wearing pretty much the same gear
that the guys up in Yosemite are wearing.

I like the second picture
so we'll have her here.

The Don Wall was always
this personal journey.

This was a bad idea.

And obviously this turned into
something very different from that.

So don't understand how
they could possibly do it.

I hope they make it but I
swear I don't understand it.

It's a challenge.

Yeah, the challenge of it.

No thanks.

Suddenly the whole world
was watching this climb.

Which wasn't the best
timing for me personally.

Because I still
had to do Pitch 15.

At this point they've
established a base camp

a couple hundred
feet below the traverse.

So when Kevin's ready to climb they go
up the fixed rope to the start of Pitch 15.

Tommy sets up his belay and
Kevin tries to get across this thing.

It was important to get
through Pitch 15 and catch

up to Tommy's high
point as soon as possible.

Every fall you go back
to the start of the pitch.

Rest for at least an hour.

Try again.

Every attempt you
wear off more skin.

You run out of a
little more energy.

Everything was going smoothly
until Jorgensen couldn't grasp Pitch 15.

Stopped by the sheer
difficulty of the climb.

As the razor sharp handhold
tore the skin off his fingertips.

So everyone's tuning in in the middle
of guys living on the side of the wall.

Well history is on hold right
now in Yosemite National Park.

And one of them stuck.

Kevin Jorgensen is stuck.

That was close dude.

I know.

I think you just started
falling apart a little bit there.

That's a pretty
fascinating drama.

Unfolding in real time.

Literally in front of our eyes.

People who I'm sure had
no idea what a pitch was.

We're now sitting
there going Pitch 15!

Come on Kevin!

You can do it!

You'll get it dude.

That was really close.

I spent a few days not climbing.

Just belaying Kevin over
and over again on Pitch 15.

It was harder than any pitch
of climbing he had ever done.

Fucker!

Just kept falling and falling.

I had honestly started to lose
hope that he was gonna do it.

Last night was my
third day of climbing.

My fourth battle with
Pitch 15 still didn't do it.

After trying so many times
I've destroyed my fingers.

So I decided to take a rest
day and let my fingers heal.

Meanwhile, Tommy
hasn't climbed for days.

And he has to be thinking I can't stay
up here indefinitely waiting for Kevin.

I mean, there's very few
people in the world that

have ever even spent
that much time on a wall.

Living on the wall
just wears you down.

It's just harsh up there.

You can't even walk.

You're not sleeping
great at night.

You're not eating normal
foods, drinking enough water.

It's hard to climb your
best under those conditions.

Every day that goes by, maybe
Tommy suddenly gets sick.

Maybe the weather changes.

I felt like I had to continue.

So they devised a plan.

Tommy's gonna press on and
try the dyno pitch, hoping that

Kevin eventually will get
across 15 and he can catch up.

That night, we go up our fixed
lines and I belay Tommy on pitch 16.

The dyno pitch.

You know, I had tried the dyno
move hundreds of times over the years.

Never done it.

And rebuilt it on the
shed at my home.

So I could just practice
just one stupid move.

Just before we went for our
final push, I was completely

frustrated staring at
these photos of the wall.

I started to notice cracks and
edges that go down and around.

So I came up with this idea to do
the most ridiculous pitch of climbing.

His idea was to just climb in
a giant circle around the dyno.

I was like, really?

So to get around
about eight feet.

Yeah, I climbed like 200.

Tommy's currently working out
the world's hardest down climb.

We do hard moves going straight
up, hard moves going sideways.

I should add a down climb.

That way we just
get the full package.

Down climbing.

It's so unnatural.

Falling.

It's like running backwards.

Come on.

That felt horrible.

Good, Tommy.

Come on, focus.

This loop pitch.

It's like walking around
the blocks across

the street, which is
a little bit ridiculous.

But it's also kind of brilliant.

Come on.

This thing had been shutting
him down for all these years.

And then he just looks at it with a
new set of eyes and finds a new solution.

Yeah!

Grab the dyno!

Whoo!

How is the skin, dude?

It's not healing very
quickly, which is frustrating.

While Kevin's waiting
for his fingers to heal,

Tommy continues pushing
the route higher and higher.

What you do every day is
you get to a high point and

then you leave fixed ropes
that go back down to the camp.

The next day, you motor back up the
ropes to the high point and then carry on.

So even though they
might be working on different

parts of the wall,
they're doing it together.

Kevin belays Tommy, and once Tommy's
done, they both go back down to the camp.

Tommy's just forging on.

Every pitch gets him further
away from where I'm stuck.

One more down.

There's so much distance between our high
points that I'm not going to be able to

close that gap in a reasonable
amount of time unless I do this.

Every time I would look over in
his portal, I'd just be following news

updates, staring at his
fingertips, mumbling to himself,

trying to convince myself
that these actually look good.

Tommy, do you
have the ibuprofen?

Oh yeah!

After two days
resting, I felt resolved.

This was the day
it had to happen.

It's still pretty warm out, so I'm
going to wait a few more hours for the

temperatures to drop even more to
give myself every bit of friction you can.

You ready?

Ready as I'm ever going to be.

I've been waiting for days for the
skin to heal, for this moment to come.

There's a nice cold
breeze blowing up the wall.

I felt weightless.

I was floating across the pitch.

Hold it together.

Come on, Kevin.

Do it, man.

You got it.

Come on.

You got it.

Come on.

Find it.

Good.

Come on.

Oh,

that was so good, dude.

Everything was perfect,
and I still didn't do it.

I tried four times that night.

Fucker!

It's off.

It just kept falling.

Tonight...

didn't go so well.

It was a battle,
and I didn't win.

It was pretty clear
that that was it.

Like, you had your chance.

You weren't good enough.

Yeah, it's pretty fucked.

Now you're the guy that
almost climbed the Dawn Wall.

So how much did you
enjoy that process?

Because that's all you get.

Editors and I started talking.

Is it now time to do a story about
what happens if he doesn't make it?

You know, we all want happy
endings, but as a journalist,

you're like, well, that's
kind of an incredible story.

What's the ethos in climbing?

Do you say, you go
ahead without me?

Do you leave a guy behind?

Are they having this conversation
in the portal ledge at night?

It's be nice to
check their radar.

The next day, the weather
was starting to get bad.

And I knew what I needed to do.

20%.

Today?

Next, like, four days.

I'm just going to throw in the
towel and support Tommy to the top.

From here on out, Kevin's just going to
belay Tommy and follow him up the ropes.

So they go up to Tommy's
high point, where he starts up

the last hard pitches of
the long run to Waino Tower.

There I was watching
Tommy climb with so much

confidence toward the
completion of this dream.

Even if I can't do this, I
was really happy for Tommy.

What a special moment to
witness this piece of history.

And I was there to help
Tommy realize this vision.

After everything he went through, so
much struggle, the injuries, the doubts.

For Tommy, it
was like, this is it.

Woo-hoo!

Feels good.

I'm down in the meadow
watching Tommy trying to get to

Waino Tower, which is the
next big feature above them.

It's this mythical landmark about
two-thirds of the way up El Capitan.

This three-foot pedestal,
2,000 feet up the wall.

The first horizontal
ledge where you can stand

up, sit down, lie down
on the entire route.

And it signifies the end
of the hardest climbing.

One more hard pitch
to get to Waino Tower.

It's crazy!

For years, I envisioned this
moment of getting to Waino Tower.

So I'm freaking out inside.

Tommy, come on.

Climbing really tense and
kind of like shaking, nervous.

Keep breathing, dude.

Come on.

Just

trying to calm myself down enough
to make it through a final last leg.

Just a little bit.

Yeah!

I feel a little shaky.

I got my pass out.

I can't believe
I'm here right now.

I know it's not over
yet, but that's like big.

I'm at Waino Tower.

What are you feeling?

I want Kevin to experience
this, too, for sure.

It was this huge victory,
but I was totally trumped

by the fact that Kevin
wasn't going to do it with me.

Suddenly, I just felt alone.

I think Kevin probably did, too.

What a crazy
experience this has been.

It kind of crashed down on me.

That going to the top without
Kevin was going to be devastating.

Just got to get KJ up here now.

So I decided in that moment, we
were going to get to the top together.

We'll do everything
I can to help him.

Yeah, got to go into
full-on support mode.

That night, we both go
back down to the camp.

We were cooking dinner.

It was real quiet.

And I knew it was this
emotional moment for Tommy.

But he's not very
good at verbalizing.

I want to do this thing with
you, and I would love for...

But, you know, it's like,
I don't know, it's cool.

But...

I mean, it's awesome.

But when I take, I just
really want you to be with me.

Yeah, dude.

Tommy just told me, in
classic Tommy style, I don't

care how long it takes for
you to get through Pitch 15.

Because I can't imagine a worse
outcome than doing this alone.

I don't want to hold
you back is the thing.

You're three days
from the top now.

Essentially.

Yeah, but I really
want to do it with you.

Okay.

It's a pretty special moment.

I know I can do that pitch.

Yeah, for sure.

And I feel like if I can do that pitch,
I'm going to be so fucking psyched.

There's nothing that's going to
stop me between there and the top.

Yeah, I think that's true.

Just keep stretching.

Make sure you can... I think I need to
do some arm lengthening stretching.

So, we decided
that I would rest.

Two consecutive days.

So that my skin can heal.

And try again.

The idea of Tommy waiting
to risk your own success in

the hopes that maybe by
some miracle Kevin can do it.

That's a partner right there.

Coffee for KJ.

But there's no guarantee that
Kevin's ever going to make it.

I mean, I thought that Kevin
was maybe not going to make it.

And I was hoping
that since this...

This had been a dream of Tommy's a lot
longer than it had been a dream of Kevin's.

That Tommy would find a
way to complete this climb.

As Tommy's friend, selfishly,
I'm thinking to myself like,

Kevin, dude, time to throw in
the towel and support Tommy.

You know, somebody less gracious
than Tommy Caldwell might have said,

I got to go on without you.

But he was committed to Kevin.

We're doing this together.

And he wouldn't have been
Tommy if he'd done it any other way.

This just in.

And those two American climbers.

Kevin Jorgensen.

Kevin Jorgensen.

Kevin's far behind.

Stuck for seven straight days.

Caldwell determined
to wait for Jorgensen.

One of them refusing to move
higher without his partner stuck below.

So will they make it?

Can you imagine?

This really is no joke.

The media is starting
to sound like a tabloid.

Is Jorgensen spoiling
Tommy's dreams?

Down below, the crowd
is waiting and watching.

Hey, Tommy, what's
the weather look like?

Oh, wait.

Yeah, that's right.

You dropped your phone.

Dropped my phone last night.

I had my chest pocket unzipped.

It just fell out.

Hopefully I didn't kill
anybody down there.

I'd heard that Tommy
dropped his phone.

And I said, did he
really drop his phone?

Or is he just saying,
don't call me anymore?

You know.

So fed up with the media circus.

I think he didn't drop it.

He threw it off.

Yep.

Guess I gotta just,
like, enjoy the view now.

Oh.

Over the next few days,
Tommy was content.

Right where we were
for however long it was

going to be, he's just
stoked to be up there.

And it's no big deal
if it takes another

rest day or two or
three or five or whatever.

Yeah, I feel like I've
just been, you know,

appreciating things a little
bit more the last few days.

Ah, son.

Tommy basically said, no worry.

I'm patient.

You're gonna get through it.

Don't freak out.

Don't worry about the rest of
the world that's watching right now.

Let's tune them out.

It's just you and me.

It became the two of them.

I think I have to, like,
try to front step more.

Because when it comes time
to, like, step on that middle foot,

I can't front step it or instep it
because this foot's in the way.

A couple of your falls last time were just
because you couldn't find that right foot.

So even if it's a little bit
harder, it's maybe better.

Tommy's attitude helped take
a little bit of the pressure off.

But I was still going to
have to do the hardest

thing I've ever done
for this to end well.

Try that again.

Let's make history on one of
the hardest climbs in the world.

TJ, what's the story?

Here's the story, Strahan.

I'm only about 30 feet up,
but I've called my mama twice.

All right?

Can you imagine?

I'm on what's called a portal
ledge that's secured to this wall.

Now, these two climbers are using one of
these secured to a flat surface, all right?

They're having to sleep
on one of these things for

weeks, possibly, trying to
make an impossible climb.

And me?

I have holes here I can
use to try to climb the wall.

Scaling the jagged cliff
known as El Capitan.

Who is that, Fitz?

3,000 feet.

Daddy.

I'm in Everland!

Fitz and I have been home
waiting for our moment

to, like, get on a
plane and get out here.

And it's finally come.

We're here.

Hey, Fitz, do you see
way up high on El Cap?

Yeah, can you see Daddy?

After failing for so
many years, there was

times when I definitely
felt like giving up.

But it was actually Becca
who helped me to keep going.

Seeing him climb.

In his element.

I saw this focus
and this purpose.

I just really respected him.

And we fell in love.

Becca became my
biggest supporter.

We got married.

And then we got
pregnant shortly after.

Hi.

We had a little boy named Fitz.

Hi, Fitz.

You know, the first
day that I had this little

baby in my arms, I was
overcome with emotion.

I thought, how am I going
to be a good example to Fitz?

How great it is to
be a cowboy boy.

Tommy always viewed
his dad as a superhero.

And he wanted to be
a superhero for Fitz.

I wanted Fitz to look at me
with that same sort of awe.

I wanted to show Fitz
how to be passionate.

Boom!

And how to dream big.

That's how much he does.

The dawn will embody that.

And so it made me
want it even more.

I told him, you can't stop now.

You have to do everything
to make this happen.

Sometimes you zoom out and you
think about what a process it's been.

This wild six year
journey with Tommy.

Did Kevin start already?

And now, here we are.

At the moment of truth.

We've just been mesmerized.

I like you.

It's hard to put into
words something so big.

He's not going to give up.

I couldn't imagine what he must have
been going through at that moment.

I don't remember the
first 50 feet of that pitch.

I watch him go into the section
where he had fallen so many times.

I just hold my breath.

You pull as hard as you can.

Move your feet.

You're just trying not
to tip over backwards.

Put the heel on it.

Slide the hand up.

Take the heel off.

Drop the right hand in.

Heel back on.

Left hand down.

Heart rate starts to go up.

My adrenaline starts going.

Because he's still hanging on in this
place that he had fallen so many times.

Watching him do it.

I was just awestruck.

I was like, I can't believe
that just happened.

He did it.

Freaking guy actually
did this thing, right?

You're like, what?

After seven days, Jorgensen
got past the most difficult...

Jorgensen finally did make it.

Kevin Jorgensen
conquered pitch 15.

Yes, he made it.

And now it's upward.

And you start thinking,
well, are his fingers okay?

Can he do 16, 17?

Is this over yet?

I had just finished the
hardest pitch of my life.

And I couldn't even celebrate.

I just need to catch up.

The next pitch, as this big guy, this big
dyno that's so hard that Tommy can't do it.

He's got to climb around it.

There's no way in hell that I'm
going to try Tommy's crazy loop pitch.

So that same night, I start trying
the eight and a half foot dyno.

Kevin, through some
kind of magic or levitation,

actually does this dyno that
Tommy was never able to do.

So good.

Well, tonight, Kevin
Jorgensen is a natural.

Jorgensen, now just a few
hundred feet behind Caldwell.

All these hard pitches
just keep coming.

17, 18, 19.

It was like a
fight to the death.

Rock!

That is a bad hold to rip off.

Oh, man.

I think it's a lot harder now.

It didn't take him too
long to figure it out.

Nice, KJ.

Just a little more tension.

I think we need more
of that on this route.

The last pitch getting to Wino
Tower, this crazy fog came in.

Kevin sends this
pitch right now.

He's going to be
caught up with me.

Yes!

Nice one, Kevin.

I just remember seeing
Tommy at the anchor

and having such a huge
wash of gratefulness.

I can't believe we're here.

So good, man.

Oh.

We're reunited in
our high points now.

I can't believe I did it.

Going up from there on out.

Come on.

I was sitting on five days
rest while I caught up.

Pretty sure he's going to
pull me up the wall today.

I'm here for it.

It's just a matter
of grinding and out.

So we get up and we
stay 300 feet from the top.

We wake up this last morning.

The sun comes on the dawn wall.

It hits the top
of the wall first.

And we're like the only thing
in Yosemite actually in the sun.

So happy.

This is a good
moment right here.

Oh, my God.

This is definitely
a good moment.

Is it going to get
better than this?

I'm just enjoying my last day.

Getting up here with my friend.

I think we should
just stay in there.

Just cancel the whole thing.

We're going to stay
up here for another day.

Living on a wall where
everything is so simple for 19 days.

We were going to
miss that experience.

Good morning to our viewers.

It's been an exciting 24
hours here in Yosemite.

There were 15 TV trucks.

Reporters from all over.

There was a webcam.

Most people were
actually watching this live.

It seemed like a moon
landing or something.

A lot of their friends
and family had come out.

A number of people hiked
up El Cap to Backway.

And you could sort of watch
these guys go up the final pitches.

And they're cheering them on.

I love you!

It's going to be awesome.

Seeing Tommy do the Dawn
Wall, I was super happy for him.

Just knowing how much was
emotionally wrapped up in the root for him.

I was really, you
know, proud of him.

Actually seeing he was going to
complete this climb, it was just...

After 19 days, Tommy Caldwell pulling
himself over the edge of the Dawn Wall.

Followed minutes later by
climbing partner Kevin Jorgensen.

And the crowd
cheered as the two men

accomplished a feat
many said was impossible.

There were a lot of moments
that kind of choked me up.

In sports anymore, I've
been doing this too long.

I'll never forget that scene
of them, you know, rejoicing.

This is the moment that has
been so many years in the making.

Now forever
enshrined in history.

Inspiring millions
around the world.

Even at the White House where
President Obama gave a thumbs up.

It's done.

It's done.

Boy, you are
shaking like a leaf.

Are you cold or
are you emotional?

I'm emotional.

He's worked so hard for this.

That moment he
describes as bittersweet.

This whole experience that
drove him for so long was over.

Anything that you would
like to say about LCAP?

I'm totally full of love.

A piece of rock.

It's been a big
centerpiece of my life.

And I just feel so
thankful for him.

Tommy and Kevin, join
us now on SportsCenter.

I know Tommy's lost
his voice a little bit.

He drove me every
day for seven years.

Sorry.

What did your first real
shower in 19 days feel like?

I, like the entire world,
was watching you.

And I just thought, why?

Girl.

Throwing out today's first
pitch, Kevin Kyrgyzstan.

Tommy Caldwell's new
autobiography, The Push.

You were captured by
militants in Kyrgyzstan?

Turns out, the militant
actually survived the fall.

The rebel was put on trial and found
guilty of terrorism, murder and kidnapping.

I've been to the mountains.

And I've walked on the shore.

I see.

But I can't see it no more.

I've been to the valley.

And I have sung all the songs.

You can do it.

I've learned the lessons.

Watch me sing-Watch
me sing along.

Come

on.

Yeah.

Try hard.

Try hard.

Come on, Fit.

You got it.

Yeah.

Way to focus in.

Good perseverance.

Whoo!

That's it, boys.