Available this afternoon from NBC, a live stream of the final (successful!!) push to the top of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall. Congratulations to Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell!
The New York Times is posting updates.
Screenshots from the live steam:
From the New York Times:
The top of El Capitan is not flat, so there will be no cartoonlike arrival — no hand appearing on the ledge from the abyss below. The vertical wall has no sharp edge at the top, but gives way to a steep slab of granite, sprinkled with crumbling rocks and small pines and shrubs. A dropped ball 100 yards from the cliff would bounce and roll downhill and then plunge out of sight.
Congratulations, guys! Job well done. Damn well done!!
I wasn’t able to watch the live climb, so these photos are amazing, scary; even knowing the successful climb results, i was almost holding my breath. Thank you for taking the time to capture the last Diamond-sized climbing and tbeir summit/ completion celebration!! I love the dizzying shot of the guys mid-hug. Those ropes and carabiners are worth every cent 🙂
It was interesting trying to keep track of which climber was which. They kept putting on and taking off various shirts and jackets. I was intrigued that they stopped to change socks and maybe shoes. Couldn’t tell for sure. After the hug up top, they both sat down and changed shoes and (donned?) socks again, put on warmer jackets, and ditched the helmets — all before leaving that last perch and moving up and over to meet the folks waiting for them.
I read somewhere that Kevin wore that lime green t-shirt for the entire climb in memory of a climbing friend, Brad Parker, who was killed in a fall a few months earlier.
Every inch of their climb was photographed and filmed. I’m sure there will be an awesome movie available someday.
Brad Parker was Kevin’s climbing mentor and friend: For Santa Rosa climber, memory of late friend helped him ‘pull through’ (w/video)
P.S. The Dawn Wall is approximately three times as high as the Diamond!