El Capitan

[tombogan03884]

Just saw on the news that those 2 climbers finally got to the top of El Capitan.
Saw something about it taking them 19 days to climb 3,000 feet.
Is it just my lack of knowledge, or is that a ridiculously long time ?
the math works out to 157 feet per day which seems awfully slow .

[Timothy]

Only hands and feet to climb! 

There's one guy that did the climb in a single day but there are more than one ascent and these two guys climbed the toughest!

[billt]

Only hands and feet to climb! 

There's one guy that did the climb in a single day but there are more than one ascent and these two guys climbed the toughest!

I don't understand how they do this? Doesn't gravity work the same on everyone? Their hands and feet are no bigger than mine. My dog can't drive my truck???

[Timothy]

These guys train their hands for years, plan for years and can find cracks for holds that most wouldn't even see.  My understanding of this ascent is that the face was like marble. 

Ropes for fall arrest only and for holding their tents during the climb...everything else was free climb!

[JC5123]

Ah a subject I am quite familiar with! From what I am hearing, Tommy Caldwell, and his teammate (sorry didn't catch who) Are climbing a new route up what is known as the Dawn Wall of El Cap. They are climbing it all free. (Meaning that their gear is only in place to catch them if they fall, as opposed to using their equipment to actually aid with upward movement.) It's a big deal because in the community they are saying that this is possibly the hardest, most sustained climb in the world.

As a sidenote on Tommy Caldwell: Several years ago, they were climbing in Kyrgyzstan, they were captured by a terrorist group and he and another climber were able to subdue their kidnappers and escape. Saving the entire team of 4.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0528_030528_rockclimbers.html

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[billt]

These guys train their hands for years, plan for years and can find cracks for holds that most wouldn't even see.

I could train until the Asteroid hits, and I wouldn't get 5 feet up that thing!

[Solus]

So basically a 3000 ft Chin-up with whatever you can find to use for a bar but you can use  your feet too.

Heard one of the guys making comments this morning.  Said they did not climb every day.  Some days they just "hung out" drinking coffee and water, relaxing and recovering from the previous days climb.

Sounds fairly rough on fingers, toes and all your muscles.