El Capitan Climbers Share Stories From the Edge

Forum host Michael Krasny usually breaks the ice with guests by joking or making an observation about their work. With Kevin Jorgeson, Krasny asked to see his hands. Jorgeson laughed nervously and simultaneously obliged. It wasn't the first time his hands have been a topic of conversation.

Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell created a bit of a media storm in January, tweeting, Instagramming and even conducting an interview with NPR during their 19-day ascent of El Capitan's Dawn Wall, in Yosemite National Park. The two are the first to free-climb the 3,000-foot monolith, meaning they only relied on ropes to catch them if they fell.

During the Forum interview, Jorgeseon and Caldwell spoke with candor about the difficulty of the climb (at one point Jorgeson thought Caldwell would have to finish without him), the feelings of relief and loss after reaching the top, and in Caldwell's case, rock climbing with third-graders. Below are some highlights from the interview. Or you can listen to the complete interview here.

How did you feel when you reached the top of El Cap?

"For me it was relief. It was like taking off a weight vest. When I stood on top I felt weightless because for me the battle wasn't complete until I stood on top. That was kind of my mentality throughout the entire climb -- it wasn't over till it's over. So when I stood on top, it really was symbolic and it was literal. It was the end of the battle." - Jorgeson

"I think my predominant sense is that of loss. Honestly, I mean, it was a seven-year relationship, the Dawn Wall. I knew this route longer than I've known my wife and my child. I knew that it was coming to an end and that was disorienting in a way." - Caldwell

Did you enjoy the climb?

"I go back to this quote from the old British philosopher Jerry Bentham, saying that nature has placed mankind under the governance of these two sovereign masters -- pain and pleasure. But I think the really rich experiences where you really figure out what you're capable of happen when those two worlds overlap.

"What it takes for those two worlds to overlap is ... a big dream to apply pressure on those two things that really want to be separate from one another. We want to avoid pain, we want to seek pleasure, but when it comes to really seeing what you're capable of and realizing a huge dream, you have to be okay with the fact that those two things are going to overlap. And as climbers we call that Type 2 fun. It's the kind of thing that's maybe really challenging or scary in the moment, but in retrospect you look back and you're satisfied and you're happy and you call it fun." - Jorgeson

Why didn't Tommy do the dyno pitch?

"The dyno is a large leap from one hold to another. In the case of the Dawn Wall, it was an eight-foot sideways jump. I didn't do it because I couldn't do it. I mean, I worked on it for seven years.  I rebuilt a simulator on my house at home; I tried it thousands of times; I injured my shoulder by just trying to rehearse this move. Luckily, just a few weeks before our final ascent, I found a way around it, so that's the way I ended up having to go." - Caldwell

How did you prepare?

"For me the majority of my training was spent on the wall. You know I trained in the offseason, but where I made the most strides was every season spending that time on the wall because again I had no experience with El Cap prior to joining Tommy on this. ... Learning that new language on the University of El Cap is the only place you can make that progress for you.

"It was a huge learning curve. I don't think I could have done the Dawn Wall any sooner than when we did physically, because it's not just a physical thing . ... There's this whole mental element of composure and confidence and belief that takes time to be built, and I think that's the most important part of my training in the process of getting ready for them all." - Jorgeson