O/T - Yosemite Climbers

What a brilliant climb! Two climbers made the first successful ascent of the Dawn Wall (on El Capitan) by free-climbing.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/14/yosemite-rock-climbers-dawn-wall-el-capitan

 

This was truly an epic climb.

Anyone who has done any level of climbing will realise the total body pain those lads must have been in.

Chapeau doffed.

 

You have to be.

It's the only way.

 

I've known a few climbers over the years, and yes they are completely mental. Did you see what they slept in every night?

 

A few years ago a pal of mine who lived in Glencoe was seriously into ice climbing. He took me out a couple of times and I was considering taking it up. Anyway a year later he fell and died so that was the end of climbing for me.

 

I don't have a head for heights (except when completely shickered), but I used to go caving in my early twenties. I, with a coupla mates, got trapped in Dowbergill Passage, near Kettlewell, for 13 hours. Like you do, after you fall off a bike, I went caving a couple more times, but then.....



[Edit: Don't start, Castro, on the dots.............]

 

I've stopped caving in recent years.

It was becoming too painful on the joints.

This might bring back a few memories Stan.

 

Jesus, Ernie! That's spot on. It was Providence Pot, and we went through Blasted Crawl (which floods) and then returned back to Provi.

 

Super gluing their fingers back together...frigging mental in the extreme.

 

Here's The Daily Mash's take on things.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...ig-thing-for-some-stupid-reason-2015011594457

 

..

 

Didn't one of them get stuck on a section and after several attempts shredded his fingers to bits so had to hang around a few days for them to heal
absolutely crazy! !

 

Incredible achievement for these two fanatics, when i saw earlier footage of the state of their hands and the way they slept hung off the wall face i nearly shat my pants

 

....and they spent 19 days on the climb.

 

3000' of sheer granite wall.

This was taken from Taft Point on the far side of the valley to El Cap by my eldest last summer.

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And the climbers when they finished this climb, that had never been done before, they were greeted by their families who were waiting at the top.

 

What is puzzling you about that?