Tommy Caldwell
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Tommy Caldwell is an American rock climber who has set records in sport climbing, traditional climbing, and in big-wall climbing. Caldwell made the first free ascents of several major routes on El Cap
Caldwell in 2015
El Capitan in Yosemite
Caldwell pictured in 2019 with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and climber Sasha DiGiulian
The Nose (El Capitan)
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The Nose is a big wall climbing route up El Capitan. Once considered impossible to climb, El Capitan is now the standard for big wall climbing. It is recognized in the historic climbing text Fifty Cla
Tommy Caldwell
…2004, he completed the first free ascent (FFA) of Dihedral Wall. In 2005, he and Beth Rodden—swapping leads—made the third and fourth free ascents of The Nose. Two days later, on October 16, Caldwell free-climbed The Nose in less than 12 hours. A few days later, Caldwell free-climbed The Nose in 11 hours…
The Nose on El Capitan
Billy Westbay, Jim Bridwell, and John Long after the first one-day ascent of the Nose in 1975 that used aid climbing techniques (e.g., not full free climbing)
View down the face of El Capitan from the belay stance at the top of pitch 20 (also known as Camp IV). The vertical drop from this point to the valley floor is about 2,000 feet (610 m).
Great Roof as seen from the standard belay stance. With a climber at the end of the lens flare.