Dawn Wall

Their successful free ascent began in late December 2014 and ended on January 14, 2015, after 19 days on the wall. They lived on portaledges while working through the route's 32 pitches.

Caldwell and Jorgeson used ropes and protective equipment to catch falls, but not to pull themselves upward. Progress had to come from their hands and feet on the rock, with each pitch completed cleanly under free-climbing rules.

Pitch 15 contains extremely small holds and demanding traversing movement on nearly blank granite. Jorgeson spent several days falling there before completing it and rejoining Caldwell's progress higher on El Capitan.

It was the first free ascent of the complete Dawn Wall route, not the first passage through that section of El Capitan by any method. Earlier climbers had used aid techniques on related lines, while Caldwell and Jorgeson's achievement required every pitch to be free-climbed.