ADVENTURE MAG – July 2019

26

A RED BULL MEDIA INTERVIEW

through a divorce it became

this: “How do I cope with this

sort of pain? And then it kind of

came back around to: What is

possible?”

There‘s also a moment early in

the movie that talks about my

first expedition in Kyrgyzstan

where we got kidnapped by

Islamic militants. I had to endure

so much during that experience

that it showed me that we, as

humans, are capable of way

more than we ever think we are

in a normal, everyday basis. I’ve

had this curiosity about that,

and the Dawn Wall was a way to

try and fulfill that curiosity.

Can you describe what a day

on the wall looks like – from

getting up until you go to bed?

Generally, when you big-wall

climb, you get up at first light

and you climb all day long until

it gets dark, no matter what.

The Dawn Wall was completely

different than that because we

needed good conditions and

really cold weather. If it’s hot

your fingertips cut much more

easily and the rubber on your

shoes is softer and falls apart, so

we had to wait until it was cold,

which often meant night-time.

Our daily logistics were pretty

funny: we would wake up with

the sun – it’s impossible to stay

asleep up there without shade in

the blazing sun. So you‘d wake

up and just hang out in your

portaledge for the whole day

until night-time comes around.

We would climb from about 5

o‘clock in the evening when the

sun would leave the wall until

1 o‘clock in the morning, under

headlamp a lot of the time. It

was a good combination of a lot

of time to enjoy the place that

we were in and joke around, and

when night-time would hit it

would be down to business and

it would be really intense for a

few hours each night.

How important is a climbing

partner in a long year process

like the Dawn Wall?

The energy that is derived from

having a good partnership

is much more powerful than

anything you could have on

your own. It’s really important to

have a good partner.

It’s about having a good

adventure, it’s about

accomplishment, and we are

also mildly competitive which

made us try a lot harder,

honestly.

Can you describe the support

of your family and friends

along the way?

My parents have always

been my biggest supporters

in a lot of ways and would

oftentimes come to Yosemite

and watch, even come up and

belay me at times. And then

the larger community would

rally behind us and give us so

much encouragement. It was

interesting, the people who

really cared about us would