California

Yosemite's ‘Free Climb' Climbers Push to Finish This Week

One of two climbers attempting a grueling assent up a half-mile of sheer granite in California's Yosemite National Park is making a push to catch his partner.

Thirty-year-old Kevin Jorgeson has been behind 36-year-old Tommy Caldwell for about a week as the two try to scale the Dawn Wall on El Capitan.
 
On Monday, Jorgeson will try to catch up with Caldwell, of Colorado, at a rare ledge. From there, it will be a push to the 3,000-foot summit, possibly by mid-week. The weather has been unseasonably warm, forcing the pair to climb at night. But on Monday, the day started off overcast with rain in the forecast, and the rocks were cooler for climbing.
 
Jorgeson, of Santa Rosa, California, spent the weekend resting - suspended on a "portaledge" on the granite face - and trying to regrow the skin on his fingers, according to one of his promoters, Jess Clayton, a spokeswoman for Patagonia.

Meanwhile, when Caldwell eventually reached "Wino Tower" on Friday, Caldwell said he had "tears of elation in his eyes."
 
The climbers are two weeks into what is billed as the first free climb of the Dawn Wall. They began the trek on Dec. 27.
 
Free climb means the men are climbing with only safety ropes to guard against deadly falls.

Several photographers and bloggers and have been documenting the historic effort.


NBC Bay Area's Lisa Fernandez contributed to this report.

 

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