The Dawn Wall | E12/9a Multi-pitch on El Capitan

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The Dawn Wall, arguably the hardest big wall in the world, was the product of seven years' work by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson. Both climbers led every pitch in a single continuous push over 19 days. The ascent became an international news story, with their tribulations covered by John Branch in the New York Times [2]. Upon topping out, the pair received a message of congratulations from President Barack Obama.

The route free climbs parts of the aid routes Mescalito (A3), New Dawn (A2+), and Adrift, linked by hard-won independent climbing.

Nicholas Hobley:

What immediately set this route apart from the other 100 or so on the Big Stone was its sheer technical difficulties coupled with the relentless intensity of the different climbing styles: hard face climbing up razor-sharp holds, tremendous cracks, thin corners, huge offwidths… the vast majority of the climbing is harder than 5.13, and the three crux pitches are estimated at, respectively, 5.14 (9a), 5.14d and 5.14d if climbed via the Dyno Pitch variation as Jorgeson did, or 5.14a (8b+) if climbed via the Loop Pitch as per Caldwell. [4]

The story of the first ascent was recounted in the 2017 film The Dawn Wall. [1]

In 2016, Adam Ondra made an astonishingly fast second ascent. With no big wall experience prior to his trip, he projected and climbed the route in just eight days.

References

[1] dawnwall-film.com archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20231209023640/https://www.dawnwall-film.com/

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/09/sports/the-dawn-wall-el-capitan.html

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/05/sports/on-el-capitans-dawn-wall-two-climbers-make-slow-progress-toward-a-dream.html

[4] https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/tommy-caldwell-and-kevin-jorgeson-free-climb-the-dawn-wall-on-el-capitan.html

[5] https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201213305/the-dawn-wall