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Originally climbed using yo-yo tactics it was later redpointed by Jean-Pierre Bouvier who renamed it Gandalf le Magicien claiming he had made the first real ascent, which did not sit very well with the local climbers of the time who viewed the frenchman's redpoint tactics as poor style. The new name and claim didn't stick.

Initially climbed with 2 bolts it has variously gained and lost bolts over the years, but now seems to have settled at 4.

References

[1] Peak Limestone North history supplement, page 49 https://www.thebmc.co.uk/Handlers/DownloadHandler.ashx?id=1291

[2] Mountain Issue 123 (1988), page 18 /library/11309/mountain-123

Originally given 8c but upgraded to 8c+. Approximately font 8A+/B in to font 7C.

The line was originally aid climbed by Chris Craggs and Colin Binks and called Free that you Bastards. Ben Moon was working the line but came back to find holds had been chipped off. John Welford then took on the challenge and sealed the deal after a protracted siege.

Named after the sci-fi novel of the same name by Roger Zelazny.

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

Adam Hocking:

You're going to die all the way.

The first 8a+ in the world.