Final Push: Adam Ondra Blasts Up First Nine Pitches of the Dawn Wall
Adam Ondra completes first nine pitches of the Dawn Wall on day one of his ground up, single push free attempt.
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Adam Ondra and his climbing partner Pavel Blazek began their ground up, single push free attempt of the Dawn Wall (VI 5.14d) on El Cap, Yosemite at 3 a.m. today, Monday, November 14. They opted for an alpine start to beat
the direct sunlight and heat of the day. By 8:50 a.m., Ondra had already reached his goal for day one of the final push, completing the route’s first
nine pitches (5.12b, 5.13a, 5.13c, 5.12b, 5.12d, 5.13c, 5.14a, 5.13d, 5.13c).
“So it’s 8:50. After around six hours of climbing I did the first nine pitches,” Ondra shared in a video update. He had reached pitch 5 by 5 a.m., the
top of pitch 7 by 7 a.m.
Click here for the full Dawn Wall topo..” title=”Pitches 5 through 9 of the Dawn Wall, El Capitan, Yosemite. Click here for the full Dawn Wall topo..”>“It was kind of exciting on pitch 8 [5.13d], which is like super sharp,” he said in the video. “It
was kind of getting warmer, and I spent two tries and I was like thinking, hmm, maybe my skin isn’t really good enough to do it, which would
be pretty complicated. Luckily, after I good fight, I did it. And also did quite easily pitch 9 [5.13c]. And now we are resting for tomorrow.”
After seven years and a final 19-day push, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson were first to climb the Dawn Wall. Their final push from December 27, 2014 to January 14, 2015 captured the attention
of not only the climbing community, but also the world at large, and the Dawn Wall has yet to be repeated.
Ondra began exploring the route’s 32 pitches,
by a mix of free- and aid-climbing techniques on October 17. On November 3, he and Blazek, both from the Czech Republic, topped out the 3,000-foot wall. Ondra went back up to work the crux pitches and then took a few rest days before for his final
push today.
On Instagram, Ondra reported that he plans to climb four more
pitches tomorrow (5.14a, 5.13c, 5.14b, 5.13b), to the top of pitch 13, and then take a rest day before tackling the three crux pitches (first 5.14d
traverse, second 5.14d traverse, 5.14c loop pitch link).
Stay tuned for updates on Adam Ondra’s progress.
A video posted by Pavel Blažek (@pavelblazek) on
Adam Ondra’s Dawn Wall Final Push:
Day 1 (Nov. 14):
Pitch 1 (5.12b)
Pitch 2 (5.13a)
Pitch 3 (5.13c)
Pitch 4 (5.12b)
Pitch 5 (5.12d)
Pitch 6 (5.13c)
Pitch 7 (5.14a)
Pitch 8 (5.13d)
Pitch 9 (5.13c)
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Dawn Wall Update: Adam Ondra Prepares for Final Push