Exploration
This movie will take you behind one of the greatest climbs of our time
When Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson free climbed California’s Dawn Wall, the news nearly broke the internet. The movie, The Dawn Wall, tells the story – we spoke to the filmmakers to find out more.
It was the climb of the decade which had a global audience gripped for almost three weeks as two climbers inched their way up the hardest big wall climb in the world. When Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed their epic 19-day ascent of Dawn Wall in California's Yosemite National Park in 2015, the internet went into a frenzy.
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Watch the trailer for The Dawn Wall
In January 2015, American rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson captivated the world with their climb of California’s Dawn Wall, a seemingly impossible rock face in Yosemite National Park.
A film crew was following their every move. Now, after three years, the fruits of their labour have been brought to life in the movie The Dawn Wall, whichchronicles not just the successful ascent, but Caldwell's seven year obsession with the route and the drivers that led him there.
What do you mean you can't see the holds?
© Corey Rich/Big UP Productions/Aurora Photos
"Making the film was almost as big a mission as doing the climb itself," says co-director Josh Lowell. He's not joking. "It took them seven years to do the climb. We spent seven years filming with them and then another three making the film. In total we spent 60 to 70 days on the wall with them; it was a huge logistical challenge."
Making the film was almost as big a mission as doing the climb itself
"There's a lot of emotional complexity that's wrapped up in this one climb," says co-director Peter Mortimer. "It's a story about Tommy's journey, how this climbing objective was the culmination of everything he'd been through in his life."
Victory on the Dawn Wall
© Bligh Gillies/Big UP Productions/Aurora Photos
To tell that story, the filmers rewind to the events of August 2000, when a fresh-faced Caldwell, on his first big trip out the States, was kidnapped with his girlfriend and climbing buddies by militants in Kyrgyzstan. "It's a big focus of the film," says Mortimer.
The trauma from what followed ultimately led to the breakdown of his relationship and Caldwell turning his attention to the Dawn Wall.
We spent about 60 to 70 days on the wall with them
Home sweet home on the Dawn Wall
© Tim Kemple / KempleMedia.Com
The Dawn Wall is a story about Caldwell taking on his demons by taking on the impossible. At that time no one even thought climbing the route up the face of Yosemite's iconic El Capitan wall 'free' (without pulling or stepping on ropes) was doable.
It was a seminal moment in climbing history
"When you stand at the base and look up at 915m (3,000ft) of blankness, it looks like there's no way you can climb it," Caldwell said at the time. "That's what you seek. You want to find something that looks absurd and figure out how to do it."
It took Caldwell seven years of painstaking attempts to work through the individual sequences of the 32 pitch climb before he felt he was ready to go for the entire 762m (2,500ft) route in one go. He succeeded alongside Jorgeson in 19 days over December and January 2014–15.
Regularly resupplied with fresh batteries, as well as food and water, they were able to share their story, at first just with climbing fans and then with the rest of the world as mainstream media became hooked.
"It's a story about Tommy's life"
© Bligh Gillies
But despite all of the cameras, film crews, Facebook updates and the interest of the New York Times, there's still a big part of the story that hasn't been told, says Lowell.
"All that coverage was from the ground, telling just the basic facts," he says. "What the movie provides is a deep look at what was really going on, what the conversation was like when Tommy had to decide whether to abandon Kevin or whether to stick with him to the end."
It’s a story about Tommy's journey, how this climbing objective was the culmination of everything he'd been through in his life
"We were in the portaledge with him," adds Lowell. "And it's exciting to feel you're right there with them."
"The intimate detail of what they went through comes through in the movie in a way that's really revealing," adds Mortimer. "Some of that is powerful stuff."
Red Bull Media House production, The Dawn Wall, will be premiering at South x South West from March 9–18, 2018.