The Dawn Wall

I watched a documentary last week about a legendary free climber named, Tommy Caldwell and the story about his climb of Dawn Wall.

 
Until 2015, El Capitan’s Dawn Wall, was believed to be an impossible climb. Dawn Wall, is a 3,000 foot vertical wall, with a near granite like surface.

 
In a recent article on National Public Radio’s website, Caldwell said: “‘These little tiny razorblade edges sometimes form [in the rock], and if you train yourself properly, you can learn to support your body weight,’ Caldwell explains. ‘Then, if you practice enough, you can learn to move from one edge to another,’” (www.npr.org).

 
“Little tiny razorblade edges.”

 
For 3,000 feet, straight up.

 
The footage of Caldwell and his climbing partner, Kevin Jorgeson, looks something like a Marvel fantasy. Both, with what appear to have Spiderman – like abilities, ascending up a gargantuan vertical rock, using body weight, precision, incomprehensible skill, and sheer will.

 
What’s equally impressive is that both, spent nearly seven years planning the route – visiting the wall, looking for a route, obsessively training, and searching ways to do the “impossible.”

 
And when they finally decided to make the climb in 2015, they lived on the wall for 19 days.

 
…19 days.

 
…lived.

 
I’m talking these two dudes hung from a tent off the wall, thousands of feet in the air – to sleep, eat, and poop.

 
And not during the most comfortable season.

 
Caldwell and Jorgeson, decided to climb in the dead of winter, because it made for better conditions on the rock’s surface. The downside, was the dangerous ice fall every morning. Yes, this means huge chunks of ice flying at rapid speeds, next to their tents.

 
Can you imagine? Getting your little fuel burner out to make coffee, and shhhhewwww, there goes another boulder of ice three feet from your head.

 
…kind of a deadly situation, you guys.

 
And here’s the best part of Caldwell’s “impossible” climb.

 
The guy doesn’t have an index finger.

 
He had an accident with a saw, which left doctor’s surmising that Caldwell would never be able to climb professionally again.

 
The story is not only fascinating, thought provoking and inspiring – it’s a testament to human will and capability.

 

What if Caldwell, listened to the doctors and gave up climbing?

 

What if Caldwell, listened to pretty much every professional climber in the climbing community and dismissed the Dawn Wall as “impossible.”

 

What if Caldwell, gave up two or four or six years into his planning – because, let’s face it, most of us might.

 

What if Caldwell, finally got on the wall, and –

 

it was too hard,

 

or the deadly ice situation seemed too risky,

 

or 19 days seemed too long.

 

I mean, let’s be honest, hanging your butt out of a tent a thousand feet off the ground to take a crap every morning – like, that may be enough to say “no thanks.”

 

And for most of this story, I was sitting there thinking “do these two guys actually do this?!”

 

…they do.

 

But what if they hadn’t?

 

Would I have thought, “you just wasted like 8 years of your life.”

 

Maybe.

 

But isn’t that what makes something great?

 

The belief…

 

The process…

 

The unyielding determination…

 

The unwavering commitment…

 

The dismissal of those saying “you can’t”…

 

The ferociousness of will…

 

The outlandish audacity…

 

The grit to keep going.

 

Nothing great was ever accomplished by someone who had an enormous fan base of supporters saying “this seems extremely realistic.”

 

Most times, people can’t imagine something until someone bold enough stands up and says, “I’m going to…”

 

And how bout Caldwell’s persistence?

 

This greatness didn’t happen overnight.

 

As one of the best climbers in the world, it still took him nearly a decade, most of which was spent planning and believing.

 

I’m fairly certain after a year or two, I may be like “ok, these grandiose plans I have are exactly that – grandiose. I’m wasting my time.”

 

Or “who am I?”

 

Or “why do I think I can be the one to do this?”

 

But here’s the thing – what if in our lives, we started saying “why not me?”

 

And “Why do I think I can’t be the one to do this?”

 

What if we stop dumbing ourselves down, and instead look up at the 3,000 foot wall in our lives and say “I’m coming for you, bitch.”

 

I just laughed a little.

 

But for real?

 

What purpose does it serve for us to question –

 

To ask:

 

“What if I can’t?”

 

Or

 

“What if I fail?” Or “what if I fall?”

 

“What if the doubters are right?”

 

“What if I invest all of this time, energy, sacrifice – my heart, soul and mind – me – and I don’t get the result that I want.”

 

In my opinion, these questions serve no real, good purpose.

 

At least not for me.

 

They keep us small.

 

They keep us fearful.

 

They keep us from accomplishing great things.

 
They do serve something. Our egos.

 
Which seem to me, to be a cheap substitute for what we really need to serve.

 
These questions serve as protection.

 
From…

 
Embarrassment…

 
Shame…

 
Feelings of inadequacy…

 
Really? …c’mon.

 
The older I get, the more I regret any time or energy I spent feeding these things.

 
Most of these things come back to the fear of what people will think.

 

Or, the fear that I’m not good enough.

 
And no offense, but who the frick cares about what Sally down the street thinks?

 

Tell Sally to grow a pair, and seek the happiness and purpose in her life that she’s too afraid to seek.

 

And better yet, Sally probably has no basis to have an opinion anyway. Who made Sally the expert?

 

The second fear – the fear of not being good enough?

 

I think when we finally realize the depth of our worthiness, and the truth that it’s completely independent of what we do or don’t do, we are free.

 
If Caldwell hadn’t of succeeded at that climb in 2015, I don’t believe he would have stopped.

 
He was too obsessed.

 

Driven by something that can’t be explained with words.

 

And if he died trying, I don’t think he would have regretted that either.

 

I’d also be willing to bet that the experience changed him in some way, or many ways.

 

The support and brotherhood that Caldwell and Jorgeson shared, is something that shouldn’t go unnoticed either.

 

At one stage, Jorgeson couldn’t complete a climb for three or four days.
Caldwell, waited before continuing, because Jorgeson told him he would just finish the climb as a supporter to Caldwell.

 

Caldwell, continued briefly, then told his friend to try again – he would wait.

 

I mean, these guys.

 

Everything a teammate should be.

 

Determined with personal goals, but they still had each other’s backs.

 

How many of us have had people in our lives that we think are our “teammates” only to discover that if found in Caldwell’s shoes, they would have climbed to the top without a second thought?

 

How many of us have had people in our lives that we think are our “teammates” only to discover that if found in Jorgeson’s shoes, they would have asked that Caldwell not move forward.

 

These are the people who want to stunt your growth or hinder your success, if it means they can’t go with you.

 

Neither responded like this. Both, epitomizing what it means to be a true teammate, and possess authentic strength in character.

 

Pulling each other along when needed. Sharing in successes, and offering belief to the other when doubt appeared.

 

There’s such an abundance to be learned from this story.

 

If you get the chance, watch The Dawn Wall, or read about it.

 

Get inspired.

 

Believe again…

 

Because, you are capable of climbing the Dawn Wall in your life.

 

We all are.

 

And in that journey, be like, and surround yourself with, the people like Caldwell who say “You can do it, keep going,” or the people like Jurgeson who say “Go ahead, man. I will clap for you at the top.”