kevin jorgeson dawn wall

It was the culmination of a lifetime defined by overcoming obstacles.

The filmmakers actually scaled the mountain with them in order to film them. Jorgeson was born to Eric and Gaelena Jorgeson. Probably…”How Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson prepared for the climb of their lives.© 2020 Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc., an Active Interest Media Company Confidence - Kevin Jorgeson takes us through the mental and physical approach to pitch 12, the first of the 5.14s. Tommy Caldwell started climbing soon after he learned to walk. Cameras follow Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson as they take on the staggering challenge of free-climbing Yosemite’s most formidable rock formation. The documentary was directed by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer.

Under the mentorship of Tommy, Kevin proved a quick study as he transformed himself into a big wall climber capable of the completing the most continuously difficult route in the world. Starring: Tommy Caldwell, Kevin Jorgeson. Click to see a history of achievements on El Cap.

He also focused on his diet, increasing his protein intake with recovery drinks and eggs (scrambled, with veggies) to build lean muscle.After two months spent powering up, Caldwell committed to a manic bouldering blitz in nearby Chaos Canyon, a tumble of massive gneiss blocks high in Rocky Mountain National Park that’s home to one of the world’s highest concentrations of difficult boulder problems. They attempt to free style climb the vertical 3000-foot granite rock face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Though, as Jorgeson concedes, referring to his legendary, multi-day battle to redpoint pitch 15, “Would I have epiced a bit less had I been fitter? Check out our breakdown of the movies and shows we're excited about this month, including "Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site?

That summer, he committed to gym bouldering plus a ferocious hangboarding protocol—Chris Webb-Parsons’s Hangboarding Program—during which he’d use the intervals between hangs to crank out pushups. “In, like, 25 minutes I’d be totally destroyed.” But he did little else, other than specific stretching to open his hip flexors for the 5.14 stemming corners on pitches 12 and 16.Then that August, Jorgeson’s good friend Brad Parker perished in a free-soloing accident in Tuolumne Meadows.

Sure, they must have done something—you can’t just nosh Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and binge-watch Jorgeson, who comes from a bouldering background, recalls going in with a nonchalant attitude. Managing to overcome the obstacles life was throwing at him, Tommy came back stronger and raised his already elite skill level and the sport’s standards.

At the age of 22, the climbing prodigy was taken hostage by rebels in Kyrgyzstan.

“All that baby fat between the muscles went away,” he jokes.

As he and Caldwell began rehearsing the route, a cool thing happened, says Jorgeson: “That’s when the confidence started to build.

But he needed the physical toolbox to match. The climb has received international media attention from agencies including CBS News, NBC News and The Guardian. Miraculously, after six days of captivity, the group managed to free themselves. Like most kids, Kevin grew up climbing ladders, trees and fences, until a visit to his local climbing gym changed his life forever.

Hear it from two of the worlds best, Chris Sharma and Alex Honnold. The pair lived on the sheer vertical cliff for weeks, igniting a frenzy of global media attention.

They test the boundaries of their skills and endurance and even the bounds of what is humanly possible.

The red line shows the route followed by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson on the Dawn Wall on Yosemite's El Capitan.

Should he abandon his partner to fulfill his ultimate dream, or risk his own success for the sake of their friendship? After years of effort but no send in the bag, Caldwell knew he had to change something—“to double down and get my training system worked out.” At his home in Estes Park, Colorado, Caldwell spent spring and summer tackling various hyper-specific training phases.To begin, Caldwell focused on making gains in power—the raw strength he’d need to do the individual moves, and what he’s long considered his Achilles Heel.

When you learn the hurdles that Tommy Caldwell had to overcome you realize that it is an absolutely remarkable human story.