On January 14, 2015, history was made…in the rock climbing world at least.

Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson succeeded in free climbing the Dawn Wall on El Cap, Yosemite National Park. 19 days. 32 pitches of climbing. 19 bloody fingertips (Tommy is missing a finger). 7 years of planning, determination, failures, setbacks, broken bones, and bad weather.

I am not so much interested in the technical details of how they did it or whether or not this was  a “true free ascent”. I’d like to look at the personal side. Why did they do it? What kept them motivated for seven years?

And lastly, why should I care? Why should my students care?

Caldwell on the Dawn Route

Why did Caldwell and Jorgeson climb the Dawn Wall?

Only the two of them will truly know the answer to this. But answers I have seen mainly say that Caldwell decided to make it a goal to free climb the Dawn Wall, and Jorgeson decided to join him. Together, they made it a seven year project; this involved a lot of planning, time hanging in a harness, time recovering from injuries, high hopes for good weather, and more. Caldwell said “this achievement has come to represent the culmination of all his years climbing and all that climbing has taught him about achieving big goals in life.” ¹

The Dawn Wall definitely fits into the category of “big goals.”

We Did It!

What motivated them to stick with it?

Climbing can also be “an affirmation of the human spirit and the importance of teamwork.” 13 days in, Caldwell had reached the highest point – Wino Tower – by free climbing on the route. Yet, Jorgeson was still several pitches below, working out some extremely difficult moves. Caldwell could have continued to the top and finished the route in a few days, making history all the sooner. But in the spirit of teamwork and loyalty to his partner, Caldwell returned to where Jorgeson was and supported and encouraged him through those crux pitches. Caldwell said “I want to top out together…I can’t imagine anything worse really” than not arriving at the top with Jorgeson. ² Nothing shows teamwork better than this simple, yet huge, gesture.

Barb and Meagan…Rock Climbing.

What does it matter – to me, to my students, to anyone?

I found their accomplishment to be admirable and extremely inspiring. Though it showed me that the Dawn Wall can be climbed, it hasn’t quite inspired me to go climb it next year (don’t worry, though, I won’t cross anything off my list yet…). It has shown me what it means to set a goal, to work for it, and eventually attain something you have put your sweat, blood, and tears into, literally or figuratively.

Looking at my own life, goals play a huge part in what keeps me moving forward and striving for more.

I can’t say I’ve spent seven years working to attain one of these goals, but breaking things down into weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks helps me organize and plan (two things I love to do). However, since following the Dawn Wall progress and success, it has made me think more about dreaming big.

Sure I set goals, but how far inside, or outside, the realm of possibility are they? Am I pushing myself enough?

Students at High Trails set their own climbing goals.

The same applies here at High Trails.

We ask students to set goals at various points during the week. One of these is at the climbing wall – what is your goal for the wall? How far up do you want to go? My favorite moments are when students say halfway, then breeze by that point and reach the top, beaming. When they get down, it is easy to see how ecstatic they are about what they just did. This is an immediate sense of achievement beyond what they thought they could do. It is these simple goals with immediate feedback that can help them start to think further ahead with their own aspirations.

Caldwell and Jorgeson decided free climbing the Dawn Wall was their ultimate goal, however long it took. I decided I wanted to teach outdoor science, and here I am. What is your “Dawn Wall”?

Barb hanging on in the dining hall.

At High Trails Outdoor Science School, we literally force our instructors to write about elementary outdoor education, teaching outside, learning outside, our dirty classroom (the forest…gosh), environmental science, outdoor science, and all other tree hugging student and kid loving things that keep us engaged, passionate, driven, loving our job, digging our life, and spreading the word to anyone whose attention we can hold for long enough to actually make it through reading this entire sentence. Whew…. www.dirtyclassroom.com