HAL BAILEY: Hey, everyone.
Thanks for coming to
see Kevin today.
My name's Hal Bailey.
And I met Kevin through
a friend of mine--
lifelong friend--
Andrew McDermott, so we should
thank him just as much.
Kevin's here to talk
about climbing and
why it's fun to him--
essentially the fun scale.
A little background on Kevin--
he's been climbing for
about 15 years.
He is local to the area.
He's from Santa Rosa.
He started out in a gym and
has sort of made his way
outside since then, since
he was younger.
And he now climbs all
over the world.
But there's one project
he's been
working on for four years.
It's in Yosemite called
the Dawn Wall.
It's a sustained 515, it's
about 3,000 feet.
And it's a pretty
intense climb.
The other thing, other than just
being a great climber,
Kevin is also one of
the best climbing
instructors I've ever met.
He set up some programs.
He set up frameworks and
structure around
learning how to climb.
And he started a group
called PCI--
the Pro Climbers Institute?
KEVIN JORGESON: International.
HAL BAILEY: International.
Pro Climbers International,
where he's taken the best
climbers in the world, who have
the ability and interest
in teaching, and he's bringing
that to mortals
like you and me.
Or at least I think most
of you all are mortals.
So anyway, I'll let Kevin
take it from here.
But let's give him
a warm welcome.
Thanks, Kevin.
KEVIN JORGESON: Thank you.
I'm definitely stoked
to be here.
I've heard a lot about Google.
I visited one time before.
And I think the thing that stood
out to me the most when
I think about Google is the
culture of this organization
and this company.
And I love how vital that
culture is when I came to
visit with Hal, and I felt it.
And that's what really led me to
want to share this culture
of climbing as well, because I
have a feeling they're really
going to match quite
well together.
So today I have three different
things I want to do.
I want to introduce you guys
both to myself, my sport, if
you haven't tried climbing
before, and my organization,
Professional Climbers
International.
I want to hopefully inspire
you guys to try climbing
through some of the adventures
I've been on.
And then the last, I want to
invite you to join me both
today at 2 o'clock on the Google
Wall for a free clinic.
But then we're also to be doing
some ongoing climbing
classes on the Google Wall
twice a month January,
February, March.
And we're bringing in some of
the world's best special for
that clinic series.
So at the end of the talk, we
can take names that are
interested for that.
You can come climb.
And we can make sure
that everyone wants
to participate can.
So let's go ahead
and kick off.
My name's Kevin Jorgeson,
again.
And like Hal said, I've been
climbing for 15 years.
And I was born to climb,
I feel like.
I always was climbing
cupboards.
And whenever I would get lost,
my parents would look up
instead of down or under
things to find me.
So I think it was just
a matter of time
before I found climbing.
And I found climbing, so to
speak, when I went to an
outdoor retail shop for the
first time and they had a
climbing wall.
But they wouldn't let me climb
it because I wasn't 16.
Luckily, Vertex Climbing Center
up in Santa Rosa was
opening shortly thereafter.
And it was all over once
I had been to Vertex.
So this photo is actually from
probably my first ever
experience with a climbing wall,
aside from that outdoor
retail shop.
Do you remember [? Morine ?]
Outfitters up in Santa Rosa?
They were in business before
REI moved next door.
And this was right in
their parking lot.
Definitely stoked.
So over the past 15 years, I've
gone from climbing and
competing indoors, winning
national championships and
competing internationally, to
just moving exclusively to
climbing outside.
And to me, there's nothing
more inspiring than a
beautiful line.
And when it comes to beautiful
lines, it's really hard to
compete with El Cap.
Has anyone even been
to Yosemite?
Tell me most of you have been
since we're so close.
If you haven't been, go.
It's less than four hours
from here if you speed.
And it's worth it.
We'll get into what
this project is.
But let's just say that climbing
has taken me many
amazing places.
And I'm going to share their
journey with you guys.
So a little bit about climbing,
if you haven't
climbed before.
Can I see who's definitely
climbed--
rock climbed--
indoors or outdoors before?
Oh, then you know.
OK.
So there's a couple different
disciplines, as you're aware.
You can freeze and be at the
danger of avalanches all the
time through mountaineering.
And how, that's your thing,
but not for me, sorry.
You can go sport climbing,
which is fun.
Single or multi-pitch
bolted climbs.
That's the photo in the middle
from Smith Rocks.
Or you can go bouldering, which
is just fun, ropeless,
accessible.
You can do it indoors, you
can do it outdoors.
All you need are shoes, chalk,
and a crash pad.
It's great.
And I think that's one of the
things that draws to me
climbing so much is that
it is so versatile.
With a slight change in angle
or location, you can find
yourself still participating
in climbing, but maybe be
soloing over the ocean in
Majorca, or up on a peak in
Alaska, or on a boulder
field in Bishop.
It's really versatile to meet
anyone's version of climbing.
So really, it's open to all
participants, which I
absolutely love.
So three years ago, we started
an organization called
Professional Climbers
International.
And our goal is to develop and
inspire the next generation.
And we do that through a number
of different programs
and events.
But one is through large stage
competitions, like the photo
on the left, but also through
instructional programs like we
do in schools, here at Google,
and all over the place.
And this happens to be
the same climber.
He's winning the competition
on the left and teaching a
clinic to adults and kids
in New York last year.
Daniel was here too the day
before yesterday in Sunnyvale
at Planet Granite, if you
guys have been there.
Myself, Alex Johnson, a two-time
World Cup champion US
female climber was there,
and so was Daniel.
So that's enough for the
introduction of myself, of
climbing, of PCI.
I want to dig into the
fun and, to me,
more inspiring part.
So in September 2009,
it was kind of an
interesting period for me.
In January I'd finished a
lifelong goal-- well, maybe
not lifelong.
But it was a particular
climb called Ambrosia.
It was this really dangerous,
really tall boulder
[? prop. ?]
And I was kind of lost.
If you've ever climbed, do you
ever go through post-send
depression?
Or maybe you finish a project
of some kind.
Whatever, it doesn't even
have to be climbing.
You finish it and you're
like, now what do I do?
And I was having a serious case
of post-send depression
in September 2009.
And I didn't know what I
was going to do next.
And as a professional climber,
it's all about pushing
yourself and having an inspiring
project to look
forward to and to work on
and progress toward.
And I didn't know where I was
going, which really is not a
nice place to be.
So in September, I saw the
Reel Rock Film Tour.
And it featured Tommy Caldwell
on the Dawn Wall project.
And it sure looked like
he needed a partner.
So I called him up and I
was like, I'm nothing
but a pebble wrestler.
You're a big wall climber.
But hey, I would love to help
you out if you would have it.
And he wrote a funny article
recently where he said, what's
the worst I would get
out of having
Kevin come for a season?
I get a belay partner, I burn
through him, and then I'll get
another one.
But on our first day, it was
really clear we climbed really
well together.
We were having fun.
And that we had forged both a
friendship and a partnership
that was going to last the
duration of this project.
So this is the line that
the Dawn Wall takes.
And every other free climb on
El Cap follows a very clear
system of cracks.
The majority of the climbs
all across the wall
are called aid climbs.
And that means you're standing
on and pulling
on gear as you go.
When you think of climbing,
you're probably picturing free
climbing-- hands and
feet, you're
doing the moves yourself.
Free climbing on El
Cap, same thing.
You have the ropes there.
You're not going to
die if you fall.
The Dawn Wall takes the blankest
feature of El Cap and
tries to climb it.
It's quite the audacious
objective.
And Tommy deserves all the
credit in the world for
looking at that wall and even
believing that it was possible.
So without that, there's no way
I would be working on this
project right now.
So I remember standing in
the meadow on day one
looking at the wall--
met him in the meadow
for the first time.
I mean is a childhood
hero of mine.
I have watched him--
he's 33, I'm 28.
So I was literally watching him
in the magazines and the
videos when I started.
I was like, hey Tommy
how's it going?
Where does this thing go?
I mean, the wall is so blank.
There was no obvious place to
go, like with the Nose, or the
Salathe, or the Zodiac.
All these other climbs have
very clear places to go.
So began the Dawn
Wall Project.
And the thing about climbing--
oh wait.
TOMMY CALDWELL: Probably
one of the craziest
dyno I've ever tried.
And it's right in the
middle of El Cap.
So it's sick.
I'm just not the best
dynoer in the world.
But I think somebody
could do it.
When I look at this next
generation of climbers that
are doing things on the boulders
and the sport climbs
that I really couldn't conceive
of, if they could
apply that kind of talent
to the big walls.
And that's what it would take
to free climb this project.
Even if I can't climb this, I
wanted to plant the seed for
somebody in the future to
come and inspire us all.
KEVIN JORGESON: Now that's a
classic Tommy line, being
super humble.
Oh, I'm just planting
the seed for someone
else to come do this.
Tommy's going to climb
this thing.
And I hope to be on that
team with him.
There's nothing that's going
to stop us from seeing it
through to the end.
But that was the call to action
that I saw in that film
in September that was like,
well, he's really putting it
out there to every discipline
within climbing to step up and
help make this project happen.
Now the thing but a project like
the Dawn Wall is you will
never, ever do it in a season.
Even if you're Adam Ondra,
who's arguably the best
climber in the world right
now, you couldn't come to
Yosemite and do this
thing in a season.
There's a lot that goes into
climbing at a big wall of this
size and this difficulty.
And inevitably, it's not
all fun as we may
normally think about it.
So in alpinism, and in climbing,
and I'm sure in
other industries or sports,
there's this
idea of the fun scale.
And that definitely applies to
climbing, and the Dawn Wall
project in particular.
And even if it's not as fun as
jumping in a foam pit, you can
still have actually view
it as a kind of fun.
So I just want to go through
the types of fun.
So type one a simple.
It's what we think of fun.
It's the pure, unqualified,
silly fun--
foam pits, climbing walls
for the first time.
And in the case of the Dawn
Wall, taking a magic carpet
ride in 60 mile an hour
updraft winds
is pretty darn fun.
Tommy didn't want to break down
the portal ledge and then
reset it up in the wind.
So he just sat on it
and levitated his
way down the wall.
Or fun is forgetting your can
opener every night, and
having to use a--
they call it a pecker, in order
to open your dinner.
No I'm serious, I don't think
we've ever opened a can with a
can opener on El Cap.
For some reason, we either
forget it or leave it in the
hall bag at pitch down
or something.
So we're always hoping that we
have our beaks nearby so we
can eat dinner.
Or you can have type one
in the form of a
100-foot rope swing.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
KEVIN JORGESON: We'll, last
time I did this is--
FEMALE SPEAKER: Are you
all clipped in OK?
KEVIN JORGESON: I think so.
FEMALE SPEAKER: [INAUDIBLE]?
This is like a baby
porch swing.
[END VIDEO PLAYBACK]
KEVIN JORGESON: Now I don't
know if that's everyone's
definition of fun.
But to me, that's like
complete type one.
That's just pure bliss.
So you can see there's a lot of
time on the wall that's not
just spent climbing.
And you kind of have to see the
fun in the entire process
in order to engage in a project
that's going to last
three, four, five, six years.
Who knows how long it's
going to take?
It's been four already.
Can you guys see
our camp here?
That's our camp that we
were based out of.
That photo was taken less
than a month ago.
We spent October
and November--
that's kind of the best season
for working on this project.
And that's about maybe
1,000 feet up.
If you know the Nose route,
this is El Cap Tower.
This is Texas Flake.
And then there's the Boot
Flake up higher.
And you can just see how really
blank that section is.
But again, for me, to be in that
kind of position, just
pasted to the side of the wall,
to be able to wake up
and make your French press
coffee in the morning is just
complete type one fun.
Unfortunately--
well, I don't know, somewhat
fortunately--
it's not all type one fun.
Either with a project like this,
of that difficulty, or
for that long.
You kind of have to endure
the whole scale.
So type two is kind
of interesting.
It's not that fun when you're
actually going through it.
But when you look back on
it, it's pretty fun.
You're in it, you're doing it,
and you're like, this sucks.
And then you look back, it's
kind of like the things that
make really good story.
You're like, oh, this
is so terrible.
And by 5 o'clock, you're
like, that was so cool.
I did that.
Yeah, no big deal.
Yeah, I was having fun
the whole time.
So terrible in the moment,
taking the tape off of a
bloody flapper wound after
a day of bouldering.
But fun in retrospect is
realizing that you have a
heart shaped flapper under that
piece of tape that you'll
never ever see ever again.
So let's see, what else do
we have for type two fun?
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
KEVIN JORGESON: It's
10 o'clock.
We just did pitch seven
a couple hours ago.
And now we're going
to do pitch eight.
But we need a little
pick-me-up.
We just ate dinner.
Kind of ready for a nap.
FEMALE SPEAKER: So what are
you doing for a little
pick-me-up?
KEVIN JORGESON: I think I'm
going to take this instant
coffee powder, pour it into my
mouth, swig some water, and
swallow it instead
of brewing it.
But when I describe it, it
seems like a bad idea.
MALE SPEAKER: You're a
model of laziness.
You even have a stove
right next to you.
KEVIN JORGESON: I'm really
afraid of how much I'm going
to put in my mouth.
This is the type two
moment right here.
FEMALE SPEAKER: How
does it taste?
Is it dissolving?
Is it warming up?
Let's see your smile.
Not bad.
KEVIN JORGESON: It's a little
brutal when it firsts hits
your tongue.
But when you mix it
up, it kind of
tastes like cold coffee.
MALE SPEAKER: Maybe you should
stick that packet up to your
left nostril and just snort
the rest of it.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Wait, did you
just do that for real?
KEVIN JORGESON: I'm not going
to snort the instant coffee.
I'm not that tired.
MALE SPEAKER: It'll hit your
bloodstream faster.
[END VIDEO PLAYBACK]
KEVIN JORGESON: So that was in
the middle of a week long
ground up effort in 2010, where
we would start climbing
around 4 o'clock each day when
the wall went into the shade
and then climb until
we were too tired.
Because when the wall is in the
sun, it's just simply too
hot to hang on to the holds,
because they're so small.
A lot of you have climbed.
So you know how important
conditions can be.
And that's one of the biggest
battles on this wall is with
the conditions.
And some of the best conditions
happen to be in the
middle the night.
But when you get tired, you've
got to do what you got to do.
And it worked out well.
We did the next pitch that
night and took a rest
day the next day.
All right.
There's a lot of elements
of this
project that aren't ideal--
the conditions that I talked
about with the sun.
Another is that there are
certain sections of the route
that are just always wet, no
matter what, always wet.
Pitch 10 is one of those.
This wet streak is so big you
can see it from the ground.
It's 100 feet long.
And it happens to be in the
middle of a 5.14 pitch.
So you do a bunch
of lie-backing.
And then the holds don't
get any better.
And the feet don't
get any better.
Everything just turns
to slime.
And there's nothing you can do
except grit your teeth and get
through it.
And half the time you just
slide right out.
But it's kind of one of those
moments as well, where you're
getting through it and you're
like, oh this is awful.
But then you zoom out
and you realize, I'm
climbing a 5.14 wet pitch.
This is so cool.
And then you're like, oh this
is really slippery.
I'm going to fall.
And you're all gripped, because
the gear's bad.
And if you fall, you're
going to zipper it all
the way to the belay.
But when you finish the pitch,
that's kind of back to that
type one feeling.
But you have to get to
the wet stuff in
order to get the elation.
And to me, type two
is one of the most
rewarding types of fun.
I really enjoy type two.
And then there's type three.
It's just never fun.
The cool thing about type
three is it makes
for the best story.
But when you look back on it,
whether it be an injury, or a
close brush with death, or
something, type three is just
something that you look back on,
and you just don't want to
repeat any part of
it whatsoever.
So let's see what we have
for type three.
We talked about conditions.
Sometimes to get the good
conditions you have to wake up
in terrible hours
of the morning.
And pardon my French for
naming my alarms.
But that's pretty much what it
feels like to wake up at 2:00
in the morning to go
rock climbing.
There's nothing that fun about
lugging an 80 pound load of
gear to the top of El Cap--
just going to throw
that out there.
I've done it a lot
of times by now.
I thought, oh maybe it'll
just turn into type two.
Like the runners endorphin,
you get to the
top, it feels great.
That was the first time
it was type two.
Every time after that,
type three, over it.
That was about one second
of type two.
I don't think I would've reacted
like that if Matt
didn't start yelling.
I think he just stoked that
I didn't break my legs.
But this was in England
in 2008.
I went on this trip as a
training trip for that
Ambrosia objective, which
I did that January.
And all of the routes in England
are really sketchy.
Nothing is bolted anywhere
on the gritstone.
It's all trad.
So if there's no cracks,
there's no gear.
And obviously, the gear is
super low on this one.
And this is already kind
of an infamous route.
It's called Gaia.
And if you've seen these
underground climbing movies--
"Hard Grit"--
you get to watch someone take
that exact same fall
but break his leg.
I was like, I really want to
climb Gaia, but I really don't
want to break my leg.
And then sure enough, trying
to onside it, my left foot
blows, and I nearly
break my legs.
So the good thing
was that, A--
that's Alex Honnold.
He ran backwards and kept me
from breaking my legs, because
he pulled in the slack
as I was falling.
And the second thing is, he
moved this crash pad up
against the arete.
But my heels still struck.
So for the next week I
was walking around--
I don't know, does an ostrich
walk right on their toes?
But I couldn't step on
my heels for a week.
So then, it was definitely a
moment of type three for me.
Looking back, I have no desire
to do that whatsoever.
But it's good footage,
type three.
That's the nature
of type three.
And luckily, I think it's
really special that this
project has taken so long.
You get to experience all parts
of the success and the
failure that goes along
the way with working
something so hard.
The partnership that Tommy and
I have forged over the last
four years is awesome.
I mean, we balance each
other out really well.
When you're going through
so much challenge, and
difficulty, and a lot of
physical pain at times, you've
got to have someone there that
has your back, that can
complement your weaknesses
and your strengths.
Luckily, Tommy and I balanced
each other out really well.
We may appear a little bored at
times when belaying since
up at 2:00 in the morning.
But that's all just
part of the game.
And it takes you
amazing places.
You don't get to climb a pitch
like that without going
through a little type two
fun, and sometimes
some type three fun.
But in this particular
moment, pure bliss.
And thanks to Jimmy
Chin for capturing
such an amazing shot.
So everyone always asks, if
you haven't climbed a big
wall, how do you go to the
bathroom up all a big wall?
I mean, if I don't tell you now,
you're going to ask me
afterwards.
So I figure I'm just going to
let a video take care it.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
MALE SPEAKER: I love
portaledges.
I can't tell you how much
I love portaledges.
You just live in them up here.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Why
do you love them?
MALE SPEAKER: No exposure.
We can hang out in
the middle of the
blankest wall in the world.
We're kind of cozy right now.
We could just take a nap.
FEMALE SPEAKER: What's Kevin
doing over there?
MALE SPEAKER: Kevin
is urinating in a
wind-storm right now.
FEMALE SPEAKER: What
does that mean?
MALE SPEAKER: It means he's
probably going to get piss all
over himself, and us, and the
walls, and anybody within a
quarter mile radius of us.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Kevin,
how's it going?
KEVIN JORGESON: I'll tell
you in a second.
MALE SPEAKER: Love
his technique--
legs slightly spread.
Right now he's trying
to dig it out
from through his harness.
The wind is blowing him
around a little bit.
FEMALE SPEAKER: You have
cold feet, Kevin?
Oh, there it goes.
The little raindrops flying
upwards, like dancing.
MALE SPEAKER: He is somewhat
experienced in that he's going
with the wind.
Because if he was going against
the wind right now, he
would be getting so wet.
KEVIN JORGESON: [INAUDIBLE].
This isn't embarrassing
at all.
MALE SPEAKER: [INAUDIBLE]
leg and your foot?
Looks like you're peeing right
on your leg right now.
KEVIN JORGESON: [INAUDIBLE].
FEMALE SPEAKER: What
did he just say?
MALE SPEAKER: He said that was
the cleanest wind pee ever.
That's what he said.
The only certain [? people ?]
[? on the nose. ?]
FEMALE SPEAKER: Kevin got
[INAUDIBLE] by a lot.
That whole ledge, I bet,
just got hammered.
[END VIDEO PLAYBACK]
KEVIN JORGESON: Well,
there you go.
That adage is true through.
If at first you don't succeed,
you definitely
have to try, try again.
And it's interesting to
experience the evolution of
this project over the
last four years.
Year one, my eyes were just
completely opened to how
challenging this
objective was.
We didn't even know where
the route was going
to go at that stage.
Year two, we knew where
everything went.
Where we had to add bolts,
we added bolts.
We knew what gear we needed.
And we also knew it was just
way over our heads.
Year three, we gave it a
good ground up effort.
I got an injury that set back.
And then this year, we focused
all of our effort two months
on two pitches, on the crux
pitches, the crux 400 feet.
And we made a lot of little
micro beta breakthroughs, like
little sequence changes
here and there
to help us get through.
And it's funny, the littlest
change in your sequence can
open up all kinds
of confidence to
your chances of success.
But if we had only tried it
for two years or for three
years, it would still feel
completely impossible.
So I'll be the first to admit
that there are times in this
project where it just feels like
I'm trying for no reason,
that this thing is so hard, and
there's no way that it's
ever going to happen.
By still just trusting that by
chipping away, it's going to
become more feasible.
You are getting stronger, you
are getting more tuned in to
the root, that it will happen.
And now for the first time,
I feel confidence in our
chances, to be honest.
I mean, we wouldn't be trying
this route for this long if we
didn't enjoy type one through
three that goes along with
this route.
And that was enough.
But now it almost feels
like, wow, we can
actually do this thing.
So that's been a
really exciting
process to go through.
And if you're in the middle of
anything like that yourself,
some multi-year epic project,
I encourage you to just keep
going, because there's light
at the end of the
tunnel, if you will.
And your skills hone in.
I'm sure you've all been through
it, no matter what, as
far as taking on something
that you have no business
doing, but then doing
it one day.
And we haven't even done
this thing yet.
And we'll be back next year.
I'm going to go in the
spring, and I'm going
to go in the fall.
And we're going to keep doing
that until we send.
But without that process, and
without accepting that fun
isn't always type one fun, it's
not always type two fun,
you kind of have to accept some
days it's just going to
suck, and it's not going
to be fun at all.
But really, it's worth it.
It makes for good stories that
I can share with you guys and
hopefully talk you into coming
climbing with me, and yeah.
So what I would definitely like
to do is introduce all of
you and anyone you know within
Google to come climbing with
us in January, February,
and March.
Twice a month for those three
months, we're going to have
some of the world's top climbers
on your climbing
wall, introducing you guys to
climbing, if you haven't done
it before, and helping hone
your mental strength, your
technical abilities, and your
physical training on the
Google Wall.
And then my goal from there is
to have gathered up all those
interested in climbing and who
already climb that work at
Google and do even more cool
stuff, whether that's outdoor
trips or doing meet-ups at the
local climbing gyms, of which
there are a ton here
in the Bay Area.
And all of this starts
today at 2 o'clock on
the climbing wall.
So we brought harnesses
and shoes.
No experience, no equipment
necessary.
Just come hang out for an hour
and a half and try it.
I encourage you just
to come try.
And if nothing else, you'll
have some type two fun at
worst, which will make for
a good story, which isn't
a bad way to go.
So it's win-win,
no matter what.
So I have a couple of fliers,
if anyone wants to take a
little reminder for the clinic
series that's going to start
in January.
Otherwise, come find me after
the talk or at the wall.
And we can make sure that we
stay in touch so that we get
to climb together from
here on out.
And at this point,
if you have any
questions, please fire away.
AUDIENCE: So you're working
on this project.
And I'm not quite sure
how it goes.
But you accumulate a lot of
knowledge over four years.
What happens if your partner
decides he wants to go and do
something else?
KEVIN JORGESON: I was talking
earlier about the strengths
and weaknesses of
our partnership.
And for me, I bring a lock tight
memory when it comes to
sequences and gear
and all the rest.
But I also back that up with
meticulous lists of actual
sequences, the list of gear that
we need, start to finish
on every single pitch.
That and this thing has been
documented by really talented
videographers from Big UP
Productions and Sender Films
for that Reel Rock film tour.
So it's great.
We actually have a video
catalog, if you will, of some
of the pitches.
So if it really came to it, we
could go back to those and
look at it.
But the nature of climbing--
Tommy's been climbing since he
was five, I've been climbing
since I was 12--
your body really remembers the
movement in and of itself at
this stage.
So after climbing on the pitches
for that long, it
really takes no time to get
up and running again.
Yeah.
Of course.
AUDIENCE: So it sounds like
you've made a number of
attempts in this wall.
What happens in the moment when
you decide that one of
your attempts is over and
you're headed back down?
KEVIN JORGESON: We're
pretty stubborn.
Again, coming back to
that balance thing.
Tommy's the utter optimist.
He looks at the Weather
Channel forecast.
I'm not a pessimist,
but I'm a realist.
I look at the Noah forecast.
And we kind of balanced each
other out a little bit.
Looking at a Doppler radar, like
in 2010, we're watching
this huge storm.
Do you guys remember the amount
of snow and rain we got
a couple years ago?
It was absolutely insane.
The snow pack was like
250% in Tahoe.
We were on the wall right as
that storm was hitting.
And Tommy's like, I think it's
going to go around us.
I think we should just
stick it out.
We're at the crux pitches.
It's not like we had sent
the crux pitches.
He's just in total denial.
And I'm like, dude, it's
calling for 6 feet
of snow in 12 hours.
What are you talking about?
But to answer your question,
we go until the weather
typically forces us off.
So we let some external factor
come decide for us.
Because otherwise we're
just up there.
But I was injured last
year, for example.
And Tommy was up there and
had great weather.
Our winter last year, remember,
was bone dry all the
way through February.
He spent 16 days on the wall
going ground up, and finally
decided to come down because
he had holes virtually in
every single one of
his fingertips.
And he'd have to sit up there,
just sit there on the
portaledge for a week for his
skin to heal to be able to
grab the holds again.
So for him it was like, all
right, I've been up here for
16 days, just the time
required to heal.
And the chances of doing the
pitch, and the progress he
wasn't experiencing.
He decided that he was going
to wait until next year.
Typically, it's weather.
AUDIENCE: Quick question,
you mentioned injuries.
KEVIN JORGESON: Yes.
AUDIENCE: So just curious, when
you were injured, and if
you are having to sit out for
awhile, how did you stay
motivated while you
couldn't climb?
And what did you learn on the
way back when you were trying
to recover?
KEVIN JORGESON: After climbing
for 15 years, you have a lot
of natural ebbs and
flows of your
motivation, I've realized.
And I've realized really
not to fight those.
And when I hurt my ankle on the
wall last year, that was
kind of the start of just a
natural kind of low period in
my climbing, I felt like.
And so I focused a lot on PCI.
I focused a lot on teaching
and getting
more athletes involved.
And just kind of balancing out
the other aspects of what I
love about climbing.
Sharing it with others, creating
really good programs
to get other people into it.
And really not to force it,
because that's when it's no
longer part of your passion and
you've turned your passion
into a job.
And I really am conscious
about that balance.
I feel like the most fortunate
guy ever to be able to make a
living doing what I
absolutely love.
I don't want to be doing
anything else.
But as soon as I start forcing,
I feel like, climbing
when I'm not motivated or
working when I'm not
motivated, then it
kind of ruins it.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: I'm just wondering,
how much time you spend in the
gym doing cardio or
weight training?
Or are you always on
the wall climbing?
KEVIN JORGESON: You know, the
adage goes that the best
training for climbing
is climbing.
But with a project like this,
I've reluctantly had to accept
that I need to do more
than just climb.
And getting off the
wall this year--
I hate stretching.
I can't even touch--
[STRAINING]
KEVIN JORGESON: I can't do it.
It's embarrassing.
I need to be able to touch my
toes if I stand any chance of
climbing pitch 12 of the
Dawn Wall-- period.
And I've known that
from day one.
But only after this season,
coming off of that little bit
of progress and that kind of
glimmer that we can do this,
I've started a daily
foam rolling
and stretching regiment.
Not because I feel
like I have to.
But all of a sudden I want to.
And we do do cardio days.
And I don't do a lot of weight
opposition training.
But I do do antagonistic
muscle training
to keep things balanced.
Because with this project, you
have to be more than just
climbing fit.
It kind of breaks you down over
the two to three month
season that you're
in the valley.
So you can't show up
peaked on day one.
You're actually training still,
if you will, in that
first month that you're there.
So that by the fourth or fifth
week, you're actually peaking.
AUDIENCE: Great talk.
KEVIN JORGESON: Thanks.
AUDIENCE: You said that your
partner spent 16 days on the
wall ground up.
Is there another way to spend
16 days on the wall, like
starting somewhere other
than the ground?
KEVIN JORGESON: Yeah, you can
drop in from the top as well.
AUDIENCE: Really?
KEVIN JORGESON: Yeah, from
the top of the wall.
So this thing is so difficult.
And looking from the ground,
like I said early on, you
can't tell where it goes.
This route was discovered
from the top down.
The first thing Tommy did was
hike a bunch of rope to the
top of El Cap, throw it off the
top, and start swinging
around, literally trying
to connect the
dots from top to bottom.
Because if we started at the
bottom and just tried to push
one rope length higher and
higher, not knowing if it's
free climbable, or this crack
connects to the next crack, we
would be nowhere near
where we are now.
And we're already
four years in.
So the strategy, a lot of times,
is to come in from the
top to see where things are.
But I would say, no.
No one's going to spend 16 days
on the wall consecutively
without a purpose.
And if you're just coming
in from the
top, you're not sending.
You're doing a recon trip.
You're working a crux pitch.
You're stashing water for
the next attempt.
You're doing logistics
and training.
So the pushes that have taken
a really long time, some of
the historic ones like Warren
Harding on the wall in early
morning light.
He was up there for a month.
He's going up from the ground.
He wants to send.
He doesn't want to bail.
When those kinds of things are
at stake, the realization of
your project, that's when people
stay for that long.
AUDIENCE: And then you
just mentioned
leaving water behind.
From one season to the next,
what do you guys leave?
Do you leave anything?
KEVIN JORGESON: Nothing.
AUDIENCE: Nothing gets left.
So as you're going up the same
pitches over and over again,
you're getting really good at
the lower levels of the game.
And then you try to get to
the advanced level next?
KEVIN JORGESON: So what we do,
is so now I can tell you every
single move of pitch
one through 18.
The crux is in 12, 13,
14, and 15, and 16.
They're all 5.14.
So we feel really confident
about those bottom pitches.
And now, a lot of times, what
we do in October is drop in
from the top and focus our
efforts right on those crux
pitches, because we're confident
about what's below.
And we're confident about
what's above.
But if we don't have a clear
game plan for how we're going
to do those crux pitches, or
have the confidence to be able
to do it, then you're really
just climbing up from the
ground into a brick wall.
So it's really important to know
what's coming up and to
be confident and have the
knowledge necessary to do it.
So that requires some top
down tactics as well.
But we don't leave
anything behind.
When we're working on the route,
we actually have a rope
fixed top to bottom so
that we can literally
commute across the wall.
In any one day, we may ascend up
the fixed ropes halfway up
the entire wall, and the next
day climb for 12 hours, then
go back down and have
some pizza.
Or come in from the top and
resupply a camp, because we're
staying up there two, three
days at a time.
But then when the season's over,
everything comes down.
And you have a burly type three
fun set up and take down
mission at the start and
end of every season.
Yeah, that's where those
80 pound loads come in.
Cool.
Well, if you guys don't have any
other questions, I hope to
see each and every one of you
at 2 o'clock on the wall.
We'll cycle you all
up it, no problem.
And then we'll add a bunch
more dates to the clinic
series if you guys
all show up.
But thank you, seriously.
[APPLAUSE]
