Adam Ondra encounters first real difficulties on Dawn Wall, El Capitan, Yosemite

Quick update from the Dawn Wall on El Capitan, where Adam Ondra has encountered the first difficulties. After a day of rest, after which the temperatures dropped dramatically with the arrival of the first snowflakes, yesterday morning the Czech climber waited for the shade once again. Then he started up the 14th pitch, the most difficult of all and the first of three that constitute the crux of the entire route.

And here the first signs appeared that indicate how hard the route freed by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson is, and how much the 23-year-old is beginning to feel under pressure. "Damn! Climbed super poorly, so much pressure, so nervous! Needed 7 tries to make it through the first boulder problem on pitch 14, a boulder problem that i never really found very hard before, but somehow felt really hard today. I slipped on my first try, then on my second try, then just freaked out and felt so insecure with my feet trying to climb as carefully as possible but kept slipping nevertheless. Then, on my 7th try, I did the boulder problem, and fell from the last move. Hard to find some optimism, but I will try it again. Tomorrow and hopefully with better mindset. Thanks everyone for encouragement! I am sorry for today, hopefully there is still the chance!"

Beggining of the pitch #14 . @adam.ondra @blackdiamond #dawnwall #elcapitan #yosemite #liveclimbrepeat #blackdiamond

Un video pubblicato da Pavel Blažek (@pavelblazek) in data: 17 Nov 2016 alle ore 15:38 PST