On January 14, 2015, after nearly three weeks of exhausting and relentless climbing, Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell reached the top of the El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park. They made history as the first people to free climb the sheer Dawn Wall—climbing without aids, using ropes only to secure themselves when they inevitably and repeatedly fell. At three thousand feet high and composed of thirty-two sections—some of which are among the hardest climbs in the world all by themselves—the Dawn Wall had long been considered an impossible endeavor among the mountaineering community.

For nineteen days Jorgeson and Caldwell slept between climbing sessions in tents suspended hundreds of feet into the air. They repeated the same moves over and over as they tried to conquer the Dawn Wall's different sections. Again and again they sliced their hands and fingers open on the razor-sharp rock, making advances of only a few inches. Scaling the imposing Dawn Wall had been Caldwell and Jorgeson's goal for a long time, and they had spent eight years preparing for it. Using social media to communicate, they continually updated their progress. The world watched and waited with bated breath as they conquered this colossal rock face.

Part of the reason the story got so much attention, Jorgeson guessed, is that people can relate to elements of the journey. "It's a big dream, it requires teamwork and determination and commitment," said Jorgeson. "And those aren't climbing-specific attributes. Those are common to everybody, whether you're trying to write a book or climb a rock." At one point, when he was suffering, Caldwell sent out a message saying: "Razor sharp holds ripped both the tape and the skin right off my fingers. As disappointing as this is, I'm learning new levels of patience, perseverance and desire. I'm not giving up. I will rest. I will try again. I will succeed." The specific objective is irrelevant, he said, but both climbers hope that their experience might inspire others to ask themselves: "What's my Dawn Wall?"