1 00:00:04,371 --> 00:00:10,310 [wind whistling] 2 00:00:13,713 --> 00:00:17,884 [♪ dramatic music playing] 3 00:00:34,834 --> 00:00:40,674 [♪ dramatic music playing] 4 00:00:48,748 --> 00:00:50,250 [Alex Honnold] I think this would be, like, 5 00:00:50,250 --> 00:00:52,852 the grandest adventure that we've been on in our lives. 6 00:01:00,260 --> 00:01:02,595 I'm doing this to support my friend. 7 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,660 [Tommy Caldwell] One. Go. 8 00:01:06,660 --> 00:01:07,400 [Ingrid] My turn. 9 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:08,735 - Uh-oh. It's real. 10 00:01:08,735 --> 00:01:11,370 - It's real. It's really happening. 11 00:01:14,140 --> 00:01:15,608 [Alex Honnold] I do worry about how Tommy will hold up 12 00:01:15,608 --> 00:01:17,911 on the Devil's Thumb. 13 00:01:18,378 --> 00:01:19,446 [shouting] 14 00:01:22,315 --> 00:01:23,950 [Alex Honnold] It's gonna get steep. 15 00:01:23,950 --> 00:01:25,952 Wow. This is crazy. 16 00:01:27,721 --> 00:01:30,824 I'm pretty sure you're uh, you're not on route. 17 00:01:30,824 --> 00:01:33,660 Those are the types of risks that I don't really wanna take. 18 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:38,898 [Tommy Caldwell] You know the only thing keeping you alive 19 00:01:39,666 --> 00:01:42,302 is your trust in your climbing partner, 20 00:01:43,903 --> 00:01:45,905 and your best friend. 21 00:01:49,609 --> 00:01:56,483 [♪ theme music playing] 22 00:02:05,959 --> 00:02:09,295 [birds chirping] 23 00:02:11,297 --> 00:02:12,932 [Tommy Caldwell] My name is Tommy Caldwell and I've been a 24 00:02:12,932 --> 00:02:15,669 professional climber pretty much my entire life. 25 00:02:18,772 --> 00:02:20,140 The Devil's Thumb has always been there, 26 00:02:20,140 --> 00:02:22,342 in the back of my mind. 27 00:02:22,776 --> 00:02:25,311 It's kind of like this mythical mountain. 28 00:02:25,311 --> 00:02:28,314 It's got the biggest alpine face in North America that's 29 00:02:28,314 --> 00:02:30,650 never been climbed. 30 00:02:30,650 --> 00:02:32,719 Only a few people have even attempted it, 31 00:02:33,286 --> 00:02:36,656 and a lot of the ones that did, died trying. 32 00:02:37,824 --> 00:02:41,695 And so I've been putting it together in my mind, 33 00:02:41,695 --> 00:02:44,664 and sort of logistically, for, like, a year or something. 34 00:02:46,166 --> 00:02:49,169 But I needed a partner to help me pull it off. 35 00:02:50,637 --> 00:02:53,139 So I called up Alex Honnold. 36 00:02:53,740 --> 00:02:56,976 He's the guy that climbed the 3,000-foot face on El Capitan, 37 00:02:56,976 --> 00:02:59,546 in Yosemite, without a rope. 38 00:02:59,546 --> 00:03:01,147 - Yeah, buddy. 39 00:03:01,147 --> 00:03:02,716 [Tommy Caldwell] He's probably the best climber on Earth for 40 00:03:02,716 --> 00:03:06,190 an expedition like this, 41 00:03:06,190 --> 00:03:08,355 and I was like, "is there any way that you'd wanna 42 00:03:08,355 --> 00:03:09,856 do this whole trip with me?", 43 00:03:09,856 --> 00:03:11,591 and his immediate reaction was, like, 44 00:03:11,591 --> 00:03:14,940 "No, Sanni's gonna divorce me if I do that. 45 00:03:14,940 --> 00:03:15,595 Like, there's no way I could do it.". 46 00:03:15,595 --> 00:03:17,163 But I got in his mind a little bit and he called me back 47 00:03:17,163 --> 00:03:19,332 a week later, and was like, "yeah, we're gonna do it.". 48 00:03:19,599 --> 00:03:21,101 [groaning] 49 00:03:22,335 --> 00:03:24,371 - I think this is, this could be mega. 50 00:03:24,371 --> 00:03:26,740 This could be really big. 51 00:03:26,740 --> 00:03:29,750 This is definitely not light duty. 52 00:03:29,750 --> 00:03:30,910 It's hard to say, 'cause we don't know what the rock 53 00:03:30,910 --> 00:03:32,545 quality is or what the weather's like, but from the 54 00:03:32,545 --> 00:03:34,381 photos, it looks insane. 55 00:03:34,381 --> 00:03:36,820 I mean, there's also the possibility of just going 56 00:03:36,820 --> 00:03:37,550 straight up from the bottom, 57 00:03:37,550 --> 00:03:39,185 you know, climbing the whole south face. 58 00:03:39,185 --> 00:03:40,587 - Yeah. 59 00:03:41,855 --> 00:03:43,556 Most teams of recent history, 60 00:03:43,556 --> 00:03:45,625 have just helicoptered right to the base, 61 00:03:45,625 --> 00:03:48,280 but that's not really my style. 62 00:03:48,261 --> 00:03:50,196 So I started trying to imagine, like, 63 00:03:50,196 --> 00:03:53,400 "what would be the grandest way possible to do this trip?". 64 00:03:55,235 --> 00:03:59,105 I've always wanted to do a long bike tour, and I came up with 65 00:03:59,105 --> 00:04:01,941 an idea for, like, this epic road trip. 66 00:04:01,941 --> 00:04:05,945 Biking from my house, across nearly 2,500 miles of the 67 00:04:05,945 --> 00:04:08,114 American West and Canada, 68 00:04:08,114 --> 00:04:10,316 all the way to the border of Alaska. 69 00:04:10,950 --> 00:04:13,319 Honestly, I haven't done a big adventure like this 70 00:04:13,319 --> 00:04:15,321 in a long time. 71 00:04:15,321 --> 00:04:19,426 Keep my aging body fresh. 72 00:04:19,626 --> 00:04:21,261 So it's like, 73 00:04:21,261 --> 00:04:23,763 "let's climb something that's very challenging 74 00:04:23,763 --> 00:04:26,766 and really earn our stripes getting there." 75 00:04:30,470 --> 00:04:32,272 [producer] Can I get you guys to look in each others' eyes? 76 00:04:32,272 --> 00:04:33,306 - No. 77 00:04:33,306 --> 00:04:34,441 [laughs]. 78 00:04:34,441 --> 00:04:35,642 [producer] What do you see? 79 00:04:35,642 --> 00:04:36,976 - I see fear and pain. 80 00:04:36,976 --> 00:04:38,111 [laughs]. 81 00:04:38,111 --> 00:04:39,412 [producer] What do you see? 82 00:04:39,412 --> 00:04:41,915 - I mean, I'm slightly concerned about Alex's 83 00:04:41,915 --> 00:04:44,351 lack of empathy on this kind of trip. 84 00:04:44,351 --> 00:04:46,986 [laughs]. 85 00:04:48,488 --> 00:04:50,824 [Tommy Caldwell] Three, two, one. 86 00:04:50,824 --> 00:04:52,492 Go! 87 00:04:52,492 --> 00:04:53,993 [Ingrid] My turn. 88 00:04:53,993 --> 00:04:55,428 [Tommy Caldwell] I've been sidelined for a few years with 89 00:04:55,428 --> 00:04:57,831 an injury and raising a family. 90 00:04:57,831 --> 00:04:59,265 Go! 91 00:04:59,265 --> 00:05:01,434 So the Devil's Thumb is kind of, like, the biggest 92 00:05:01,434 --> 00:05:04,704 challenge imaginable, for making my comeback. 93 00:05:06,306 --> 00:05:07,974 I don't know, I just hope to have a great, you know, 94 00:05:07,974 --> 00:05:10,110 a grand adventure together. 95 00:05:10,110 --> 00:05:14,381 - Because I'm supportive and kind, really empathetic, too. 96 00:05:14,381 --> 00:05:16,616 - This is when Alex will be who he is, you know? 97 00:05:16,616 --> 00:05:18,385 It always works... it's's always worked out in the past, 98 00:05:18,385 --> 00:05:20,153 and hopefully it'll work out again. 99 00:05:25,692 --> 00:05:27,600 - Uh-oh, it's real now. 100 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:29,496 - It's real. It's really happening. 101 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:37,700 - This is gonna go by really fast. 102 00:05:38,505 --> 00:05:41,841 I am excited that Tommy gets to go on an adventure, 103 00:05:41,841 --> 00:05:44,544 'cause I feel like Tommy is the most himself, 104 00:05:44,544 --> 00:05:47,814 he's the most Tommy when he gets to do this kind of thing, 105 00:05:47,814 --> 00:05:50,383 and it's been a while since he's gotten to do that. 106 00:05:50,717 --> 00:05:53,920 But two months is a really long time, 107 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,690 and they're climbing a mountain 108 00:05:56,690 --> 00:05:59,759 that could potentially be a dangerous climb. 109 00:05:59,759 --> 00:06:02,328 I haven't made it past that yet. 110 00:06:02,328 --> 00:06:04,597 - Bye. Have a good Summer. 111 00:06:05,699 --> 00:06:07,600 I'll treat him so well, don't worry. 112 00:06:08,335 --> 00:06:10,300 [Becca Caldwell] Oh, no! 113 00:06:10,603 --> 00:06:12,539 Love you. 114 00:06:15,742 --> 00:06:17,430 [Tommy Caldwell] Love you, baby. 115 00:06:23,950 --> 00:06:25,552 [Alex Honnold] This is what we like to call a "downhill", 116 00:06:25,552 --> 00:06:27,887 so we really like doing some speed here. 117 00:06:29,556 --> 00:06:31,191 Just try to make it look fast. 118 00:06:31,424 --> 00:06:35,595 ♪ Spent two years of my life in a foreign land, ♪ 119 00:06:38,598 --> 00:06:42,635 ♪ Came home to find my mind still stuck in the sand ♪ 120 00:06:43,870 --> 00:06:46,606 Okay, so here's a rattlesnake that I just biked by, 121 00:06:46,606 --> 00:06:48,740 heard the rattle, 122 00:06:48,740 --> 00:06:50,110 and then it jumped at Tommy, who's on the other track. 123 00:06:50,710 --> 00:06:52,450 Welcome to Wyoming. 124 00:06:53,460 --> 00:06:57,500 ♪ I had to tell myself, "Did 'em all for you" ♪ 125 00:07:01,621 --> 00:07:02,756 [splash] 126 00:07:05,291 --> 00:07:07,394 Oh, yeah. Buffalo. 127 00:07:09,929 --> 00:07:11,965 [Tommy Caldwell] This is, like, X-rated filming. 128 00:07:11,965 --> 00:07:13,433 - Most people think X-rated means naughty, 129 00:07:13,433 --> 00:07:14,934 you mean dangerous. 130 00:07:14,934 --> 00:07:16,102 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, dangerous. 131 00:07:16,102 --> 00:07:18,638 ♪ And oh, it shows ♪ 132 00:07:19,105 --> 00:07:21,941 ♪ On the faces of those who know ♪ 133 00:07:26,613 --> 00:07:28,815 - Waiting for Alex to cruise by. 134 00:07:28,815 --> 00:07:31,484 We got camera on the tripod. 135 00:07:32,152 --> 00:07:33,453 Boom. 136 00:07:33,620 --> 00:07:36,356 Taylor Shaffer from San Diego, 137 00:07:36,356 --> 00:07:37,824 and I've been a fan of Tommy and Alex 138 00:07:37,824 --> 00:07:40,930 for a very, very long time. 139 00:07:40,660 --> 00:07:44,664 My job is to take some photos during this journey, 140 00:07:49,669 --> 00:07:51,504 massage their sore butts, you know, 141 00:07:51,504 --> 00:07:54,341 when they're just on the bike for hours on end. 142 00:07:55,342 --> 00:07:58,144 - Taylor was in my kitchen one morning, and I said that 143 00:07:58,144 --> 00:07:59,813 we were looking for somebody who was young and hungry, 144 00:07:59,813 --> 00:08:02,115 and ready to go on a big adventure and support, 145 00:08:02,115 --> 00:08:04,184 and he literally was like, "I'm young and hungry.". 146 00:08:04,617 --> 00:08:05,719 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, Taylor. 147 00:08:05,719 --> 00:08:07,354 You're looking like a man right now. 148 00:08:10,523 --> 00:08:11,958 [Taylor Shaffer] And I'm driving the van. 149 00:08:11,958 --> 00:08:13,860 I like driving, it's not too bad. 150 00:08:15,528 --> 00:08:18,298 Oh, my gosh, is that Alex Honnold? 151 00:08:18,298 --> 00:08:20,200 Wow. 152 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,680 Dreams do come true. 153 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:24,637 Check back soon. 154 00:08:25,538 --> 00:08:27,874 This is the content we need, right here. 155 00:08:27,874 --> 00:08:30,677 The whole youth group. 156 00:08:30,677 --> 00:08:32,679 Alex can't go anywhere these days. 157 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:34,714 Tommy, nobody cares about Tommy. 158 00:08:34,714 --> 00:08:36,349 See, the lonesome dad. 159 00:08:36,349 --> 00:08:37,650 Then we've got Alex, over here. 160 00:08:39,586 --> 00:08:42,655 Tommy's like, "okay, I'm just gonna start biking because 161 00:08:42,655 --> 00:08:44,691 nobody cares about me." 162 00:08:45,892 --> 00:08:47,394 [Alex Honnold] The average person might not recognize 163 00:08:47,394 --> 00:08:50,563 Tommy in the crowd, but in the climbing world, 164 00:08:50,563 --> 00:08:52,499 he's a total legend. 165 00:08:58,380 --> 00:08:59,390 I was a ten-year-old when I first 166 00:08:59,390 --> 00:09:01,207 heard about Tommy Caldwell. 167 00:09:01,207 --> 00:09:03,910 I was just a kid, going to the climbing gym in 168 00:09:03,910 --> 00:09:05,745 suburban California, 169 00:09:05,745 --> 00:09:08,248 and Tommy was one of the best climbers in the country, 170 00:09:08,248 --> 00:09:10,717 and I mean really, one of the best climbers in the world. 171 00:09:11,918 --> 00:09:14,354 He was doing these insane first ascents on some of the 172 00:09:14,354 --> 00:09:16,589 hardest big wall routes in the world. 173 00:09:18,525 --> 00:09:21,594 He's like the Captain America of rock climbing. 174 00:09:24,264 --> 00:09:27,267 Basically, he was the climber that I hoped to be. 175 00:09:28,568 --> 00:09:30,737 [Tommy Caldwell] I first heard about Alex, you know, he was 176 00:09:30,737 --> 00:09:33,106 kind of this budding, young climber, and then he soloed 177 00:09:33,106 --> 00:09:35,475 some big routes in Yosemite before I ever met him, and 178 00:09:35,475 --> 00:09:37,577 I was like, "whoa, that's not normal. 179 00:09:37,577 --> 00:09:39,312 He's doing stuff that people really haven't done 180 00:09:39,312 --> 00:09:41,214 at this point." 181 00:09:41,214 --> 00:09:43,450 But it was in, kind of, like, this angstful way, 182 00:09:43,450 --> 00:09:46,553 in terms of needing to, like, prove something. 183 00:09:48,254 --> 00:09:51,124 I just remember talking to him for, like, six hours 184 00:09:51,124 --> 00:09:52,826 one night, which, 185 00:09:52,826 --> 00:09:54,294 [laughs]. 186 00:09:54,294 --> 00:09:56,429 surprised me, 'cause that wasn't kind of what I'd heard. 187 00:09:56,429 --> 00:09:58,131 I'd head he was super shy and awkward. 188 00:09:58,131 --> 00:10:00,133 So we, like, kind of connected. 189 00:10:01,468 --> 00:10:03,303 [Alex Honnold] The first big climb that I did with Tommy 190 00:10:03,303 --> 00:10:05,839 was the free trip on Yosemite. 191 00:10:05,839 --> 00:10:08,740 It was something like a 24 hour climbing experience, 192 00:10:08,740 --> 00:10:10,810 where we did the three biggest and hardest walls together. 193 00:10:10,810 --> 00:10:12,679 Okay, I got you good! 194 00:10:13,113 --> 00:10:14,414 Nice, Tommy. 195 00:10:14,414 --> 00:10:15,615 [Tommy Caldwell] Climbing with Alex, 196 00:10:15,615 --> 00:10:17,784 it's like a vice, in a way. 197 00:10:17,784 --> 00:10:22,188 It's like smoking cigarettes would be, or something. 198 00:10:22,188 --> 00:10:24,190 It's like, you know it could kill you, 199 00:10:24,190 --> 00:10:26,626 but you do it anyway. 200 00:10:27,660 --> 00:10:30,130 Dude, that was off the hook. 201 00:10:32,866 --> 00:10:34,601 [Alex Honnold] We had the same sets of strengths and 202 00:10:34,601 --> 00:10:37,270 weaknesses, basically. 203 00:10:37,270 --> 00:10:39,390 It allowed us to climb in a way that neither of us had 204 00:10:39,390 --> 00:10:41,141 ever actually climbed before. 205 00:10:42,876 --> 00:10:45,450 [Tommy Caldwell] Climbing with Alex, all the mountains shrunk 206 00:10:45,450 --> 00:10:47,681 to about half their size. 207 00:10:47,681 --> 00:10:49,282 We could climb things together 208 00:10:49,282 --> 00:10:51,818 that we could never do individually. 209 00:10:51,818 --> 00:10:55,210 It was really addictive right from the start. 210 00:11:03,296 --> 00:11:04,664 [Alex Honnold] Okay, I'm making a movie. 211 00:11:04,664 --> 00:11:05,999 [Tommy Caldwell] Okay. 212 00:11:05,999 --> 00:11:07,500 [Alex Honnold] Okay, Tommy. What are we doing? 213 00:11:07,500 --> 00:11:08,635 [Tommy Caldwell] I mean, so we're looking at all these 214 00:11:08,635 --> 00:11:10,337 awesome photos, trying to figure out our route. 215 00:11:10,337 --> 00:11:12,505 Turns out the walls are a little three-dimensional, 216 00:11:12,505 --> 00:11:13,873 it's a little bit hard to figure out 217 00:11:13,873 --> 00:11:15,208 until we get there and see it. 218 00:11:15,208 --> 00:11:16,743 There's going to be plenty of mysteries. 219 00:11:16,743 --> 00:11:18,645 [Alex Honnold] Okay, I'm gonna look at more photos. 220 00:11:18,645 --> 00:11:20,814 Whoa, big mountains. 221 00:11:20,814 --> 00:11:23,883 Whoa, scary mountains. 222 00:11:25,552 --> 00:11:27,687 Whoa, unclimbed big faces. 223 00:11:27,687 --> 00:11:29,422 [Tommy Caldwell] Unclimbed big faces. 224 00:11:29,422 --> 00:11:31,691 Lots of rock. 225 00:11:31,691 --> 00:11:33,727 [Alex Honnold] Okay, well, that's what we're gonna climb. 226 00:11:33,727 --> 00:11:36,596 Cool, that's our mountain. 227 00:11:37,330 --> 00:11:39,165 Okay, bye. 228 00:11:42,669 --> 00:11:44,437 [Tommy Caldwell] I first learned about the Devil's Thumb 229 00:11:44,437 --> 00:11:47,374 from Jon Krakauer's book, Into The Wild. 230 00:11:47,374 --> 00:11:50,677 It was, like, his formative youth climbing experience, 231 00:11:50,677 --> 00:11:54,470 going and trying to climb this mountain, and his descriptions 232 00:11:54,470 --> 00:11:57,117 of the mountain captured my imagination. 233 00:11:58,752 --> 00:12:00,787 It's an incredibly beautiful mountain, 234 00:12:00,787 --> 00:12:02,255 but it's just so remote, 235 00:12:02,255 --> 00:12:04,357 and the weather is so terrible. 236 00:12:05,959 --> 00:12:08,595 So I think it's gonna be a big adventure. 237 00:12:11,310 --> 00:12:12,399 [Alex Honnold] Krakauer attempted to climb the 238 00:12:12,399 --> 00:12:15,435 north-east ridge of the Devil's Thumb in 1977. 239 00:12:16,369 --> 00:12:19,105 He made it about halfway up when he realized there was 240 00:12:19,105 --> 00:12:21,241 no way he could pull it off. 241 00:12:23,430 --> 00:12:24,611 People have called it "the last great problem" 242 00:12:24,611 --> 00:12:26,780 in North American mountaineering. 243 00:12:28,148 --> 00:12:30,316 For Tommy and me, I think climbing the Devil's Thumb 244 00:12:30,316 --> 00:12:31,951 is really about the chance to do something 245 00:12:31,951 --> 00:12:33,820 that's never been done before. 246 00:12:37,891 --> 00:12:41,161 I'm doing this to support my friend, 247 00:12:41,161 --> 00:12:42,896 I think that's kind of the role of the partner, 248 00:12:42,896 --> 00:12:44,397 is to keep you motivated, to keep you moving, 249 00:12:44,397 --> 00:12:46,399 to keep the team moving forward. 250 00:12:49,469 --> 00:12:52,772 The bike ride, though, not really my thing. 251 00:13:00,914 --> 00:13:02,982 [Alex Honnold] This slowly grinding our way across the 252 00:13:02,982 --> 00:13:06,653 country, personally, I think it's a bit much. 253 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:09,456 Like, just get me to the climbing already. 254 00:13:09,456 --> 00:13:10,824 [Taylor Shaffer] You guys look beat. 255 00:13:10,824 --> 00:13:12,920 [Alex Honnold] Pretty tired now. 256 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:13,360 - We look like beasts. 257 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:14,461 [laughs]. 258 00:13:14,461 --> 00:13:16,960 [Alex Honnold] We also got up at four. 259 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:18,131 Maybe tomorrow we should-- 260 00:13:18,131 --> 00:13:20,433 - I'm gonna go take a shower and look fresh as a daisy. 261 00:13:21,134 --> 00:13:23,770 - Tommy is known for his good nature, his positivity. 262 00:13:23,770 --> 00:13:25,605 Like, he's always upbeat. 263 00:13:25,605 --> 00:13:26,606 - You wanna wrestle? 264 00:13:26,606 --> 00:13:28,274 - No. Heck, no. 265 00:13:28,274 --> 00:13:30,977 - I think this was the stance. 266 00:13:30,977 --> 00:13:33,113 Alex is sort of known for being a bit of a grump, 267 00:13:33,113 --> 00:13:35,281 sometimes, on the way to the mountain. 268 00:13:36,383 --> 00:13:39,152 But honestly, there's, kind of, a bigger reason that 269 00:13:39,152 --> 00:13:42,220 I need this time on the bikes before the climb. 270 00:13:47,694 --> 00:13:50,300 [Taylor Shaffer] How's all the legs, all the injuries doing? 271 00:13:50,300 --> 00:13:51,498 [Tommy Caldwell] I mean, pretty good. Yeah. 272 00:13:51,498 --> 00:13:54,167 I think, overall, they're getting better. 273 00:13:55,235 --> 00:13:58,710 Everything that I know about life is, kind of, like 274 00:13:58,710 --> 00:14:01,374 imbued through this lens of being a climber. 275 00:14:02,842 --> 00:14:05,512 All of my craziest experiences, all of my hardest experiences, 276 00:14:05,512 --> 00:14:07,847 all of my best experiences are basically all, 277 00:14:07,847 --> 00:14:10,316 somehow, associated with climbing. 278 00:14:11,718 --> 00:14:15,221 Year-and-a-half ago, I was trying a climb in Yosemite. 279 00:14:21,227 --> 00:14:23,496 [shouting] 280 00:14:23,863 --> 00:14:26,499 I swung into the wall really hard, 281 00:14:26,499 --> 00:14:29,200 and it tore my Achilles tendon. 282 00:14:30,300 --> 00:14:32,439 An Achilles injury, for any professional athlete, 283 00:14:32,439 --> 00:14:34,240 is very serious. 284 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,277 It can easily end your entire career. 285 00:14:39,379 --> 00:14:42,480 Biking is something I can do before it's completely healed, 286 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:46,386 and so I started to conceive this idea to do this big trip. 287 00:14:48,621 --> 00:14:51,958 Which gives me about 50 days to get ready for the climb. 288 00:14:55,610 --> 00:14:57,630 My old man strength is starting to pull through, here. 289 00:14:57,630 --> 00:14:58,431 I'll take what I can get. 290 00:14:58,431 --> 00:15:00,633 I'm usually floundering behind you, so. 291 00:15:00,633 --> 00:15:02,235 - That's not, that's not actually true. 292 00:15:02,235 --> 00:15:04,370 You've got, like, slightly flounder-y 293 00:15:04,370 --> 00:15:05,472 in the last year or two, 294 00:15:05,472 --> 00:15:08,575 and only because you ruptured your, your Achilles. 295 00:15:10,910 --> 00:15:14,280 I think Tommy's Achilles injury has been hard for him, 296 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,550 for sure, especially for him as a professional climber, 297 00:15:17,550 --> 00:15:19,252 it's like, it's his livelihood, in addition to the 298 00:15:19,252 --> 00:15:21,287 thing he loves doing. 299 00:15:21,621 --> 00:15:23,890 [Becca Caldwell] He needs to be set free, physically, 300 00:15:23,890 --> 00:15:27,627 to fully be himself. 301 00:15:29,129 --> 00:15:31,965 And then you just wonder, too, it's like, our, like, security 302 00:15:31,965 --> 00:15:35,769 is kind of based on him being physically able to do stuff. 303 00:15:36,102 --> 00:15:40,140 And so, having that threatened, there's that, 304 00:15:40,140 --> 00:15:43,243 you know, just a little bit of vulnerability. 305 00:15:45,278 --> 00:15:46,780 [Tommy Caldwell] Well, they put bolts in there, 306 00:15:46,780 --> 00:15:48,281 they put a cadaver part in there, 307 00:15:48,515 --> 00:15:50,684 they stitched the whole thing up using all these crazy things, 308 00:15:50,684 --> 00:15:53,653 and they completely rebuilt the Achilles tendon. 309 00:15:55,655 --> 00:15:59,250 Hopefully it'll hold up on the Devil's Thumb, but we won't 310 00:15:59,250 --> 00:16:02,162 really know until we get up on a real mountain and test it. 311 00:16:07,167 --> 00:16:13,173 [♪ dramatic music playing] 312 00:16:18,345 --> 00:16:19,713 [Alex Honnold] We've made it about halfway on our 313 00:16:19,713 --> 00:16:21,848 bike journey to Alaska, 314 00:16:23,717 --> 00:16:25,151 and we're stopping off at a mountain range called 315 00:16:25,151 --> 00:16:27,487 "Bugaboos", in Canada. 316 00:16:29,823 --> 00:16:32,459 It's a famous climbing spot in North America, 317 00:16:32,459 --> 00:16:35,395 and a proving ground for bigger alpine climbs, 318 00:16:35,395 --> 00:16:37,564 like in Alaska. 319 00:16:44,471 --> 00:16:47,730 [♪ dramatic music playing] 320 00:16:47,730 --> 00:16:49,900 It'll be kind of a climbing boot camp to 321 00:16:49,900 --> 00:16:51,110 test Tommy's Achilles, 322 00:16:51,110 --> 00:16:54,748 and ease back into full-on, like, elite rock climbing. 323 00:17:06,192 --> 00:17:08,428 [unzipping] 324 00:17:11,531 --> 00:17:13,533 [unzipping] 325 00:17:14,834 --> 00:17:17,203 We are up early 'cause we're gonna go climb today. 326 00:17:17,203 --> 00:17:19,706 Right now, we're just having a nice, early breakfast, 327 00:17:19,706 --> 00:17:21,541 enjoying the stars. 328 00:17:22,742 --> 00:17:25,712 [rumbling] 329 00:17:29,416 --> 00:17:33,620 [rumbling] 330 00:17:50,403 --> 00:17:53,239 [♪ dramatic music playing] 331 00:17:53,239 --> 00:17:54,874 [Taylor Shaffer] 5:00 a.m. 332 00:17:54,874 --> 00:17:56,576 We're here. 333 00:17:56,576 --> 00:17:59,790 It's a big jumble of rock above us, huh? 334 00:17:59,790 --> 00:18:00,880 El Cap size. 335 00:18:02,415 --> 00:18:04,718 Ready to blast off. 336 00:18:05,985 --> 00:18:07,620 [Tommy Caldwell] Our objective, today, is to climb 337 00:18:07,620 --> 00:18:10,457 a 3,000-foot granite wall. 338 00:18:21,735 --> 00:18:24,437 Alex climbed the first 100 feet in like four minutes. 339 00:18:25,405 --> 00:18:27,640 Gonna have to go fast. 340 00:18:35,348 --> 00:18:41,454 [♪ dramatic music playing] 341 00:18:41,454 --> 00:18:43,523 [grunting] 342 00:18:45,525 --> 00:18:47,327 - Pretending my toes aren't about to fall off, 343 00:18:47,327 --> 00:18:49,929 and start crying like a baby. 344 00:18:54,801 --> 00:19:00,600 [♪ dramatic music playing] 345 00:19:05,478 --> 00:19:07,681 [Tommy Caldwell] Alex is leading and he's going really fast, 346 00:19:07,681 --> 00:19:11,985 and honestly, I'm struggling to keep up with him, 347 00:19:11,985 --> 00:19:15,321 especially with being injured for the last year. 348 00:19:21,828 --> 00:19:28,501 [♪ dramatic music playing] 349 00:19:38,845 --> 00:19:40,714 [Alex Honnold] The micro's on, Tommy. 350 00:19:40,714 --> 00:19:42,182 [Tommy Caldwell] Okay. 351 00:19:42,182 --> 00:19:44,851 [Alex Honnold] I'm gonna keep going up the next ridge. 352 00:19:44,851 --> 00:19:46,720 [Tommy Caldwell] Whoa! This whole thing is loose, 353 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:48,855 that I'm standing on. 354 00:19:49,489 --> 00:19:51,858 Was is strenuous climbing past this? 355 00:19:51,858 --> 00:19:53,893 - Is it strenuous? - Yeah. 356 00:19:53,893 --> 00:19:56,863 [Alex Honnold] The crux is hard, at the top. 357 00:20:03,703 --> 00:20:05,710 [Tommy Caldwell] Man, that was a little more physical than 358 00:20:05,710 --> 00:20:06,740 I was hoping. 359 00:20:06,740 --> 00:20:08,408 [Alex Honnold] How's the Achilles, Tommy? 360 00:20:08,408 --> 00:20:09,743 How do you feel? 361 00:20:09,743 --> 00:20:11,544 [Tommy Caldwell] Umm... 362 00:20:11,544 --> 00:20:14,547 You know, like this has been a bit of a journey. 363 00:20:15,115 --> 00:20:17,784 Did have two Advil 'cause of the bolts they put in my heel. 364 00:20:18,718 --> 00:20:20,687 [Alex Honnold] Hey, you ready to take us to the top? 365 00:20:20,687 --> 00:20:22,222 - Yeah. - Oh, yeah. 366 00:20:22,222 --> 00:20:24,357 [Tommy Caldwell] Woke up today, might as well be bad-***. 367 00:20:24,357 --> 00:20:26,359 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, that's the spirit. 368 00:20:29,396 --> 00:20:31,398 [Tommy Caldwell] Alex is being pretty patient with me, 369 00:20:31,398 --> 00:20:34,267 but we both know the partnership to take on the Devil's Thumb 370 00:20:34,267 --> 00:20:37,103 together doesn't really work if I can't keep up. 371 00:20:46,479 --> 00:20:51,584 [heavy breathing] 372 00:20:51,584 --> 00:20:53,820 [Alex Honnold] Nice, Tommy. Come on. 373 00:20:53,820 --> 00:20:56,956 Nice, Tommy. 374 00:20:58,992 --> 00:21:01,461 Nice, dude! 375 00:21:04,831 --> 00:21:06,990 Nice effort. 376 00:21:06,990 --> 00:21:07,934 [Tommy Caldwell] Thank you. 377 00:21:10,970 --> 00:21:13,600 [Alex Honnold] Solid, Tommy. Come on. 378 00:21:16,576 --> 00:21:20,280 I do wonder if he's more beat than he lets on. 379 00:21:23,416 --> 00:21:26,419 I mean, I think he's kept shockingly high spirits, 380 00:21:26,419 --> 00:21:29,456 but truly, it's taken a toll. 381 00:21:33,626 --> 00:21:36,663 Tommy just took the lead after a year-and-a-half of injury. 382 00:21:38,298 --> 00:21:39,933 What a boss. 383 00:21:39,933 --> 00:21:44,804 Tommy Caldwell, childhood hero, you know? 384 00:21:51,544 --> 00:21:58,184 [♪ dramatic music playing] 385 00:22:01,154 --> 00:22:03,230 [Tommy Caldwell] Getting off belay, Alex. 386 00:22:03,230 --> 00:22:04,824 [Alex Honnold] Nice job. 387 00:22:15,235 --> 00:22:19,506 [♪ dramatic music playing] 388 00:22:22,542 --> 00:22:24,177 Alright, Tommy. Come on. 389 00:22:27,714 --> 00:22:29,649 [Tommy Caldwell] So high up there that you can't even see 390 00:22:29,649 --> 00:22:32,352 the mountains anymore. 391 00:22:34,387 --> 00:22:36,220 Oh, my God. 392 00:22:36,220 --> 00:22:38,725 [laughs]. 393 00:22:38,725 --> 00:22:41,270 Just amazing. 394 00:22:48,868 --> 00:22:51,838 After nearly two years of recovery, where, at times, 395 00:22:51,838 --> 00:22:55,375 I didn't know if I'd ever climb big mountains again, 396 00:22:55,375 --> 00:22:57,944 honestly, it just feels incredible. 397 00:22:57,944 --> 00:22:59,279 [laughs]. 398 00:22:59,279 --> 00:23:00,747 Oh man. 399 00:23:00,747 --> 00:23:02,150 [Alex Honnold] Yeah! 400 00:23:02,150 --> 00:23:03,950 Yeah, Tommy! 401 00:23:07,854 --> 00:23:11,558 High-fives. What a boss. 402 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:13,626 Yeah, good work. 403 00:23:13,626 --> 00:23:15,228 Bam, the summit. 404 00:23:15,228 --> 00:23:17,764 - Yay, the summit! - I have no idea if this is... 405 00:23:21,101 --> 00:23:23,370 [Alex Honnold] Tommy gets to the summit and I can immediately 406 00:23:23,370 --> 00:23:25,372 see that he seems pretty emotional, 407 00:23:27,207 --> 00:23:29,442 and, and we celebrate. 408 00:23:30,577 --> 00:23:32,912 It's really freaking cool. 409 00:23:32,912 --> 00:23:34,470 Oh, yeah. 410 00:23:34,470 --> 00:23:36,116 - Well, I think that was a great day. 411 00:23:36,116 --> 00:23:37,617 Pretty psyched. 412 00:23:40,820 --> 00:23:43,560 Not long after that, I was back home, 413 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:45,759 just trying to get my life back together, 414 00:23:45,759 --> 00:23:48,561 bought this little, tiny, rundown cabin. 415 00:23:50,730 --> 00:23:54,167 Didn't know how to use power tools or really remodel. 416 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,737 And I chopped off my finger with a table saw. 417 00:24:02,442 --> 00:24:05,278 My doctor said my climbing career was over. 418 00:24:09,683 --> 00:24:12,118 But through both those experiences, 419 00:24:12,118 --> 00:24:16,220 I built this intense drive to not lose climbing. 420 00:24:27,333 --> 00:24:28,335 I basically learned that climbing can 421 00:24:28,335 --> 00:24:30,937 save me from anything. 422 00:24:35,542 --> 00:24:39,713 [cheering]. 423 00:24:39,713 --> 00:24:41,781 [screaming] 424 00:24:55,295 --> 00:24:57,464 [Alex Honnold] Our climbing the Bugaboos was definitely a 425 00:24:57,464 --> 00:25:01,167 big step, but I do still worry about how Tommy will hold up 426 00:25:01,167 --> 00:25:04,700 on the Devil's Thumb. 427 00:25:04,700 --> 00:25:06,406 You know, he turned 45 on this trip. 428 00:25:06,406 --> 00:25:08,975 I mean, for a professional athlete, that's old. 429 00:25:13,246 --> 00:25:15,415 [Tommy Caldwell] I think Alex walks this interesting line of, 430 00:25:15,415 --> 00:25:18,151 like, supporting me and pushing me. 431 00:25:18,151 --> 00:25:19,986 You know, he's not, like, a hugely sympathetic 432 00:25:19,986 --> 00:25:22,589 climbing partner, that's for sure. 433 00:25:23,256 --> 00:25:25,258 He makes these off-handed, kind of, harsh remarks, 434 00:25:25,258 --> 00:25:26,926 at times, and he's actually said to me, he's like, 435 00:25:26,926 --> 00:25:29,863 "maybe I should find somebody younger and more hungry," 436 00:25:30,263 --> 00:25:32,980 and I don't know whether that's tongue-in-cheek, 437 00:25:32,980 --> 00:25:34,267 whether that's truth. 438 00:25:34,267 --> 00:25:36,503 I don't know. 439 00:25:38,271 --> 00:25:40,340 I think I wanna show Alex I still have it, but I think, 440 00:25:40,340 --> 00:25:43,276 more than that, I wanna show myself that I still have it. 441 00:25:46,279 --> 00:25:51,584 [♪ peaceful music playing] 442 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:56,222 [Tommy Caldwell] Hey, dude. We made it to the ocean. 443 00:25:56,222 --> 00:25:58,580 [Alex Honnold] We made it to the ocean. 444 00:25:59,726 --> 00:26:02,228 [Tommy Caldwell] We are in Prince Rupert, British Colombia. 445 00:26:02,228 --> 00:26:05,899 There's no roads beyond here, so this is where we ditch our 446 00:26:05,899 --> 00:26:09,302 bikes and sail to a place where we can start our final 447 00:26:09,302 --> 00:26:11,538 approach, on-foot, to the mountain. 448 00:26:13,973 --> 00:26:20,714 [waves crashing] 449 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,819 Alex is, unfortunately, passed out in the bottom of the ship, 450 00:26:25,819 --> 00:26:28,540 face-down, trying not to puke. 451 00:26:28,540 --> 00:26:30,824 Somebody's gotta captain the ship. 452 00:26:36,896 --> 00:26:40,734 - Yeah, it's starting to get a little bouncy. 453 00:26:41,301 --> 00:26:44,700 [Tommy Caldwell] Well, we're sailing, there's whales. 454 00:26:44,700 --> 00:26:46,573 - Oh, yeah. 455 00:26:46,940 --> 00:26:49,609 [blowing] 456 00:26:50,777 --> 00:26:52,846 - That was sick. 457 00:26:53,146 --> 00:26:56,820 [blowing] 458 00:27:01,210 --> 00:27:03,256 [Tommy Caldwell] I love doing trips with Alex, but he is a 459 00:27:03,256 --> 00:27:06,920 little bit of an enigma, I would say. 460 00:27:06,860 --> 00:27:09,295 Every time we are out doing something that, I think, 461 00:27:09,295 --> 00:27:12,298 is kind of incredible, Alex is, oftentimes, 462 00:27:12,298 --> 00:27:14,501 pretty grumpy about it. 463 00:27:15,769 --> 00:27:17,537 I always thought that it was just kind of a shtick, 464 00:27:17,537 --> 00:27:19,139 like, he was just being funny, 465 00:27:19,139 --> 00:27:20,874 but I think, now, there's, like, 466 00:27:20,874 --> 00:27:23,109 a little bit more to it than that. 467 00:27:24,711 --> 00:27:26,946 He gets the most happy when we find a scrappy, 468 00:27:26,946 --> 00:27:28,448 little climbing gym. 469 00:27:28,448 --> 00:27:30,950 That's when he's the most joyful. 470 00:27:31,718 --> 00:27:33,887 I mean, I'm realizing that he needs to pull hard on 471 00:27:33,887 --> 00:27:36,823 small holes, all the time, to feel right in the world. 472 00:27:42,620 --> 00:27:43,697 We should do what we did before, which would be you 473 00:27:43,697 --> 00:27:46,660 leading the free blast. 474 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,969 Back in 2016, Alex was prepping for his big Free Solo 475 00:27:49,969 --> 00:27:51,504 climb in Yosemite, 476 00:27:51,504 --> 00:27:54,341 which was really putting his life on the line, 477 00:27:54,841 --> 00:27:57,100 and I was trying to help him get ready. 478 00:27:57,410 --> 00:28:00,513 He used to periodically go through existential crises, 479 00:28:00,513 --> 00:28:02,982 he would blow up his relationships. 480 00:28:02,982 --> 00:28:06,252 You'd call him and he'd just seem dark and conflicted. 481 00:28:12,425 --> 00:28:14,694 Can you read me your journal entry for today? 482 00:28:14,694 --> 00:28:17,364 [Alex Honnold] Says, "Today 7-C plus one fall on crux, 483 00:28:17,364 --> 00:28:19,599 too pumped, need more fitness. 484 00:28:20,734 --> 00:28:23,300 [Tommy Caldwell] Do you ever put things like, 485 00:28:23,300 --> 00:28:27,173 "miss my dog, and my mom?" 486 00:28:27,173 --> 00:28:28,375 I don't know. 487 00:28:28,375 --> 00:28:30,543 - No, no. - No? 488 00:28:31,511 --> 00:28:33,179 [Alex Honnold] I think I felt like I could only perform, 489 00:28:33,179 --> 00:28:34,581 as a climber, 490 00:28:34,581 --> 00:28:37,217 with a certain amount of angst or kind of aggro energy. 491 00:28:37,217 --> 00:28:39,953 You know, that I needed some darkness in order to achieve. 492 00:28:45,225 --> 00:28:48,962 When I grew up, nobody in my family hugged, full-stop. 493 00:28:50,397 --> 00:28:52,699 And so I didn't really start hugging until my mid-20s, 494 00:28:52,699 --> 00:28:53,967 and it was a conscious effort to, sort of, 495 00:28:53,967 --> 00:28:56,102 learn how to touch other people. 496 00:28:57,737 --> 00:28:59,305 Some people look at me and they're like, 497 00:28:59,305 --> 00:29:01,941 "oh, he's, you know, an emotionless robot," like, 498 00:29:01,941 --> 00:29:05,478 "he feels no fear, he's just like a climbing machine." 499 00:29:06,813 --> 00:29:09,482 I feel emotions, I would just say that I'm probably 500 00:29:09,482 --> 00:29:12,585 less emotive than, than the average person. 501 00:29:14,587 --> 00:29:15,622 [Tommy Caldwell] With Alex, there's always a 502 00:29:15,622 --> 00:29:17,490 protective wall. 503 00:29:18,825 --> 00:29:22,896 I think it's hard for him to let down his guard of this, 504 00:29:22,896 --> 00:29:26,990 like, persona of the fearless climber. 505 00:29:26,499 --> 00:29:30,236 You ready? One, two, three. 506 00:29:35,775 --> 00:29:38,178 Alex, you should do it. 507 00:29:38,178 --> 00:29:39,779 [Alex Honnold] No chance I'm jumping in. 508 00:29:39,779 --> 00:29:41,948 [laughs]. 509 00:29:42,415 --> 00:29:45,985 I'm also here, hoping for a transformative experience. 510 00:29:45,985 --> 00:29:49,220 And hoping to figure out what a trip like this actually 511 00:29:49,220 --> 00:29:51,524 means for me, as well. 512 00:29:54,294 --> 00:29:56,963 I think I'll feel a little more at ease once we get some 513 00:29:56,963 --> 00:29:59,132 real intel on what the climb and the mountain 514 00:29:59,132 --> 00:30:01,101 actually looks like. 515 00:30:15,882 --> 00:30:17,817 [Tommy Caldwell] Hey Dieter. 516 00:30:17,817 --> 00:30:19,119 Finally. 517 00:30:19,119 --> 00:30:20,987 Yeah so great to meet you. 518 00:30:20,987 --> 00:30:22,789 [Dieter Klose] Great to meet you. 519 00:30:22,789 --> 00:30:24,157 [Alex Honnold] Nice to meet you. 520 00:30:24,157 --> 00:30:25,558 [Dieter Klose] Nice to meet you. 521 00:30:25,558 --> 00:30:26,893 [Alex Honnold] Thanks for having us. 522 00:30:26,893 --> 00:30:28,895 [Dieter Klose] My pleasure. 523 00:30:30,230 --> 00:30:32,332 [Alex Honnold] Dieter Klose is probably the most prolific and 524 00:30:32,332 --> 00:30:34,667 knowledgable climber on the Devil's Thumb. 525 00:30:36,136 --> 00:30:38,238 He's one of the few people on Earth who can give us 526 00:30:38,238 --> 00:30:40,473 real info on the potential climbing routes, 527 00:30:40,473 --> 00:30:42,809 and on navigating the maze of obstacles 528 00:30:42,809 --> 00:30:45,178 between here and the mountain. 529 00:30:49,749 --> 00:30:52,152 [Dieter Klose] The Devil's Thumb is very remote. 530 00:30:52,419 --> 00:30:54,521 You're totally alone. 531 00:30:56,423 --> 00:31:00,193 It's only climbers that are really drawn, I think, 532 00:31:00,927 --> 00:31:03,263 because it's so forbidding. 533 00:31:05,532 --> 00:31:06,733 [Alex Honnold] These are awesome. 534 00:31:06,733 --> 00:31:08,935 [Dieter Klose] I thought you'd like this one. 535 00:31:09,369 --> 00:31:13,773 It gives you a good, you know, view of the north-west face. 536 00:31:14,941 --> 00:31:16,676 [Tommy Caldwell] Makes it look very ominous. 537 00:31:16,676 --> 00:31:18,945 - It's terrifying. - Yeah. 538 00:31:19,546 --> 00:31:21,140 So there's no routes on 539 00:31:21,140 --> 00:31:22,382 any of this part of the north-west face? 540 00:31:22,382 --> 00:31:23,416 - Negative. 541 00:31:23,416 --> 00:31:25,518 - So there's nothing over there? - Yeah. 542 00:31:26,686 --> 00:31:28,121 [Alex Honnold] There are three potential routes, that we're 543 00:31:28,121 --> 00:31:30,790 considering, to reach the top of the Devil's Thumb. 544 00:31:32,625 --> 00:31:35,562 The south face is the cleanest route. 545 00:31:35,562 --> 00:31:38,310 It's a good option in bad weather, but doesn't offer 546 00:31:38,310 --> 00:31:40,533 much in terms of climbing objectives. 547 00:31:42,902 --> 00:31:45,405 A much more impressive option would be to do a full traverse 548 00:31:45,405 --> 00:31:48,241 of the entire Devil's Thumb massif, 549 00:31:50,643 --> 00:31:52,579 which means to summit each of these incredible 550 00:31:52,579 --> 00:31:54,470 needle-like spires 551 00:31:54,470 --> 00:31:57,617 on our way to the top of the Devil's Thumb itself. 552 00:32:04,391 --> 00:32:06,993 The final option is to summit via the massive wall of the 553 00:32:06,993 --> 00:32:10,263 north-west face, which has never been climbed. 554 00:32:13,733 --> 00:32:15,902 [Dieter Klose] It might never get climbed, 555 00:32:15,902 --> 00:32:18,338 because it's so fickle. 556 00:32:18,338 --> 00:32:20,974 It's like, everybody that's gone there, you know, 557 00:32:20,974 --> 00:32:22,509 high-end climbers, 558 00:32:22,509 --> 00:32:24,844 don't even go onto the face at all. 559 00:32:24,844 --> 00:32:26,346 - But why don't they try? 560 00:32:26,346 --> 00:32:27,614 - It's avalanching. 561 00:32:27,614 --> 00:32:29,616 - Yeah. 562 00:32:29,616 --> 00:32:31,284 - Normally, you don't go to a climbing destination that's 563 00:32:31,284 --> 00:32:33,186 also a good place to go avalanche-watching. 564 00:32:33,186 --> 00:32:34,654 - I know. They're beautiful, right? 565 00:32:34,654 --> 00:32:35,855 If they don't hit ya. 566 00:32:35,855 --> 00:32:37,524 - Can't wait. 567 00:32:38,591 --> 00:32:41,294 [Dieter Klose] I was on the west buttress, I got hit by rockfall, 568 00:32:41,294 --> 00:32:45,310 and my daughter was six-months-old, and for me, 569 00:32:45,310 --> 00:32:46,700 that was a total wake-up. 570 00:32:46,700 --> 00:32:48,368 Like, it was, "you're a dad now, 571 00:32:48,368 --> 00:32:51,104 you're not doing dangerous climbs anymore." 572 00:32:53,707 --> 00:32:56,643 I don't think there's any advice, that I can give you, 573 00:32:56,643 --> 00:32:58,978 that you don't already know. 574 00:32:58,978 --> 00:33:02,449 I mean, it's like, I would say, "stay alive, you have a family." 575 00:33:04,451 --> 00:33:06,219 [Alex Honnold] It'll have to just be, like, a 576 00:33:06,219 --> 00:33:09,889 game-day decision, I think, on which route we actually take. 577 00:33:10,657 --> 00:33:12,726 - You won't know until you're right there. 578 00:33:12,726 --> 00:33:15,295 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, totally. 579 00:33:17,497 --> 00:33:19,650 [Tommy Caldwell] The next step is figuring out how to 580 00:33:19,650 --> 00:33:21,401 actually get to the mountain. 581 00:33:21,401 --> 00:33:24,738 [Alex Honnold] Navigating this new approach, up a new valley, 582 00:33:24,738 --> 00:33:27,307 that nobody has really travelled through. 583 00:33:28,375 --> 00:33:29,376 [Tommy Caldwell] So this approach route is kind of 584 00:33:29,376 --> 00:33:30,643 your brain child? 585 00:33:30,643 --> 00:33:31,811 [Dieter Klose] Yeah. 586 00:33:31,811 --> 00:33:33,513 - So if it's terrible, we can blame you? 587 00:33:33,513 --> 00:33:35,148 - Absolutely. 588 00:33:36,383 --> 00:33:38,151 [Tommy Caldwell] That does look hard to get through. 589 00:33:38,151 --> 00:33:40,530 - It's just miserable walking. 590 00:33:40,530 --> 00:33:42,689 It's rocks on ice. 591 00:33:43,189 --> 00:33:45,492 - Oh, my God, just like this nice rain, 592 00:33:45,492 --> 00:33:47,360 there's the mountain, somewhere, in the distance. 593 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:49,896 - Yeah. You picked a [bleep] place to climb. 594 00:33:49,896 --> 00:33:50,930 [Tommy Caldwell] I know. 595 00:34:05,512 --> 00:34:11,718 [♪ dramatic music playing] 596 00:34:13,530 --> 00:34:15,555 [Alex Honnold] Up the river, across, and then zigzag on 597 00:34:15,555 --> 00:34:18,391 the ledges, hopefully. 598 00:34:26,700 --> 00:34:28,301 [grunting] 599 00:34:28,301 --> 00:34:29,536 Rawr. 600 00:34:37,143 --> 00:34:44,500 [♪ majestic music playing] 601 00:34:44,584 --> 00:34:45,985 Look it, we see it! 602 00:34:45,985 --> 00:34:47,620 What?! 603 00:34:47,620 --> 00:34:49,550 [Taylor Shaffer] Here we are, the Devil's Thumb. 604 00:34:49,550 --> 00:34:50,390 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, whoa. 605 00:34:50,390 --> 00:34:51,825 [Alex Honnold] Oh, wow. This is cool. 606 00:34:51,825 --> 00:34:54,761 [Tommy Caldwell] Oh, my God, it looks so crazy right now. 607 00:34:55,462 --> 00:34:58,164 So beautiful. 608 00:35:03,603 --> 00:35:06,606 We've journeyed all the way from Colorado, 609 00:35:06,606 --> 00:35:09,175 and first view of the mountain. 610 00:35:09,442 --> 00:35:11,611 That looks so epic. 611 00:35:13,413 --> 00:35:15,181 [Alex Honnold] It's awesome. 612 00:35:15,181 --> 00:35:17,417 This is, like, insanely pretty. 613 00:35:29,696 --> 00:35:31,865 [Tommy Caldwell] We're about to hike over a glacier, 614 00:35:31,865 --> 00:35:33,700 and then we have to go 615 00:35:33,700 --> 00:35:36,136 all the way around the corner, over there. 616 00:35:37,137 --> 00:35:38,271 [Alex Honnold] This is what Dieter calls, 617 00:35:38,271 --> 00:35:40,106 the witch's cauldron. 618 00:35:40,306 --> 00:35:42,776 What used to be, relatively benign, snow fields, have now 619 00:35:42,776 --> 00:35:46,279 melted out into shattered glaciers and exposed rock. 620 00:35:48,782 --> 00:35:50,817 We are now on the glacier-glacier. 621 00:35:50,817 --> 00:35:52,952 We have to watch out to not fall in holes. 622 00:35:54,220 --> 00:35:55,855 [Tommy Caldwell] Oh, jeez. 623 00:35:55,855 --> 00:35:57,457 I think I'm gonna do it different, just 'cause 624 00:35:57,457 --> 00:35:59,859 I'm an old man. 625 00:36:03,697 --> 00:36:05,699 [Alex Honnold] The terrain that we're navigating is 626 00:36:05,699 --> 00:36:07,333 exactly the kind of thing that you probably 627 00:36:07,333 --> 00:36:10,300 don't wanna be doing on an Achilles injury. 628 00:36:10,737 --> 00:36:15,375 His greatest risk are, sort of, acute stresses while hiking. 629 00:36:17,377 --> 00:36:19,346 [Tommy Caldwell] After my surgery, I, like, 630 00:36:19,346 --> 00:36:22,215 convinced myself that I was totally fine. 631 00:36:22,215 --> 00:36:24,150 I got in the walking boot and I was like, 632 00:36:24,150 --> 00:36:26,386 "oh, I can actually climb in the walking boot.". 633 00:36:27,821 --> 00:36:30,690 So I started climbing again in my orthopedic boot, 634 00:36:30,690 --> 00:36:33,660 I resoled the front with climbing shoe rubber. 635 00:36:34,694 --> 00:36:37,300 I was like, "oh, I'm just gonna get back after it.". 636 00:36:37,897 --> 00:36:39,999 So I went out with Alex, one day, to test it, 637 00:36:39,999 --> 00:36:41,534 and just, like, 638 00:36:41,534 --> 00:36:44,104 pushed into this foothold really hard and felt it go again. 639 00:36:45,105 --> 00:36:47,374 It just, like, catastrophically exploded, 640 00:36:47,374 --> 00:36:50,100 like, audibly, like, pow, you could hear it. 641 00:36:52,112 --> 00:36:53,613 [Alex Honnold] I mean, sadly, I was belaying Tommy when he 642 00:36:53,613 --> 00:36:55,782 re-ruptured his Achilles. 643 00:36:56,449 --> 00:36:58,451 He re-ruptured it either three or four times through the 644 00:36:58,451 --> 00:37:01,721 recovery process, and had another surgery, and had, 645 00:37:01,721 --> 00:37:04,524 I mean, all kinds of, it was quite a saga. 646 00:37:07,930 --> 00:37:09,229 It makes me feel slightly complicit. 647 00:37:10,130 --> 00:37:11,798 I don't think it's totally my fault, but I was like, 648 00:37:11,798 --> 00:37:13,867 "oh, maybe we should've been reining him in a little 649 00:37:13,867 --> 00:37:15,935 instead of urging him on." 650 00:37:17,303 --> 00:37:19,939 So I think, for me, this trip is less about, sort of, like, 651 00:37:19,939 --> 00:37:21,975 a personal drive, 652 00:37:21,975 --> 00:37:24,477 and more like a certain feeling of obligation. 653 00:37:25,578 --> 00:37:28,782 If I can help him accomplish this big climb, and make his 654 00:37:28,782 --> 00:37:31,418 official comeback to climbing, 655 00:37:32,786 --> 00:37:35,321 I think that'll mean a lot to both of us. 656 00:37:37,257 --> 00:37:39,893 Hit it with speed, Tommy. 657 00:37:41,561 --> 00:37:43,430 Is that really better than pitter patter? 658 00:37:43,430 --> 00:37:45,899 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, 'cause I can't, like, I can't jump on 659 00:37:45,899 --> 00:37:48,334 to the toe of my foot, I gotta land on my heel. 660 00:37:52,405 --> 00:37:54,407 It's probably, like, the hardest terrain imaginable 661 00:37:54,407 --> 00:37:55,975 on a healing Achilles tendon, 662 00:37:55,975 --> 00:37:57,344 and we're trying to go fast because 663 00:37:57,344 --> 00:37:59,512 we don't want it to last all night. 664 00:37:59,512 --> 00:38:01,810 One, two. 665 00:38:01,810 --> 00:38:02,615 [Alex Honnold] Yes, Tommy. 666 00:38:06,519 --> 00:38:08,688 [Taylor Shaffer] It is fully dark now. 667 00:38:09,622 --> 00:38:11,424 A little terrifying. 668 00:38:19,766 --> 00:38:21,334 [Alex Honnold] We still have everybody? 669 00:38:21,334 --> 00:38:22,369 Okay. 670 00:38:22,369 --> 00:38:24,504 Even Taylor, back there? 671 00:38:27,140 --> 00:38:28,541 [Tommy Caldwell] We finally reach a place to camp 672 00:38:28,541 --> 00:38:30,477 at around midnight. 673 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:36,449 The bolts in my heel get, I think, just, like, walking, 674 00:38:36,449 --> 00:38:39,190 just, like, tugs on them, and given, you know, 13 hours of it, 675 00:38:39,190 --> 00:38:41,654 tugged on them a fair amount. 676 00:38:42,389 --> 00:38:44,891 [Alex Honnold] Alright, we did 13-and-a-half hours today. 677 00:38:45,158 --> 00:38:46,726 The watch says it's three-and-a-half days 678 00:38:46,726 --> 00:38:49,462 till we recover, so let's set the alarm for a couple hours 679 00:38:49,462 --> 00:38:51,164 and go again. 680 00:38:51,164 --> 00:38:53,333 Should be fine, huh? 681 00:38:56,736 --> 00:39:00,740 [♪ peaceful music playing] 682 00:39:09,820 --> 00:39:12,180 [Alex Honnold] After nearly two months, and over 2,000 miles, 683 00:39:12,180 --> 00:39:14,521 we're finally here. 684 00:39:18,658 --> 00:39:22,896 [♪ playing guitar] 685 00:39:22,896 --> 00:39:25,265 ♪ Alex and Tommy ♪ 686 00:39:25,265 --> 00:39:28,368 ♪ About to climb the Devil's Thumb. ♪ 687 00:39:32,272 --> 00:39:36,176 ♪ We're up high on a glacier ♪ 688 00:39:36,176 --> 00:39:38,778 ♪ In the sun ♪ 689 00:39:42,150 --> 00:39:45,685 ♪ Man, this has been so fun ♪ 690 00:39:46,190 --> 00:39:48,121 [laughs]. 691 00:39:55,729 --> 00:39:59,466 - Racking up, putting together our tiny kit 692 00:39:59,466 --> 00:40:02,635 to go across all the mountains. 693 00:40:04,471 --> 00:40:06,873 [Alex Honnold] The weather, right now, looks fine. 694 00:40:06,873 --> 00:40:09,576 So we're gonna go rock climbing soon. 695 00:40:10,744 --> 00:40:14,381 The Devil's Thumb is notorious for bad weather, and yet, 696 00:40:14,381 --> 00:40:17,550 when we get here, a huge high-pressure system comes in, 697 00:40:17,550 --> 00:40:20,553 and we get a good forecast. 698 00:40:23,923 --> 00:40:25,592 [Tommy Caldwell] Alex racked, I usually let him do it, 699 00:40:25,592 --> 00:40:26,993 'cause then, if I do it, he just takes half the 700 00:40:26,993 --> 00:40:28,495 stuff off anyways. 701 00:40:28,495 --> 00:40:30,497 - That's not even true. Look how big that rack is, it's huge. 702 00:40:30,497 --> 00:40:32,399 The thing is, we wanna be prepared for rappelling, 703 00:40:32,399 --> 00:40:33,900 we wanna be prepared for anything, and we're simul 704 00:40:33,900 --> 00:40:36,603 climbing huge blocks really, so we want a lot of gear. 705 00:40:36,603 --> 00:40:38,138 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah. 706 00:40:38,138 --> 00:40:39,406 [Alex Honnold] And we're both, you know, we're both young 707 00:40:39,406 --> 00:40:41,174 fathers, we're trying to keep safe. 708 00:40:41,174 --> 00:40:43,900 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah. 709 00:40:45,111 --> 00:40:46,579 [Alex Honnold] Our luck with the weather means we have a 710 00:40:46,579 --> 00:40:49,949 chance to really go big 711 00:40:49,949 --> 00:40:52,185 by attempting the first one-day traverse 712 00:40:52,185 --> 00:40:54,287 of all five peaks in the Devil's Thumb massif. 713 00:40:58,591 --> 00:41:00,794 [Tommy Caldwell] We'll have to move really fast and light 714 00:41:00,794 --> 00:41:02,662 to basically race up and down 715 00:41:02,662 --> 00:41:05,865 each of the five peaks before sunset. 716 00:41:09,969 --> 00:41:11,871 [Alex Honnold] It's over 3,000 feet up and down the 717 00:41:11,871 --> 00:41:14,374 first two peaks, called, the witches. 718 00:41:15,442 --> 00:41:18,178 Then, another 800 feet straight up this incredible spire, 719 00:41:18,178 --> 00:41:20,180 called The Cat's Ears. 720 00:41:21,140 --> 00:41:23,316 Potentially the most dangerous section is this insane 721 00:41:23,316 --> 00:41:26,453 600-foot rappel down to notch between the Cat's Ears and 722 00:41:26,453 --> 00:41:28,121 the Devil's Thumb. 723 00:41:29,220 --> 00:41:31,570 The final climb up the Thumb itself 724 00:41:31,570 --> 00:41:33,626 is 1,500 feet of vertical rock. 725 00:41:35,228 --> 00:41:37,964 - Let's go for day packs. - Yeah. 726 00:41:37,964 --> 00:41:39,733 - Just going for it. 727 00:41:40,567 --> 00:41:42,569 [Alex Honnold] The Devil's Thumb is the main objective, 728 00:41:42,569 --> 00:41:44,804 but the spires next to the Devil's Thumb are equally 729 00:41:44,804 --> 00:41:46,806 impressive, from a climbing perspective. 730 00:41:46,806 --> 00:41:49,342 They're, like, the stuff from fantasy, like, slender, 731 00:41:49,342 --> 00:41:51,411 little needles sticking in the sky. 732 00:41:53,313 --> 00:41:54,814 [Tommy Caldwell] The fact that we're gonna try and just, 733 00:41:54,814 --> 00:41:57,170 like, blast the whole traverse, basically, in a day, 734 00:41:57,170 --> 00:41:58,752 sounds kind of intimidating to me. 735 00:41:58,752 --> 00:42:00,186 I wonder how it's gonna go. 736 00:42:00,186 --> 00:42:02,220 But I like the strategy, you know, you gotta, kind of, 737 00:42:02,220 --> 00:42:04,157 go for broke sometimes. 738 00:42:05,910 --> 00:42:06,593 [Alex Honnold] The key to our partnership, and taking on 739 00:42:06,593 --> 00:42:09,329 crazy climbs like this, is speed. 740 00:42:10,163 --> 00:42:12,650 When you can move faster together, you can climb 741 00:42:12,650 --> 00:42:14,100 further before you run out of things 742 00:42:14,100 --> 00:42:16,736 like daylight, or supplies. 743 00:42:19,105 --> 00:42:21,174 Over the years, Tommy and I have, sort of, refined our 744 00:42:21,174 --> 00:42:25,110 technique to allow us to climb pretty darn fast. 745 00:42:31,685 --> 00:42:35,550 Simul climbing is when both climbers climb simultaneously. 746 00:42:36,220 --> 00:42:38,240 Come on, Tommy! 747 00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:39,859 Come on! 748 00:42:40,894 --> 00:42:42,462 - Bah! 749 00:42:42,462 --> 00:42:44,130 - Yeah. 750 00:42:44,698 --> 00:42:47,467 And it's contrast to normal climbing, where one climber 751 00:42:47,467 --> 00:42:49,936 goes up and brings the other climber to them. 752 00:42:49,936 --> 00:42:51,638 [Tommy Caldwell] Done climbing, Alex. 753 00:42:51,638 --> 00:42:53,406 [Alex Honnold] Both climbers are moving in tandem, which is 754 00:42:53,406 --> 00:42:56,776 way faster, but also a bit more dangerous. 755 00:43:00,580 --> 00:43:02,649 [Tommy Caldwell] The leader is, oftentimes, climbing 50, 756 00:43:02,649 --> 00:43:07,220 60 feet above their last piece of protection, which means, 757 00:43:07,220 --> 00:43:09,923 if they fall, they're gonna fall twice that distance. 758 00:43:09,923 --> 00:43:12,580 120 feet. 759 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:18,264 [shouting] 760 00:43:19,999 --> 00:43:21,670 [Alex Honnold] Whoa, you okay? 761 00:43:23,236 --> 00:43:24,571 Whoa, jeez. 762 00:43:24,571 --> 00:43:25,905 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. 763 00:43:28,942 --> 00:43:32,912 The stakes are high, so you need to be very aware, 764 00:43:32,912 --> 00:43:36,249 very on top of your game. 765 00:43:38,818 --> 00:43:40,286 A fall like that on the Devil's Thumb 766 00:43:40,286 --> 00:43:43,123 would probably be fatal. 767 00:43:43,123 --> 00:43:47,193 [phone chiming] 768 00:43:49,763 --> 00:43:51,364 [Ingrid] Hi, dada. 769 00:43:51,364 --> 00:43:54,367 [Tommy Caldwell] Hey, Ingrid. How you doing? 770 00:43:54,367 --> 00:43:57,270 Hey, Fitzy. What's up, buddy? 771 00:43:57,270 --> 00:43:58,271 [Fitz] Awesome. 772 00:43:58,271 --> 00:43:59,272 [laughs]. 773 00:43:59,272 --> 00:44:00,440 [Tommy Caldwell] Hey baby. 774 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:01,775 [Becca Caldwell] How's it going? 775 00:44:01,775 --> 00:44:03,209 Ready for tomorrow? 776 00:44:03,209 --> 00:44:05,779 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, getting all geared-up, psyched. 777 00:44:05,779 --> 00:44:07,814 Everybody's getting ready for tomorrow. 778 00:44:07,814 --> 00:44:10,383 Tomorrow's the big day. 779 00:44:11,317 --> 00:44:15,321 I think I always question the risk side of adventures 780 00:44:15,321 --> 00:44:17,824 like this, especially these days, as a father. 781 00:44:17,824 --> 00:44:20,560 That makes me a little bit nervous, but on the other hand, 782 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:23,630 this is, like, what we do, this is what Alex and I do. 783 00:44:23,630 --> 00:44:25,699 [Becca Caldwell] Ingrid, dad's talking to you and he's about 784 00:44:25,699 --> 00:44:28,234 to go up a mountain, so pay attention, please. 785 00:44:28,234 --> 00:44:29,736 [Tommy Caldwell] Yep. I love you, sweetie. 786 00:44:29,736 --> 00:44:32,339 [Ingrid] Don't go! 787 00:44:32,906 --> 00:44:34,641 [Tommy Caldwell] Back in a few days. 788 00:44:40,146 --> 00:44:45,685 [♪ guitar music playing] 789 00:44:51,257 --> 00:44:53,590 [unzipping] 790 00:44:59,899 --> 00:45:01,768 [Alex Honnold] Okay, here we go. 791 00:45:03,903 --> 00:45:05,105 [Taylor Shaffer] Have a good day. 792 00:45:05,105 --> 00:45:06,673 [Alex Honnold] Oh, yeah. See you guys later. 793 00:45:06,673 --> 00:45:07,941 [Taylor Shaffer] Bye. 794 00:45:07,941 --> 00:45:10,176 [Alex Honnold] Oh, yeah. 795 00:45:11,177 --> 00:45:13,880 [Taylor Shaffer] Finally going rock climbing. 796 00:45:16,216 --> 00:45:19,519 Off they go, into the darkness. 797 00:45:21,221 --> 00:45:24,257 I just hope everything goes safe and sound. 798 00:45:32,365 --> 00:45:33,733 [Alex Honnold] No-one has ever attempted climbing 799 00:45:33,733 --> 00:45:35,735 all five peaks of the Devil's Thumb massif 800 00:45:35,735 --> 00:45:37,537 in a single day. 801 00:45:37,537 --> 00:45:40,640 Honestly, I'm not sure we can pull it off. 802 00:45:42,709 --> 00:45:45,450 [Tommy Caldwell] Wow. 803 00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:49,482 [Alex Honnold] We have to move super fast, and Tommy's body 804 00:45:49,482 --> 00:45:51,885 just isn't what it used to be. 805 00:45:54,421 --> 00:45:57,457 But I also know how badly he wants this climb 806 00:45:57,457 --> 00:45:59,459 to be a success. 807 00:46:01,294 --> 00:46:05,665 This is Tommy's trip, Tommy's idea, Tommy's goal. 808 00:46:06,733 --> 00:46:09,436 I just hope I can help make it happen. 809 00:46:17,410 --> 00:46:19,790 [Tommy Caldwell] There's always part of you that says, 810 00:46:19,790 --> 00:46:21,681 "What if this doesn't work? 811 00:46:23,983 --> 00:46:27,821 What does that mean for me, for my career, for my life?" 812 00:46:30,523 --> 00:46:33,760 There's only one way to find out. 813 00:46:35,762 --> 00:46:37,864 [whistles]. 814 00:46:37,864 --> 00:46:39,466 [Alex Honnold] Good morning mountains. 815 00:46:39,766 --> 00:46:41,601 I think this is the official start of the route, 816 00:46:41,601 --> 00:46:43,136 I'm starting my timer. 817 00:46:43,136 --> 00:46:45,705 We have now begun the outward traverse. 818 00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:50,977 [ticking] 819 00:46:50,977 --> 00:46:52,779 [Tommy Caldwell] Oh, yeah. 820 00:46:54,140 --> 00:46:55,281 [Alex Honnold] Wow. 821 00:46:55,281 --> 00:46:56,883 Seeing the whole thing up here looks amazing. 822 00:46:56,883 --> 00:46:59,520 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, I was just taking it in. 823 00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:02,989 Doing a one-day ascent adds a sense of urgency 824 00:47:02,989 --> 00:47:04,624 to the whole day. 825 00:47:04,624 --> 00:47:07,127 If we don't make it during the daylight hours, we're either 826 00:47:07,127 --> 00:47:09,620 gonna have to keep questing through the dark, 827 00:47:09,620 --> 00:47:12,665 stop and shiver through the night, or bail altogether. 828 00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:17,504 So we normally start climbing big mountains in our tennies. 829 00:47:17,504 --> 00:47:18,505 [Alex Honnold] Yeah. 830 00:47:18,505 --> 00:47:19,639 [Tommy Caldwell] No rope? 831 00:47:19,639 --> 00:47:21,374 [Alex Honnold] Yep. 832 00:47:22,142 --> 00:47:23,510 [Tommy Caldwell] Alex starts climbing up to the base of the 833 00:47:23,510 --> 00:47:28,140 first spire without a rope, because it's faster. 834 00:47:35,522 --> 00:47:37,570 [Alex Honnold] There's Tommy, 835 00:47:37,570 --> 00:47:39,159 soloing up the beginning of the route. 836 00:47:39,826 --> 00:47:42,429 Tommy climbing carefully. 837 00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:45,532 [Tommy Caldwell] I'm just not comfortable climbing without 838 00:47:45,532 --> 00:47:48,268 safety gear the way Alex is. 839 00:47:51,104 --> 00:47:53,673 I feel like he's already pushing me over that line of risk, 840 00:47:54,774 --> 00:47:58,545 but I also don't wanna slow us down right out of the gate. 841 00:48:03,183 --> 00:48:09,422 [♪ dramatic music playing] 842 00:48:14,728 --> 00:48:18,465 We ended up climbing, unroped, almost half of the first route. 843 00:48:20,330 --> 00:48:21,868 But it does get us into position to start the 844 00:48:21,868 --> 00:48:24,637 first pitch a little head of schedule. 845 00:48:26,390 --> 00:48:27,574 [Alex Honnold] Okay, I'm freaking repacked. 846 00:48:27,574 --> 00:48:29,750 Are you ready to go? 847 00:48:29,976 --> 00:48:32,450 Tommy Caldwell is starting the first section of 848 00:48:32,450 --> 00:48:33,713 technical rock climbing. 849 00:48:34,214 --> 00:48:36,783 There's the top of the Witches teat. 850 00:48:38,251 --> 00:48:39,552 Okay, you're tied in. 851 00:48:39,552 --> 00:48:41,588 Line's on, you have all your things. 852 00:48:41,588 --> 00:48:43,990 Take me to the summit. 853 00:48:44,324 --> 00:48:47,427 The first spire is 2,000 feet of vertical, with no clear 854 00:48:47,427 --> 00:48:49,596 route to the top. 855 00:48:55,168 --> 00:48:56,836 Tommy sets off in the lead, 856 00:48:56,836 --> 00:49:01,107 and he quickly climbs out of sight. 857 00:49:11,418 --> 00:49:13,653 [Tommy Caldwell] Okay. Traction's on! 858 00:49:13,653 --> 00:49:15,922 [Alex Honnold] Nice, I'm climbing. 859 00:49:24,864 --> 00:49:27,200 When we simul climb, we try to go for really long stretches 860 00:49:27,200 --> 00:49:29,536 at a time, without stopping. 861 00:49:29,536 --> 00:49:32,605 Which means that we place protection less frequently. 862 00:49:33,139 --> 00:49:34,941 I mean, sometimes you're going 100 feet in between pieces of 863 00:49:34,941 --> 00:49:37,110 gear, so that means you could take a 200 foot fall, which, 864 00:49:37,110 --> 00:49:39,713 on this type of terrain, would probably be fatal, 865 00:49:41,548 --> 00:49:42,949 because you hit ledges, 866 00:49:42,949 --> 00:49:45,180 and bounce off things, and you'd probably die. 867 00:49:48,121 --> 00:49:50,457 The thing with simul climbing is it requires total trust 868 00:49:50,457 --> 00:49:52,826 from your partner, because, oftentimes, 869 00:49:52,826 --> 00:49:55,295 you can't hear your partner and you can't see your partner, 870 00:49:55,295 --> 00:49:58,565 but you just have to know that they're doing the right thing. 871 00:50:02,969 --> 00:50:06,573 I come around the corner and see Tommy up, below this big 872 00:50:06,573 --> 00:50:08,408 chimney system that we're aiming for, and I can 873 00:50:08,408 --> 00:50:10,310 immediately see that he's fully off-route. 874 00:50:13,380 --> 00:50:16,816 [Alex Honnold] I'm pretty sure you're uh, you're not on route. 875 00:50:16,816 --> 00:50:18,585 - What, do you think I'm supposed to be over left more? 876 00:50:18,585 --> 00:50:20,860 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, I know you're getting into all kinds of 877 00:50:20,860 --> 00:50:21,421 weird [bleep] over there. 878 00:50:21,421 --> 00:50:22,756 [Tommy Caldwell] Seemed like the way, but. 879 00:50:22,756 --> 00:50:25,325 [Alex Honnold] No, uh, uh, uh. 880 00:50:25,325 --> 00:50:28,610 I mean, I kind of think you just, if you can reverse what 881 00:50:28,610 --> 00:50:31,698 you just did, just down-climb and quest back over, into it. 882 00:50:35,869 --> 00:50:38,271 [Tommy Caldwell] I get to a place where the rock is wet, 883 00:50:38,271 --> 00:50:41,374 the cracks go away, things seem dangerous and loose. 884 00:50:41,374 --> 00:50:43,843 And so I resign to the fact where I actually have to 885 00:50:43,843 --> 00:50:48,181 down-climb about 100 feet, and get back on route, 886 00:50:48,181 --> 00:50:52,180 which probably adds another 20 minutes to our day. 887 00:50:53,620 --> 00:50:56,289 [Alex Honnold] Oh, my God, there's rocks falling. 888 00:50:56,289 --> 00:50:59,125 Tommy's crossing. 889 00:51:02,962 --> 00:51:04,898 We all get lost sometimes. 890 00:51:04,898 --> 00:51:06,733 I find it a little bit frustrating, though, because 891 00:51:06,733 --> 00:51:09,803 you know that those things just compound themselves over a day, 892 00:51:09,803 --> 00:51:12,720 and if you think you're gonna be out for a 24-hour 893 00:51:12,720 --> 00:51:14,240 push in the mountains, any time you waste 20 minutes, 894 00:51:14,240 --> 00:51:16,309 like, that stuff adds up. 895 00:51:16,309 --> 00:51:17,744 [Tommy Caldwell] Sorry. 896 00:51:17,744 --> 00:51:19,412 I got lost for a minute, there. 897 00:51:19,412 --> 00:51:21,381 [Alex Honnold] No worries. 898 00:51:21,381 --> 00:51:23,750 Tommy, back on track. 899 00:51:32,826 --> 00:51:37,970 [♪ dramatic music playing] 900 00:51:37,970 --> 00:51:38,498 [Tommy Caldwell] Is that you, Alex? 901 00:51:38,498 --> 00:51:40,600 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, I'm climbing. 902 00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:43,236 [Tommy Caldwell] I'm feeling the pressure to move fast. 903 00:51:46,973 --> 00:51:48,675 This feels like the moment when I have to, kind of, 904 00:51:48,675 --> 00:51:51,911 dig deep and prove I've still got it. 905 00:52:01,688 --> 00:52:04,691 Honestly, I'm just gritting it out. 906 00:52:16,870 --> 00:52:19,205 That's why I've gotten where I am, and so 907 00:52:19,205 --> 00:52:21,441 part of me wants that to be kind of like, 908 00:52:21,441 --> 00:52:24,644 as strong and as fierce as it can be, always. 909 00:52:27,714 --> 00:52:29,783 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, buddy. 910 00:52:36,456 --> 00:52:42,696 [♪ dramatic music playing] 911 00:52:42,896 --> 00:52:44,898 Yeah! 912 00:52:45,999 --> 00:52:48,702 [Tommy Caldwell] Woo! I'm on the top, Alex! 913 00:52:49,690 --> 00:52:51,404 [Alex Honnold] Oh, yeah. 914 00:52:52,706 --> 00:52:55,241 That was pretty good. 915 00:52:55,842 --> 00:52:57,977 [Tommy Caldwell] We make it to the summit of the first peak, 916 00:52:57,977 --> 00:52:59,790 which is only the beginning, 917 00:52:59,790 --> 00:53:01,915 but it feels like a big success to me. 918 00:53:01,915 --> 00:53:03,383 Look at this. 919 00:53:03,383 --> 00:53:05,180 This feels like, freaking, straight out of 920 00:53:05,180 --> 00:53:07,187 Lord of the Rings to me. 921 00:53:07,187 --> 00:53:10,256 Menacing mountains everywhere. 922 00:53:10,990 --> 00:53:13,927 There's the Devil's Thumb, we're going over there soon. 923 00:53:16,696 --> 00:53:19,699 There's Alex, just, you know, walking around unroped. 924 00:53:20,834 --> 00:53:23,503 Motored up this. 925 00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:30,677 [ticking] 926 00:53:30,677 --> 00:53:31,845 Yeah, right now, I'm feeling like we're, 927 00:53:31,845 --> 00:53:33,780 we're making good life choices. 928 00:53:33,780 --> 00:53:36,449 Hopefully it stays that way all day. 929 00:53:37,117 --> 00:53:40,120 [Alex Honnold] Okay. I'm rapping. 930 00:53:40,120 --> 00:53:42,288 Let's see where we get. 931 00:53:44,224 --> 00:53:46,590 We're making good progress, 932 00:53:46,590 --> 00:53:47,894 but we need to keep up the pace 933 00:53:47,894 --> 00:53:50,563 if we wanna avoid getting stuck up here in the dark. 934 00:53:55,635 --> 00:53:57,737 I mean, depending how uh, how that feels, 935 00:53:57,737 --> 00:53:59,572 we could basically just solo. 936 00:54:01,410 --> 00:54:03,309 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah. 937 00:54:04,778 --> 00:54:06,646 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, let's just solo as far as we can, huh? 938 00:54:06,646 --> 00:54:09,490 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah. 939 00:54:19,926 --> 00:54:22,429 Wow. 940 00:54:22,429 --> 00:54:25,665 I mean, it looks easy, but it's super exposed. 941 00:54:25,665 --> 00:54:28,100 [Alex Honnold] Pretty exciting. 942 00:54:29,690 --> 00:54:30,503 Are we roping up there, Tommy? 943 00:54:30,503 --> 00:54:31,838 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah. 944 00:54:31,838 --> 00:54:33,173 [Alex Honnold] Uh-oh, Tommy got scared. 945 00:54:33,173 --> 00:54:34,441 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, I kind of wanna rope up. 946 00:54:34,441 --> 00:54:35,775 It's a little unnerving. 947 00:54:35,775 --> 00:54:38,278 [Alex Honnold] I'm climbing. 948 00:54:39,579 --> 00:54:41,181 [Tommy Caldwell] I know that Alex wants to just stay 949 00:54:41,181 --> 00:54:44,184 unroped, you know, he's a free soloist. 950 00:54:44,851 --> 00:54:49,289 But he stops, and we rope up for the next section of the climb, 951 00:54:51,925 --> 00:54:53,930 which is kind of nice. 952 00:54:53,930 --> 00:54:55,280 I was like, "oh, he's taking it seriously. 953 00:54:55,280 --> 00:54:57,497 He kind of cares about me a little bit." 954 00:54:59,466 --> 00:55:01,768 [Alex Honnold] You're on, Tommy! 955 00:55:02,535 --> 00:55:05,105 [Tommy Caldwell] Okay, I'm climbing, Alex! 956 00:55:13,813 --> 00:55:15,882 Oh, man. 957 00:55:15,882 --> 00:55:18,485 Just looks so sketchy. 958 00:55:34,667 --> 00:55:36,403 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, Tommy! 959 00:55:36,403 --> 00:55:38,505 Oh, my God. That's a good shot. 960 00:55:38,505 --> 00:55:41,374 - What should I do? Should I pray? 961 00:55:41,374 --> 00:55:42,475 Should I throw my hands in the air? 962 00:55:42,475 --> 00:55:44,100 [screaming] 963 00:55:44,100 --> 00:55:45,412 [laughs]. 964 00:55:45,412 --> 00:55:47,681 What are we? Where are we? 965 00:55:49,582 --> 00:55:51,518 [Alex Honnold] Oh, my God, the wind. 966 00:55:51,818 --> 00:55:53,853 This is kind of unnerving. 967 00:55:54,988 --> 00:55:57,223 Okay, let's start rappelling. 968 00:56:08,435 --> 00:56:10,937 We descend the other side of the ridge, 969 00:56:10,937 --> 00:56:14,607 down into a shoulder on the side of the Cat Ear spires, 970 00:56:14,607 --> 00:56:18,110 which is over 800 feet of climbing. 971 00:56:23,717 --> 00:56:25,385 Alright, you wanna lead this one? 972 00:56:25,385 --> 00:56:27,120 [Tommy Caldwell] Uh no, you should lead it. 973 00:56:27,120 --> 00:56:29,289 [Alex Honnold] No, no. I think you should. 974 00:56:30,123 --> 00:56:32,625 We start working our way up the side of the first spire, 975 00:56:32,625 --> 00:56:36,290 and we find our rhythm, 976 00:56:36,290 --> 00:56:38,798 and we just fly. 977 00:56:41,301 --> 00:56:45,710 [♪ upbeat music playing] 978 00:56:45,710 --> 00:56:47,307 Nice job, Tommy! Cruising. 979 00:56:47,307 --> 00:56:49,409 [Tommy Caldwell] Thank you. 980 00:56:55,415 --> 00:56:59,586 [♪ upbeat music playing] 981 00:56:59,586 --> 00:57:02,322 Yeah! 982 00:57:02,322 --> 00:57:04,257 You're on belay, Alex! 983 00:57:06,626 --> 00:57:09,162 Yeah. 984 00:57:10,463 --> 00:57:12,999 Pretty crazy spot. 985 00:57:12,999 --> 00:57:15,101 Woo! 986 00:57:15,101 --> 00:57:16,269 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, buddy. 987 00:57:16,269 --> 00:57:17,737 [Tommy Caldwell] Oh, yeah. 988 00:57:17,737 --> 00:57:19,506 This might be the craziest summit I've ever been on. 989 00:57:19,506 --> 00:57:21,341 [Alex Honnold] Oh, I can't wait. 990 00:57:22,750 --> 00:57:23,977 Wow. 991 00:57:23,977 --> 00:57:25,278 [Tommy Caldwell] Boom, good work. 992 00:57:25,278 --> 00:57:26,780 [Alex Honnold] That's a good summit. 993 00:57:26,780 --> 00:57:27,781 [Tommy Caldwell] This is something I kind of don't feel 994 00:57:27,781 --> 00:57:29,249 like dancing around on top of. 995 00:57:29,249 --> 00:57:30,617 I'm like, "Oh, my God." 996 00:57:30,617 --> 00:57:32,180 You could do that. 997 00:57:32,180 --> 00:57:33,787 [Alex Honnold] Maybe I'll do a handstand. 998 00:57:33,787 --> 00:57:36,523 Here I'll shoot some video. 999 00:57:36,523 --> 00:57:38,191 [Tommy Caldwell] Does it look epic? 1000 00:57:38,191 --> 00:57:41,428 [Alex Honnold] I mean, it'd be more epic if I could take, 1001 00:57:41,428 --> 00:57:43,797 like, two steps further back, but I'll die. 1002 00:57:43,797 --> 00:57:46,990 Yeah. 1003 00:57:46,990 --> 00:57:47,801 Yeah, I think it's fair to say this is one of the craziest 1004 00:57:47,801 --> 00:57:50,303 summits that we've been on. 1005 00:57:50,303 --> 00:57:52,138 Oh, my God, yeah, don't fall. 1006 00:57:52,138 --> 00:57:53,306 - Hi, mom. 1007 00:57:53,306 --> 00:57:54,474 [laughs]. 1008 00:57:54,474 --> 00:57:56,643 - Hi, Becca. Hi, Sanni. 1009 00:57:56,643 --> 00:57:58,144 - On the top of the Cat's Ears spires. 1010 00:57:58,144 --> 00:58:00,113 - Cat's Ears spires. This is a totally insane summit. 1011 00:58:00,113 --> 00:58:03,149 - My adrenaline is peaking standing here. 1012 00:58:03,149 --> 00:58:05,185 - I know, I feel a little shaky. 1013 00:58:05,185 --> 00:58:08,540 This is how you do PT for the Achilles, right? 1014 00:58:08,540 --> 00:58:09,489 - Yeah, totally. 1015 00:58:09,489 --> 00:58:12,325 Just one-foot balance on top of the Cat Ear spire. 1016 00:58:12,325 --> 00:58:14,627 [Alex Honnold] Jeez. 1017 00:58:21,634 --> 00:58:24,537 What do you think of the Devil's Thumb behind us? 1018 00:58:25,138 --> 00:58:28,375 The north-west face looks imposing. 1019 00:58:31,511 --> 00:58:33,980 - That's the face of death, huh? 1020 00:58:33,980 --> 00:58:37,830 God, it does kind of look pretty deathly, actually. 1021 00:58:43,890 --> 00:58:44,257 Look at that. 1022 00:58:44,257 --> 00:58:45,492 [Alex Honnold] Oh, wow. 1023 00:58:45,492 --> 00:58:46,693 [Tommy Caldwell] Oh, my God. 1024 00:58:46,693 --> 00:58:48,928 [Alex Honnold] Giant avalanche. 1025 00:58:48,928 --> 00:58:51,197 [Tommy Caldwell] Wow. 1026 00:58:51,197 --> 00:58:54,667 That is why we're not gonna climb the north-west face. 1027 00:58:54,901 --> 00:58:56,202 [Alex Honnold] Look at all the consecutive lines of 1028 00:58:56,202 --> 00:58:57,837 debris down here. 1029 00:58:57,837 --> 00:59:00,440 There have been some big avalanches down there. 1030 00:59:02,800 --> 00:59:04,511 That thing seems like death. 1031 00:59:05,845 --> 00:59:07,580 [Tommy Caldwell] I know that avalanches have killed several 1032 00:59:07,580 --> 00:59:10,517 people on the north-west face of the Devil's Thumb, and so 1033 00:59:10,517 --> 00:59:13,353 in the back of my mind, it just feels unsettling. 1034 00:59:16,356 --> 00:59:19,590 I'm definitely glad we didn't go that way, but we still have 1035 00:59:19,590 --> 00:59:22,195 to figure out how to get to the top of the Thumb itself, 1036 00:59:22,195 --> 00:59:25,699 which is another 1,500 feet straight up, 1037 00:59:25,699 --> 00:59:28,401 and we have no idea how to climb it. 1038 00:59:31,137 --> 00:59:34,374 Check out that, that shield of rock, with the zigzagging crack, 1039 00:59:34,374 --> 00:59:35,975 that black crack. 1040 00:59:35,975 --> 00:59:37,777 That looks cool, huh? 1041 00:59:37,777 --> 00:59:38,912 [Alex Honnold] I guess we'll see if there're holds, 1042 00:59:38,912 --> 00:59:40,480 we'll see if it goes. 1043 00:59:40,480 --> 00:59:41,748 [Tommy Caldwell] Come on, huh, do you wanna finish this off 1044 00:59:41,748 --> 00:59:43,416 with a bang or what? 1045 00:59:43,416 --> 00:59:45,585 [Alex Honnold] No, I just wanna get to the top. 1046 00:59:46,553 --> 00:59:48,154 Before we can start the climb, 1047 00:59:48,154 --> 00:59:50,423 we have to do our biggest rappel yet. 1048 00:59:50,423 --> 00:59:53,226 It's like 600 feet straight down, which is insane, 1049 00:59:53,226 --> 00:59:55,895 and potentially very dangerous. 1050 00:59:56,663 --> 00:59:58,898 Okay, we are now totally detached from the mountain. 1051 00:59:58,898 --> 01:00:01,601 There's no anchor. 1052 01:00:01,601 --> 01:00:04,504 Can you actually see over the edge there, 1053 01:00:04,504 --> 01:00:07,407 like where the [bleep] we're going? 1054 01:00:08,341 --> 01:00:10,910 [Tommy Caldwell] I mean, no. 1055 01:00:10,910 --> 01:00:13,179 [Alex Honnold] Sick. 1056 01:00:14,781 --> 01:00:17,417 [Tommy Caldwell] We're working against the clock, so Alex and I 1057 01:00:17,417 --> 01:00:21,121 are doing some very advanced techniques for speed. 1058 01:00:21,121 --> 01:00:23,423 And one of those techniques is simul rappelling, 1059 01:00:23,423 --> 01:00:25,759 which means we put the rope through an anchor, 1060 01:00:25,759 --> 01:00:28,628 and then we counter-balance each other, on our two ropes, 1061 01:00:28,628 --> 01:00:31,698 as we rappel down. 1062 01:00:32,599 --> 01:00:35,602 [Alex Honnold] I mean, do we think that thing looks good. 1063 01:00:37,704 --> 01:00:40,373 It, like, seems good enough. 1064 01:00:40,373 --> 01:00:43,309 It's just basically, like, a one-nut anchor. 1065 01:00:46,279 --> 01:00:48,114 [Tommy Caldwell] The problem with simul rappelling is that, 1066 01:00:48,114 --> 01:00:51,818 if somebody loses control of their rappel, both people die. 1067 01:00:54,454 --> 01:00:55,855 [Tommy Caldwell] Okay, ready to weight. 1068 01:00:55,855 --> 01:00:57,824 [Alex Honnold] Ready to weight. Weighting. 1069 01:00:57,824 --> 01:01:00,960 The scariest part of alpinism, for me, is rappelling because 1070 01:01:00,960 --> 01:01:05,865 it's the one time where one simple thing 1071 01:01:05,865 --> 01:01:08,134 could kill you both. 1072 01:01:09,569 --> 01:01:12,839 You're completely trusting your life to your equipment. 1073 01:01:14,674 --> 01:01:17,310 Okay, there's no way we can knock that off. 1074 01:01:17,977 --> 01:01:19,512 [Tommy Caldwell] There's sharp edges. 1075 01:01:19,512 --> 01:01:22,148 There's always the chance that a rope can get damaged, or, 1076 01:01:22,148 --> 01:01:24,851 you know, worst-case-scenario, even cut. 1077 01:01:31,925 --> 01:01:34,661 [Alex Honnold] This is so far. 1078 01:01:36,529 --> 01:01:39,650 It's 600 feet of free hanging space, 1079 01:01:39,650 --> 01:01:41,768 and it's really quite scary. 1080 01:01:41,768 --> 01:01:43,536 Wow. 1081 01:01:43,536 --> 01:01:45,338 This is freaking crazy. 1082 01:01:45,338 --> 01:01:47,674 [Tommy Caldwell] It's gonna get steep. 1083 01:01:56,349 --> 01:01:59,190 [Alex Honnold] You are 100% trusting your life to 1084 01:01:59,190 --> 01:02:01,855 your very skinny rope. 1085 01:02:03,423 --> 01:02:06,292 Only slightly thicker than a shoelace, really. 1086 01:02:06,960 --> 01:02:09,462 And this very skinny piece of hardware, that you 1087 01:02:09,462 --> 01:02:11,698 left behind, to rappel off of. 1088 01:02:13,299 --> 01:02:15,402 [Tommy Caldwell] This is kind of [bleep] scary. 1089 01:02:21,775 --> 01:02:23,910 [Alex Honnold] Oh, my God, the wind. 1090 01:02:23,910 --> 01:02:26,413 [Tommy Caldwell] The wind is, like, taking me. 1091 01:02:29,582 --> 01:02:35,221 [♪ dramatic music playing] 1092 01:02:37,390 --> 01:02:39,459 This is the craziest thing we've done all day. 1093 01:02:45,565 --> 01:02:47,934 [Alex Honnold] This is, like, an insane rappel. 1094 01:02:50,503 --> 01:02:51,504 [Tommy Caldwell] Rappelling like this is always 1095 01:02:51,504 --> 01:02:53,773 a little stressful. 1096 01:02:54,407 --> 01:02:56,760 So what just happened? 1097 01:02:56,760 --> 01:02:57,977 [Alex Honnold] We just did 600 feet of rappelling. 1098 01:02:57,977 --> 01:02:59,579 It was very scary. 1099 01:02:59,579 --> 01:03:00,847 [Tommy Caldwell] It's, like, intimidating to do that stuff. 1100 01:03:00,847 --> 01:03:02,415 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, it's real intimidating. 1101 01:03:02,415 --> 01:03:03,283 Well, I mean, the thing about it is that, if a piece of gear 1102 01:03:03,283 --> 01:03:04,784 blows, you die. 1103 01:03:04,784 --> 01:03:06,252 [Tommy Caldwell] Do you ever think, when that happens, 1104 01:03:06,252 --> 01:03:08,254 like, "why do I do this?" 1105 01:03:08,254 --> 01:03:10,824 - Well, those are the types of risks that 1106 01:03:10,824 --> 01:03:12,759 I don't really wanna take. 1107 01:03:12,759 --> 01:03:16,296 'Cause, you know, like, if the flake ripped and both pieces 1108 01:03:16,296 --> 01:03:18,698 came out, and we both just die, you'd be like, 1109 01:03:18,698 --> 01:03:20,300 "well, that was friggin stupid." 1110 01:03:20,300 --> 01:03:21,935 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah. 1111 01:03:24,971 --> 01:03:27,974 So we finally made it to the Devil's Thumb itself, 1112 01:03:27,974 --> 01:03:30,643 and it's massive. 1113 01:03:32,879 --> 01:03:36,490 From its base, this thing is nearly five times taller than 1114 01:03:36,490 --> 01:03:38,551 the Empire State Building. 1115 01:03:39,185 --> 01:03:42,889 We're in the notch below the Devil's Thumb. 1116 01:03:42,889 --> 01:03:45,825 Alex is taking us to the top. 1117 01:03:45,825 --> 01:03:49,620 [Alex Honnold] Well, we'll see. 1118 01:03:56,336 --> 01:03:58,538 Here we go. 1119 01:03:59,239 --> 01:04:00,740 Tommy asked me to take the lead and... 1120 01:04:00,740 --> 01:04:02,800 Oh, yeah! 1121 01:04:02,800 --> 01:04:03,910 ...I think part of it is because Tommy just isn't 1122 01:04:03,910 --> 01:04:07,814 quite feeling 100% gung-ho. 1123 01:04:07,814 --> 01:04:09,516 The bolts in his heel might be hurting. 1124 01:04:09,516 --> 01:04:13,687 Basically, he wants me to step up and lead us to the top, 1125 01:04:15,855 --> 01:04:18,324 and we don't have a lot of time left to do it. 1126 01:04:21,610 --> 01:04:24,970 Woo! 1127 01:04:24,970 --> 01:04:26,499 Micro's on, Tommy! 1128 01:04:26,499 --> 01:04:29,436 [Tommy Caldwell] Okay, cool. Thank you! 1129 01:04:32,380 --> 01:04:34,207 [Alex Honnold] The wall is huge. 1130 01:04:34,207 --> 01:04:37,177 It's thousands of feet straight down below us. 1131 01:04:41,581 --> 01:04:44,584 - Does it look easy above you? 1132 01:04:44,584 --> 01:04:46,453 Like, should I gain? 1133 01:04:47,721 --> 01:04:51,124 [Alex Honnold] If you want to, this middle part's kind of hard. 1134 01:04:51,624 --> 01:04:53,460 [Tommy Caldwell] This is next level. 1135 01:04:53,460 --> 01:04:55,528 [Alex Honnold] Yeah. 1136 01:04:56,563 --> 01:05:00,867 [Tommy Caldwell] We climb the first 400 feet 1137 01:05:00,867 --> 01:05:03,703 relatively quickly, 1138 01:05:03,703 --> 01:05:07,730 and Alex actually stops, which surprises me. 1139 01:05:07,474 --> 01:05:10,430 [Alex Honnold] Starting to get a little tired. 1140 01:05:10,430 --> 01:05:12,779 Also, don't fall on this part, we're on a one-piece anchor. 1141 01:05:12,779 --> 01:05:14,314 [Tommy Caldwell] Okay. 1142 01:05:14,314 --> 01:05:15,482 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, I was really like, 1143 01:05:15,482 --> 01:05:16,783 not bad at climbing. 1144 01:05:16,783 --> 01:05:18,218 A little scary, though. 1145 01:05:18,218 --> 01:05:19,652 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, a little wet. 1146 01:05:19,652 --> 01:05:21,421 I had one foot slip, but, 1147 01:05:21,421 --> 01:05:24,570 luckily, I had a good hand jammed in. 1148 01:05:24,570 --> 01:05:26,590 [Alex Honnold] At least we're higher than the Cat Ears again. 1149 01:05:31,640 --> 01:05:32,432 Now, I wanted to go over there... 1150 01:05:32,432 --> 01:05:33,933 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah. 1151 01:05:33,933 --> 01:05:35,668 [Alex Honnold] ...But it's not good, so we're going around. 1152 01:05:38,338 --> 01:05:41,740 As we're climbing up, I run into a section of, 1153 01:05:41,740 --> 01:05:43,410 somewhat difficult, tricky climbing. 1154 01:05:45,245 --> 01:05:46,513 We still got like a ways to go. 1155 01:05:46,513 --> 01:05:48,948 I mean, it's like way, way up. 1156 01:05:49,983 --> 01:05:51,618 [Tommy Caldwell] We could go straight up those zigzag 1157 01:05:51,618 --> 01:05:54,120 cracks, I think it would work. 1158 01:05:54,120 --> 01:05:56,220 [Alex Honnold] Tommy yells up that he wants to go straight 1159 01:05:56,220 --> 01:05:59,250 through this really imposing head wall. 1160 01:05:59,250 --> 01:06:01,661 It's this huge, overhanging section of rock jutting out 1161 01:06:01,661 --> 01:06:05,980 from the face, blocking our final approach to the summit. 1162 01:06:05,598 --> 01:06:08,702 Let me just figure out how to uh, how to make this work! 1163 01:06:16,476 --> 01:06:20,613 Looking up at the summit, in this moment, it's almost like 1164 01:06:20,613 --> 01:06:23,149 time slows down. 1165 01:06:25,652 --> 01:06:28,722 I realize the summit means a lot more to me than 1166 01:06:28,722 --> 01:06:32,158 I would've expected from just the climb. 1167 01:06:36,329 --> 01:06:38,398 It's like the trip has never been just about 1168 01:06:38,398 --> 01:06:40,333 climbing the Devil's Thumb, 1169 01:06:40,333 --> 01:06:42,836 the trip's about spending two months with Tommy, 1170 01:06:44,971 --> 01:06:46,573 and helping him achieve his dream 1171 01:06:46,573 --> 01:06:49,242 of making his big comeback. 1172 01:06:49,242 --> 01:06:50,977 That's the reason I'm here. 1173 01:06:51,411 --> 01:06:53,413 Come on, Tommy! 1174 01:06:53,413 --> 01:06:54,748 Come on! 1175 01:06:54,748 --> 01:06:56,983 [Tommy Caldwell] Woo! 1176 01:06:59,190 --> 01:07:02,756 In the world of climbing, 1177 01:07:02,756 --> 01:07:04,691 a partnership that is as special as this 1178 01:07:04,691 --> 01:07:07,930 is not easy to find. 1179 01:07:07,930 --> 01:07:09,262 [Alex Honnold] Yeah! 1180 01:07:10,597 --> 01:07:13,199 - Woo! 1181 01:07:13,199 --> 01:07:15,368 I said, at the start of this trip, I was worried about 1182 01:07:15,368 --> 01:07:18,338 Alex's lack of empathy, 1183 01:07:19,706 --> 01:07:22,342 but he's supported me every step of the way. 1184 01:07:23,430 --> 01:07:26,379 He's not lacking in anything. 1185 01:07:27,847 --> 01:07:30,417 He's my best friend. 1186 01:07:33,887 --> 01:07:36,723 [Alex Honnold] This is the moment of truth, to get Tommy 1187 01:07:36,723 --> 01:07:38,358 to the top. 1188 01:07:42,195 --> 01:07:46,800 [♪ dramatic music playing] 1189 01:07:48,535 --> 01:07:50,704 [Tommy Caldwell] Suddenly, I see him go out, onto this 1190 01:07:50,704 --> 01:07:52,405 shield of rock. 1191 01:07:52,405 --> 01:07:54,240 You are going that way? 1192 01:07:54,240 --> 01:07:56,209 [Alex Honnold] Yeah, yeah I'm gonna try. 1193 01:07:56,743 --> 01:07:58,712 Yeah. 1194 01:07:58,945 --> 01:08:00,413 [Tommy Caldwell] I shout up at him, I'm like, 1195 01:08:00,413 --> 01:08:03,216 "you're doing the shield, you're going up the gash!" 1196 01:08:06,586 --> 01:08:08,221 We're gonna end this whole climb in the most 1197 01:08:08,221 --> 01:08:09,823 heroic way possible, 1198 01:08:09,823 --> 01:08:11,758 which is climbing up the most spectacular 1199 01:08:11,758 --> 01:08:13,927 section of the wall. 1200 01:08:16,463 --> 01:08:23,403 [♪ dramatic music playing] 1201 01:08:25,438 --> 01:08:27,774 [Alex Honnold] Climbing really freaking scary troughs. 1202 01:08:27,774 --> 01:08:30,143 Very scary. 1203 01:08:30,744 --> 01:08:32,846 [Tommy Caldwell] As Alex is climbing that final shield, 1204 01:08:32,846 --> 01:08:35,515 I see him, sort of, working his way back-and-forth up these 1205 01:08:35,515 --> 01:08:37,417 zigzagging cracks. 1206 01:08:37,417 --> 01:08:39,819 He's getting in them at times, and then he's coming out, and 1207 01:08:39,819 --> 01:08:41,621 finding little gear placements, 1208 01:08:41,621 --> 01:08:43,456 and balancing on the little edges. 1209 01:08:46,260 --> 01:08:48,495 [Alex Honnold] This is pretty freaking mega. 1210 01:08:48,495 --> 01:08:50,764 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, nice work! 1211 01:08:57,203 --> 01:09:01,441 [♪ dramatic music playing] 1212 01:09:01,441 --> 01:09:04,611 [Alex Honnold] There's one last pitch above me, 1213 01:09:04,611 --> 01:09:07,714 and then it's a clear shot to the summit. 1214 01:09:11,510 --> 01:09:12,986 [sighing] 1215 01:09:17,323 --> 01:09:20,827 [sighing] 1216 01:09:21,795 --> 01:09:23,463 Ho! 1217 01:09:23,463 --> 01:09:25,865 We're on top of a freaking big wall. 1218 01:09:25,865 --> 01:09:28,535 [Tommy Caldwell] Heroic way to end. 1219 01:09:30,904 --> 01:09:33,139 [Alex Honnold] After such a long journey, after such a 1220 01:09:34,700 --> 01:09:40,800 long adventure, I'm surprisingly, 1221 01:09:40,800 --> 01:09:43,817 like, I mean, moved is the only word, I don't know. 1222 01:09:46,190 --> 01:09:47,921 And particularly seeing Tommy below me, 1223 01:09:47,921 --> 01:09:50,560 powering up the final stretch. 1224 01:09:54,940 --> 01:09:57,970 [Tommy Caldwell] I've spent a life of, kind of, overcoming 1225 01:09:57,970 --> 01:10:00,266 adversity, and, sort of, harnessing the angst from 1226 01:10:00,266 --> 01:10:03,737 setbacks to push me forward. 1227 01:10:04,938 --> 01:10:07,741 I was worried about my Achilles, just being, kind of, 1228 01:10:07,741 --> 01:10:11,177 an old man, being able to keep up with Alex, but 1229 01:10:11,177 --> 01:10:14,547 I'm turning back into, like, a mountain athlete, 1230 01:10:14,547 --> 01:10:17,884 in a way that I haven't in a few years. 1231 01:10:19,285 --> 01:10:21,388 [Alex Honnold] You're on the lip, Tommy! 1232 01:10:21,388 --> 01:10:23,623 Enjoy yourself, this is freaking mega! 1233 01:10:23,623 --> 01:10:24,958 Woo! 1234 01:10:30,530 --> 01:10:32,799 [Tommy Caldwell] I know that the summit of big journeys, 1235 01:10:32,799 --> 01:10:35,535 like this, marks the end of this, almost, love affair, 1236 01:10:35,535 --> 01:10:38,538 and I, I'm not quite ready for that. 1237 01:10:43,209 --> 01:10:47,614 I'm feeling just incredibly lucky to be in this place 1238 01:10:47,614 --> 01:10:50,417 on such a beautiful day, with such a good friend, 1239 01:10:50,417 --> 01:10:53,386 and have things go so well. 1240 01:11:00,827 --> 01:11:02,662 - Yeah, Tommy! 1241 01:11:02,662 --> 01:11:04,264 Yeah! 1242 01:11:04,264 --> 01:11:05,665 [Tommy Caldwell] Wow! 1243 01:11:05,665 --> 01:11:07,767 That was incredible. 1244 01:11:11,771 --> 01:11:13,907 [Alex Honnold] Two months. 1245 01:11:13,907 --> 01:11:15,742 [Tommy Caldwell] Good work. 1246 01:11:16,509 --> 01:11:18,244 Oh, my God. 1247 01:11:19,279 --> 01:11:20,447 [Alex Honnold] What do you think? 1248 01:11:20,447 --> 01:11:21,815 [Tommy Caldwell] Look at this place. 1249 01:11:21,815 --> 01:11:23,116 [Alex Honnold] It's pretty cool, huh? 1250 01:11:23,116 --> 01:11:24,851 - Pretty amazing. 1251 01:11:28,455 --> 01:11:31,240 - Your triumphant return expedition climbing. 1252 01:11:31,240 --> 01:11:32,792 You're back! 1253 01:11:32,792 --> 01:11:34,361 [Tommy Caldwell] Yeah, I'm back. 1254 01:11:34,361 --> 01:11:37,300 I mean, I think I've gotten to the point, on this whole trip, 1255 01:11:37,300 --> 01:11:38,264 where I was like, "well, you know, 1256 01:11:38,264 --> 01:11:39,499 if we climb the Devil's Thumb, 1257 01:11:39,499 --> 01:11:41,468 it'll just be the icing on the cake." 1258 01:11:41,468 --> 01:11:43,136 This is pretty sweet. 1259 01:11:43,136 --> 01:11:45,538 [laughs]. 1260 01:11:45,538 --> 01:11:47,774 Usually, it's not about the destination, but this is about 1261 01:11:47,774 --> 01:11:50,430 the whole freaking destination. 1262 01:11:58,510 --> 01:12:03,823 [♪ majestic music playing] 1263 01:12:04,858 --> 01:12:06,826 - Scary. 1264 01:12:07,600 --> 01:12:10,497 I think the real power of an expedition is the fact that 1265 01:12:10,497 --> 01:12:13,800 you condense years of life into a single month or two. 1266 01:12:17,137 --> 01:12:18,905 But at the same time, you know, 1267 01:12:18,905 --> 01:12:21,174 I think I'm maturing my spirit. 1268 01:12:21,174 --> 01:12:23,476 The relationships in my life, and the friends that I keep. 1269 01:12:26,746 --> 01:12:28,381 When I was younger, 1270 01:12:28,381 --> 01:12:30,917 it was just so glamorous to be dark, and broody, 1271 01:12:30,917 --> 01:12:33,319 and conflicted, but now, I'm like, yeah, 1272 01:12:33,319 --> 01:12:35,755 I think I'm kind of getting it, you know? 1273 01:12:35,755 --> 01:12:37,590 Like, why not do the same hard things, 1274 01:12:37,590 --> 01:12:39,359 but be happy while you're doing them? 1275 01:12:39,359 --> 01:12:40,994 It's like, why not? 1276 01:12:40,994 --> 01:12:42,950 Captioned by Cotter Media Group.