Big Wall Climbing Quotes

Climbs like the Dawn Wall don't come around every day.

Climbing a big wall over several days is like running a giant construction project: constantly making lists, rigging ropes, organising food, figuring out camera angles - but you're in this crazy place with your best friends, and it does take on a party atmosphere sometimes, like a big dudes' camping trip.

I didn't want to hike to the top of El Capitan and rappel down the route, and start fixing lines. For me it was really important to try to climb it from the ground up at first.

Climbing is great, and I don't think I'll ever tire of it, because there are so many different disciplines.

The Dawn Wall is so obviously the hardest big-wall climb in the world, so that was the challenge.

Yosemite has the most impressive and accessible granite big walls in the world. The rock is amazing. And because of that, it's been the mecca for climbing in the U.S. - and the world to a large degree - for all of climbing history. It's the place to test yourself against the historic routes of the past.

The Slovenians are the very best climbers in the world.

Seven years ago, when I started free soloing long, hard routes in Yosemite - climbing without a rope, gear or a partner - I did it because it seemed like the purest, most elegant way to scale big walls. Climbing, especially soloing, felt like a grand adventure, but I never dreamed it could be a profession.

I think it's possible to climb the Dawn Wall in a single day. No matter what, it would be really, really hard.

It would be really easy to write off the Dawn Wall as impossible. In terms of climbing technique, I'm learning a new language on this granite.

To anyone writing about #dawnwall, this is not an effort to 'conquer.' It's about realizing a dream.

If you're climbing big routes that'll take you 16 hours, or, like, El Capitan, you have to take something like a big, robust sandwich. Climbing isn't like running or triathlons, where you have to constantly be eating blocks, gels, and pure sugar. Climbing is relatively slow, so you can pretty much eat anything and digest it as you climb.