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El Capitan

No wonder nobody ever free-climbed this cliff before, these photos are terrifying

Yep, that perilously positioned tent is where you’re supposed to try to sleep.

KEVIN JORGENSON AND Tommy Caldwell set a record early this year by being the first to free-climb the 3,000-foot walls of El Capitan, a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park in California.

The Dawn Wall face is considered to be one of the hardest climbs in the world and the climbers documented their gruelling 19-day ascent with incredible photos that show just how hard their journey was.

The Dawn Wall – don’t look down

1 Tommy Caldwell / Instagram Tommy Caldwell / Instagram / Instagram

At times the pair had only tiny cracks to hold on to

2 Kevin Jorgenson Kevin Jorgenson

Here’s Caldwell sanding his raw fingertips on Day nine

Sanding helps to prevent tearing when clinging on to the rock face.

3 Corey Rich Corey Rich

11 Kevin Jorgenson Kevin Jorgenson

19 days, gotta sleep somewhere

4 Corey Rich Corey Rich

Photographer Corey Rich recounts how the pair would do yoga and push-ups during rest periods and had solar panels to keep equipment charged

5 Corey Rich Corey Rich

Finding an edge

6 Tommy Caldwell Tommy Caldwell

Sleeping is overrated, climb in the dark

7 Tommy Caldwell Tommy Caldwell

Here, Kevin tackles the “Dyno Pitch” which is one of the hardest parts of the climb considering you have to jump six feet and clasp onto an edge to control momentum

8 Corey Rich Corey Rich

Climbers will position their bodies in unexpected ways to scale walls at the best angles, which is why they sometimes refer to their sport as ‘dancing up rocks’

9 Corey Rich Corey Rich

At the top, time to celebrate

10 Corey Rich Corey Rich

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