Earlier this month, two rock climbers achieved what many thought impossible: They climbed up the 3,000-foot-high Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park without specialized equipment. Climbing without this equipment is called"free-climbing."Until now, no one had free-climbed to the top of the rock face, which is a part of the mountain EI Capitan. El Capitan, which means"the captain"or"the chief"in Spanish, has always presented a challenge to climbers. But the Dawn Wall, on the mountain's southeast face, is a particularly difficult route to the summit  . It is a rock formation that is both steep and relatively smooth. This makes free-climbing the rock face seem almost impossible. About seven years ago, professional climber Tommy Caldwell spotted a possible route up the wall. It took years of planning and preparation, but this month, Caldwell, 36, and his friend Kevin Jorgeson, 30, finally make the climb. Free climbers do use ropes and other basic safety equipment to catch them if they fall -- and Caldwell and Jorgeson fell often. Before starting their climb, they broke down their route into 32 sections. Each section was based on a rope length called a"pitch."The rope was secured into the rock face to catch the climbers if they fell. Caldwell and Jorgeson's goal was to climb the Dawn Wall without returning to the ground. If they fell, they had to start that pitch all over again. The two men started climbing on December 27. They slept in hanging tents, and a team of friends brought them food each day. The men had spent years rehearsing   the movements it would take to get through each pitch. They made it through the fist half of the climb relatively easily. But halfway up, Jorgeson ran into trouble. In one difficult spot, he fell each time he attempted to climb. After 10 days of trying, Jorgeson finally made it to the next pitch. Getting through that troublesome pitch gave both climbers renewed energy. They finished the rest of the climb five days later, on January 14. What can we learn about this world,s toughest climb?
It includes 32 different routes. It is also the world ,s highest climb. It was once completed by Caldwell 7 years ago. It took the two climbers 19 days to get to the top.