In this video, two climbing legends – Tommy Caldwell and Adam Ondra – take an hour to interview each other! They touch on a variety of topics including the Dawn Wall, big wall climbing in general, their motivation, and next steps. Watch for an engaging, insightful and honest conversation between two of climbing’s greats.
TAKEAWAYS:
0:00 – Intro
1:25 – Adventure climbing, conditions in the Czech Republic, first time in Yosemite
16:16 – Tommy’s experience with the Dawn wall
18:25 – Working through the last and hardest remaining piece of Dawn wall
22:17 – Adam’s journey on the Dawn wall
29:00 – Challenging routes that prepared Adam and Tommy for big mountain climbing
33:54 – Free climbs of Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold; New route on the Dawn Wall section of El Cap
35:25 – Going back to big mountain climbing
41:38 – Sport climbing in connection to traditional climbing
44:47 – Future of El Cap
51:21 – Tommy’s environmental protection efforts
52:04 – Climbing partners
57:15 – Adam’s training for the Olympics and its benefits
58:44 – Climbing motivation
1:02:36 – Adam managing his professional obligations
1:04:22 – Tommy Caldwell: A public figure
1:04:49 – Flex Luthor – how much has the route changed if at all?
1:08:09 – What’s next after Olympics and shared plans
