The Enduring Nature of the Human Body

Two mountain climbers Kevin Jorgeson, 30, and Tommy Caldwell, 36, endured a grueling two weeks scaling the sheer face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and are the first climbers to do so without aids, except for harnesses and ropes to prevent deadly falls.They began their historic half-mile ascent on 27 December. During the climb the pair slept in tents suspended from the mountain face.

According to BBC report the men did not give media interviews on completion of their challenge, but are expected to discuss the climb later.

 

The sheer climb has taken more than two weeks

 

Eric Jorgeson, Kevin Jorgeson's father, told local media his son had always been a climber and watching him fulfil a long-time dream had made him proud.
"He climbed everything he could think of. It made us nervous early on as parents, but we got used to it," he said.
He and his son had begun climbing the other routes to El Capitan's peak in California when Kevin was 15, making it a birthday tradition each year.
"I feel like the most proud person in the world right now," Mr Caldwell's sister, Sandy Van Nieuwenhuyzen, said.
During their climb up the notoriously difficult Dawn Wall route, both took rest days to wait for their skin to heal and used tape and even superglue to speed the process.
At one point it seemed unlikely that they would make it to the top, the BBC's Alastair Leithead at the foot of El Capitan reports.
The pair suffered bruising falls, when their grip slipped, and they would bounce off the mountain face.
Only their safety ropes saved them from further harm.
"As disappointing as this is, I'm learning new levels of patience, perseverance and desire,'' Jorgeson had posted online at one point.
"I'm not giving up. I will rest. I will try again. I will succeed."

More: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30824372