American - Athlete | August 11, 1978 -
In some ways, climbing in the clouds is comforting. You can no longer see how high off the ground you are.
Tommy Caldwell
CloudsYouSeeGroundHighClimbing
Stand at the base and look up at 3,000 feet of blankness. It just looks like there's no way you can climb it. That's what you seek as a climber. You want to find something that looks absurd and figure out how to do it.
ClimbFeetStandYouLookFind
I grew up a clumsy kid with bad hand-eye coordination. Yet here on El Cap, I felt as though I had stumbled into a world where I thrived. Being up on those steep walls demanded the right amount of climbing skill, pain tolerance, and sheer bull-headedness that came naturally to me.
WallsPainMeWorldToleranceBad
El Capitan is the most chapping environment in the world: windy, cold, super dry. I wake up twice a night and reapply lotion to my hands. We sand our fingertips to keep them smooth.
WorldNightWake UpColdSandHands
I have a very distinct goal all the time that I'm working toward, and I love the way it makes me live.
LoveLiveTimeMeGoalWay
For me, I love to dream big, and I love to find ways to be a bit of an explorer. These days, it seems like everything is padded and comes with warning labels.
LoveMeDreamFindEverythingBig
I've always been really curious about the limits of human capability.
CuriousLimitsHumanAlwaysBeen
Through climbing, I've learned to find goals and work toward them. That's just the way I love to live.
WorkLoveGoalsLiveFindWay
There are specific things in our world that are incredibly dangerous. Wingsuit BASE jumping is the very, very top of that. Big alpine climbing objectives are maybe right below that. I've probably had 20 friends die - people who were pretty close to me. I would say about 18 of them were because of snow.
SnowPeopleMeWorldFriendsDie
The types of climbing that I choose to do I'm good at justifying. I do really try and pick things that I'm going to live through. I don't want to die, and I'm relatively cautious. I play with that line all the time. I want things that are very exciting, so much so that they can feel almost spiritual.
GoodLiveTimeSpiritualDieChoose
I am at a climbing area called the Wendenstock in Switzerland. This area has some of the best quality multi-pitch climbing I have seen on limestone. There is about a two-hour approach on one of the steepest grass slopes I have ever seen. The setting is amazing.
BestQualityI AmAmazingGrass
I pretty much bailed on high school. I mean, I graduated, but I wasn't even there for my own graduation.
SchoolGraduationHigh SchoolMy Own
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Tommy Caldwell quotes