I figured that if we managed to pull this off our community of climbers would be excited but I never imagined it would resonate with so many. Tommy Caldwell More Quotes by Tommy Caldwell More Quotes From Tommy Caldwell My motivation is internal. Tommy Caldwell internal motivation In some ways, climbing in the clouds is comforting. You can no longer see how high off the ground you are. Tommy Caldwell high see you clouds I've always been really curious about the limits of human capability. Tommy Caldwell human always curious limits I crave time in Yosemite like I crave food and water. Tommy Caldwell like time food water 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. Tommy Caldwell climb look you way I tend to walk through life sort of looking through a pair of binoculars, and I focus on certain things and push out the rest. Tommy Caldwell walk looking focus life 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. Tommy Caldwell skill me pain world For me, I love to dream big, and I love to find ways to be a bit of an explorer. Tommy Caldwell find me dream love My earliest memory is being in a snow hole, aged two-and-a-half, with my dad somewhere up a mountain in a blizzard. I don't know what my dad saw in me - I was a geeky kid - but he had that philosophy: prepare the kid for the road, not the road for the kid. Tommy Caldwell memory me mountain dad Through climbing, I've learned to find goals and work toward them. That's just the way I love to live. Tommy Caldwell goals work love way 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. Tommy Caldwell find me dream love I have been to Switzerland a handful of times, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to climb. Tommy Caldwell climb places been switzerland I have always let my motivation guide me, and that has served me well. Climbing has taught me how to thrive and created a life that I feel incredibly lucky to have. Tommy Caldwell feel me lucky life As I get more experienced, I love the idea of going into big mountains and doing big climbs. But the problem is, it's getting more dangerous, especially alpine climbing. Tommy Caldwell mountains dangerous problem love I feel very lucky to be able to call my hobby my job, yet it doesn't feel like one. Tommy Caldwell hobby feel job lucky When I was super young, we were hiking to the top of the 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado. You know, when I was in my early teens, we went to Bolivia and climbed to the tops of the highest mountains in the Alps. You know, those experiences were so exciting that when I came back to school, I was actually quite bored. Tommy Caldwell mountains know you school One of the reasons the Dawn Wall climb went so viral is that you get great Internet access on El Cap. It's like the best Internet access in all of Yosemite, so we had our phones with us. Tommy Caldwell best great you internet My natural abilities weren't necessarily brute power and strength. They were more about the ability to endure and not give up. Tommy Caldwell more ability strength power I have a very distinct goal all the time that I'm working toward, and I love the way it makes me live. Tommy Caldwell me time love way 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. Tommy Caldwell die me people world
