UKC

Angus Kille writes about his first route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Alongside Dan McManus, Angus freed El Corazón 5.13b, making for a memorable first outing on the Big Stone...

'It's worth doing a challenge that exposes you like that. The Captain saw me with my trousers down, it saw me falling, cut and bleeding. I was digging around for reserves of perseverance I had no use of in my comfort zone, some latent quantity that was otherwise redundant. This sort of challenge exposes that, and also hides the things that can only be important when you're not worried about water, like your email inbox or occasionally your ego.'

Brilliant writing! 

Great piece, thanks for that.

This is one of the best things I've read on UKC for a long time.

Fabulous article. One of the best climbing pieces I've ever read. Bravo Angus.

Brilliant. Well done chaps. When I was younger I would have found that motivating/inspirational. These days I just think: rather you than me

Cracking writing and clearly a fantastic effort on the route.

This was such a good read, thank you for sharing Angus. Definitely need to plan a Yosemite trip.