Kevin Jorgeson was born on August 29, 1985, in Santa Rosa, California. He became the first person to free climb El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, California. He achieved this feat with his climbing partner and fellow professional climber Tommy Caldwell on January 14, 2015.

Since he was a young boy, he has been climbing and started with bouldering, which is climbing rocks without ropes or harnesses. His parents have always supported his passion for climbing and have even taken him on trips to Yosemite Valley to practice climbing.

In high school, Kevin decided that he wanted to be an architect instead of continuing his passion for rock climbing; however, after graduating from high school, he attended the University of California Berkeley, where he studied civil engineering. He continued climbing, though. 

After he graduated from UC Berkeley in 2007, he decided to pursue rock climbing as a profession rather than civil engineering, so he took a job at REI as an outdoor guide. He kept training at home and traveling around the world, competing against other professional climbers,

If you want to understand Kevin Jorgeson's career as a climber, you definitely need to watch the documentary The dawn wall. The Dawn Wall is a 3,000-foot granite wall located in Yosemite National Park. It's considered one of the most challenging climbs globally, and only two people have ever completed it: Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson in 2015. They became the first to climb The Dawn Wall from bottom to top without any ropes or protection. Their ascent lasted 19 days and was documented by filmmaker Josh Lowell in the homonymous film. 

In 2008, Caldwell met Jorgeson through a mutual friend who was dating Jorgeson's sister. They climbed together for years before tackling The Dawn Wall together in December 2014.

Their attempt on The Dawn Wall began on December 27th and ended on January 14th after 19 days of climbing. The pair had set up camp at Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley, where they slept each night until heading up the mountain each morning at 5 am sharp to begin their day of climbing at 6 am sharp. They rested during breaks between climbs or when they were too tired to continue working up the face of the rock wall.

Kevin Jorgeson is a living example of how dedicating each day to an activity you love will challenge you to become better at your discipline.

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Kevin Jorgeson

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