Climbers Tommy Caldwell, left, Kevin Jorgeson on their way to completing the ascent of the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. (Patrick Tehan/Staff)
After a treacherous 19-day climb, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson summited the El Capitan Dawn Wall Wednesday afternoon, completing their historic quest to become the first to free-climb the sheer face of the 3,000 rock wall.
Their hands were shredded from the sharp granite, but not enough to prevent them from popping the cork on bottles of sparkling wine. After a vigorous shake, and that glorious pop, they showered themselves in a celebratory spray of bubbles.
Then they clinked the bottles in a toast to each other and sipped straight from the bottle. Why waste time pouring it into a flute?
The bottles of bubbly that Caldwell and Jorgensen celebrated with?
They were Iron Horse Vineyards Ocean Reserve Blanc de Blancs, a limited edition wine from the sparkling wine house in Sebastopol. A fitting choice to commemorate conquering the world’s largest granite rock.
“It is such a pleasure to toast something so positive and inspiring,” says Joy Sterling, CEO of Iron Horse Vineyards. She says the bottles were carried to the top of El Capitan by friends and family of the climbers.
