PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Tommy Caldwell is one of the best all-around rock climbers in the world. A few years ago, in his most challenging feat, he scaled a 3,000-foot sheer wall in Yosemite National Park that was described as "smooth as alabaster, as steep as a bedroom wall." The slightest irregularity in that rock face can provide a gifted climber with something to grab onto, even if it’s no thicker than a dime. Think about doing that for a living—while you’re 2,000 feet above the ground.
Caldwell was introduced to hiking when he was still a toddler. His parents used to take him out and change his diapers in snow caves. He was never very good at team sports, but if the big challenge was just surviving physical pain, he could manage. His best sports, apart from climbing, were wrestling and cross-country running, contests where he was rewarded for his enormous tolerance for what he calls “elective suffering.”
We sat down with him three years ago in Portsmouth, where he was speaking at the Music Hall’s Writers on a New England Stage series. Do you need a little inspiration to lift you up in these troubled times? Watch our conversation and marvel at what humans can do when they set a goal and focus on it relentlessly.