Climbing the Dawn Wall

THIS POST APPEARS ON SUNDAY JANUARY 18, 2015 IN THE LETTERS TO THE SPORTS EDITOR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES


“Pursuing the Impossible, and Coming Out on Top,” Jan. 15:

Climbing the Dawn Wall is the perfect physical metaphor. The 19-day ascent captured our attention and imagination in a way few if any conquests have in the world of sport. In its highest and best form, sport elevates not only the participant, but also all those who witness the achievement and absorb its message.

Inch by inch and day by day, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson demonstrated that the human capacity is far greater than we perceive. The relentlessness of pursuit, the unwillingness to contemplate defeat, the sheer and utter determination to accomplish what could not be done, such is the message that emanated from the Dawn Wall.

Within each of us is an impossible dream that we have now been shown may not be out of reach if only we dare to believe.