The Big Climb My Life


The Big Climb

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BIRD SCREECHES

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Hello. I'm Ella, and right now,

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I don't know how the rest of my life is going to pan out.

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I guess it could go one of two ways - up...

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or a very long way down.

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I'm attempting to climb one of the world's biggest rock faces.

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It's called El Capitan, or El Cap for short.

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It's in the USA.

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It's nearly a kilometre high, which probably doesn't sound like much,

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but that's six London Eyes stacked on top of each other.

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In the climbing world, this is one of the toughest challenges there is.

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I kind of underestimated how big it was.

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It's much bigger when you come to this angle.

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Many experienced climbers never make it to the top,

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but if I manage it, I'll be the youngest girl ever to do it.

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'I'm 13. I live here in Sheffield with my family.

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'I split my time between my mum's house and here at my dad's flat.

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'He's a famous climber.

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'He travels all over the world to climb the biggest,

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'scariest rock faces he can find.

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'I've grown up with his love for it,

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'and I guess that's where it all began.

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'My friends all think I'm a bit mad for liking climbing so much.

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'But my head for heights does come in handy sometimes.

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'We all go cheerleading together

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'and I'm the one who gets to go flying through the air.

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'Actually, everyone in my dad's family is nuts about climbing.'

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'Dad loves to talk about his climbing adventures.

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'I've heard all his stories over and over again.

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'So, last year, to keep him quiet, I said, "I bet I could do that."'

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It's probably the first big decisions of my life to say,

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"Yes, I do want to do this and I am going to do this.

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"I'm going to persevere and, like, do it."

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'And we're off.

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'It's an 11-hour plane journey before we touch down in California.

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'I've never been to America before,

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'although I did once watch an episode of Friends!

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'This place is WAY bigger than Sheffield.'

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-BOTH:

-Whoo-hoo!

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'El Cap is still four hours away by car.'

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'Only one thing for it - road trip.'

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'Finally, we're in Yosemite National Park.

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'And I get my first glimpse of what I'm going to be climbing.

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'O...M...G.'

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Is that it? Whoa, that's big.

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-I expect you feel...

-Small.

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HE LAUGHS You are quite small, though.

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'To most people, this looks like a cliff.

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'But in the climbing world, we call it "a wall".

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'Climbing a big wall is a bit like taking a trip to the moon.

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'We take everything we need to survive,

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'like food, water and clothes.'

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'We'll be climbing as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow,

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'so I'm taking one last look

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'at where I'll be spending the next four days.'

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I kind of underestimated how big it was.

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It's much bigger when you come to this angle.

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Well, the main reason I'm climbing is cos not many people do it.

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It's kind of an individual thing.

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You do everything for yourself. It's like no-one can help you.

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It's just you and the wall.

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Today's the day.

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It's boiling hot, and loads of people have decided not to climb

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because of the heat.

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But...we're going for it.

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Well, the height's obviously much bigger from here,

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cos you can just see it and it's kind of like...

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It shows you how big it is compared to in the valley.

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It is bigger from here, definitely.

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'And this is how we'll do it.

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'Super-climbers Paul and Aldo lead climb up the route,

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'using the friction from their hands and feet to move up the rock,

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'and pulling on bits of equipment that they wedge into cracks.

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'They fix a rope to the wall,

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'which is what I'm going to use to climb up.

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'Here I go!'

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This is kind of make-or-break time.

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If she struggles on the first little bit,

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then it doesn't bode well for the rest of it.

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It's usually the worst bit, cos you have to dumar such a long way.

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'It's a long way up, and after years of dreaming,

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'months of planning and weeks of waiting, I'm finally on the wall.

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'The technique I'm using to climb the wall is called dumaring.

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'Basically, I push myself up with my feet using this foot loop.

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'I slide this clip up the rope,

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'it locks on, and it won't slide back down again.

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'To get to the top, I'll just have to do this about, mm...

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'4,000 times.'

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Ugh!

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The rope is 70 metres long,

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so the climb is split into rope lengths,

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or pitches, as climbers call them.

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At the end of each rope length, there's a place called a belay,

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where climbers before us have drilled metal bolts into the rock.

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We clip ourselves in to rest or camp overnight.

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There are 14 pitches on my route up El Cap.

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Need to grab my cow's tail.

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'And I've done my first pitch. Only 13 to go.

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'It's only eight in the morning, but it's already boiling.'

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-SHE SIGHS

-Need to put some suncream on.

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'Dad is the last member of the team to make it off the ground.

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'The whole team is now climbing.

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'The only way is up.'

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'When we reach the top of a pitch, Dad has to haul up all the bags

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'with everything we need to survive on the wall.'

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So we've got five people's stuff and lots of water,

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so hauling is turning into a bit of a day-long nightmare.

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It's the end of a long day of climbing.

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'I'm exhausted. I can't wait to go to sleep.

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'So right here, 150 metres above the ground, is my bedroom for the night.

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'The only thing between me and the rocks below is a tiny portaledge -

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'a lightweight metal frame that's a bit like a camp bed.'

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'At this height, you really wouldn't want anything to go wrong.'

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-CRASHING

-Oh!

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'Because of a rope tangle below, my portaledge has become unstable.'

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-Move your feet.

-I am. Right, can you lift it up a bit?

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It's fine. I'll just wait until I sort out these stupid straps.

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Agh!

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I'll do it.

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'Luckily, I'm roped into the wall, as I always am.

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'Dad sorts out the problem.

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'But that's one bedtime I won't be forgetting in a hurry.'

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-BIRDS CALL

-'I'm awake at the crack of dawn.

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'I don't think I've ever seen dawn before.

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'But after last night's portaledge incident,

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'I'm just happy to be here.'

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Time for school.

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No, it's not.

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MUSIC: "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye ft. Kimbra

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'When you're climbing big walls, you have to get used to early starts.

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'I am trying, but it's just gone 7.30am, and it's hot already.'

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I think it's at times like this when you start thinking,

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"Was it a good idea?" really, but she'll get up this bit.

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It just might take longer than you'd like, really.

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'I've finished the second pitch of the day,

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'but Dad's having some problems.'

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Dad, you've really tangled the rope.

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'He's somehow managed to twist his rope

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'around the bags he's pulling up,

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'and if he doesn't untangle it we're going to grind to a halt.

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'To fix it, he has to swing out and around.

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'Rather him than me.'

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Whoo!

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'We haven't yet reached our planned camp for the night.

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'The whole team is exhausted, but we have to keep climbing.

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'I don't mind so much - it's much cooler at night.'

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'Throughout the day on the wall we just eat snacks,

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'but at night we have our meal,

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'and tonight Paul and Aldo were the chefs.

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'On the menu is a wrap with tuna and cream cheese

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'and some curry couscous.

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'It may seem like an odd combination

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'but when it's your only meal of the day, it goes down well.'

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Ow, got indigestion from eating too fast.

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Thank you, Paul and Aldo, you made my day.

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# Holiday, oh, holiday The best one of the year... #

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'It's day three of the climb and we are now too far up to go back down.

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'We have to make it to the top.'

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I'm spraying everyone because everyone smells.

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And it's not nice.

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'These have been the most exhausting days of my life.

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'I'm doing 1,000 pull-ups a day,

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'I'm burning more calories than I'm eating,

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'and I'm not getting enough sleep.

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'But we can't fall behind schedule.'

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So I feel really, really, really tired...

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SHE YAWNS

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..and try and sort of sleep but um...

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..I think on a scale of nought to ten, I'm definitely ten,

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I'm like, so tired.

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Doing well, Ella.

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It's harder than it looks, seriously.

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-Ella?

-Yeah.

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What are you going to do when you get on the top?

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Er...fall asleep.

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-Why don't you sing a song?

-I don't want to sing a song.

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# I like to move it, move it I like to move it, move it

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# I like to move it, move it I like to...

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# Move it. #

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'Yeah. Thanks, Dad.'

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I had a mini emotional moment when I was like,

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really sad cos I dropped my iPad.

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It's just sad.

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It's been a really hard day.

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It looked easy but it's really not. It's horrible

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'It's day 4 and hopefully the last.

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'There's no sign of it being any cooler.

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'And we're close to the top,

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but it will still take a full day of tough climbing to make it.'

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-Two more pitches to go - have you got it in you?

-Yeah.

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-Really?

-Yeah.

-Really?

-Yeah.

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'But the end is in sight,

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'and after four days and 13 pitches

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'there's only one more rope length between me and success.

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'I've got to make it.'

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Dad, can I free-climb this last pitch?

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You couldn't talk a few seconds ago!

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Where have you got the energy from?

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Well, no, cos dumaring takes more effort.

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OK, I'll belay you up, over.

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'I'm going to attempt to free-climb this last pitch.

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'This means using just my hands and feet to scale the rock.

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'I'm still clipped into Dad via the rope, just in case.'

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Come along, it's like climbing on the edge of the world.

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'At the start of this journey,

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'I didn't know which way things would work out.

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'But now I do, because I'm about to make it to the top of El Capitan.'

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# Cos, baby, you're a firework

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# Come on, show 'em what you're worth... #

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Remind me never to do that again with any other of my children.

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'I'm Ella.

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'I'm 13 years, ten months and eight days old

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'and I'm now the youngest girl ever to climb El Capitan.

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'Oh, yeah. Thanks, Dad.'

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# Cos, baby, you're a firework

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# Come on, show 'em what you're worth

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# Make 'em go "Ah, ah, ah"

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# As you shoot across the sky... #

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