Historic Ascent of El Capitan

My brother-in-law, Jarem Frye, is at it again.  He and another amputee buddy, Craig Demartino, are at this very moment attempting a history-making climb of Yosemite's mighty El Cap.  They are trying to become the first all-amputee team to make it up the Lurking Fear route . . . IN THREE DAYS . . . climbing relentlessly and sleeping on the face of the mountain in those little hanging bivouacs.  It's insane, if you ask me, but then insane is what Jarem does best.

{Photo credit: chossclimbers.com}

Here's the scope of the adventure in Jarem's own words as sent to various media outlets:

Dear friends in the media,

I wanted to let you know about an exciting history-making first ascent
of El Capitan, Yosemite, starting the 10th of June. I will be
climbing El Capitan via the "Lurking Fear" route with Craig Demartino.
This will be the first all-amputee team ascent of one of the most
legendary big walls in the world of rock climbing!

Craig and I are excited to be making history on a wall that is hard to
make history on. El Capitan draws climbers and spectators from around
the world. It has been a focus and dream of most serious climbers
since before it was first climbed over a span of 47 days on the wall.
Since that time, the 3,000 foot wall has seen nearly every historic
accomplishment ticked off the list by great climbers like Jim Bridwell
who became the first to climb the Nose route in under 24 hours, Lynn
Hill who shocked the world of climbing when she became the first to
free climb the entire route, and even my climbing partner Craig who
became the first amputee to climb the Nose of El Cap in a single day.

We will be doing our route over a span of three days, sleeping on a
portaledge hanging from the side of the cliff at night. We have to
carry all the gear, food and water for three days up the cliff with us
and we will be doing it all without assistance.

Craig is a strong climber with experience in Yosemite. I have been
away from climbing for about five years and have never been to
Yosemite, climbed any 'big walls' or spent the night on the side of a
cliff. I have been training hard to be ready for this climb, pushing
myself to climb 1200 vertical feet a day.

I will be introducing some new products of SymBiotechs USA through
this climb! We are making improvements to the world's first energy
storing prosthetic knee, the XT9 ESPK and I will be putting a foot
designed specifically for rock climbing to the test on this epic and
monumental journey. The XT9 was proven by becoming part of many
'firsts' in prosthetic history -first AKA telemark skier, first AKA
wakeboarder, first competitive AKA snowboarder, first eXtremity Games
rock climbing champion and many others. I am excited to introduce
SymBiotechs USA's second product to the market by establishing a
company precedent of proving our products in history-making ways that
can inspire amputees to greater possibilities than I was told would
ever be possible when I faced my own amputation.

We will be professionally photographed and recorded on this adventure
and will be able to provide high resolution media of the trip if any
of you would like to publish coverage of this historic accomplishment.
Craig and I will both be available for interview immediately
afterwards (we will be coming home June 15-17), and I will be
available until June 7th before I leave for Yosemite.

I feel that this effort warrants publicity for the following reasons:
1. It is historic in the wold of climbing
2. It is an incredible accomplishment for the amputee world
3. It will be greatly inspiring for amputees and able-bodied persons
alike to see that this great a challenge can be accomplished by two
individuals labeled as "disabled"
4. New technology designed specifically to empower amputees for this
kind of activity will be made available for introduction, critique,
and/or praise

If you would like to cover this story in any form, please contact me
by phone or email.

Thank you,

Jarem Frye