1 Yosemite Climber Just 1,000 Feet From Summit on Free Climb

San Francisco: One of the men making a grueling ascent of a half-mile of exposed granite in California's Yosemite National Park is just 1,000 feet (305 meters) from finishing the groundbreaking climb and the other had climbed one of the hardest sections as of Friday.

Tommy Caldwell, 36, climbed to a ledge 2,000 feet (610 meters) up on Thursday, said Tom Evans, a photographer and climber who has been chronicling the journey.

Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson are relying completely on their physical strength and dexterity to make their way up the Dawn Wall, a vertical face on one side of El Capitan. Caldwell could become the first to accomplish the feat.

After struggling, Jorgeson completed Friday a particularly difficult section lower down the wall.

The men have been climbing toward the 3,000-foot (915-meter) summit for two weeks.