"When DiGiulian and her climbing partner, Elliot Faber, took off, they expected mild rain toward the end of the ascent. The night it came, their 10th on the climb, DiGiulian was dead tired and happy just to curl up into the sleeping bag on her portaledge, a suspended shelter that allows climbers to camp on the wall. Then I looked at the forecast, and I was like: Oh, no,' she said."
"A light rain turned into a downpour that sopped the shelter. DiGiulian guarded her sleeping bag as best she could, while mopping up the moisture with her clothes, then wrapping herself in them to dry them off with her body heat. Her 4ftx6ft portaledge was an ultralight marvel, packing neatly into a 2lb sack that she could strap to her climbing harness."
DiGiulian trained for three years to attempt a difficult El Capitan route, timing the ascent for a two-week favorable-weather window beginning November 3. Training rappels produced jolts of fear from 2,600ft exposure, but ascending calmed her and allowed focus on individual moves and pitches. She and partner Elliot Faber expected mild rain late in the climb; on their tenth night a light rain became a downpour that soaked their portaledge. DiGiulian mopped moisture with clothing and used body heat to dry her sleeping bag. A 4ftx6ft ultralight portaledge packed into a 2lb sack, but 50mph gusts bent poles and threatened failure. They waited days suspended on the wall for a safe bail weather window.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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