In a June 2016 interview published under Rebecca Prusinowski’s name on LinkedIn, Tommy Caldwell described a contrast between anticipating a big climb and sleeping during it. Excitement and complicated logistics could leave him nearly sleepless beforehand. Once on the wall, he generally found sleep easier.
Who is Tommy Caldwell?
Tommy Caldwell is a climber known for difficult big-wall routes, including climbs on Yosemite’s El Capitan. His official biography highlights the first free ascent of the Dawn Wall in January 2015 and the first ascent of Patagonia’s Fitz Traverse in February 2014. He also wrote the memoir The Push.
He described the portaledge as a horizontal resting place after climbing or hanging in a harness. His wind-down was simple: get into his sleeping bag and lie down. He also associated movement of the shared ledge with waking enough to remember dreams; that was his explanation, not a verified mechanism.
A climbing day that began near sunset
A separate Dawn Wall interview published by the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival on November 5, 2018 explains why Caldwell’s expedition nights could look different from a conventional bedtime. He said the climb required cold conditions: heat made the rock harder on fingertips and softened shoe rubber. They therefore waited for the sun to leave the wall before getting to work.
Caldwell recalled climbing from about five in the evening until one in the morning, often by headlamp. Daylight did not leave much room for sleeping in: the exposed ledge became sunny enough to wake them. Much of the intervening day was spent on the portaledge, waiting, talking and enjoying the setting before the evening’s effort. He contrasted that pattern with a more usual big-wall day running from first light until dark.
The festival identifies the Q&A as a Red Bull Media interview and uses it to promote a screening of The Dawn Wall. The link supplies Caldwell’s account of those logistics, not a sleep measurement or a claim that a late climbing schedule is safe to copy.
The interview promotes Parachute bedding and its blog. It supplies no basis for attributing his expedition sleep to that bedding. The interview date is unstated; June 8, 2016 is the publication date. This historical account does not establish his present routine or offer climbing-safety or sleep advice. Source checked November 8, 2026.
Rebecca Prusinowski / My Bedtime Routine: Climber Tommy Caldwell, June 8, 2016