KRISTIN J. BENDER, Associated Press
SCOTT SMITH, Associated Press
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) —
   

American rock climber Tommy Caldwell was first to pull himself atop a 3,000-foot sheer granite face in Yosemite National Park, followed minutes later by his longtime friend Kevin Jorgeson.
    The pair embraced and then Jorgeson pumped his arm in the air and clapped his hands above his head. After years of practice, failed attempts and 19 grueling days scaling the vertical wall on El Capitan by their bloodied fingertips, the friends at last grasped success.
    "That's a deep, abiding, lifelong friendship, built over suffering on the wall together over six years," said Caldwell's mother, Terry, among some 200 people in the valley floor thousands of feet below who broke into cheers at the climbers' historic feat Wednesday.
    She said her son could have reached the top of the world's largest granite monolith several days ago, but he waited for his friend to ensure they made it together.
    The men completed what had long been considered the world's most difficult rock climb, captivating the world through social media and livestreamed video coverage while documentary filmmakers dangled from ropes capturing each move.