Free Climbing El Corazón on El Cap Over 8 Days (5.13b R)

This is a field record of two ascents of El Corazón (5.13b R) on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley completed in May 2026 by Tyler Karow and Julian Kraus-Polk. The film follows the pair over eight days on the wall and shows the incremental nature of pushing a hard free route on big-wall terrain: working pitches, dealing with runouts (the “R” in the grade), and the logistics of spending extended time on a multi-pitch granite face. The route name, grade, place and the fact both climbers managed free ascents are stated in the filmmaker’s account. As a climbing film the value is documentary rather than celebratory. It records how modern free attempts on El Cap are staged and negotiated pitch by pitch — the failures, the small adjustments, and the eventual successes — without embellishment. For someone interested in big-wall free climbing, it’s useful to see how a 5.13b R line is approached over multiple days on El Capitan.