Yosemite climbers summit El Capitan in historic 'free' climb

After two weeks of climbing, two men have completed a historic free ascent to the summit of the 900 metre El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park without the aid of climbing tools.

Two climbers vying to become the first in the world to use only their hands and feet to scale El Capitan make their way to the summit Wed, Jan. 14, 2015, in Yosemite National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Two men completed a historic climb to the summit of the 3,000-foot (900-metre) El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park on Wednesday without climbing tools, a spokeswoman said.

Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson made it to the top of El Capitan at 3:30 p.m. local time, spokeswoman Jess Clayton said.

They have become first to climb El Capitan's so-called Dawn Wall without bolts or climbing tools.  

Caldwell and Jorgeson, who began their climb on December 27, were expected to celebrate privately with their families at the summit before speaking to reporters in a Yosemite meadow the following day.

The Dawn Wall of El Capitan is divided into 32 climbing pitches, which are varying lengths of rock that the climbers are trying to master with only their hands and feet. The wall has been scaled before, first by legendary climber Warren Harding in 1970, but never before without climbing tools. Earlier ascents have all been 'aid climbs' whereby climbers use tools to haul themselves up the pitches.

Caldwell and Jorgeson had reached the final 11 pitches on Tuesday after working their way past some of the toughest stretches on the rock.

Jorgeson struggled for several days last week on difficult pitch 15, at one point being forced to rest for two days while the skin on his fingers healed after being ripped off by razor-sharp ledges.

The two climbers were using safety ropes in case of falls, and using ropes and other tools to move back and forth from their campsite perched high on the rock.

Because the warmth of the day can cause their hands and feet to perspire, the two often started climbing at dusk.

Caldwell and Jorgeson's attempt on El Capitan has been closely watched in the climbing world and has drawn worldwide news headlines and attention on social media as they made progress toward the summit.

According to Brandwatch, a social listening and analytics firm, social media mentions of the climb have skyrocketed since the climb began, drawing more than 17,000 mentions as of Wednesday.

El Capitan compared to Burj Khalifa (via BBC)