Teddy Eyob Becomes First Black Climber to Free El Capitan

Tadros “Teddy” Eyob was high up on El Capitan when the infamous boulder problem finally slowed him down.

Eyob stared down the problem. A sequence of half-pad crimps, dime-edge holds, and a delicate thumb press stared back. The sweeping sea of granite up Free Rider (5.13a; 3,300ft) loomed larger than life in Eyob’s mind. But it didn’t feel impossible.

In the waning days of 2025, 30-year-old Eyob and his climbing partner, 21-year-old Rell Lennox, left the ground, climbing into a late...