It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Jonathon Clearwater came tantalisingly close to realising his dream of free-climbing one of the world's most challenging rock faces, El Capitan in the Yosemite National Park, California.
The 30-year-old was named New Zealand Mountaineer of the Year in 2006 and has completed some of the hardest rock climbs in New Zealand and Australia.
Last year he won a $10,000 AMP scholarship and set off to the United States to climb the 1000m vertical granite monolith affectionately known by experienced climbers around the world as ''El Cap''.
But when he got there, he was kept off his preferred climbing route by waterfalls.
''We'd gone early in the season, to try and get temperatures cool enough to free-climb with, because it gets really hot there during summer.
''But a huge amount of late-season snow kept the line I wanted to climb, running with water the whole time we were there.
''I climbed El Cap, but not the way I wanted to. Unfortunately, the gamble didn't pay off.''
Dr Clearwater said the plan was to freeclimb, using only ''the protection that you fix to the rock in case you fall off El Cap''.
''This would have been a great achievement, but unfortunately we didn't really get a chance to do it.''
Instead, he made several climbs of the start of Freerider - the most-climbed free route on El Cap - but it, too, was running with water from snow-melt, he said.
''It was really frustrating. I climbed lots of other great climbs, and even managed to climb El Cap in a single day via a different route, which we just tried to climb as fast as possible without worrying about free-climbing each pitch.
''This was fun, but not really the achievement or experience I was looking for.
''So yeah, the plan now is to go back - perhaps in September next year - and hope for some better conditions,'' he said.
While many climbers developed their early skills at indoor gyms, Dr Clearwater said he learned to climb at the base of an alpine rock face in the Southern Alps.
He has completed some of the hardest rock climbs in New Zealand, and in the Karakoram Mountains in Pakistan he established a new route up a 2000m high alpine ridge-line near the Trango Glacier.
He is known for making the first ascent of Eagle Rocks Licking Wounds in New South Wales - perhaps the hardest traditionally protected climb in Australia or New Zealand.
Dr Clearwater was formerly a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Otago psychology department and a systems analyst at the National Energy Research Institute.
He now works for a geothermal energy company in the Bay of Plenty.
He has produced a documentary film, published articles in NZ Climber magazine, the Alpine Club Journal and Australian Rock magazine, and also speaks on the environmental aspects of alpine climbing.
