He lost a finger and survived a kidnapping. Then, this climber took on a 9,000-foot 'death-trap'

Tom Caldwell, a mountaineer who has made amazing ascents and lived a life full of excitement and adventure, has followed a path full of challenges that even inspired a documentary film.

After a severe Achilles tendon injury that led to multiple surgeries and two years away from climbing, Caldwell, now in his 40s, was worried about his future. He invited his friend and fellow climber, Alex Honnold, to return to the climbing scene. The two decided to start a new challenge and climb all five granite ice towers of "Devil's Tomb" in the Stickin mountain range, which is located on the border of Alaska and British Columbia, in one day.

This exciting and sometimes terrifying journey has been depicted in a new documentary called "Devil's Ascent" by National Geographic. Caldwell and Hannold cycled this route from Colorado to Alaska; A trip that lasted more than a month.

Throughout his career, Caldwell has faced many challenges. At the age of 21, he was taken hostage by members of the "Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan" during a mountaineering trip to Kyrgyzstan along with his ex-girlfriend and two other climbers. After six days of captivity, he made the difficult decision to throw one of the guards off the edge of a cliff so they could escape.

After this bitter experience, Caldwell suffered a severe crisis, and some time later, during the renovation of his house, he lost the finger on his left hand. But he continued to climb despite this limitation and even managed to climb the difficult 3,000-foot Down wall in Yosemite's El Capitan in 2015, along with Kevin Georgeson.

Caldwell says this recent trip with Honnold has helped him feel better as an athlete and feel like he's back to his former self.

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