quote:

Originally posted by airsoft guy:

Guess what I'm reading everybody.

SIGforum?

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:
I got $20 says he doesn't make it long without rope / safety gear.

Folks like him and Dean Potter have been doing similar climbs for years without incident.

Potter died BASE jumping, after many years of climbing, a lot of which was free soloing, speed climbing, etc.

These guys are the best in the world, long bored with regular climbing, so they push the envelopes. I wouldn't do it myself, but see nothing wrong with their choices.

ymmv

I see nothing wrong with their choices either. Hell, there was a time when I did a lot of "Pushing the edge of the envelope" stuff too. But even professionals make mistakes.

What did Hemmingway say about the only 3 true sports? Mountain climbing, auto racing and bull fighting? You HAVE TO BE 100%, 100% of the time. One little "oops" and some poor schlub is scraping you off of something and putting you into a ziplock bag. Then comes the mantra of "They died doing what they love".

quote:

Originally posted by SummersAtTheLake:
I pulled up a youtube video of him climbing and could not even finish watching it...I can't even imagine the physical and mental stamina it takes to do accomplish something like this.

That's funny, b/c I hear a lot of golfers argue that, "Golf is the mentally toughest and most demanding sport," second only to chess if you consider chess a sport.

The higher level you play, the more of a mental game it becomes. At the elite professional level, golf is 99% mental.

It's the only professional sport where someone who wins 20% of the time is considered wildly successful.

No other sport requires as much mental focus and emotional control. Yadda, yadda...

No one will ever convince me that a double-bogey is more unnerving that falling off a rock face.



When free-climbing w/ safety rope, some of the bolts where climbers clip-in w/ their carabiners may be 20-30' apart, which means a rock climber may fall and dangle up to 60'. Now that's a lot more preferable than falling to one's death, but it's not like swinging on a swingset either.

Then there's the rare breed of free-solo specialists. No one will ever convince me that four hours of hitting the links for 18 holes can ever compare mentally or physically to four hours of climbing 3000' w/o gear (or w/ gear for the matter) up a difficult climbing route where the hand and footholds are sometimes the size of dimes.



As a reference, those trees below are about 200' tall.



The same mental toughness and challenges that apply to golf can be said about target shooting, but I doubt - please correct me if I'm wrong - elite target shooters would claim their sport to be mentally tougher than free-climbing.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: iron chef,

Insane. What can ya do to top that! Adrenaline junky for sure.

how do you get down??

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
how do you get down??

I believe there is a hiking trail that goes to the top.

It's mind boggling.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
how do you get down??

Walk down the other side.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
how do you get down??

Gravity.

this is nothing short of amazing. If EPSN or Sports illustrated don't give him athlete of the year and give it to a basketball player or something then you know the system is crooked.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3784160/

check out this documentary on netflix " Valley Uprising" about the history of climbing in Yosemite starting just a few decades ago.

quote:

Originally posted by ElToro:
this is nothing short of amazing. If EPSN or Sports illustrated don't give him athlete of the year and give it to a basketball player or something then you know the system is crooked.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3784160/

check out this documentary on netflix " Valley Uprising" about the history of climbing in Yosemite starting just a few decades ago.

LOL
Climbing isn't a spectator sport and doesn't involve a ball, so Alex isn't even on their radar.

Also, in the climbing world, free-solo climbers are considered a kind of gimmicky, b/c you can't push the limit of your climbing skills w/o rope. In terms of who has the best technical skill and can climb the most difficult routes, Honnold is not even among the world's top 20 or so.

Here's a link to a photo taken by his climbing buddy during the actual El Capitan ascent.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
The tree fuzz NPS rangers let him?

There is a whole camp of climbers that spend the entire season at the base of El Cap, and who go climb it every few says or so.

The NPS pays them to go rescue other climbers who get stuck or have other problems, but they only get paid when they are on a rescue climb.

Some of those guys, and gals, can almost run up the side of El Cap but nobody does it without gear... until now.

There is just no way to comprehend what Alex Honnold is doing.

That is so spectacular I struggle to make a comparison. Someone mentioned golf before; I would imagine (since I play some golf and have rock climbed) that comparing Alex's accomplishments to golf would be like someone winning every golf tournament he entered in a season while averaging 50 per round. Yes, 50 strokes for each round.

quote:

50 strokes for each round

With nothing but a 9 Iron...

quote:

Originally posted by rsbolo:
There is just no way to comprehend what Alex Honnold is doing.

That is so spectacular I struggle to make a comparison. Someone mentioned golf before; I would imagine (since I play some golf and have rock climbed) that comparing Alex's accomplishments to golf would be like someone winning every golf tournament he entered in a season while averaging 50 per round. Yes, 50 strokes for each round.

With another man pointing a gun at his head that will shoot him for anything less than a birdie each for each hole.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
how do you get down??

Playing that funky music?

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:

quote:

Originally posted by CPD SIG:
I got $20 says he doesn't make it long without rope / safety gear.

Folks like him and Dean Potter have been doing similar climbs for years without incident.

Potter died BASE jumping, after many years of climbing, a lot of which was free soloing, speed climbing, etc.

These guys are the best in the world, long bored with regular climbing, so they push the envelopes. I wouldn't do it myself, but see nothing wrong with their choices.

ymmv

I agree they can do whatever they wish on these matters and accept the outcomes. As there may be higher than normal accident rates, it might make sense to have such climbers carry an insurance policy to pay for any rescue/cleanup if they have an "oopsie". (My daughter is a dispatcher for airborne ambulances. They are not cheap.)

X Zero and 46and2 got it!

quote:

Originally posted by coloradohunter44:
Insane. What can ya do to top that! Adrenaline junky for sure.

I don't think the climb itself is an adrenaline rush for him. He's said many times his free solo's are fairly relaxed, for him. If he feels a rush durning the climb it's because something has gone really wrong.

Besides there being no rope these climbs are fairly easy for him. While these climbs grab most if the highlights most of his stuff is with gear roped in. That's when he's pushing his limits and willing to take a chance a fall. That's where the rush comes in. Climbing something that really pushes your own personal limits.

When you see someone free soloing it's not pushing their personal limits.

What does it really mean?

The upside I see, is that you can't just pay to do what he did.

You can BUY Everest. With a limited risk of expiring.

Good for him for not becoming meat paste. Fuck all the attention seekers behind him.

Whatever. I risk my life every time I get on a roof and no one cares.