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There's a great documentary on the climbing culture of Yosemite and its evolution (including the equilibrium-punctuating arrival of Alex Honnold) available at least on Netflix: Valley Uprising . Worth a watch.
"Climbing the Nose" is also pretty cool, but about a different route as far as I can tell.
As a climber, I wish this were less widely publicized. Free soloing is extremely dangerous, and dozens of climbers - including experienced ones die doing it every year.
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Lauded, examined, written about - I agree. Taught - Not so sure. Alex Honnold is an extreme outlier. We mortals may marvel but Im not sure his feat can be replicated so easily. I may be wrong. The guy is simply rad. I couldn't stop laughing at this: A lighter moment came later, Honnold said, when he passed some climbers who had spent the night on a ledge. He did his best not to wake them. "I woke up one guy and he so…
Of course it should be taught -- that doesn't mean everyone ought to try ridiculously dangerous feats like Alex did. But the practices that allowed him to do so are worthwhile nonetheless.
The parent seems to be using "taught" in more the sense that a master teaches an apprentice: giving you the skills, yes, but also putting you in that same situation, or encouraging you to participate in such a climb. Like, picture a skydiving instructor, only they're a "free-solo this particular mountain" instructor. They're giving you instruction and practice with the implicit goal of doing this dangerous thing at the end, and with the implicit suggestion that the course will be all you need to be fully prepared to do the thing at the end, with little risk.
Such "teaching" would be very unlikely to succeed; it would more-often-than-not just kill people.
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I climb but not at anywhere near the level of Honnold. That being said, free climbers fall quite a bit. Sport climbing, that is using bolts that are pre-placed as protection, often involves pushing to one's limit which of course means falling. Traditional climbing, using special gear and features in the rock for protection, does not involve as much falling since there is a higher risk of your gear popping out of its…
Any idea of how many people have free climbed this route? I'm really curious to know if Honnold is a one-of-a-kind climber or there are similar skill level climbers who just aren't willing to risk it without ropes? Either way he's amazing, but I'm curious to know how amazing.
I don't know how many people have freed that particular route (called "Freerider"), but SuperTopo says it's one of the easier routes on El Cap to free climb[0] (though it's still not any "easy" route by any stretch).
But I think it's safe to say that Honnold is a one of a kind climber because free-soloing something takes a significantly higher level of self-control and self-confidence than freeing the same route does. So he's one of a kind precisely because he's willing to risk it without ropes.
[0] http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Yosemite-Valley-El-Ca...
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I climb but not at anywhere near the level of Honnold. That being said, free climbers fall quite a bit. Sport climbing, that is using bolts that are pre-placed as protection, often involves pushing to one's limit which of course means falling. Traditional climbing, using special gear and features in the rock for protection, does not involve as much falling since there is a higher risk of your gear popping out of its…
Any idea of how many people have free climbed this route? I'm really curious to know if Honnold is a one-of-a-kind climber or there are similar skill level climbers who just aren't willing to risk it without ropes? Either way he's amazing, but I'm curious to know how amazing.
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"Climbing the Nose" is also pretty cool, but about a different route as far as I can tell.
It is a different route and significantly harder and will likely never be free soloed for a long time if ever. The crux is so insecure that it's suicide.
If you are interested in this or the history of climbing in Yosemite and and El Capitan I highly recommend the documentary "Valley Uprising." Even if you aren't necessarily interested in climbing its a beautiful documentary. It's available on Netflix. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3784160/
Proper Planning and Practice Prevents Piss Poor Performance. and DEATH. In all seriousness, Alex's mental and physical conditioning to achieve this goal should be lauded, examined, written about, and taught.
Alex is famous because he does "free soloing" - which doesn't use any ropes or safety at all. More people do "free climbing" which uses ropes just in case of fall. Anyone have any idea how often free climbers end up falling and needing their ropes? Could many good free climbers do what Honnold did, but just like the added bits of safety?
[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/us/california-today-alex-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I climb but not at anywhere near the level of Honnold. That being said, free climbers fall quite a bit. Sport climbing, that is using bolts that are pre-placed as protection, often involves pushing to one's limit which of course means falling. Traditional climbing, using special gear and features in the rock for protection, does not involve as much falling since there is a higher risk of your gear popping out of its…
Any idea of how many people have free climbed this route? I'm really curious to know if Honnold is a one-of-a-kind climber or there are similar skill level climbers who just aren't willing to risk it without ropes? Either way he's amazing, but I'm curious to know how amazing.
There's little data on this sort of topic, but I'd estimate that less than 0.25% of climbers achieve the level of physical skill and technical expertise required to free climb Freerider.