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Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

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Re: Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

#181

Post by FrojoS »

Touche wrote: post #115
vkou wrote: post #4

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.

I couldn't agree more. If you want to risk your life, fine, but don't take a camera crew with you.

Well, thats how he makes a living. If it wasn't for his free solos, Alex Honnold would most likely not be able to be a professional climber. For those who pay him (sponsors, magazines) its an ethical dilemma for sure. Cliff Bar for instance, recently dropped several athletes including Honold when they decided to no longer support sports that they deemed too dangerous.

Re: Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

#182

Post by altvali »

Lordarminius wrote: post #134
altvali wrote: post #116

And why is this hacker news material?

> And why is this hacker news material? Because "a person who is a hacker , only a hacker, and nothing but a hacker, cannot be much of a hacker."

Yes, but not all hackers that aren't just hackers love climbing. And if I interpret that quote correctly, is there even a remote connection between the article and the kind of social news that are a good fit for this site? I though this site is about computer science and entrepreneurship. And for hackers who love climbing there are online climbing magazine sites, the same for gardening, formula 1 etc.

What would happen if people would start posting here unrelated sports news, or pop music, or motivational quotes, in the name of the quote you mention? Or is it okay if it's only from time to time? What's the ratio?

Re: Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

#183

Post by dguaraglia »

vkou wrote: post #4

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.

While I agree, I think it's a self-limiting problem: those of us who are completely outside of the sport would look at this and think "wow, what an amazing feat" but never fathom doing it. Those on the inside will know how hard and risky this is.

Re: Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

#184

Post by dguaraglia »

altvali wrote: post #182
Lordarminius wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And why is this hacker news material? Because "a person who is a hacker , only a hacker, and nothing but a hacker, cannot be much of a hacker."

Yes, but not all hackers that aren't just hackers love climbing. And if I interpret that quote correctly, is there even a remote connection between the article and the kind of social news that are a good fit for this site? I though this site is about computer science and entrepreneurship. And for hackers who love climbing there are online climbing magazine sites, the same for gardening, formula 1 etc. What would happ…

There's a huge difference between an article about the latest soccer match and an article like this: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lionel-messi-is-impossi...

I feel this article exposes a monumental achievement that it warrants being of interest. I mean, the proof is in the pudding: it's gotten more comments and discussion going than 95% of the "Version X of [Piece of Software] released" articles (and I consider those to be semi-useful.)

Re: Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

#185

Post by hfourm »

zzalpha wrote: post #168
vkou wrote: post #4

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.

To all those people attacking this guy, I think it's important to point out that free soloing is absolutely controversial in the climbing community, for exactly this reason. Heck, Clif dropped some climber sponsorships, including Honnold's, for just this reason: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/sports/clif-bar-drops-spo... Personally, I do think that free soloists like Honnold to some extent damage the reputation o…

I don't see how it is any different then something like back country skiers, or base jumping. There are is a wide spectrum of risk in a lot of "extreme" sports.

Not trying to make this an attack either, I just see a lot of parallels elsewhere in other sports -- and it seems a little hypocritical to me that the climbing community would even be divided over this.

Furthermore, sticking with the BC skiing example, many people (resort skiers) would see it as irresponsibly risky. But we know that BC skiers take all the preparations they can, from monitoring avalanche reports and forecasts, taking training classes, learning how to probe and escape avalanches with partners. Similarly, Alex very much spends a lot of time preparing for his free-solos, in all aspects of planning -- which makes it much more calculated then "irresponsibly" risky to me.

Re: Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

#186

Post by Lordarminius »

altvali wrote: post #182
Lordarminius wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And why is this hacker news material? Because "a person who is a hacker , only a hacker, and nothing but a hacker, cannot be much of a hacker."

Yes, but not all hackers that aren't just hackers love climbing. And if I interpret that quote correctly, is there even a remote connection between the article and the kind of social news that are a good fit for this site? I though this site is about computer science and entrepreneurship. And for hackers who love climbing there are online climbing magazine sites, the same for gardening, formula 1 etc. What would happ…

>... What would happen if people would start posting here unrelated sports news....

Lighten up dude(dudette)

Re: Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

#187

Post by altvali »

dguaraglia wrote: post #184
altvali wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but not all hackers that aren't just hackers love climbing. And if I interpret that quote correctly, is there even a remote connection between the article and the kind of social news that are a good fit for this site? I though this site is about computer science and entrepreneurship. And for hackers who love climbing there are online climbing magazine sites, the same for gardening, formula 1 etc. What would happ…

There's a huge difference between an article about the latest soccer match and an article like this: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lionel-messi-is-impossi... I feel this article exposes a monumental achievement that it warrants being of interest. I mean, the proof is in the pudding: it's gotten more comments and discussion going than 95% of the "Version X of [Piece of Software] released" articles (and I consid…

Very interesting point, I haven't thought about it that way, thank you.

Re: Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

#189

Post by [deleted] »

maolt wrote: post #153
AcerbicZero wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the end it's his choice.

"at his incompetence" ? Your nickname is aptly chosen, yet the same can't be said of the words in your post. Honnold climbs without a rope because he can afford to do so. He may well one day lose his life, but he knows it, and puts much more care in preparing and then stays concentrated on his climbs than most people do when driving a car. I encourage you to read articles about him, they should help give you some per…

[deleted]

Re: Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, and the Climbing World Reels

#190

Post by kbutler »

tshadley wrote: post #150

Assuming Honnold has perfect ability, what are the risks of the route itself? I assume these routes are kept clean of loose rock, holds are inspected constantly and anything showing wear is communicated to the climber community.

The National Geographic article described his some of his preparation, including climbing with ropes and a friend the week before, marking tricky holds with chalk, and rappelling down after an intervening rainstorm to make sure the holds and marks were clean.
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