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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

#201

Post by [deleted] »

DontGiveTwoFlux wrote: post #123
mindcrime wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what's the difference here? Free-climb - uses ropes for safety in the event of a fall, but does not use ropes for assistance climbing. Free-solo - no ropes at all. Just hands, feet and chalk, basically. IOW, you fall, you die.

Another difference - The free climbing on the Dawn Wall allowed for mistakes because of the ropes. Jorgesen (and maybe Caldwell, I can't recall) both took falls while attempting to climb the wall. The spirit of free climbing is that you do each pitch (basically one rope's length) without falling at least once. If you fall, you go back to the beginning of the pitch. That way, you have essentially climbed the whole rou…

[deleted]

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

#202

Post by AcerbicZero »

FrojoS wrote: post #180
AcerbicZero wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the end it is his choice.

No, climbing without a rope is the purest form of the sport and has been around for longer than nylon ropes and harnesses. I don't know much about F1 races but I guess say a fairer comparison would be doing time trials alone on the track versus actual races where you risk the collision with other drivers. The former is safer but the latter is more interesting, not just because it's more dangerous. Maybe this video gi…

Like I've said elsewhere, I have no problem with people who want to climb this way, and they're free to do whatever makes them happy. My point is that introducing needless risk doesn't enhance the achievement to me.

Unless I'm seriously missing something about the "sport" of climbing, the point is to climb. My chosen hobby of auto racing involves plenty of risk, but we don't leave our helmets at home to somehow make it more "pure".

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

#203

Post by cgh »

Fricken wrote: post #41
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.

Amongst the legendary free soloist rock climbers, here's the spread: John Gill, alive at 80 Peter Croft, alive at 60 Alain Robert, alive at 54 Catherine Destiville, alive at 53 Steph Davis, alive at 43 Alex Honnold, alive at 31 Dan Osmond, died at 45, not free soloing Dean Potter, died at 43, not free soloing Michael Reardon, died at 43, not free soloing John Bachar died free soloing at 52 It's a very small field, no…

You can also add the legendary Patrick Edlinger, who died after falling down his stairs at the age of 52. Who can forget the epic "Life By the Fingertips": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj1-58EfWpo

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

#204

Post by cynicalbastard »

sizzzzlerz wrote: post #199

It would be well to remember the old adage that there are two kinds of rock climbers: those that have fallen and those that will fall. As spectacular a feat as this was, even for someone as skilled as Honnold, he does this often enough, in the end, it will kill him.

i used to think that, but now i'm not so sure. his free climbs are basically choreographed down to the inch, well ahead of time.

that is a completely different thing than just going up because he's in a good mood and thinks he can do it.

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

#207

Post by cbtacy »

specialp wrote: post #51
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 am a big Alex Honnold fan, but no matter how much your skill, free solo climbing will kill you one day. Alex Honnold is not the first free soloist, and won't be the last. He is great climber, and has no fear of heights it appears. Your average person or climber is not going to try to replicate what he is doing due to their desire to preserve their life. We do not see many people jumping gorges in rocket sleds like…

Speaking as a former sponsored, professional climber who happens to have been one of the first Americans to solo 5.13... sorry but I'm still alive and kicking.

Listen... soloing is obviously very dangerous. Nobody who is out there soloing as a pastime is unaware of this. But comparing soloing to trying to jump gorges on rocket slides isn't doing justice to a complicated and nuanced subject.

Soloing is a personal decision. And it is usually carefully made. People who solo regularly are usually not adrenaline junkies. They're not thrill seekers. They're careful and methodical and prepared. They have probably solo down-climbed more total mileage than you can imagine.

Calling Alex a special person is fair and appropriate. But he's not a daredevil.

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

#208

Post by projectileboy »

bogomipz wrote: post #8

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/

If you enjoy this, then I also highly recommend the book "The Vertical World of Yosemite". It's shame it's out of print, practically every story in there is a gem.

https://www.amazon.com/Vertical-World-Yosemite-Collection-Ph...

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

#209

Post by Fricken »

cgh wrote: post #203
Fricken wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amongst the legendary free soloist rock climbers, here's the spread: John Gill, alive at 80 Peter Croft, alive at 60 Alain Robert, alive at 54 Catherine Destiville, alive at 53 Steph Davis, alive at 43 Alex Honnold, alive at 31 Dan Osmond, died at 45, not free soloing Dean Potter, died at 43, not free soloing Michael Reardon, died at 43, not free soloing John Bachar died free soloing at 52 It's a very small field, no…

You can also add the legendary Patrick Edlinger, who died after falling down his stairs at the age of 52. Who can forget the epic "Life By the Fingertips": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj1-58EfWpo

It's too late to edit, but yes, he belongs on the list! I forgot about him.

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

#210

Post by mistermann »

DoubleCribble wrote: post #191
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would also presume that from a physical perspective he must be above average in ways that matter for this sport.

Indeed. Tall, skinny, gangly, and very big hands & fingers with incredible power. Imagine doing 10 sets of reps of pulls-ups but hanging on with only one finger at a time to get an idea. As if one-arm pull-ups weren't hard enough, pinky pull-ups are on a whole different level.

Ten pull ups with one finger on only one arm?
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