461–470 of 527 posts
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I think more like with or without the neighbours knocking on the walls telling you to keep it down
It's like having sex without falling three thousand feet to your death.
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I think the main thing you need to realize is that is climbing with ropes there is a lot of overhead involved to do it safely. I'd say about 1/8th of the time is climbing the other 7/8 is spent with the logistics of the rope management, partner management and placing protection in the rock. With free soloing you can focus entirely on the climbing and not on the logistics. I honestly think its more about this focus an…
I free solo'ed small stuff, mostly 5.6/5.7. It's a rush, the desire will always be there.
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It’s all too easy for headlines about climbing to lean on clichés about the climbers themselves—that these people are daredevils, thrill seekers, adrenaline junkies. But to most climbers, nothing is quicker to trigger the gag reflex. Climbing is an intimate relationship with our world’s most dramatic landscapes, not a self-boasting fight against them. I don’t claim to understand the inner workings of Alex’s mind, but…
I have a couple of things that might help you a bit: 1. Alex Honnold's brain is atypical. His amygdala simply does not respond to stimuli the way that it does in most people. To learn more, read this (excellent) article: http://nautil.us/issue/39/sport/the-strange-brain-of-the-wor... 2. While I am (at best) a mediocre climber, the section you quoted rings true to me, particularly this section - "Climbing is an intima…
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Many climbers have a fear of hights. Climbing can be a way to get comfortable with it.
I climb and I'm afraid of heights, when I'm not climbing. I can't get near a ledge without an harness without feeling slightly dizy.
I think that a better way to express it for many people is we're not afraid of heights, we're afraid of falling and dying. Removing the falling aspect "cures" the phobia.
(Note: I'm assuming he'd have died if he ever made a mistake on this climb)
https://www.outsideonline.com/2190306/why-alex-honnolds-free...
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I thought that terminal velocity for a human on Earth was about 120 miles/h. Seems like Wolfram doesn't take that into account. Just makes the horrifying fall even longer!
170 mph assumes no air resistance
Something I've always wondered about stuff like this: How can someone get so good at a craft that seemingly allows for zero mistakes? How do you practice and develop your skills when there's no margin for error? (Note: I'm assuming he'd have died if he ever made a mistake on this climb)
By far the best article I've seen to supplement this: https://www.outsideonline.com/2190306/why-alex-honnolds-free... As a climber, there are very few people that I trust to have a more useful opinion on all this than Tommy Caldwell, a close friend and long time climbing partner of Honnold. It's so out there for most people that most jump to conclusions without proper knowledge of the subject. Caldwell is in an inter…
It’s all too easy for headlines about climbing to lean on clichés about the climbers themselves—that these people are daredevils, thrill seekers, adrenaline junkies. But to most climbers, nothing is quicker to trigger the gag reflex. Climbing is an intimate relationship with our world’s most dramatic landscapes, not a self-boasting fight against them. I don’t claim to understand the inner workings of Alex’s mind, but…
"When I decided that I too must pass through the experience of a parachute jump, life rose to a higher level, to a sort of exhilarated calmness... The thought left me a feeling of anticipation mixed with dread, of confidence restrained by caution, of courage salted through with fear.
It was that quality that led me into aviation in the first place — it was a love of the air and sky and flying, the lure of adventure, the appreciation of beauty. It lay beyond the descriptive words of man — where immortality is touched through danger, where life meets death on equal plane; where man is more than man, and existence both supreme and valueless at the same instant." [1]
[1] "The Spirit of St Louis", C. Lindberg, 1954. Quote was lightly edited for brevity.