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Post by vinovampire on Jun 5, 2017 5:01:49 GMT -8
That is quite an accomplishment. Thanks for sharing this article.
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markskor
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Mammoth Lakes & Tuolumne Meadows...living the dream
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Post by markskor on Jun 5, 2017 8:17:08 GMT -8
Kudos!!!!!!!!!! Impossible climb.
Yosemite - "The Climbing Mecca" - is getting plenty of (not that it is really needed) national exposure due to this amazing feat. Climbing El Cap free solo...living on the edge...bordering on Darwin Award contention. This almost certainly will encourage more attempts at free soloing - (when a climber is alone and uses no ropes or any other equipment that aids or protects him as he climbs, leaving no margin of error.)
Films, TV, newspapers, internet stardom. Even though dangerous as hell... essentially lauded by the park...and while not officially encouraged - still accepted...all part of the climbing lore that is obviously very much alive in Yosemite today. Interesting though, how the park's attitude immediately changes, when a parachute is involved. Same danger/same granite...one second on the rock and legal, the next, (whether intentional or used as a safety net?), now criminal and subject both to fines and confiscation of gear. Frowned at by Yosemite, BASE jumpers and those with those flying squirrel suits, play a daily game with the Rangers...forced to fly at inopportune times - (evening shadows and tricky winds) - risking even more by having to fly at these non-ideal times in order to avoid capture.
Same danger/same rock...Seems to me, a bit of a double standard.
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Jun 5, 2017 8:21:06 GMT -8
My spouse saw and article that talked about the kind of people who do these things, and speculated about the importance of them being outliers who basically don't feel fear. I know that being scared makes it a lot harder to do any kind of climbing, so that makes some sense to me. But that same thing that makes them safer, may also reduce the ability to judge well? Or maybe not. You can still have a clear assessment of your abilities without getting shaky at the thought of exceeding them. It does mean that not every climber has the potential to do that.
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walkswithblackflies
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Resident terrorist-supporting eco-freak bootlicker
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Jun 5, 2017 10:15:36 GMT -8
Anyone who tries this, will know what he or she is getting into. Agreed. I have first-hand experience that free soloists definitely know their limits. I'd even go so far to say that climbers with protection are at an equal risk. They might gamble more knowing (hoping) that their protection will (might) save them.
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davesenesac
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Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
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Post by davesenesac on Jun 5, 2017 16:22:33 GMT -8
What such athletes do is beyond any of human athletic pursuits of the modern era. Incredibly scary. The training they do for hand and finger strength!
John Bachar, Ron Kauk, Dean Potter were part of an earlier generation of Yosemite free climbers that pioneered technique in the free climbing sport that Alex Honnold has now risen to the top of. Bachar after many years of success, died while free climbing alone at a sub 100 foot cliff near Mammoth while Potter more notoriously while squirrel suit illegally base jumping off Yosemite cliffs on the sly of darkness. Kauk is aging well.
El Capitan last month from across the Merced River:
Can you see the 13 climbers in the image? Oops that is downsized so ain't the full image that is 20600 pixels tall thus does not fit on a 1080p monitor screen that is just 1080 pixels high. So a few crops.
Can read more here as just updated my chronicles for pages 10 and 11.
www.davidsenesac.com/2017_Trip_Chronicles/spring_2017-10.html#may19
David To amuse anyone about to nod off, check out the unworldly colorful Pacific tide pool world I shot on page 11.
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Post by swimswithtrout on Jun 5, 2017 18:12:17 GMT -8
There are bold climbers, and there are old climbers... I was "bold", but then I decided I preferred to get "older". I did more than my far share of free soloing "back in the day" in the mid-late 70's, and then again, in the early '90's on many routes up to 600-1,200' tall, but always at a "conservative" level of 5.7, max, for an "on sight" climb, and occasionally up to 5.9, if I'd previously climbed it roped, and was familiar with the route. I think all climbers are well aware of the dangers of free soloing, and most, if not 99%, are not even capable of free climbing any El Cap route using trad gear without falling "a few times". I don't think there will be any rush to set a speed competition, the way there has been in "The Valley", for years, doing roped solos.
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Post by vinovampire on Jun 7, 2017 8:09:22 GMT -8
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Post by cgaphiker on Jun 7, 2017 8:19:23 GMT -8
I can't stand exposure. The guy who topped, and cut the dead tree for me died about a year later from a fall from a tree. I doubt that he was much over 20 feet off the ground. What that guy did is pretty incredible.
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Post by Grizzly James on Jun 7, 2017 8:41:07 GMT -8
I do believe I just shipped my pants.
I had the good fortune to tarry at the base of this granite massif two summers ago, and I shall not soon forget the view. It was my first time there, gawking at this monolith thrusting up into a blue, California sky. It was in point, captivating to press the field glasses to my face and watch the rock jocks dangling up there in the sky. As if detached from the world below if but for a single tether anchored in stone. And now Alex does it sans tether altogether, and the mountain was his. I'm impressed, cannot deny. Once upon a time I even used to think I'd like to partake in such endeavors. But with advancing years, like many, I've come to realize that the only thing I will cling that tightly too is likely only a caramel roll as prepared by the local baker just down the street. And I'm fine with that. Amen.
-GJ
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Post by bradmacmt on Jun 9, 2017 4:19:32 GMT -8
Remarkable, incredible, selfish, unsustainable.
Just a few words that come to mind.
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Post by bthehiker on Jun 14, 2017 9:13:17 GMT -8
The thing about Alex, is he is one of the most committed big wall climbers in the world. He has prepared for the climb for over 10 years, studied every inch of the route, and climbed every inch of it free climbing (with rope) hundreds of times to the point the parts of the climb that seemed impossible to him 5 years ago, became possible over time. In his book, "Alone on the Wall" which is really interesting, he makes the point that he wont' free solo anything that tests him over 80% of his capability level so he is always super comfortable and 'chill' on the climb.
Ultimately when he free soloed Half Dome, the risk was people would attempt to emulate, but the reality is, without complete psychological preparation and physical readiness, most attempted free soloists make it about 5 ft up the wall and realize how stupid what they are doing is. There is a reason in my view more people don't die attempting free solos - and it's because it's not something that many can do comfortably on just bravado alone. There needs to be absolute confidence in skill and knowledge just to bridge the psychological gap.
What makes this so remarkable is that there is an entire pitch on El Cap, where essentially there are no actual holds and its just smearing the entire way up. While it's apparently not that bad, the psychological control required not to freak out without rope protection, when relying entirely on your climbing shoes for your life - is just not something that many people will be able to muster even if they can physically do the climb.
This is literally like someone single handedly travelling to the moon and is the absolute pinnacle of big wall climbing. I honestly don't see this being repeated by anyone anytime soon. Not just because it's nearly physically impossible, but because the mastery of fear required to even contemplate it probably only arises once every 10 generations.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jun 14, 2017 9:59:46 GMT -8
While it's apparently not that bad, the psychological control required not to freak out without rope protection, when relying entirely on your climbing shoes for your life - is just not something that many people will be able to muster even if they can physically do the climb. Definitely a good point. I know that when I'm messing around on rocks (and I'm no climber, but I do like to scramble about at JTree and similar, hardly even rising to the level of "bouldering"), I am limited by my fear far more than by my skill. That isn't helped by the new tendency to discover at awkward moments that this joint or that one isn't quite up to the range of motion I was expecting.
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Post by plaidman on Jun 14, 2017 15:48:33 GMT -8
I'm not a climber, except for small things when I think there may be more trout up above. What I admire is the absolute self-possession and apparent lack of egotism. There's such purity to it. He did it completely by himself and (almost) anonymously. Sure, NatGeo was there to record the feat, but no one can own it but the man who did it. While I can't project myself into those climbing shoes, I can hope to have moments as pure and full of accomplishment in my own life, albeit on a scale much less grand.
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