Updated article says his climbing partner ran out of rope on the rappel (they were simul-climbing) and that caused the fall. Either way - super shitty way to go. If I was his climbing partner I don’t think I’d ever climb again. 
Updated article says his climbing partner ran out of rope on the rappel (they were simul-climbing) and that caused the fall. Either way - super shitty way to go. If I was his climbing partner I don’t think I’d ever climb again.
ya this sucks either way. but i’m a little confused by the update to the article. If Jacobson rapped off the end of the rope, the rope would have been on the lower ledge with Gobright, instead it states the rope was with Jacobson on the higher ledge.
its a big loss to the climbing community, and a shame because it was such a silly gumby mistake that cost him his life.
For some reason I was actually thinking about Honnold the other day. When I saw this thread pop up I was worried that it was bringing news of an accident. I don’t know of the other guy, but feel for his family and friends.
For some reason I was actually thinking about Honnold the other day. When I saw this thread pop up I was worried that it was bringing news of an accident. I don’t know of the other guy, but feel for his family and friends.
Actually, Honnold was involved in an accident the other day. It looks like everyone is ok, but it easily could have been very bad. His partner (a famous climber named Emily Harrington) fell while Honnold was tying his shoes. He was able to catch the rope, but she took a long fall and even got the rope across her neck.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article237804629.html
That piece of open granite is awe inspiring. Watching people climbing it defies description.
Go Climb A Rock
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article237804629.html
That piece of open granite is awe inspiring. Watching people climbing it defies description.
Go Climb A Rock
Absolutely. I have climbed it four times. All very memorable.
Alex Honnold has to be missing a gene somewhere. It will be streamed live to a global audience on Netflix on Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Not watching! Free Solo stressed me out enough and I knew he made it to the top.
I am not interested in watching it either. It is like he doesn’t care if he dies. If he falls, his pain will last a millisecond. The pain felt by his wife and daughters will last a lifetime.
He is self-centered and somewhat arrogant. That said, for the sake of his family I hope this all goes well, but it will be no thanks to him for the unbelievable stress he must put them through. It was bad enough when he put his friends through the stress of documenting El Cap.
I’m not watching either. I have no desire to watch someone potentially fall to their death for entertainment sakes.
I watched Free Solo only because I knew he made it.
I agree that he’s extremely selfish to risk his life for these stupid stunts. His wife and daughters deserve better.
The saying goes there are no old free climbers.
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Some of these comments are too harsh.
First, Sanni knew what he does for a living when she married him. The kids have no choice in the matter, but the wife did. And, presumably, she supported the idea of having kids while knowing that he has an incredibly dangerous job.
Second, Honnold is very generous. He started a foundation, which has become fairly substantial.
Third, while free soloing is extremely dangerous, so are many types of climbing and mountaineering. It’s casting a rather wide net to say the whole thing is selfish and stupid.
Fourth, pushing the limits of human achievement — whether on a mountain, the South Pole, in space, etc. — often involves huge risks. Hopefully, in some ways, we derive something positive from these endeavors.
OTOH, to the climbing community, if someone dies on a rock or mountain, at least they were doing the sport. Dying on a skyscraper would not get the same reaction. Mallory and Irvine dying on Everest might inspire some climbers. Honnold dying on a skyscraper (or, the sidewalk) would not.
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I assumed opening this old thread was because he had fallen to his death.
I won’t watch it but I do watch and attend the Isle of mann, seen the Dakar both with ridiculous fatality rates
Their partners knew what they were partnering in to.
I’ve a friend who do >20 years in the SF, multiple tours to ME. (I know trump said they weren’t on the front line and I’ve told him I think they should have tried to be more actively involved) But was he getting married and then having kids and choosing to stay in for all of their child hood and teen years selfish?
I think it’s a bit of a weird one, and he could obviously just “slip” or fall but I suspect that he’d never have agreed to televise this if he thought thet were anything challenging about it
I’d say many of the comments are generally ignorant, but you’re much more diplomatic than myself.
This is a calculated risk, and not a very big one at that, for presumably a big payday that supports his wife and children quite comfortably. It’s a fraction, a very small fraction, of the difficulty and danger he experienced on El Cap.
I find Honold to be refreshing, and far from arrogant or self centered, quite the opposite actually. It’s refreshing to see someone at the edge of human achievement who also acknowledges that it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
I view this as more of a Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul event ($$$ from the “spectacle”) than any real attempt to push the edges of human achievement. He’s not even the first person to accomplish this climb.
The saying is that “there are old climbers, and there are bold climbers, but ther are no old bold climbers.” Same phrase with pilots.
And a free climb is not the same thing as a free solo. There are many old and bold free climbers because they use protective equipment to catch falls.
I know this is not meant to be taken literally. But, I’ll use it for a quick story. Peter Croft, a major free soloist from an earlier generation, is still around. I once was leading a climb a few hundred feet up (in Tuolumne Meadows) and Peter came by, free soloing the next route to my left. I found it quite unnerving. He was on a fairly easy climb (for him). Still, seeing him that close to me and so far from the ground was troubling.
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I did read there will be a 10 second delay to account for any unfortunate event.
On the subject of exciting falls with a safe ending, this was voted fall (or “whipper” in climber lingo) of the year.
Thanks for the explanation. I don’t climb, so I didn’t understand the difference between free climb and free solo. I just thought that free climb meant no safety equipment.
I still think this is a really bad idea.