Now that’s more like it! For me, I think climbing would be a lot more fun if a fall didn’t mean certain death.
That inspired me to do a little math. I’d estimate I have taken 10,000 falls. In climbing, you have considerable control over the degree of risk. If you choose to top-rope (meaning the rope is anchored above you, so a fall is really just the amount of stretch in the rope, plus a little slack in the system), it’s pretty safe. Safer than cycling on a road, I’d guess.
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Exactly this
My palms sweat just thinking about it, even years afterwards
The same with done of the challenges Chris Hemsworth completed in his Limitless shows
To elaborate, a free climb means you ascend with, basically, your body and not grabbing or putting your weight on anything mechanical in order to move up. So, it refers to the style in which you move upward, and not the presence or absence of a rope to catch a fall.
Free solo means you are climbing in that style, plus no rope.
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Back in my climbing days, I pretty much only climbed Trad, its just what my and my circle liked to do. So falling was really kept to a bare minimum if at all possible, since there is a lot more risk with placing your own pro. Definitely did some sport (secure bolts) and top roping, but it was small fraction.
Thus thinking back on it, we took very few lead falls…but that came with not pushing our limits as much as we could have I guess. This was circa early 90s era.
Thanks! When I was replying to 307trout I wasn’t really understanding how climbing with ropes constitutes a free climb. Now I get it. I’ve seen video where the climber pushes down on a rope with their legs–not free climbing.
Granted I have not seen anything from him since Free Solo, nor do I really care to, but to me he seemed aloof and either disinterested or detached from the value of life. If that makes sense, but after that doc, his personality didn’t sit well with me. But that’s OK because nobody gives a shit what I think and that’s the way it should be. I presume his now wife was the girlfriend in that flick? OK, so I get that she is all-in, but the kids?
Same. I don’t know him, but people who do know him speak highly. I think some people misinterpret his social awkwardness — maybe Asperger’s — as arrogance. To me, like you, he is just unfiltered — he says what he thinks, which is a positive.
In the movie Girl Climber, he does a lot of work to support Emily Harrington in her El Cap climbing ambition. If she succeeds in her multi-year project (which was far from assured) she will get 99% of the glory. When she falls and gets hurt, his reaction seemed entirely genuine — immediate concern and then he starts free soloing to reach her.
Same. I have hung on the gear quite a bit, but true falls on trad gear were very rare. That reluctance held me back many times, but that was the trade-off.
He did it.
Video here.
Meh. Call me when he climbs down after, too. /Pink
That is absolutely insane. My palms get sweaty just watching that.
this was less impressive than elcap. as a climber, ice climbing instructor, and someone that free solos ice, i was captivated by free solo. 101, was very meh. an incredible accomplishment, don’t get me wrong, but i just felt ick the whole time. we don’t need to inspire kids to be climbing buildings. there are gyms, and rock walls that are dedicated to that.
i also didn’t love how the announcers essentially made it seem as if alex is the first to do this, there have been countless others before him. he just was born at the right time. french spider man has been doing it for decades and still does it as a 60+ year old.
He said it was comparable to doing the Rostrum (for non-climbers, that is a route in Yosemite) twice in a row. Doing the Rostrum twice a row is plenty of hard climbing, but nowhere close to his El Cap ascent.
Had not seen this climb before. V10/7C+
That’s one hell of a high boulder problem. 
I’ve been following Honnold for a long time, back when he lived in a van at Yosemite and just climbed everyday. He was very shy and recluse but obviously a phenomenal climber with no fear.
I watched some videos of him climbing and he makes it look easy. They did a close up of the steel girders on the corners and I don’t know how he did it. Then, to climb up those steel signs (steel is slippery), I was holding my breath.
I actually wrote an e-mail to Taipai 101. I suggested they build a climbing wall with a replica of the first 2 floors and another of those signs he had to climb over. I think it would be a big tourist draw to have the average person try to climb portions of what he did.
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I’ve done my fair share of climbing as well…thought the same thing about the steel girders + how hot were they getting from the sun…?
