[andy popp]

Honnold solos Yossemite Triple Crown. Admits it might be a big deal ...

https://www.facebook.com/REELROCK

 

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Give me pizza!

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[andy popp]

SPOILER ALERT













that footslip is horrible!

[Johnny Brown]

Gulp.

[Fiend]

Alex Honnold in "still alive" shocker.

[carlisle slapper]

This blows my mind, soloing for that long and concentrating all the time is hard enough, never mind carrying extra weight and having a camera shoved in your face when your trying not to die on solo-aid transfers.
Does anyone know whether he took a harness or sling etc when onsight soloing fiesta? it would surprise me if he didn't even think about taking one.

[Doylo]

I can't even comprehend being the cameraman.....

[andy popp]

I can't even comprehend being the cameraman.....

That.

But I agree with Dan, its not so much the standard of the soloing he's doing here - which many have matched and he's exceeded numerous times - but the sheer volume and the mental and physical demands that come from that.

What's Fiesta - can't place it?

[fatboySlimfast]

fiesta del biceps??

I dont know if the other older members of this forum have the same kind of rather sickening sense of inevitability about people getting caught up in a soloing/ media frenzy?

[andy popp]

Noddy? Dave T? But I was never sure how true it was even of them.

[cofe]

I flinched.

I worry he's on borrowed time, but it's also likely I simply don't understand.

[Johnny Brown]

Which Noddy? I've climbed with a few good climbers over the years, but I've never seen anyone as comfortable on rock as Alex. I'm pretty sure he's doing the right stuff for the right reasons, but the more the media get involved the harder it has to be to keep it that way.

[T_B]

It's certainly up there with Ron's 100 extremes in a day

[andy popp]

Which Noddy? I've climbed with a few good climbers over the years, but I've never seen anyone as comfortable on rock as Alex. I'm pretty sure he's doing the right stuff for the right reasons,

Neil Molnar (sp?) - he died trying to solo an E2 on the Wastad in the mid-80s. A lot people felt it was inevitable - but that was peer pressure rather than the media. There was a lot of soloing going on and perhaps competition in some quarters. This was the age of Jimmy Jewel after all - though I always sensed he was doing it for the right reasons.

On the whole I think Honnold seems pretty sorted but funnily enough I thought he didn't look very comfortable in this clip, but it is one clip chosen for obvious reasons. And maybe not being too comfortable is a good thing now and again.

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It's certainly up there with Ron's 100 extremes in a day

Not sure it pips the Stanage traverse though.

[boulderingbacon]

what a nutcase. i really admire what hes doing but like others have said i just cant comprehend how you could manage to do anything like that and for so long or why you would even want to.

[Nibile]

I don't know... This video really gave me strange feelings... Seeing him clearly tense, the footslip... It all seemed very "wrong"...
Plus, I read the interview, he said things aout darkness making things more "exciting", and being excited about multipitch soloing is dangerous in mu opinion.

Re. The cameraman, when Alex is not climbing I think he goes and films people getting eaten by crocodiles or sharks.

[fried]

I watched this yesterday with the missus and her first reaction was 'who's filming him?', really unsettling watching something which should probably be kept between you and your god so close.

[slackline]

should probably be kept between you and your god so close.

I expect its just him and him...

I’m a militant atheist. I don’t believe in an afterlife or any of that kind of stuff, but then I also don’t really live in the moment that much either. I’m not very Zen. I’m always thinking about the future or the next project and what I’m doing next to the point where I’ve had partners kind of chastise me for not enjoying where I am more. But maybe that’s part of the appeal of soloing because it forces you to exist inside that moment, in that little bubble that you’re living in while you’re doing it.

[T_B]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not stupid and I understand how utterly hardcore this us, but I can't help thinking...

1. How is it a "solo" when someone can chuck you a rope (i.e. a photographer)? If he has a wobbler and gets stuck, it won't be long before he is rescued.

2. How can he not be influenced in his decision making by a film crew / massive entourage? The Reel Rock blog says there were 9 separate cameramen. That's a lot of people to disappoint if you decide it doesn't feel quite right on the day.

[SA Chris]

I dont know if the other older members of this forum have the same kind of rather sickening sense of inevitability about people getting caught up in a soloing/ media frenzy?

I'm not one of the older members but yes, I have the sickening sense of inevitability. If you play roulette long enough eventually your number comes up.

I agree that having the whole media circus along for the right probably puts unnecessary pressure on you to perform. Of the occasions when I have soloed (admittedly few and far between) there have been as many times where it hasn't felt right on the day and I've backed off and walked away.

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The above article has more on his thoughts about soloing...

I think a lot about the risk taking and risk itself in general. The thing for me is that I honestly don’t find soloing that risky. There isn’t that much chance involved. You either can do it or you can’t. It’s not like you’re rolling the dice. If I know that I can do something, then I do it. It’s all about staying within your abilities and executing things well. Like right now I’m driving in the rain, on the phone and in a lot of ways this is kind of risky too, but nobody considers that a crazy risk.

To me, any kind of spiritual stuff doesn’t come into my mind at all. It doesn’t even go through the decision-making process. It’s all risk analysis: Can I do it? Is there a chance of me falling off? And if I think that there is risk at all then I don’t do it.

I think a lot of people confuse the risk with the consequences. They say that soloing is a high-risk activity, but really soloing has very very high consequences – if you mess it up you’ll likely die – but it doesn’t make it any more risky. The odds of me falling off aren’t any higher because I’m soloing. If anything, the odds are a lot lower because when you’re soloing you stare down like it’s no joke. You pull really hard. A lot of the time I climb a lot better when I’m soloing because it is important, because you fucking pull super hard. You’re really focused. You’re aware of every hand and foot placement. You’re climbing well. So if anything that is lowering your risk of following off, it’s just that the consequences of failure are super high.

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[Fiend]

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[fatboySlimfast]

A lot of the time I climb a lot better when I’m soloing because it is important, because you fucking pull super hard.

This is a thing Ive become more aware of as Ive got older, its probably not your climbing ability that will get you but external forces away from control... wet rock, loose hold etc etc.
last year I soloed main wall on Cryn Llas(sp?) about 3rd pitch up i realised that this was a bit out of hand and that no longer was my climbing ability the main consideration( i carried on but seriously considered climbing down, carrying a rucksack didnt help) The loose rock being the thing that freaked me the most. The exposure to that risk wouldnt be minimised by being a better climber, Im not suggesting no one should solo but dont kid yourself that there isnt an inherent danger in being a fuck long way up with no margin for error

[SA Chris]

Thinking further I do wonder if having several cameramen strung up along the route is actually a disadvantage. More likelyhood of something getting dropped / kicked off onto you, as well as having a camera thrust in your face could easily burst the "bubble"

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Thinking further I do wonder if having several cameramen strung up along the route is actually a disadvantage. More likelyhood of something getting dropped / kicked off onto you, as well as having a camera thrust in your face could easily burst the "bubble"

The cameramen who filmed the 60minutes touch on that.

[Doylo]

Like Fatboy says it doesn't matter how good you are its external forces you need to worry about. Especially when you re soloing a big wall for 3 hours..... theres a lot that can go wrong

[andy popp]

Or if your're onsight going off-route, something I had slightly traumatic experience of more than once. Obviously Honnold wasn't on these routes but he must solo onsight sometimes.

[Johnny Brown]

Having been on both ends a few times (stills not movies), I think its probably more stressful watching than doing. When you're climbing you know what the score is and you get on with it. When you're behind a camera you worry whether you're a distraction, or possibly an intrusion, and you have to put a lot of trust in the climber - that they know what they are doing and they aren't pushing the boat out for the camera.

[SA Chris]

Especially when you re soloing a big wall for 3 hours..... theres a lot that can go wrong

As Derek Hershey demonstrated.

[Snoops]

Quote from the 'interview' on cocktalk.

Jack: When you came over to the UK a few years ago, you did some Hard Grit, and soloed London Wall. Spell it out, how does this 'Triple' or some of the other things you've been doing compare to that?

   

[SA Chris]

Two word answer - "it doesn't"

Profound interview questions.

Next one - "if you could be any animal for a day, what would you choose?"

[Snoops]

It's  kind of like - but is it as hard as London Wall pant pant........

[duncan]

Amazing.  The focus required is incomprehensible to me.   

It's a good job Gary Gibson doesn't bolt much in Yosemite. 

[danm]

This reminds me about a conversation I had a few years back, with this super chilled and humble Italian guy called Stefano. Turned out he had soloed a few grade 7's on the Marmolada. He said the danger and difficulty wasn't the climbing itself, as grade 7 feels pretty steady if you regularly climb in the 8's, but what happens if you go off route, alone, and cannot reverse? At this point I realised he was talking about soloing these routes onsight. 

I'm quite glad to be a coward sometimes!

[Slide]

Reminds me of a young Ayrton Senna.  Looks and passion

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Interview with Honnold (starts at 08:12)




(Includes interview with the protagonists of Alistair Lee's 'Moonflower'and Tyler Stableford who shot the recent short on Steve House).

[hairich]

Many years ago i watched dan osman and thought you will be dead within a year.sure enough he was

[SA Chris]

Or is he?

[Baldy]

It is less the foot slip that baffles me,

but the point at which he clips in, then instantly keeps climbing!
I just dont understand, I can see the logic in keeping moving, but he didnt even take a breather, or a second to think about what was coming up.
(unless of course that was all cunningly editted out)

Phew!