Quote from: monkoffunk on June 04, 2017, 12:22:59 pmIncredible. Hope he retires now!Retires from cutting-edge solos, I assume you mean? If so: agreed. Hopefully he will resist the temptation to up the ante by linking a Freerider solo with Half Dome in a day, or whatever the next progression may seem to him. Perhaps it is a good omen that he has been hanging out with Peter Croft, one of the very few soloist superstars who didn't push it too far.
Incredible. Hope he retires now!
So why does he get so much attention on this from climbers compared to those climbers dealing with higher (usually uncontrollable objective) risks in the greater ranges.
A bit more insight from someone who knows what they are talking about: https://www.outsideonline.com/2190306/why-alex-honnolds-free-solo-scared-me
Quantifying risk isn't an easy thing to do particularly for a casual observer with no metric. Hard to say truly objectively whether a bird flying out of a crack at the wrong time is more likely than an avalanche. More people die mountaineering, but maybe more people mountaineer than this relative level of soloing whatever that is? I guess that also you are defining risk purely in the terms of Honnold on this route. I would suppose that your average punter having a crack on Everest or whatever would have a higher survival chance than your average punter having a crack at soloing Freerider. Perhaps it gets so much more attention because most of us are rock climbers? I'll never be a mountaineer and an ascent of Everest doesn't interest me as much as this. I can relate to just how mind blowing far above my mental/physical level this is much more easily.
Quote from: monkoffunk on June 06, 2017, 01:52:51 amQuantifying risk isn't an easy thing to do particularly for a casual observer with no metric. Hard to say truly objectively whether a bird flying out of a crack at the wrong time is more likely than an avalanche. More people die mountaineering, but maybe more people mountaineer than this relative level of soloing whatever that is? I guess that also you are defining risk purely in the terms of Honnold on this route. I would suppose that your average punter having a crack on Everest or whatever would have a higher survival chance than your average punter having a crack at soloing Freerider. Perhaps it gets so much more attention because most of us are rock climbers? I'll never be a mountaineer and an ascent of Everest doesn't interest me as much as this. I can relate to just how mind blowing far above my mental/physical level this is much more easily.It's not so hard to recognise the risks for skilled climbers in the greater ranges are much greater than a skilled soloist who is fully focussed. You only need to look down the list of casualties. As an example Ive linked climbing details for K2 below. This doesn't make what Alex does safe but as Tommy says he climbs to live not to cheat death. The leading edge of adveture climbing has always flirted with what some climbers regard as vastly unacceptable risks. Two thoughtful books on this subject are David Roberts' "On the Ridge Between Life and Death" and Maria Coffey's "Where the Mountain Casts its Shadow"http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/On-the-Ridge-Between-Life-and-Death/David-Roberts/9780743255196https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/maria-coffey/1014562/https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2 .... and the sad lists of deaths: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deaths_on_eight-thousanders
Nothing compared to this guy.
Honnold is old hat. First nude NIAD: https://www.facebook.com/tom.evans.946/posts/1399687900084612
Yes. It is pretty good. For my tastes there is a little too much relationship stuff - chiefly about his high-maintenance ex, Beth Rodden - and too little detail on some of his climbing, like the still unrepeated Flex Luthor, the US's first 5.15, which is barely mentioned. The accounts of his Yosemite stuff are the highlight, obviously the Dawn Wall in particular.
Pitch by pitch from Tom Evans: http://elcapreport.com/content/elcap-report-6317-special-edition-honnold-free-solo-elcap
Quote from: duncan on June 04, 2017, 10:31:59 pmPitch by pitch from Tom Evans: http://elcapreport.com/content/elcap-report-6317-special-edition-honnold-free-solo-elcapTaken down at National Geographic's behest.Still available here: https://m.imgur.com/r/climbing/ZSIAB
Quote from: duncan on June 04, 2017, 10:31:59 pmTaken down at National Geographic's behest.Still available here: https://m.imgur.com/r/climbing/ZSIABThat seems a bit pissy TBH. Just some telephoto shots. They don't own the photons.
Taken down at National Geographic's behest.Still available here: https://m.imgur.com/r/climbing/ZSIAB
“It was clear to me that “Freerider” was his main goal. I was asking him about it but he was mysterious about it as the dark side of the moon. “I have a kind of project,” he told me. In November, he bailed it – I think I saw him that day, he had some fixed ropes there. I’ve heard that on Saturday, he had no ropes there (in order to cross out the possibility to escape from the route) – the hardest pitch was filmed from fixed cameras with no cameramen who could influence him.It’s definitely the biggest thing that ever happened in the world of free-solo climbing, it’s simply unbelievable. We can only discuss whether the free-solo climbing is good or not, whether we should write about it or not… Anyway, it takes tremendous amount of courage to free-solo “Freerider”. From my point of view, it is easier to solo 9a sport route than this one.Offwidths are no problem for Alex – that’s like taking a stroll for him. But the 7a grade slabs down there are said to be really awkward, then the Enduro corner – I can imagine how awfully slippery it is. Moreover, free-soloing is way more difficult – you skip the belaying points and thus around Enduro corner you climb four pitches that have around 100 m altogether and the difficulty gets to 8a.I thought that he will wait until autumn. I haven’t expected him to climb the route in June. But it kind of makes sense because he doesn’t like cold weather – he prefers warm temperatures. The individual moves in the route are not so difficult so you can stop from time to time and chalk up. But you really need dry conditions. When it’s too cold it tends to be slippery, and you really don’t want your feet to slip during free-soloing.”
I mean I want to eat some lunch, I want to get in the shade and then I’m probably going to hang board in a bit. I am perfectly warmed up, I just did four hours’ light exercise, you know?
... the inevitable US hyperbole surrounding Honmeister's solo ("landing on the moon"?!) ...
Quote from: T_B on June 13, 2017, 02:31:19 pm... the inevitable US hyperbole surrounding Honmeister's solo ("landing on the moon"?!) ...Is Alex Honnold’s El Cap Free-Solo the Greatest Sports Achievement—Ever? Probably The hyperbole is the only stylistic device in the toolbox for climbing's worst writer.
Looks like hyperbole to me if you are saying that Bisharat is climbing's worst writer.