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Signing in to cash in my .02 I respect Kyle's POV and think that his perspective has it's place in this discussion - but I wanted to counter and speak in favor of Landon. 1) Marc Andre Leclerc died while rappelling (likely swept). Guy Lacelle was swept by an avvie. So were Hansjorg Auer and David Lama. So was Ueli Steck. It is rare that a soloist dies on a technically challenging solo. It happens (Austin Howell, Jean-Chirstophe Laifelle, Ryan Jennings) but isn't the leading cause of death in the mountains for high end soloists, and it isn't clear if they would have survived (with the exception of Howell) had they been partnered. The greatest general risk factor in climbing is simply mileage in the mountains, the terrain traveled, and its associated cumulative probability. It stands to reason that we should shame people who get out and climb constantly, but we don't, because that isn't quite as scary to imagine as being on the Yocum ridge without a rope - the gear+roped risks are more familiar to us and are less obvious. It would also force us to question if we should be climbing at all in the first place - which is something that we are reluctant to do. 2) The amount of risk taken on a solo is generally most obvious to the soloist themselves (assuming that the soloist is prepared and lucid). The rest of us can only assume, given that we do not know how solid the soloist is and how favorable conditions were at the time of the solo. I know Kyle climbed the Yocum ridge this season as well, so he has an idea of the risk that was taken by Landon (which is likely why he made his post) - however, it is entirely possible that Kyle took on more with the rope (given the poor nature of the gear on Yocum, Kyle's specific skillset + experience relative to Landon's and the mental blanket that gear can offer in otherwise fatal fall scenarios). That being said, it is impossible to know - we can only assume since we do not know the minutiae of both ascents and both climbers. 3) Generally speaking, if you make a habit of soloing, your risk of dying while climbing is much higher than that of a casual climber. This has likely more to do with your threshold of acceptable risk + mileage in high consequence terrain than it does with the specific act of soloing. Our willingness to take on risk correlates greatly with what we have to lose, our cumulative experience, and our personalities. Our relationship with risk changes with age, and I have to say that I there are risks that I personally took as a younger person that I would not take today. I have also gotten in over my head before and survived - how much of that I can attribute to luck rather than innate skill, I will never know. If you make a habit of soloing, it is less likely you will survive to learn a lesson from your mistakes due to the thin margin of error that is allowed. I think Landon's accomplishment is incredible given that he has survived it. It is certainly an experience he will never forget. I also think that it is best to solo rarely and to have 99% of your climbing experience be with a rope, so that your odds of surviving a marginal scenario and learning from it are greater. Ultimately though, soloing is a very personal activity and is something that I would only criticize if I honestly believe that the ascent was sketchy. I have not climbed with Landon (or the Yocum ridge) so I cannot form an opinion about his judgement or skill. Landon is young, so he will inherently get more flak from the community - such is the nature of talking about your solo ascents. Consider it a rite of passage, every public soloist has gotten this reaction in the face of their accomplishments. The fear of this kind of reaction is also the chief reason there are also many mind bending solos that do not get reported first hand. That being said, I think that the spirit of his post is to share something that was deeply personal with a community that he admires (rather than spray to us) and I respect it for that reason. I would also lie if I said that I do not feel a chill to my core when hearing of other's solo ascents. We inherently struggle with accepting the certainty that comes with many solos (i.e. "you send or you die"). Anyway, also getting off of my soapbox - congrats if you made it through this wall of text. Good job Landon - this is a first class achievement.

Message from Olympic Mountain Rescue I had high hopes of ticking off some climbs this spring and summer but decided to forego technical alpine climbing for the time being. With the crisis overloading our healthcare system, we all really need to be staying well within our skill set and not taking any unnecessary risks. You do not want to be taken to a hospital full of Corvid-19 patients. Stay safe out there.

I took some more time to reflect on the whole experience with Sloan: the mistakes, the aftermath, the criticisms, and ultimately, what this climb means to me. If you want to get real deep: https://climberkyle.com/2020/03/25/life-after-sloan/

Alright I know I'm not the only one who tinkers with my clothes or gear for climbing.... Let's see what you've done to improve a particular piece or what you've made on your own! I'll start with some easy mods I've done and if this thread gains traction I'll add some more along with gear I've made myself. Shock cord keeper on a pair of Raab pants that where lacking grommets or anything to attach the shock cord to. Posted in a glove discussion thread but here they are again. Added cinch collars to a pair of Showa TEMRES. Soon we won't have to do this ourselves though. Small detail that makes a HUGE difference. Bigger pull tabs on a pair of Patagonia Pant's zippers. Nothing worse than being at an anchor and struggling to get your fly unzipped with gloves on.

Love the thread! Tinkering with gear... something low-risk we can do at home! Let's see... I won't take credit for coming up with this: when the foam grips on my ski poles started coming off, I tore them off completely and replaced them with rubber electrical tape -- and extended them further down the pole to give me more options for where to grip it. I would love to hear what other people have done to create a secure water bottle holder on a backpack shoulder strap.