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Alex Honnold


Choada_Boy

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Does anyone else fell like puking when they watch this guy free solo?

 

I watched the CBS videos of him on The Phoenix and Sentinel Rock and felt like I was about to be watching a snuff film at any moment.

 

He seems like a great guy, and I have uber-respect for what he's doing, but I kind of wish he'd call it quits on the free solos before he meets The Reaper. Discuss.

 

Alex Honnold on CBS

 

 

 

 

 

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Same reaction, awe and ill stomach.

 

Curious if anyone has a historical perspective on how many high-level free soloists there are/have been and how many make it throught that "period" of their climbing career?

 

I know Croft soloed at a high level and is still around and climbing. Bachar, the guy that got stuck on a wall in Yosemite (Hersey?), Reardon getting washed off to sea although the last two didn't fall both passed on because of the pursuit.

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Same reaction, awe and ill stomach.

 

Curious if anyone has a historical perspective on how many high-level free soloists there are/have been and how many make it throught that "period" of their climbing career?

 

I know Croft soloed at a high level and is still around and climbing. Bachar, the guy that got stuck on a wall in Yosemite (Hersey?), Reardon getting washed off to sea although the last two didn't fall both passed on because of the pursuit.

 

John Bachar died due to a fall while soloing fyi...

 

http://climbing.about.com/b/2009/07/06/iconic-american-climber-john-bacher-killed-in-soloing-fall.htm

 

He was doing it his way, like Honnold is. These climbers are pushing the limits their own way on their terms. I can respect that.

 

Next time don't watch if it upsets you so...

 

d

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I climb for my self, I don't give a flying F what anyone else is doing and it doesn't influence me at all,

 

that being said, I watched the 60 minutes story on tv, and that is not for me.

 

I have only free soloed a couple times and it scared the beezus out of my behind.

 

Anyone ever taken a lead fall while roped climbing because they broke a hold? I have, upside down even, on an easy climb well within my free solo limit, a climb I had previously done rope probably 8 times before. I could have thought, dam I might solo that, done it a bunch, know every move, If I would have made that choice I would be dead.

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Marc and I watched Honnold top out on freeway, onsight solo, from the top of the split pillar last year. We both just stood there silently, in awe of that dude. He climbs so smooth and solid, there was no doubt that he would make it to the top. We talked to him the day before too, just a mellow guy without any kind of ego. The man is a badass and he doesn't even know it.

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I thought I would have agreed with most of you before watching that video but....

 

...having watched it OMG!!! THE GUY IS ROCK SOLID!. He climbed the Phoenix like it was a pitch of 5.8. Good for him. He's probably on Freerider as we speak, and should he peel I'm sure he'll just levitate away like the quasi-god-like-being he is. I bow down before your beautiful big brown eyes Alex....

 

As for the news piece, it's nice to see the media also present a risk-taker is a very positive light. They seemed truly impressed and interested in what he was doing. A hero for the masses!

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Alpinist had a good article on him in the last issue. He discussed the increasing pressures on him from different vectors. "Sneaking away" to solo The Phoenix to "clear his head" the day before soloing Sentinel for the cameras...I love when he tells the interviewer that they'd have been "freaked out" if they'd watched him on The Phoenix, like watching what he does is akin to taking too much bad acid.

 

 

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Same reaction, awe and ill stomach.

 

Curious if anyone has a historical perspective on how many high-level free soloists there are/have been and how many make it throught that "period" of their climbing career?

 

I know Croft soloed at a high level and is still around and climbing. Bachar, the guy that got stuck on a wall in Yosemite (Hersey?), Reardon getting washed off to sea although the last two didn't fall both passed on because of the pursuit.

 

John Bachar died due to a fall while soloing fyi...

 

http://climbing.about.com/b/2009/07/06/iconic-american-climber-john-bacher-killed-in-soloing-fall.htm

 

He was doing it his way, like Honnold is. These climbers are pushing the limits their own way on their terms. I can respect that.

 

Next time don't watch if it upsets you so...

 

d

 

Sorry, didn't type that clearly, I knew Bachar fell and died but the other two died but not from a fall.

 

 

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Np.

 

I've done some soloing, not even close to the level AH does, but I can relate to the calm he talked about in the 60 minutes piece. It's that total focus and peace, that can be addictive. You get to that place like he does and you want more... While he's at the top of his game, more power to him I say.

 

I think the hard part is knowing when enough is enough. He looks pretty in control mentally, he knows what he's into. He wires the hardest climbs well before the solos. But a lot can happen when soloing a climb like half dome or the phoenix or whatever...

 

He knows what he's doing. Takes a lot of brass for sure.

 

d

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Does anyone else fell like puking when they watch this guy free solo?

 

I watched the CBS videos of him on The Phoenix and Sentinel Rock and felt like I was about to be watching a snuff film at any moment.

 

He seems like a great guy, and I have uber-respect for what he's doing, but I kind of wish he'd call it quits on the free solos before he meets The Reaper. Discuss.

 

Alex Honnold on CBS

 

 

 

 

 

Crazy!!!!

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He climbed the Phoenix like it was a pitch of 5.8. As for the news piece, it's nice to see the media also present a risk-taker is a very positive light.

Totally agree - he makes everything look like 5.8.

 

And the sage commentary from Largo, now an elder statesman of the sport. And then the Zappa quote: "that's the crux of the biscuit...as they say..."

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Taking nothing away from all those listed so far, because they're all bad ass, but none of them is quite as easy on the eyes as Steph Davis:

 

[video:youtube]

 

/back to lurking

WOW! Why don't we hear more about our own Darling of the Cascades as a result of feats such as this?

Surely, a 5.11 on The Diamond is just as bold and badass as anything that other male free-soloers have done, no?

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