As the article said, this guy is the Roger Bannister of rock climbing. When I first heard of him a few years ago, I wondered if he was some kind of nut. But after watching some of his interviews and reading about him, I came away believing this guy was for real - not a reckless thrillseeker, but a serious rock climber who loves climbing.
"Elite climbers have pointed to Honnold’s unique ability to remain calm and analytical in such dangerous situations, a skill that Honnold has slowly developed over the 20 years he has been climbing."
This guy is not fool-hearty. He is a respected climber who is thoughtful about what he's going to do and how he's going to do it. His training and preparation are extensive. He just loves to climb and has carefully honed and gradually utilized his amazing and unique skills.
“With free-soloing, obviously I know that I’m in danger, but feeling fearful while I’m up there is not helping me in any way,” Honnold said. “It’s only hindering my performance, so I just set it aside and leave it be.”
Maybe there's a life lesson here we could all learn in dealing with fear.
If anyone knows when this National Geographic Special will be aired, please, let us know.
In that pursuit you only get one mistake. Let’s pray that he does not make one.
That’s an amazing feat.
If I were to do this, they’d have to rename it “free-soiling” once I got about 8 to 10 feet up :-P.
That said, I doubt he'll live to 50.
OH MY!
I so want to see this! I hiked in Yosmite in the late 1990s... I can’t believe he did this SOLO w/o gear.
IMPRESSIVE!
A truly amazing accomplishment. Thanks for posting this.
Um. How in hell does he get back down?
That’s amazing. But the odds are that he won’t be around for too many more years.
This is the same guy that, back in 2012, solo climbed (not free soloed) Mount Watkins, El Capitan and Half Dome (somewhere around 7,000 feet of vertical wall climbing) in 19 hours. The guy is fearless, and nearly superhuman.
I first saw a video of him a few years back, and posted it on FR. What he does is something to behold. But not being a huge fan of heights, I can’t watch it too much. I wish for his guardian angel to always be with him.
Climbing without a rope: Alex Honnold (Video: Not for the squeamish of heights)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2967278/posts
So cool!
Idiotic. It’s a certainty he will die in a fall. I admire the skill it took to do it, but its a certainty that a rock people have grabbed for decades will break.
Makes my hands sweat just watching that short clip.
Getting down the way you got up is the ultimate challenge!
Ask any cat. So...how’d he get down??
ping