Free Solo - Greatest athletic achievement?

[mr. tegu]

Free Solo is the award winning documentary about Alex Honnold free solo climbing the 3,000 foot wall, El Capitan in Yosemite. Free solo means without any ropes or gear. It took him just under four hours. I first heard about him a while back from another documentary where he free solo climbed Half Dome some years back.

There are lots of good videos on YouTube showing him climbing and interviews talking about this recent climb. He says he practiced with ropes for about two years to memorize every hand and foot placement. It’s just insane.

I get butterflies just seeing him up there sometimes when they show how high he is and how he is basically holding on to nothing. I haven’t gotten around to watching the new documentary yet but here is the trailer.

Is this the greatest athletic achievement ever?

https://youtu.be/urRVZ4SW7WU

[mr. tegu]

I watched both Free Solo and The Dawn Wall. The comfort and ease with which these guys just drop and trust their equipment to catch them is crazy. On The Dawn Wall it was amazing how many days they spent on the wall. And the stuff they grab onto is just basically nothing.

As for Free Solo, that climb is just mind boggling. His feet appear to be relying on nothing more than friction at multiple times.

[COchief]

Originally Posted by Rivaldo

Alone on the Wall is scarier than Free Solo.

Honnold is another species literally. Some of his quotes help to understand him. The risks we total aliens to his experience associate with his actions aren't accurate.

recommend Man on Wire for something similar, if you haven't already seen it.

Sad that you are championing this bastion of insecurity. I personally watched this dweebs documentary years ago and found it to be incredibly disturbing, I kept asking myself "what is wrong with this person and what is his pathetic drive to prove to everyone he's something"...then his mom piped up with how much of a dork he was when young and they showed what a chump he is (was). I can't believe people look up to such a weakling, I can't wait for the day when he dies and his parents have to bury the little shitstain. I can't believe the average person can't recognize mental illness, he is the king of it if you truly break him down and watch the anxiety multiply and his biggest demon...insecurity...consume him.

A pitiful attention whore of cataclysmic proportions that should be mocked until the end of time. Just look at this picture, obviously a mentally stable individual just enjoying life...right?

[Valiant]

Saw his video years ago. Surprised he is still alive. Swear he is an alien.

[ping2000]

I think he's a ****ing dumbass. I wouldn't think any less of him for using a rope. No rope and you fart or sneeze and you die. Just a ****ing dumbass.

[Fat Elvis]

Originally Posted by COchief

Sad that you are championing this bastion of insecurity. I personally watched this dweebs documentary years ago and found it to be incredibly disturbing, I kept asking myself "what is wrong with this person and what is his pathetic drive to prove to everyone he's something"...then his mom piped up with how much of a dork he was when young and they showed what a chump he is (was). I can't believe people look up to such a weakling, I can't wait for the day when he dies and his parents have to bury the little shitstain. I can't believe the average person can't recognize mental illness, he is the king of it if you truly break him down and watch the anxiety multiply and his biggest demon...insecurity...consume him.

A pitiful attention whore of cataclysmic proportions that should be mocked until the end of time. Just look at this picture, obviously a mentally stable individual just enjoying life...right?

You're pretty much the idiot attention whore.

Honnald is, in all likelihood, on the Autism Spectrum Disorder. If you bothered watching the documentary, you'd know that his father had high functioning Asperger's syndrome, which in all likelihood is very hereditary. MRIs have shown that Honnald's brain is literally wired differently than the average person. As I mentioned in an earlier post, his amygdala doesn't register fear the way it does in an average person's brain. He doesn't freak out on the wall the way you or I would. I'm pretty positive he is on the spectrum because of the way he talks about the climb. He literally has every move preplanned and mapped out before making the climb. When you are talking about "right thumb, rotate, two fingers, alternate thumb" about a move that is at 2,500 feet while you are still on the ground---and you actually put yourself in a position at 2,500 feet where your exact move to survive is "right thumb, rotate, two fingers, alternate thumb" you are performing an exacting move that only someone who is either a true master of their craft and/or on the spectrum can perform.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by ping2000

I think he's a ****ing dumbass. I wouldn't think any less of him for using a rope. No rope and you fart or sneeze and you die. Just a ****ing dumbass.

He's kind of ruined it for other climbers. If I ever go and see some people climbing it with ropes, I'll taunt them for it.

[TwistedChief]

Originally Posted by COchief

Sad that you are championing this bastion of insecurity. I personally watched this dweebs documentary years ago and found it to be incredibly disturbing, I kept asking myself "what is wrong with this person and what is his pathetic drive to prove to everyone he's something"...then his mom piped up with how much of a dork he was when young and they showed what a chump he is (was). I can't believe people look up to such a weakling, I can't wait for the day when he dies and his parents have to bury the little shitstain. I can't believe the average person can't recognize mental illness, he is the king of it if you truly break him down and watch the anxiety multiply and his biggest demon...insecurity...consume him.

A pitiful attention whore of cataclysmic proportions that should be mocked until the end of time. Just look at this picture, obviously a mentally stable individual just enjoying life...right?

You're posting on an internet message board describing someone you've never met as a "dork," "chump," "weakling," "shitstain," and "attention whore" while gleefully wishing death on that person. But Honnold is the one who's insecure.

[mr. tegu]

The idea that he does this because he seeks attention is completely ridiculous. When he climbed Half Dome no one knew he was doing it except the small camera crew. When he finished there was no one at the top to congratulate him. He simply walked down the mountain.

For El Capitan he started and stopped the first attempt because there were more camera guys than he had ever experienced and he still wasn’t comfortable with them being there because of what could happen. The guy that made the film partly only did it because he understood the attempt was going to be made with or without the cameras present.

[Beef Supreme]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

He's kind of ruined it for other climbers. If I ever go and see some people climbing it with ropes, I'll taunt them for it.

[Red Dawg]

This is crazy as hell but he's not an ego maniac. He climbs alone most of the time. He did what seems impossible and no doubt one of the most impressive accomplishments in history.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Red Dawg

This is crazy as hell but he's not an ego maniac. He climbs alone most of the time. He did what seems impossible and no doubt one of the most impressive accomplishments in history.

I think you can be an egomaniac without jumping up and down screaming for attention. Perhaps there's a level above that where your ego is so out of control you don't give a shit what anybody thinks because they're all beneath you.

When it comes to people like this, I'm kind of torn. On the one hand, it's impossible not to admire their drive, courage and skill. On the other hand, they're ****ing nuts. And for those who have families, massively selfish and irresponsible. But to each their own.

Thought for the day:

[Rivaldo]

lol debating whether the families of COchief and others itt might be better off without

aim your frustrations towards Mecca Half Dome, right Princess?

[Rivaldo]

Imagine presuming to show an Alex Honnold how to live.

[COchief]

Originally Posted by Fat Elvis

Says Alex is a reerun

My sentiments exactly, does he possess the wherewithal to know that his mother loves him and will probably (almost certainly) someday bury him due to his amazing ability to not give a single shit if he lives or dies and how that will affect the people around him?

Originally Posted by TwistedChief

You're posting on an internet message board describing someone you've never met as a "dork," "chump," "weakling," "shitstain," and "attention whore" while gleefully wishing death on that person. But Honnold is the one who's insecure.

I can glean a lot from a little, sorry you can't. Instant deductive processing power is a gift and a curse. I never "wished" for his death, just a strong feeling that day is coming and if it does...well I won't be sad, not gleeful, but pity will probably be the prevailing emotion. Your first thought when choosing a username was "twisted"? Yeah, not going to put a lot into your opinion bud, congrats on a whole two years of fandom btw!

Originally Posted by Rivaldo

Imagine presuming to show an Alex Honnold how to live.

Yeah, he seems so happy I am totally jelly.

Fraz...oddly as usual, gets it. He is a selfish sad little prick. All of his climbs have been done with ropes before so anybody spouting "omg, most amazing achievement of all time" can lick a dick. The only thing that makes him "special" is his failure to care for himself or those around him.

[Red Dawg]

Originally Posted by Frazod

I think you can be an egomaniac without jumping up and down screaming for attention. Perhaps there's a level above that where your ego is so out of control you don't give a shit what anybody thinks because they're all beneath you.

When it comes to people like this, I'm kind of torn. On the one hand, it's impossible not to admire their drive, courage and skill. On the other hand, they're ****ing nuts. And for those who have families, massively selfish and irresponsible. But to each their own.

Thought for the day:

Every person in Cell Block D had a dream of a better life and plan.