“Free Solo” Movie - Climbing El Kapitan with no Rope

nope. a rope basically takes consequence out of the equation. and that's everything.

as stangmx13 said, he did the route multiple times over the course of several years with the rope.

as an aside, he and Tommy Caldwell also did the Nose route on El Cap (a substantially harder route, technically) in a record pace just shy of 2h. (with ropes). the freesolo of Freerider took around 4h.

 

ive done a handful of sport routes in the hard 5.12 and low 5.13 range like the hardest pitch of Freerider that Honnold did, all with tons of practice and tons of falls. the chances of me being able to replicate any of those performances with 0 errors is non-existant. the chances of doing all of those in a row with 0 errors is also nil. and adding another 25 routes above and below that and all the exposure of 3000ft makes the chances even more zero, ha. even as a climber, its unfathomable to me that anyone could ever accomplish this... but Honnold did.

 

I don't get this kind of stuff. Freecliming, slacklining over a gorge, climbing antennas on tops of buildings, or any of the other stuff that would result in certain death for even the tiniest mistake. No thank you.

 

I've met him multiple times in my climbing travels, he's an absolute 1% talent. He free solo'd a route years back called Moonlight Buttress that to me is one that people don't talk about enough, what people didn't see is the countless send burns he took at it, dialling in every move and sequence until it becomes unconscious. In his mind he's just executing something he's rehearsed to the point in which he's 'comfortable' not climbing with a rope. Everything he solos is far below his max difficulty. BUT something changes when that rope comes off: I've deep water solo'd 20 meter cliffs and solo'd indoor gyms with five feet of pads for protection and that was sketchy enough! I repeat...1% kinda person.

 

My question is what makes the “free” part of the climb impressive? “Wow, that guy is crazy” comments? Yea. And I get appreciating the actual skill and athleticism required. But If someone breaks the track record at xyz race track we appreciate the skill involved but is it more impressive if he did it in jeans, t shirt and sunglasses? Or would we say that guy is stupid. Heck, we say the guy that goes speeding by on the highway with no helmet is just plain stupid. So what makes not having the proper safety equipment impressive in this case and not stupid like any other sport done without proper equipment? Again, He could be the best climber in the world. The best athlete alive, Doing impressive and skilled things but is he more athletic or more skilled for not having the proper safety equipment?

 

^ depending on the hardness/toughness level of balls (iron, titanium, tungsten) it becomes more and more difficult to argue about safety.

Like IOM vs circuit racing.

I know that snowboarders in the pipe pull tricks without gear better, since they don’t allow their subconcious to slip in sloppiness (“don’t save that, all the gear will catch ya”)

Doesn’t make sense when adrenaline is involved.

 

is free soloing "stupid"? yes, to most people it's an unacceptable risk. just as racing without gear is an unacceptable risk to most people. but that's where the comparison ends.

is he more skilled for having been able to master the climb sufficiently to remove risk to an acceptable (for him) level? yes. absolutely. it isn't a question of "do the thing" then "do the thing without a helmet". the whole deal is the level of mastery required.

i finally came up with a reasonable motorcycle analogy: this is being within a second or two of lap record pace at... well, any racetrack (that's where the analogy really fails, as this is Nurburgring or IoM hard...). Now, do that pace plus or minus 0.1 sec every single lap for four hours. If you miss that pace, the C4 attached to your bike detonates. anything less than perfect execution for 4 hours. you die.

 

I totally get it. That's the only time you truly have your life in your own hands. Literally.

 

Now we’re talking. There’s a lot of activities with a greater than zero mortality rate. Who gets to decide where the line is for which ones? You do is the answer I think we all arrive at.

One of the toughest problems was the bouldering problem where he decided to go with a karate kick transfer kicking his leg out and falling to the adjacent wall. Miss with your foot or have a little slip? See ya. Right after he did it with no rope, he stole a glance at the roped off cameraman and gave a little “eff yah”. I assume he felt as good about doing that move as I do about climbing a flight of stairs without falling, but he still knows the consequence of a misstep is death, hence the “eff yah” I think. I do not say eff yah when I arrive at the top of stairs. Lol.

 

just being pedantic here, but there was no human manning that camera. there were two remote cameras at that location (one left, and one above) because it was such a serious move, neither Jimmy nor Alex wanted a possible human influence or witness. further, he apparently worked his flexibility and precision for that move for the better part of a year!

you know the climbing gets easier when you start seeing the drone shots and all the other cinematic tricks.

 

Okay, he stole a glance at the camera.... lol

 

Free soloing is about having the freedom to just ascend. There's no fumbling around with your rack, no need to rearrange ropes or adjust your harness, and no distractions from climbing partners. It's just climbing without all the other shit that's necessary, but isn't climbing.

It's also a demonstration of mastery. To be so good that although you're risking everything, you're risking nothing.

Kind of like the TT, some people won't get it and that's okay. It's just not for you.

 

That's what I imagine John McGuiness mentality is about the TT, vs mine which is more "no efffin way"

 

The line his mother dropped in the preview summed it up.

 

Pfft, I'd do the TT...average speed around 50mph

 

Not really. A gust of wind, a drop of sweat, an insect, a sneeze, or any of a million other tiny little things and it’s all over.

 

Or descend at incredible pace

 

I just don't see how you guys are throwing away the racing analogies and saying it takes more mastery to do it without rope... that makes no sense...

If he had done the climb with a rope and never used the rope it didn't take any more skill than he used without a rope, that doesn't make any sense..

If you agree that this is similar to riding the IOM at a stupid high level then it's exactly like doing it without any gear... You believe that you're good enough to not fail so you don't use any protection because you're that confident in your abilities... I don't see how that's impressive in any way, just stupid.

 

I agree. I think it’s stupid, too. Potentially throwing away your life to climb a rock? Not sure I understand the attraction. And I like to do crazy stuff.

Looking forward to seeing the movie though.

 

I honestly what my average speed would be. Lol