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

I don’t find it sad at all. It would be cliche to say that he lived more in 25 years than most do in a lifetime, but it would also be true.

 

I don't know, man. I think that cliché would be saying that he died doing what he loved. We've never had a direct account from someone confirming that this was how they felt when it actually happened.

 

I'm not sure I can watch it now. 25 is too young.

 

I'm not at all into climbing, and even I was seriously bummed out watching that. Full disclosure, Free Solo also made me sad. The inevitability of what's going to happen to those guys, I find hard to deal with.

 

for free soloing this is a choice, as it all is... but now there are BASE jumping chutes that are small enough not to hamper a free solo climb. They’ll work in as low as 50’ elevations and would easily and do often save lives. A bunch of them have been using them. Lots faster to get down too, send it and jump off the top and float down. Saves countless hiking hours for every climb. Steph Davis and the Wizard, who died in a flight suit jump, were pioneers in that.

I’ve free solo’d a bunch of stuff I shouldn’t ever done but was young and invincible... luckily I got smarter... maybe... it’s odd the things you do but would never want someone you care about to risk... I find whitewater kayaking/rafting the same, too many risks taken and luckily survived.

oh the alpine shit! F that! I’ll take dying any other way than freezing to death... only thing worse would be burning, at least you wouldn’t be cold...

 

Fuk dat.

 

I saw one of those deployed in the documentary. I had never seen that before. I wonder what goes through the mind of someone who's had the opportunity to use it when they think about all the times they climbed before without it.

Anyway, still nuts.

 

Honnold says his free soloing isn’t high risk! He says it’s high consequence.

His point being he takes big risks in roped climbs but only free solos things he doesn’t consider risky! Like the karate kick move... amazing on every level.

the odd thing is most still won’t use them... I understand it changes the game but can’t imagine needing the ultimate end for motivation or whatever. That tiny chute is almost the same size as their chalk thing.. I looked again under 30’ is all they need to deploy. I think the flight suit sport is bad ass. Those that die are flying close proximity runs... we have motorcycles for that

 

That's good.

I see a fundamental difference between the two sports. If I suddenly freaked out on a motorcycle and became very conscious of my mortality, I always had the option to park it on the spot and walk back. Flying those things, you are fully committed.

 

Papa,
Let me tell you about a whitewater trip I took way before I was ready or skilled at it. I took one trip on a bigger raft with family down the New River, nothing to it, wanted to get more into it.

So, the next year a racing buddy and one other friend paid an extra $300 to get the smallest raft possible with our guide and us three. We wanted to really get into it. Surfing the Eddies, shooting gaps, All of it. Our guide I met the year before and he was a river rat, seasonal guides and party type, like ski lodge types of seasonal crews. His name, no shit, was Billybob, he was missing a front tooth, from an oar knocking it out. I requested him because he offered the ultimate trip down the Gulley River, in WV. It is the second highest ranked river in the US for number of class 5 rapids, class 6 are kayak only and the highest. It’s an act of Congress every September to open the damn and let the river run for the rafting tourism season.

5:30 am in September, it’s cold and our group is us and 3 bigger rafts one with a full load of college girls. Where we put in, there is an eddie(where the water recirculates and you can surf on them) so Billybob wants to show off and tease his guide buddies that he gets to really ride the rapids as they have to take calmer routes.

We’re in and figuring it out, all the group is ready. We get the raft into the Eddie and are doing great! Having a blast! Been in boat ten min and it’s going to kick ass! About that time the Eddie caught me and pulled be under folding the raft in half which the rest of them still paddling and riding the Eddie. You have foot holds to keep you in the boat, I’ve been under water for a bit and it keeps popping me up and I breathe then back to fighting to get free. My leg is stuck in the foot hold and when the water grabs me it just twists me around then I pop back up in the raft for way longer than I would’ve liked. Finally it grabbed me again, this time it got my buddy too. Thankfully. It flipped the raft launching all of us into the water and fighting the Eddie undertow to swim out to safety. So 5:45 and I’ve already swam for my life! Man that was an epic trip that I’ll never forget! It got more intense and way more dangerous including our guide avoiding the rangers and taking us in new incredibly cool places.

It is the absolutely most dangerous thing I have ever done off of a motorcycle and I will never forget the exhilaration and feeling of being alive that day!

 

Exactly my thoughts! We can drag knees at triple digits all day and be really safe. Terminal velocity of a flight suit/jump is only around 150mph

 

Yeah, the possibility of drowning while freezing. Everything I've ever wanted in life.

 

I hate the cold too. That 50 turned into 70 and we were paddling and swimming so hard it was actually really warm feeling.

I got pinned against dildo rock and had fight my way out, all underwater, it’s weird as you don’t even have time to realize you need to breathe soon as it’s all happening so fast. That’s when the rangers got after our guide because he had to yell the opposite commands for us to shoot that gap or he’d be in deep shit and lose his credentials. Imagine moving about 30mph down river at 4 building size boulders and trying to get the raft in between them where it’ll barely fit. Kind of like a race start and you’re picking your spot for turn one, shooting for your gap/spot. Dildo rock as they call it sits directly perpendicular to the current making a hell of a mess with rapids. It was a hell of a trip!

 

Watched it, today. Definitely worth the time. The production crew did a great job, IMO.

 

Jimmy Chin is the mastermind behind so many incredible adventure docs. He would have to be, but he is a very talented world level climber/skier/alpinist

 

Meru was so much better than Free Solo imo.

 

I think you gotta take anything that dude says with a grain of salt. He is not wired the same as most humans and I think the same could have been said about Leclerc. I just watched the first little bit of The Alpinist last night and the way Leclerc interacted with the camera seemed to me to be less manic than Guy Martin but cut from the same cloth...

 

Free Solo, Meru and The Alpinist were all good. Equally good, for those into climbing, is 14 Peaks https://www.netflix.com/title/81464765

 

"Touching The Void"

 

Guy Martin was the first person who crossed my mind as I was watching that.