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Hope, BC
Canada
7095 Posts |
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2012 : 6:16 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by AcesHigh
Check out this 60 Minutes Episode
Mountain climber Alex Honnold seems to defy gravity by scaling sheer, steep rock faces with no rope and apparently no fear. Lara Logan reports.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7393496n&tag=contentMain;contentBody
Kind of super-bouldering. He's incredible, but one split-second of inattention and he dies. |
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Hope, BC
Canada
7095 Posts |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
1111 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2012 : 8:37 PM
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quote:
Kind of super-bouldering. He's incredible, but one split-second of inattention and he dies.
...not even....one piece of rock that dislodges under force on difficult move up and..... |
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
1603 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 01:32 AM
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| Amazing accomplishments. At the same time, I can't help but wonder why we glorify free soloing but we would never glorify skiing without avy gear or playing football without a helmet. |
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Hope, BC
Canada
7095 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 02:04 AM
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It is incredible, and I surely hope this guy doesn't die falling. To have the guts and skills to do what he does is great. BUT to value your life less than a piece of rope is beyond me. Too bad he wouldn't promote safe climbing. Even the best of the best makes a mistake, life is too precious to risk if you ask me, that's just me though. Young people don't value much maybe that explains it. You can tell him to rope up, but he likely won't listen or even want to.
My stomach was twisting when he was on the ledge in the second video. |
Edited by - AcesHigh on 01/07/2012 02:06 AM |
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
330 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 06:24 AM
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| Could certainly teach our hockey players and other pro "sportsmen" a thing or two about focus and mind control. |
Edited by - noman on 01/07/2012 06:25 AM |
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3022 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 09:48 AM
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| That kind of 'climbing' gives me the willies--creepy--feelings. Read an article last year in N.G. about those people down in the states parks and some do fall. Crazy. |
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3022 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 09:54 AM
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Yosemite, same park.
Also read an another article about the true adventurers that photograph the people in these stories. How do they do it all?! |
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Squamish, British Columbia
Canada
1007 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 1:20 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Steventy
Amazing accomplishments. At the same time, I can't help but wonder why we glorify free soloing but we would never glorify skiing without avy gear or playing football without a helmet.
I don't know if they're comparable. I think what is glorified is the mental fortitude.
I admire the mental fortitude of the likes of Ueli Steck (Alpinist) or Xavier de Le Rue (Snowboarder) or Reinhold Messner (Mountaineer). They are/were reckless in some regards, which I don't condone. But nevertheless their mental control is so far beyond my own that it begs for admiration.
http://vimeo.com/29966081 |
Edited by - leimrod on 01/07/2012 1:21 PM |
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
1603 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 2:37 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by leimrod
quote:
Originally posted by Steventy
Amazing accomplishments. At the same time, I can't help but wonder why we glorify free soloing but we would never glorify skiing without avy gear or playing football without a helmet.
I don't know if they're comparable. I think what is glorified is the mental fortitude.
I admire the mental fortitude of the likes of Ueli Steck (Alpinist) or Xavier de Le Rue (Snowboarder) or Reinhold Messner (Mountaineer). They are/were reckless in some regards, which I don't condone. But nevertheless their mental control is so far beyond my own that it begs for admiration.
http://vimeo.com/29966081
I agree; it's not a perfect comparison. Skiing a slope without a beacon doesn't require much more mental fortitude than skiing a slope with a beacon.
The similarity is going out of your way to not use a readily available safety measure - especially when some of the dangerous elements are out of your control (rock fall, bee sting, etc.)
I also admire the mental control of people like Alex Honnold. |
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Langley, BC
Canada
1078 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 2:47 PM
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| He's just a circus attraction. |
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Vancouver
349 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 8:31 PM
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I think he never solos any challenge lines blindly. As we all know , absolutely he is one of those top climbers in the world. However he humbly describes himself as a not powerful climber. 60 minutes overtime also released a 5-minute video "Filming mountain climber Alex Honnold" - a view of Alex "no big deal" from a camera man, and 4-minute "Dude: The quirky world of Alex Honnold".
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20114455-10391709.html
& Dude: The quirky world of Alex Honnold
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20114456-10391709/dude-the-quirky-world-of-alex-honnold/?tag=strip
I personal like these overtime videos more than the 13-minute solo action one, or any other shooting about Alex's solo activities. Hope the vanity won't affect his simple purity life. Hope he keeps being cool and mellow under flash lights and enjoys his fun soloing with extending lines on the mountain. |
Edited by - KISBOO on 01/07/2012 8:54 PM |
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Finally stopping that crazy suffering that is ice, climbing to concentrate on great ski tours!
3503 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 8:45 PM
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| If Alex doubted his ability on a route, he'd hesitate with dire consequences. To solo at his level, confidence is supreme in terms of mentally making it work. |
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Whistler, BC
Canada
422 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 9:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by AcesHigh
It is incredible, and I surely hope this guy doesn't die falling. To have the guts and skills to do what he does is great. BUT to value your life less than a piece of rope is beyond me. Too bad he wouldn't promote safe climbing. Even the best of the best makes a mistake, life is too precious to risk if you ask me, that's just me though. Young people don't value much maybe that explains it. You can tell him to rope up, but he likely won't listen or even want to.
My stomach was twisting when he was on the ledge in the second video.
No form of climbing is without some risk..............and the same can be said for a huge variety of other endeavours.
Life is certainly precious but I'm not sure those that takes risks that the rest of us shun as reckless view the preciousness of life as any less.
To some, that kind of risk taking is precisely how they celebrate being alive, dwell on it - their form of reflection and meditation. Being willing to take risks and learning to manage those risks is what defines the human spirit. Its where so many of our advances are made possible and where we often learn the most about ourselves as individuals and the strengths and weaknesses of our own kind.
I'm not so sure why in our current society we're so quick to jump on exceptional risk takers on one hand and then often idolize those same accomplishments. I suppose its the issue of fearing something thats hard to understand. If we don't perceive a benefit as society we tend ignore the benefit the individual receives from taking those risks and assume the risk/reward ratio is out of whack in that there is no net gain.
When I look at people like Alex Honnold I don't see a reckless person. I see someone extremely calculating and competent worthy of admiration for simply showing me something I wouldn't have otherwise realized was possible, in fact is. I don't see any way he could further manage the risk to get the same benefits he receives from doing what he does. Nor do I see how his ability to take on an incredible degree of objective risk is potentially harming any one other than himself.
What does he show us that we may use to better ourselves?
The ability to commit completely
Perseverance at all costs
The focus to perform under pressure
Self reflection on our capabilities and analysis of what need to improve in order to succeed
Although I would never think of doing anything like what I saw in that 60 mins video, I am glad to know there are people that do, are able to. Different values, different tolerance for risk...........but not necessarily reckless in my opinion.
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
874 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 9:08 PM
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There are people that aspire to this at Squamish every summer. Unfortunately the only climb they ever do is Diedre, and always at mid-day when there are multiple roped parties already on it. Everyone on the climb has to grind to a halt while the aspiring rock-god manouevers himself around the climbers, belayers, etc.
It is quite annoying to encounter when you take a party of novices up the climb and it teaches them all the wrong lessons.
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Langley, BC
Canada
1078 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 9:15 PM
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Very well put Summit Seeker.
He reminds me a lot of Timothy Treadwell. Idolized while alive for possessing some magical ability, then derided when the extreme risk taking finally catches up. |
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Finally stopping that crazy suffering that is ice, climbing to concentrate on great ski tours!
3503 Posts |
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Whistler, BC
Canada
422 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2012 : 10:16 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by johngenx
Check out these soloing/running out badasses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxJSC1oOJmM
Wow! Trying to think of something to say about that........nothing really! lol;cry - not sure. Poor guys, hope they're still alright. |
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Hope, BC
Canada
7095 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2012 : 02:12 AM
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| +2 for Summit Seeker, now to watch this other video... |
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Squamish, British Columbia
Canada
1007 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2012 : 11:18 AM
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The real bleeding edge of climbing is this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsAiOYXC-k0
I hear "No Big Deal" Honnold said that after free soloing the Nose that he felt just about ready to start trying this new style of climbing. |
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Topic |
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Alex Honnold - No Rope & No Fear - Free Soloing
