Joe Rogan with Alex Honnold: the greatest athletic achievement of all time [Archive]

Bill Ryan

27th October 2018, 15:08

I've posted this (for now) under The Human Condition (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/forumdisplay.php?178-The-Human-Condition). The interview is by Joe Rogan, who brought rock climber Alex Honnold on to his show for the second time after the National Geographic documentary Free Solo (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/films/free-solo) was released.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OhHkBmbb5Y
The film documents how Honnold climbed the 3,000 foot vertical face of El Capitan in Yosemite, from bottom to top, with no safety ropes, all alone, no nothing. He did it in a sliver under 4 hours. (The very first time it was ever climbed, back in 1958, it took a roped team of the best climbers in their generation 45 days over a period of 18 months.)

The camera team, multiply suspended from ropes not far from him as he climbed, were genuinely concerned they might be filming his death.

It's been hailed as the most extraordinary and exceptional athletic feat by any human, in all time.

Perfection or die.

World-class climbers were almost speechless in their reaction. "Unrelatable." "Mind-bending." "So far out in front of conventional reality." "Terrifying." "Incomprehensible."

The documentary is kind of hard to sit through, even when you know he was successful. And the interview is a good one. Joe Rogan clearly likes the kid a lot, and as an athlete himself admires him intensely. Enjoy.

Here's the film trailer... watch if you dare. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urRVZ4SW7WU

Daozen

27th October 2018, 15:14

No ropes? That is kind of astounding. His eyes are somewhat otherworldly. Inspiring. Im teaching corporate students now. I think I'll make 2 or 3 lessons out of this.

I think this video makes a good pair with the OP:

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Bill Ryan

6th November 2018, 22:54

More: much of this video about Honnold is extracted from his feature on 60 Minutes, back in 2012. He was filmed for TV solo-climbing a slightly easier route than his extraordinary El Capitan feat, but it's still (a) almost impossible, and (b) pretty hard to sit through.

My favorite YouTube comment:

I just completed a rigorous, six-month long training program that included physical workouts and mental exercises designed to help me overcome extreme fear.
I am now ready to watch this video.

:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iipgmKK5GCY

Dennis Leahy

7th November 2018, 01:18

That Youtube video comment is just about right. I am one of those that can barely watch. Watching him climb solo, I'm feeling physical symptoms similar to what I have felt after being in a car crash, or in catching rattlesnakes by hand: shallow, choppy breathing (when I could breathe at all), overall shakiness with random muscle twitches, sweaty palms, head reeling... the effects of a massive squirt of adrenaline, I'd guess. I'd need to wear Depends to watch the full documentary on a big screen, and it would take a long time to recover from that.

Daozen

7th November 2018, 02:21

Glad to see this thread get some attention. I think it was eclipsed by other discussions. I built a whole lesson around these videos, and have been doing some good classes with my students.

It's made all the scarier when you note Alex doesn't even have proper handholds. He's holding on by his fingertips for much of the climb.

Bill Ryan

7th November 2018, 02:38

He's holding on by his fingertips for much of the climb.

Or sometimes even less. There are some really hard-to-watch clips shown here, in this excellent short piece by ABC. (Dennis, look away! :P )

For those few with nerves of steel, it's well worth the 7 minutes. :) It also includes an interview with the film-makers, who had serious misgivings about the project inasmuch as they were well aware they might be filming (or even causing) his death.

https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/climber-made-solo-journey-yosemites-el-capitan-gear-58167033

sunwings

9th November 2018, 07:28

Every so often I do a internet check on this guy to see if he's still alive..(another great comment) on his best video to date. Really looking forward to his new film.

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seehas

9th November 2018, 19:16

Alex is a superhuman beeing for me, i climbed myself many years and i had adrenalin rushs in easy alpine multiple rope climbs, but what this guy does is something from another planet.

for everyone that never climbed its hard to understand what kind of mindset you have to have and even for me i never climbed a route in freesolo its hard to grasp.

as they say the mind is the most important muscle in climbing.

finaly i have a reason to go to the movies again !

Dennis Leahy

9th November 2018, 20:45

I am in awe of this guy, and loved the interview.

Above, where I described my visceral reaction, was incomplete. I didn't mention that my eyes welled with tears, involuntarily. Not like crying, but like the bodily reaction to a jolt of histamine.

Many people report having dreams where they are falling, and I have had those too. In addition, I have a recurring, vivid, vision of an event where I must have been at least 1000 feet in the air and falling. (I don't know if this is a snapshot out of a lucid dream, or possibly a previous life real event, or an overactive imagination, or what.)

I once lost control in a car, on ice, in the Colorado mountains, and went over a cliff and down 75 feet, so I know what really falling feels like. I also (back in my 20s, when I was invincible) lost the hiking trail (on a ridge above) Hell's Canyon (Colorado) and stupidly started down a steep face (not vertical, but steep) wearing a backpack. I quickly found myself in a position where I could not go down (except to tumble down the mountain to the canyon below), and for a couple of adrenaline-filled minutes, I wasn't sure that I could go back up - and I did nearly fall. (NEVER trust vegetation as a hand hold!)

As a kid, I used to climb to the top of tall trees and sway in the breeze (a great childhood memory.) I don't ever remember being afraid of heights. I suspect that it came from either the real life experiences, or from that recurring vision.

It is with trepidation that I am going to see "Free Solo" tomorrow. My reaction to my reaction from watching the trailer. I feel like I have to confront this.

(Where's the "Depends" emoji when I need one?)

Mike

9th November 2018, 20:46

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Not for a split second.

It almost makes me proud to be human. What that man did is universes beyond any other atheltic (or otherwise) achievement i've ever seen or ever will see. It's left some part of me paralyzed with amazement, if that makes any sense.

onawah

9th November 2018, 22:08

You couldn't pay me to be his girlfriend!

Bill Ryan

9th November 2018, 22:20

You couldn't pay me to be his girlfriend!

Or his mother. :)

I actually think he's a real example to many. He cares about her a lot. (His mother, too!) And he's smart and grounded enough that he knows he can't continue doing this forever, and in all likelihood his extraordinary El Capitan climb will be something he'll be unlikely ever to surpass. (Maybe no human ever will.)

In terms of life goals and other major projects, he cares deeply about the potential of solar power, and has spent time in African communities helping to install the literally life-transforming but very simple technology: just to have one operational lightbulb in a house at night. That changes everything.

He talks with Joe Rogan about this, as well, very passionately, towards the end of their interview. He's quite a remarkable man.

onawah

9th November 2018, 22:26

OK, I would be his girlfriend AFTER he stops climbing! :lol:

You couldn't pay me to be his girlfriend!

Or his mother. :)

I actually think he's a real example to many. He cares about her a lot. (His mother, too!) And he's smart and grounded enough that he knows he can't continue doing this forever, and in all likelihood his extraordinary El Capitan climb will be something he'll be unlikely ever to surpass. (Maybe no human ever will.)

In terms of life goals and other major projects, he cares deeply about the potential of solar power, and has spent time in African communities helping to install the literally life-transforming but very simple technology: just to have one operational lightbulb in a house at night. That changes everything.

He talks with Joe Rogan about this, as well, very passionately, towards the end of their interview. He's quite a remarkable man.

avid

9th November 2018, 23:01

Just aaaaaarrrgggghhhh (and dashes off for tissues and a brush to sweep up nail bitings), this is how I felt also watching Bill’s last 2 videos - well not so much the last one as Mara wasn’t freaked. This lad is truly amazing....
Having lost friends in climbing incidents, and being compromised on Shepherd’s Crag myself, my nerves are well and truly shot. Too old to attempt anything daft now thank goodness, but it doesn’t stop me worrying - sorry Bill!

Flash

10th November 2018, 07:43

Well, there is some guys or at least one on this planet, yet in better shape than you Bill ;) sorry

sunwings

10th November 2018, 22:20

Actually, his Mother seems to be amazingly Ok with it, being a climber herself, maybe she can understand his mindset.

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In a 2015 Times Magazine Article Alex wrote "There’s a constant tension in climbing, and really all exploration, between pushing yourself into the unknown but trying not to push too far. The best any of us can do is to tread that line carefully... I was 19 when my father died from a heart attack. He was a 55-year-old college professor and had led what was by all appearances a risk-free life."

http://time.com/3898371/alex-honnold-dean-potter-climbing/

Do we all have a skewered idea of risk? Diet and lifestyle do not really register as risk for many people.However, Alex clearly understands risk. He spent two years practising on El Capitan before deciding to free solo it. Two years visualising each individual hand and foot movement. A 16 year old getting behind the wheel of a car for the first time, after getting their license may be in more risk without even knowing it.

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Dennis Leahy

10th November 2018, 23:30

I survived watching the movie!

hahahahaha Am I brave, or what!

===============
{Nov 11. Edit, to add:}

I don't want to create more posts in this thread about MY reaction to this, so I'll just edit this post to add a tidbit.

It really bothered me that I was unable to control my reactions to the aerial/cliff-face footage, so I decided to work on it. First, I needed to objectively assess why it was instantly subjective - I could not maintain objectivity. It dawned on me that I was allowing myself to (or not stopping myself from) moving my "spirit" to the vantage point of the camera. I was allowing the camera to act as my eyes, so I was caught in the illusion that I was actually where the camera was.

My first intellectual approach was to adjust my physical visual perspective - like a camera - to wide angle, and not allow myself to have a focused telephoto experience. I watched the trailer and some other climbing footage trying to maintain the edges of the monitor and my desktop in my visual field. That helped a lot, and pretty quickly I was in a much more objective mindset - watching the action as an observer rather than feeling like I was actually there and viewing the scene from the camera's point of view. The good news is that it worked, but the bad news was that it was "emotionally sanitized" by objectivity completely eclipsing subjectivity.

It dawned on me that maybe this could be experienced subjectively the same way as a lucid dream - projecting some part of my essence to have the subjective perspective (and thrill) but knowing that it was not my physical self - and that I was safe. It worked! I was surprised that the processing of this was done in an evening, and that the movie the following day was a thrilling experience, without any of the visceral fight-or-flight symptoms I had been feeling.

Ivy23

10th November 2018, 23:59

Phenomenal!! I made it through the trailer, does that count? Plan on watching the interview tonight. Fairly certain my blood pressure spiked just watching the short clips. Wow!

Bill Ryan

11th November 2018, 18:42

Here's a 10 minute short feature on all the issues about filming the climb, which were many.

Very, very interesting..... and also quite hard to watch, really. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-wjmIFlnNo

Bill Ryan

11th November 2018, 19:19

And a little more. This interview session, filmed with the live audience at the Toronto International Film Festival, is NOT scary. Dennis, Ivy, I promise. :)

But it may be of interest to anyone who knows a little about the characters involved. Film-maker Chai Vasarhelyi described it as the scariest day of her life. Her film-maker husband, Jimmy Chin, said that the finally edited movie was, if anything, underplayed. Alex's girlfriend Sanni agreed, saying that living through the entire thing in real time was far more stressful and scary than the movie itself, and that only after she saw the film four times did she start to relax a little after re-living it all again.

And meanwhile, there's Alex himself, in an ill-fitting suit, having walked on stage to a standing ovation, looking as if he can't grasp what any the fuss is about, and coming out with some wonderful one-liners. (But kudos: he's a very intelligent man, and absolutely did understand full well the entire deal all around him.)

Very interesting. In my opening post, I'd wondered whether this belongs in The Human Condition (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/forumdisplay.php?178-The-Human-Condition). Yes, I think it absolutely does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9zJ8aXDU3E

Ivy23

11th November 2018, 19:48

Goosebumps. Hail, really?! Definitely hard to watch... It’s as if I can feel the apprehension during and then the relief after the successful completion of those present and filming. My hat goes off to them, as I’m not sure I could participate should one of my friends decide to engage a dangerous task like this! I did get the feel good rush when he climbed over the top. Love it!!

Ivy23

11th November 2018, 20:09

I have to say, I love that Sanni has his back even though she can’t fully grasp why he wants to do this. Unconditional love is a beautiful thing. I might not understand a persons “whys” but I can still love, support and be there for them because it is who they are.

And a little more. This interview session, filmed with the live audience at the Toronto International Film Festival, is NOT scary. Dennis, Ivy, I promise. :)

But it may be of interest to anyone who knows a little about the characters involved. Film-maker Chai Vasarhelyi described it as the scariest day of her life. Her film-maker husband, Jimmy Chin, said that the finally edited movie was, if anything, underplayed. Alex's girlfriend Sanni agreed, saying that living through the entire thing in real time was far more stressful and scary than the movie itself, and that only after she saw the film four times did she start to relax a little after re-living it all again.

And meanwhile, there's Alex himself, in an ill-fitting suit, having walked on stage to a standing ovation, looking as if he can't grasp what any the fuss is about, and coming out with some wonderful one-liners. (But kudos: he's a very intelligent man, and absolutely did understand full well the entire deal all around him.)

Very interesting. In my opening post, I'd wondered whether this belongs in The Human Condition (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/forumdisplay.php?178-The-Human-Condition). Yes, I think it absolutely does.

onawah

12th November 2018, 04:47

This reads almost like a morbid joke, but apparently it's on the level--a video sponsored by Stride Health Health Insurance of Alex Honnold climbing buildings in the Bay Area (one with a brick facade that even he admits is probably unsafe).
"Stride Health
Published on Jun 18, 2014
Spend a day in San Francisco pushing the limits with the world's best free-solo climber Alex Honnold. Presented by https://www.stridehealth.com.

This is the untold story Alex Honnold's first ascents of San Francisco's iconic urban landscape. Join Alex and Stride Health on a journey from the boulders of Stinson Beach to the heart of the city.

He climbs Mark di Suvero's eye-catching sculptures on Crissy Field, chimney's up the iconic Palace of Fine Arts which celebrates its 100th anniversary next year, and wraps with a daring Financial District ascent in the shadows of the TransAmerica building.

"I spend so much more time on rock where its so natural to me, whereas with buildings its much more of an adventure... I don't have that much experience climbing up buildings, so its more exciting."

You'll see the playful side of Alex, and find out what truly scares him (spoiler: Board Room balconies). Urban Ascents brings Alex back down to earth and gives us all a chance to understand how he perceives risk and has trained his body for 18+ years to reduce it.

Safety. Fun. Speed.

Why Stride Health? Because even Alex needs a spotter.

Okay, so maybe Alex is king of his free-soloing domain, but only once he carefully studies a route. Occasionally he'll slip while roped in and "take a 40-footer." If Alex hits his head or breaks a bone, we've got him covered. In his own words, Alex "wants to be a grandfather" and that means making sure his "insides are alright". The good news for Alex: with his Stride Health recommended plan, he has access to the best doctors at the lowest cost and care made easy.

We make health insurance human. https://www.stridehealth.com "

B76ysGuyi7M

How reassuring! :"with his Stride Health recommended plan, he has access to the best doctors at the lowest cost and care made easy."

onawah

16th January 2019, 06:44

Bill Ryan

16th January 2019, 11:20

How They Filmed the First El Capitan Climb With No Ropes
Vanity Fair
Published on Jan 11, 2019
"Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the directors of the documentary “Free Solo,” discuss how they captured rock climber Alex Honnold’s free solo climb (without any ropes, harnesses or protective equipment) of Yosemite’s El Capitan in June 2017. The film crew was challenged to record his incredible achievement without affecting Honnold’s climb.
Free Solo is in open nationwide in theaters and opens in IMAX theaters across the country Jan 11."

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Fantastic, thanks. :star: Just 7 minutes, but a most excellent summary of the entire thing.

Fascinating for me — I never knew this! — was that Alex Honnold started solo climbing (alone, with no rope or safety partner) when he was young because although that was scary, he was even more scared of actually asking someone to come climbing with him. :)

Elizabeth Chai also says it was the 'perfect storm' for a documentary film. It surely was. All the ingredients came together: his life's ambition for many years, his extraordinary unique ability, his courage and discipline, the sheer unbelievable spectacle of it all, the fact that this will almost certainly never be surpassed (ever!), and his new love interest, Sanni, who appeared in the middle of all this, quite unscripted. And through the entire thing, he has the human appeal of a slightly gawky, naive, grinning teenager who's almost impossible not to like.

It was released in IMAX cinemas a few days ago. I'd not be surprised to hear reports of some people just having to leave in the final half hour because even though everyone knows it all ended well, it was still just too terrifying to watch. :bigsmile:

onawah

17th January 2019, 01:53

Terrifying for sure!
What's so interesting too is that Honnold is so far removed from what we normally expect to see in a super-athlete, but which he most certainly is.
Vegan, thin, unassuming, quiet and shy, dressed in old, worn clothes doesn't correspond at all to the stereotype.

How They Filmed the First El Capitan Climb With No Ropes
Vanity Fair
Published on Jan 11, 2019
"Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the directors of the documentary “Free Solo,” discuss how they captured rock climber Alex Honnold’s free solo climb (without any ropes, harnesses or protective equipment) of Yosemite’s El Capitan in June 2017. The film crew was challenged to record his incredible achievement without affecting Honnold’s climb.
Free Solo is in open nationwide in theaters and opens in IMAX theaters across the country Jan 11."

Fantastic, thanks. :star: Just 7 minutes, but a most excellent summary of the entire thing.

Fascinating for me — I never knew this! — was that Alex Honnold started solo climbing (alone, with no rope or safety partner) when he was young because although that was scary, he was even more scared of actually asking someone to come climbing with him. :)

Elizabeth Chai also says it was the 'perfect storm' for a documentary film. It surely was. All the ingredients came together: his life's ambition for many years, his extraordinary unique ability, his courage and discipline, the sheer unbelievable spectacle of it all, the fact that this will almost certainly never be surpassed (ever!), and his new love interest, Sanni, who appeared in the middle of all this, quite unscripted. And through the entire thing, he has the human appeal of a slightly gawky, naive, grinning teenager who's almost impossible not to like.

It was released in IMAX cinemas a few days ago. I'd not be surprised to hear reports of some people just having to leave in the final half hour because even though everyone knows it all ended well, it was still just too terrifying to watch. :bigsmile:

Dennis Leahy

17th January 2019, 02:09

Imax? IMAX? OMG, Super Depends isn't enough.

Required supplies to view this movie on IMAX screen:

● Barf bag

● Defibrillator

● Nitroglycerine tablets

● Smelling salts

● Catheter

● 2 rolls of paper towel

onawah

18th January 2019, 01:00

Correction: Honnold is a vegetarian, not a vegan. ( And his diet could use some improvement.
He is probably getting some heckling on that score, after having admitted to eating Oreos and the like...)

Bill Ryan

13th February 2019, 14:01

Now in the Avalon Library: :thumbsup:

http://avalonlibrary.net/Free_Solo_(2018).mp4 (950 Mb)
http://avalonlibrary.net/Free_Solo_(2018)_HD.mp4 (4.11 Gb — for those with super-big screens :star: )

Joe Akulis

14th February 2019, 19:54

Just watched most of these videos last night. He's definitely put himself in the history books.

Not sure I went through quite as much nail biting once I saw how he had tread El Capitan on ropes so many times that he knew where his hands and feet were going to go long before he attempted it. BUT, on his free solo climb, when he got to the Boulder Problem, yeah, that's when it got me. :-)

Regardless of how much practice he got with ropes, he still did something that no one has ever done, or would even dare to try, and he made it look like a walk in the park. Absolutely amazing.

Bill Ryan

18th February 2019, 13:48

I finally watched it all from start to finish last night. I'd seen a bunch of clips, followed the interviews, and knew a lot about it, but hadn't actually seen the documentary.

It's VERY VERY VERY well done. As a piece of film-making, it's superb, and I'd back it for Best Documentary in next weekend's Oscars.

It should have Best Cinematography, too, but somehow wasn't short-listed: very few cameramen in the world could have captured what Honnold did. That's because the camera crew on El Capitan are all doing things like this.

http://projectavalon.net/Free_Solo_cameras_1.jpg

http://projectavalon.net/Free_Solo_cameras_2.jpg

This is a specialized subject — though EVERYONE should see this, as it's an extraordinary human story — but a few thoughts for the record:

Tommy Caldwell, his close friend and fellow-climber (a Yosemite veteran, and one of the very best of his generation), is at one point close to tears with anxiety for his buddy. In another clip, he says:

It's a funny thing, people who know a little bit about climbing, they're like, "Oh, he says he has it, he's totally safe."
And then people who really know exactly what he's doing are FREAKED OUT.
(I know a lot about this, and I knew he'd done it safely, and it's STILL hard to watch.)

The best quote from the movie, from Alex Honnold himself:

The idea of falling off is, you know, obviously I'm trying to avoid that, but it's like kind of okay if it's just by myself.
But, like, I wouldn't wanna fall off right in front of my friends, 'cause that's like, that's kind of messed up.
(He's talking about falling to his DEATH, here.)

The most grounded character who appears in the movie is Peter Croft, this guy.

http://projectavalon.net/Free_Solo_Peter_Croft.jpg

Besides Honnold, and now aged 60, clearly in fine shape, he's the ONLY world-class free solo climber who's still alive. (Rather like Highlander, there are now only two. But in this real world, both of them will survive.)

After Honnold abandons his first attempt because it didn't feel right, he meets Croft down on the valley floor. Croft asks him what's up, and Honnold explains. "Good for you", says Croft, listening like a wise, friendly uncle. The voice of maturity there. That's why Croft is still with us.

In passing, these famous free solo climbing figures are all shown, in epitaph. They all died. (With John Bachar, the first shown, an immortal blond-god superman pioneering icon of his time, no-one thought he could ever fall.)

http://projectavalon.net/Free_Solo_John_Bachar.jpg

http://projectavalon.net/Free_Solo_Derek_Hersey.jpg

http://projectavalon.net/Free_Solo_Sean_Leary.jpg

http://projectavalon.net/Free_Solo_Dan_Osman.jpg

http://projectavalon.net/Free_Solo_Dean_Potter.jpg

And a couple of vignettes that I enjoyed. Mikey Schaefer, one of the co-producers and highly experienced climbing cameraman, is filming from the ground with a camera plus an enormous telescopic lens. When Honnold reaches the hardest part of the climb ("the Boulder Problem"), Schaefer turns his face away as his camera continues recording. He just cannot watch.

http://projectavalon.net/Free_Solo_Mikey_Schaefer_cannot_watch.jpg

At the end of the film, his voice is heard saying, spontaneously among the celebrations: "I can't believe what I've just witnessed." Quite so.

Bill Ryan

21st February 2019, 13:22

Bridging over to something closely connected: one of the reviews of Free Solo said it was the best extreme sports documentary since The Crash Reel. I'd never heard of that, so I went to find it and uploaded it to the Avalon Library here (http://avalonlibrary.net/The_Crash_Reel_(2013).mp4).

OMG. What a story. I never thought I could say this, but it even makes Free Solo look a little tame. Highly highly recommended: the chronicling of a most extraordinary series of events, and some extraordinary people, too. Do please see my new thread about it here.

THE CRASH REEL: Different ways to be a hero (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?106140-THE-CRASH-REEL-Different-ways-to-be-a-hero)

onawah

27th February 2019, 03:25

Alex Honnold Breaks Down Iconic Rock Climbing Scenes
GQ
Published on Feb 18, 2019

"Professional rock climber and free-solo ascent master Alex Honnold breaks down rock climbing clips from both real life and film, including 'Mission Impossible II,' 'Point Break,' 'Star Trek V,' 'Failure to Launch,' 'Dark Knight Rises,' 'Vertical Limit' and 'Cliffhanger'"

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¤=[Post Update]=¤

Navy SEAL on Free Solo Climber Alex Honnold | Joe Rogan Experience JRE Clips
Published on Feb 18, 2019
Taken from Joe Rogan Experience #1247 with Andy Stumpf: https://youtu.be/bz1Masw5QDs

ETOMQubayeY

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Alex Honnold on The Forward with Lance Armstrong
WEDŪ
Published on Jan 7, 2019

"Alex Honnold is a professional adventure rock climber whose audacious free-solo ascents of America’s biggest cliffs have made him one of the most recognized and followed climbers in the world. He recently sat with Lance in his Las Vegas home to discuss his entry into the sport, the inherent risks with free soloing and the documentary Free Solo. The film chronicles his free solo scale unsupported and without ropes up the famous El Capitan, the 3,000 vertical rock face at Yosemite National Park."

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onawah

27th February 2019, 03:28

Alex Honnold Talks with Room Full of Drunk Climbers @ Yosemite Facelift 2018 Q&A
EYEOFTHEYOSEMIGHT
Published on Sep 26, 2018

"Alex Honnold answers Q&A at Yosemite Facelift 2018. A group a primarily drunk climbers who proudly pick up trash this time of year in one of the worlds most beloved treasures."

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onawah

27th February 2019, 03:37

JIMMY CHIN - FREE SOLO - Part 1/2 | London Real

London Real
Premiered Feb 17, 2019

"Jimmy Chin is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer, and mountain sports athlete...who has documented dozens of expeditions for National Geographic and The North Face.

In 2006 he was part of the first American team to climb, and then ski down the summit of Mount Everest.

And in 2011 he made the first ever ascent of the 20,000 foot Himalayan peak known as the “Shark’s Fin”, which became MERU, the award winning documentary film.

His latest movie, FREE SOLO, which he co-directed with his wife Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, features Alex Honnold climbing, without ropes, the 3000 foot granite wall known as El Capitan."

Free Solo is coming to National Geographic March 3rd!

Watch the FULL episode here: https://londonreal.tv/e/jimmy-chin/

JIMMY CHIN

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimkchin

Website: https://jimmychin.com/0FJT0szn-YA

Bill Ryan

28th February 2019, 13:19

It's VERY VERY VERY well done. As a piece of film-making, it's superb, and I'd back it for Best Documentary in next weekend's Oscars.

Yes, it won. :sun:

0FJT0szn-YA

And yes, a good one. Jimmy Chin is really intelligent and articulate about climbing. One of quite a few, but he knows the culture very very well, as a cutting-edge climber himself.

A couple of little points I enjoyed:

Jimmy's wife and co-producer, Chai, went to spend some personal time with Alex, as she wasn't very familiar with him or with climbing in general. (They were planning on making a film about him anyway.) It was to her that he first revealed his intention to Free Solo El Capitan.

"Oh, cool", Chai said.

She returned to share what he'd said with Jimmy. Jimmy exclaimed, "He's going to do WHAT ??"

:)

On a more subtle note, Jimmy explains the climbing culture very well: It's VERY understated.

Very few climbers have big egos, even though they may be quietly self-confident. That's because climbing is a leveler. Serious climbs cause one to look equally seriously in the mirror in a way no other sport does.

Braggadocio has no part to play. And climbers are almost always very supportive of each other. They're competitive in a lighthearted way, but fundamentally will support any colleague if they can, even if they're a stranger.

That's because they know how important it can be to experience real help in a time of serious need, and so this manifests all the time even in small things. While Honnold is now the world's poster hero, is famous, and maybe will ultimately earn a lot of money from this, there's not a single climber in the world who doesn't celebrate his achievement — because he's one of their own.

Bill Ryan

3rd March 2019, 12:53

A little more, kind of continuing my post above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84N98mAD_oM

Published 2 December, this is a most marvelous interview, the best I've heard yet. It's all about the human condition. :flower:

A few points that stood out for me:

At the first public screening, at the Telluride festival, Tommy Caldwell (Alex's best friend and climbing partner), his climber wife, the whole film crew, and Alex's partner Sanni, were there together watching in the front row. They were all weeping. Their emotions had been under such tight control during the long process of the making of the movie.

Alex and Tommy (I never knew this!) last year claimed the speed record for the 'Nose' of El Capitan, a different route. Roped but climbing simultaneously (dangerous but safer than with no rope at all!), they did it in 2 hours 10 mins. The very first ascent, in 1957-8, had taken 45 days in installments over a period of 18 months. :)

I wrote above about the highly co-supportive climbing culture, quite unique in sport. The previous record holders were cheering them on, having given them all the advice they could about how to beat their own record.

(I do know this myself, from my own experience, while at a comparatively pathetically low level of ability. :) I've never encountered one situation when a fellow-climber wasn't willing to give even a stranger all the help they possibly could, in any situation at all.)

And finally, another thing I didn't know. (I used to keep in close touch with the climbing world, but I'm very removed now and only find out about some things years later.) Back in 2014 Alex and Tommy had climbed the Fitzroy Ridge, in Patagonia, in 5 days. It was a big thing, another impossible feat. I never knew it'd been done.

Besides their climbing equipment, they took almost nothing with them, to be fast and light — including only one sleeping bag between them. :) Their backpacks were smaller than the one I take for a day out with my dog! Alex later described it as 'an extended backpacking trip'. Go figure.

Their route followed the 5 kilometer skyline from left to right. They reached the summit of Cerro Fitzroy at 2.30 am, in the middle of the night, in "terrible conditions".

http://www.alpinist.com/media/web14w/fitz-traverse.jpg

The achievement was reported here (http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web14w/newswire-fitz-traverse-caldwell-honnold) in Alpinist.com. The article concluded: "Respect, respect and more respect."

:highfive:

Bill Ryan

15th October 2020, 13:19

:bump: :bump: :bump:

sunwings

20th June 2021, 06:08

https://biglines.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Screen-Shot-2015-08-11-at-11.11.15-AM.png

Just found a great documentary showing a free solo slackliner. Starting at 19.30 mins you can see a world record attempt that he had twice failed before.

Ac_t4pNYr1g

lake

18th July 2022, 12:56

Will put this here as I would like to bump this thread (I re-watch the documentary every once in a while and am still shocked by it).

https://i.postimg.cc/P5yKk20G/mpv-shot0006.jpg

Just viewed this 2 min video of a climber moving aside to allow a free solo climber to pass. When I watched it, I was thinking "No way would I say a word to him!" .... (there is a very, very quiet short chat at the 54 sec mark but I think this is between the roped climber and his climbing partner .... can't quite make out what is said though).
There was one comment on the video and it was:

A great example of the rampant autism in the West. They don't even greet each other, let alone exchange pleasantries.

https://i.postimg.cc/1RFny7jq/59gwNlZ.png

There is now one more along the same lines but includes profanity.

PASSED BY FREE SOLO CLIMBER

E4Sh2eWAGQAv

lake

18th July 2022, 14:47

Just found a great documentary showing a free solo slackliner. Starting at 19.30 mins you can see a world record attempt that he had twice failed before.

oh. my. god. .... that is also unreal :peep:

The things that people do for 'fun'!
I couldn't even go near the edge .... have that 'call of the void' thing .... just want to jump off to see what it is like :HELP!:

This below may not be in the right thread (please move or delete if not) but I have always loved motorbikes (even though I am not very good on them and crash often lol)

GUY MARTIN VS MICHAEL DUNLOP ISLE OF MAN TT RACES 2014

This is one lap (17 and a half mins), 37 miles at an AVERAGE of 130+ mph, and no it has not been sped up ....
Follow Guy Martin and his Tyco Suzuki Superbike weapon for a mad dash around the famous Isle of Man TT course in 2014, as he chased BMW mounted Michael Dunlop!

RAaUmrBLOprT

This below is a documentary about the TT (1 hour 40 mins)

CLOSER TO THE EDGE

Closer to the Edge is a British documentary film by first time director Richard de Aragues. The film is narrated by Jared Leto and charts the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race that takes place on the Isle of Man every year. It follows the leading riders in the 2010 race, most notably Guy Martin and Ian Hutchinson.

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Bill Ryan

19th December 2022, 20:09

Bumping this thread with a new Alex Honnold solo video, just released. This time, it's only 9 minutes long, pieced together from 2011 archive footage together with interview clips of Peter Mortimer, the photographer who was there with him.

Anyone who enjoyed Free Solo will definitely appreciate this. It's a Yosemite climb called The Phoenix, quite short (just 130 ft) but super-scary and crazy-hard.

Death would be an absolute certainty if an unroped solo climber were to slip and fall. At one point, the camera begins to shake because Mortimer just can't handle zooming in too close to where Honnold's fingers are visibly holding on to almost nothing. :)

I didn't even know Honnold had done this. (OMG.) Back when I was a very active rock climber, The Phoenix had a fearsome reputation, one of the hardest climbs on the planet with the world's very best taking days trying to climb it (with ropes!), falling off repeatedly and often totally failing.

The idea of soloing it (then) would have been literally unthinkable, a sure suicide mission no matter how good you thought you were. So for me, watching this was really quite something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeUoLWiVH8U

araucaria

20th December 2022, 21:23

This is one lap (17 and a half mins), 37 miles at an AVERAGE of 130+ mph, and no it has not been sped up ....
Follow Guy Martin and his Tyco Suzuki Superbike weapon for a mad dash around the famous Isle of Man TT course in 2014, as he chased BMW mounted Michael Dunlop!RAaUmrBLOprT

I know this is off topic (namely the climber), but let me tell you what is wrong with this video. I have driven the same ordinary road hundreds of times and have got into the habit of passing at the legal top speed, concentrating at all times on the road ahead. I have also been a passenger on a number of occasions, enjoying the view out of the side window. It is totally fascinating how much there is to see just outside of the peripheral vision of a driver completely focussed on what lies ahead. Nothing special of course: just people living their lives. But the faster you go the less you see. So the problem with this video is that it shows not what the driver experiences, but what his passenger suffers in coming to the conclusion that they are driving too fast.

Just how much of what goes on in the world is due to this spectator bias is completely underestimated. The spectator is someone extraordinary who can run 100m in under ten seconds, a marathon in under two hours, can climb Everest without oxygen, the list goes on. I can do none of these things, but as a member of the human race, I belong to a team that does them all.

What does this mean in terms of the man who mastered the ultimate cliff face? It suggests that he succeeded by coming closer to it than anyone had ever done before – or maybe it was the other way round. So, in a sense, we can take the man out of the equation and confront the cliff face itself: it is almost unclimbable; but the next step is to see oneself as its equivalent: how many people in the world are capable of surviving ME? Perhaps not many at this stage. In that case, ‘I’ may see ‘me’ as the unscalable mountain, and make efforts to be more approachable. Some day, this cliff face will be a Sunday afternoon outing for all the family.

ExomatrixTV

21st September 2023, 20:07

ExomatrixTV

21st September 2023, 20:56

Alex Honnold: ‘My New Film Is Almost Too Much For Some People’

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cbd616f49d7d8c0c3604e2eab84879b5f01c5f25/0_0_1280_768/master/1280.jpg?width=1300&dpr=1&s=none (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/mar/12/alex-honnold-climbing-the-soloist)
Alex Honnold soloing Desert Gold at sunrise in Nevada.

source (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/mar/12/alex-honnold-climbing-the-soloist)

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Rock climbing without ropes or harnesses?! Welcome to the world of free soloing! 2-part VR documentary following Alex Honnold, the world’s greatest rock climbing soloist, on a soloing journey across the U.S. and Europe. Immerse yourself in Alex’s gripping adventures as he tackles some of the highest peaks in the European Alps, pushing the boundaries of climbing and human achievement.

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(https://www.theguardian.com/sport/rock-climbing)

ExomatrixTV

1st February 2024, 11:42

Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold | Official Trailer | National Geographic:

esfM1w2b0dQ

An Unforgettable Greenland Adventure | Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold :

nQyNQOufLS8

ExomatrixTV

3rd March 2024, 23:47

Climbing with Alex Honnold **Insane experience**:

Cyya23MPoAI

Bill Ryan

5th March 2024, 23:01

Climbing with Alex Honnold **Insane experience**:

Cyya23MPoAI~~~

I found this very interesting. All super-trivial, but let me explain. :)

Most climbing videos show the tiniest number of elite climbers, with olympic-level strength and gymnastic skill, who train professionally every day and climb things that only a few years ago might have been thought impossible. Like this:

https://www.traveltipsor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/extreme-rock-climbing-USA.jpg

But this Alex Honnold video above shows a normal rock climb. For anyone who might possibly be interested (and maybe no-one is! :P), this is the kind of thing I used to climb all the time.

The grade of the climb in the video is 5.9. To offer an interpretation of that, the '5.' part of the number simply means that a rope is needed. So 5.1 would be an easy scramble, something a child could do. 5.15 is close to impossible. (No-one has yet climbed a 5.16.)

And 5.9 is right in the middle. There are plenty of holds, it's steep though not actually vertical, but (of course) a fall without being held on a rope would be fatal.

So I used to do climbs like this every weekend (and still could if there was any good rock here in Ecuador and I had a climbing partner!), but always with a rope, never solo.

The difference is purely psychological, as Honnold expertly explains and coaches. (I'd never realized what a good coach he was.)

If you're on a rope, you don't fall simply because you have the confidence that nothing much can go wrong. If you're NOT on a rope, you have to mentally trick yourself into the same level of confidence that no harm can come to you, because you know you can do it and you're just not going to fall.

It's all in the mind. :)

:focus:

Mike

6th March 2024, 02:17

Bill Ryan

6th March 2024, 09:37

Bill I think you'll really appreciate this one (or perhaps you've already seen it). I literally just finished watching this a few mins ago. It's called "Beckoning Silence". Joe Simpson from "Touching The Void" narrates this remarkable documentary that's every bit as dramatic as his own mountain climbing experience in Peru(maybe more dramatic). It's about Toni Kurz attempt to climb the north face of Eiger in 1936.

I know next to nothing about mountaineering, but I have seen nearly every documentary on the subject, and this is top 3 for sure.
ibrULCtvKkY~~~

Many many thanks. I'd not seen that, and I'm a huge admirer of Joe Simpson.

I wrote about the event here (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?14409-A-day-in-the-mountains-a-tale-of-forgiveness&p=1488501&viewfull=1#post1488501) a few years ago, in which I posted what I described as the most iconic photo in mountaineering history — Toni Kurz's lifeless body slumped on the rope after a failed superhuman effort, both by himself and his rescuers, to somehow save his life.

https://encorda2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Toni-Kurz-Eiger-1936.jpg

There was a marvelous 2008 German film about the whole thing, fictionalized with actors but very true to what had actually happened. The German title is Nordwand, translated in English as North Face. The Wiki page about the film is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Face_(film). This is the poster:

https://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/default/poster/5.5/8/break/images/artworkimages/medium/3/north-face-stan-pritchard.jpg

There are English-language YouTube subtitles which can be turned on, and (somewhere) there may possibly be an English audio-dubbed version. It's excellent. (And there have been numerous documentaries, all excellent as well.)

:flower:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzv3pZT3BNU

grapevine

6th March 2024, 14:12

Climbing with Alex Honnold **Insane experience**:

I watched the video with sweaty palms and marvelled at just how smooth and polished the rockface was. And then I got to wondering about body build and what physical attributes were needed for climbing. I rejected Usain Bolt as strong but too heavy, Mo Farah on the other hand probably not strong enough. Maybe a gymnast, with all that upper body strength, and then I got just a glimpse of a raised T shirt at the end of the video and couldn't believe my eyes. So I googled Alex Honnold abs and got this . . .

Like WOW

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/asset.php?1709733697

Mod note from Bill:
We can't see that image... could you maybe go to edit your post and try again?
I Googled Alex Honnold abs myself to see what generated the big WOW, and saw this. :ROFL:
(Yes, he doesn't have an ounce of fat, and his core is immensely strong. There are some better technical (gymnastic) climbers than him, though — his particular uniqueness is a total lack of fear.)

https://avalonlibrary.net/Bill/Alex_Honnold_Playgirl_cover.jpg

Bill Ryan

5th May 2025, 19:12

Alex Honnold has (sort of!) repeated Tom Cruise's famous opening-sequence stunt in Mission Impossible 2, by climbing a high sandstone pillar and then jumping out and down to cling on to its neighbor.

For those who may not be familiar, here's the sequence. (Tom Cruise is a real rock climber, but the safety ropes he used were CGI-edited from the film.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK53sqgm__w
Now Honnold has done a very similar thing — without ropes. He was alone, climbing solo, so there was no-one to film his jump. But in the Instagram collage below there are two very short videos showing what he did.

"Pretty sick", jokes Honnold in his windy video commentary just before he made the leap.
:muscle::)

DJDDuEHThd5