Alex Honnold on 60 minutes tonight

Awesome! Thanks for posting the link!

David Sahalie wrote: If he wants to do it 'on his own time'

On his own time? Maybe you should try to pass a law that says you cant free soloing if you have a sponsor.

caughtinside wrote: The 60 minutes bit was cool too . . . The english tart was a bit much though.

What "english tart" was that?

caughtinside wrote: The english tart was a bit much though.

The "English tart" is from South Africa and is a renown war journalist, both of which could contribute to her clear and moderated diction. Personally, I think she is pretty hot, for a news anchor and did a good job for a mainstream show.

M Sprague wrote: The "English tart" is from South Africa and is a renown war journalist, both of which could contribute to her clear and moderated diction. Personally, I think she is pretty hot, for a news anchor and did a good job for a mainstream show.

I fully agree.

And if anyone was a bit over the top it was John Long. I understand that he's trying to put this climb into a context that the non-climbing public can understand, but I would have liked it if he had differentiated between the physical aspect of what Honnold does, which although it is impressive is not really all that extreme, and the mental aspect which is wildly extreme and truly one-of-a-kind.

There are thousands of people who can free-climb the Chouinard-Herbert and perhaps hundreds who can go out and cruise up Phoenix, but really only one that can do so sans rope, and on back-to-back days at that.

Great spot on 60 minutes. In the Black Diamond video posted above I see that Honnold has his ring finger taped in two spots. Anyone know if he's had tendon / pulley ruptures or tears?

I can't remember that last time I saw a proper portrayal of anything relating to climbing in the media. That was pretty good.

I believe the reporter is the same one that got beaten and molested by a crowd in Egypt during the uprising there. Also she created some sort of drama in Iraq by sleeping around with multiple reporters, I think there may have even been gun play involved or something, I'm too lazy to google it.

Lurking Queer wrote:Great spot on 60 minutes. In the Black Diamond video posted above I see that Honnold has his ring finger taped in two spots. Anyone know if he's had tendon / pulley ruptures or tears?

Him and probably every other climber at his level.

I was in the valley climbing the Rostrum a couple of weeks ago. As I followed up the first pitch I was surprised to see someone sans rope down climbing. Low and behold it was Alex. By the time I reached the first belay he had climbed back up and was getting ready to blow past us. He politely asked which option we were going to take for the second pitch, and then was off. I was incredibly scared I was going to somehow knock him off the wall, and I would forever be known as the idiot who killed Alex Honnold. His presence helped chill me out though. I was really nervous about the upcoming leads, and watching him float up without effort inspired me to sac up and climb. I onsighted the crux pitch, which was my fist time doing so on an 11c.

By the way, nobody has mentioned Bacher. What Up!?? You fools need to recognize!!! While I'm not 100% sure about this, I believe Bacher has soloed up to 12d. He was soloing 5.11 before there was 5.12, and to me he will always be the world's first legend of free soloing.

Be Esperanza wrote: By the way, nobody has mentioned Bacher. What Up!?? You fools need to recognize!!! While I'm not 100% sure about this, I believe Bacher has soloed up to 12d. He was soloing 5.11 before there was 5.12, and to me he will always be the world's first legend of free soloing.

See thread title. Everyone knows BachAr was the man.

Peter Franzen wrote: I fully agree. And if anyone was a bit over the top it was John Long. I understand that he's trying to put this climb into a context that the non-climbing public can understand, but I would have liked it if he had differentiated between the physical aspect of what Honnold does, which although it is impressive is not really all that extreme, and the mental aspect which is wildly extreme and truly one-of-a-kind. There are thousands of people who can free-climb the Chouinard-Herbert and perhaps hundreds who can go out and cruise up Phoenix, but really only one that can do so sans rope, and on back-to-back days at that.

Not to start a silly internet argument, but in my mind he pretty much defines the term extreme for both physical and mental talents.

The fact that he even took time off from climbing to get the man-cave all spruced up, then sent two routes on command. That's just bad-ass.

Mom is probably, oh crap, don't show the van, don't show the van

Peter Franzen wrote: I understand that he's trying to put this climb into a context that the non-climbing public can understand, but I would have liked it if he had differentiated between the physical aspect of what Honnold does, which although it is impressive is not really all that extreme, and the mental aspect which is wildly extreme and truly one-of-a-kind. There are thousands of people who can free-climb the Chouinard-Herbert and perhaps hundreds who can go out and cruise up Phoenix, but really only one that can do so sans rope, and on back-to-back days at that.

Alex is, no doubt, an incredible climber- one of the best. While his head for climbing is extremely rare, he is not alone in such talent to free solo at these grades. Although digressing from the topic at hand, let's not forget that Croft free soloed Astroman and Rostrum in the early 80s, Huber free solo'd Kommunist (14a) and Dave MacLeod is soloing 5.14s today.

Sure, we're not arguing that Bachar isn't the man, but with shows like 60 minutes, while super entertaining, comes at the cost of forgetting that many great climbers pioneered free soloing way before Honnold with many non-climbers thinking this is a new extreme sport of sorts that only Alex has the head for.

I wouldn't make much of his foot slipping at 1:02. He moves it up, starts a bit of pressure and feels it move, and then moves it into a solid position in the crack, all the while solid on his his other three points. It is his smooth, deliberate and controlled climbing style that is most impressive, why it never seems like he is going to lose it.

After watching this video again,

1) I think its ironic that they showed him top roping in the gym scene.

2) In the van scene he had a helmet cam mounted in prime position over his bed. Wonder when those climbing videos will be released.

My favorite part was at 9:45. He hits a hold that he probably could have held onto while making a sandwich while the dramatic voiceover talks about how small the hold is.

What I would like to know is just how solid can he feel doing some of those hard routes. If it is a crack I can understand that he feels pretty solid; but fingertip liebacks over a roof seem to be pushing what he calls solid, to beyond the limit most folks would feel good about. Granted, he does look solid, but after talking to Kurt Smith years ago, and him saying that he thought that 5.13b was the hardest single move that climbers could do, it makes you wonder if he is solid, or is he climbing close to falling off without even realizing it because he pushes himself with a rope so often and does not fall. I maybe could have worded that better but hopefully you all get what I mean.

A little dramatic but considering that most of the viewers are non-climbers I don't think it was to excessive.

The best part is that he solo's for the right reason, himself.

Trad Ninja wrote:The general public is stuck so far inside their comfort zone that taking a shit in the woods is "amazing".

That's a great statement. Really puts a lot into perspective.

Peter Stokes wrote:Free soloing has been debated at enough length that it's starting to sound like the helmet thing in motorcycle culture- nobody's mind is changing... that said, I came away from the 60 Minutes story wondering if Honnold &/or the media will wind up scaring as many people away from climbing as they inspire to go ropeless. Not that that's necessarily bad...

Yea I thought the same thing. Well, actually, I hoped.