![]() ![]() Honnold’s El Cap free solo transcends all sports. It takes a once-in-a-generation visionary to figure out how to actually go there. We’ve all stared up at stars, and wondered what’s out there in the universe. I’m taking this weekend to appreciate the fact that we just lived through history and witnessed one of the most incredible performances of all time. I find it remarkable to experience such genuine astonishment in 2017, a dark year by many accounts but also an era in which it sometimes feels like we’ve seen it all. I find it remarkable to experience such genuine astonishment in 2017Ībove all, what I’m left with, like most climbers, is a sense of complete and utter astonishment. That Honnold has never struck me as particularly attached to outcomes or driven by ego inspires confidence that he’ll enjoy the next 80 years of adventure. Which is one reason that I personally hope he now takes a step back from free soloing in the way that Peter Croft did-if only to reexamine any motivations for continuing. I can’t be sure, but I have a hunch that Honnold’s legacy will stand for a very, very long time. Honnold, meanwhile, is performing in an event that no one else is even qualified, much less willing, to participate. The difference is, lots of people can run the 100 meters (albeit not quite as fast as Bolt). Look at someone like Usain Bolt, who has a dominant record in the 100-meter dash that might last for generations. ![]() Every year brings new sports stars who stand on the shoulders of those who came before them. New world records are set in virtually every single Olympics. One way to measure the greatness of any sporting achievement might be to consider the amount of time that passes before it’s achieved again. This may explain why these ascents are, in Honnold’s mind, “no big deal.” He meticulously breaks them down in such a way that they aren’t (for him). He most likely saw just three insecure moves on the Boulder Problem pitch-the rest of it, meanwhile, was far more confidence-inducing climbing. I can almost guarantee that Honnold looked at it much differently. Most climbers might describe the idea of free-soloing El Capitan as being a matter of tackling over 3,000 feet of insecure climbing. This may explain why these ascents are, in Honnold’s mind, “no big deal.” For Alex Honnold, it was a serious project to be tackled. For most, those moments were nothing more than ass-puckering fantasies that would spur uncomfortable fits of laughter. The idea of being ropeless 2,000 feet up El Capitan is something many climbers have pondered while resting in El Cap meadow, smoking weed, and staring transfixed up at the granite monster towering over them. In fact, this interview with Honnold more or less proves this point. The answers to these questions would be as utterly glib as asking Michael Jordan how he knew he’d hit a game-winning shot. What was the moment that made him realize he could climb through these moves with enough certainty to justify the risk? After how many times of rehearsing the route?Īnd how many hours did Alex Honnold spend thinking about free soloing El Capitan over the last 10 years? Visualizing each and every move. It’s an insecure V7 crux, 1,700 feet up the wall. How many times did Honnold climb Free Rider in preparation for this solo? Unlike Moonlight Buttress, a route that Honnold has never fallen on, the Boulder Problem pitch of Free Rider has spit off Honnold repeatedly. “For me, free soloing is all about preparation,” Alex Honnold wrote in his book Alone on the Wall. What’s most incredible is to now view them not only as milestones but stepping stones. Then there was Sendero Luminoso in El Potrero.Įach of these ascents was a milestone. In 2008, Honnold free-soloed the Moonlight Buttress in Zion National Park, a feat that by itself would’ve cemented his legacy as the greatest free soloist of all time. In 2007, a quiet kid from Sacremento, his face always partly shrouded by a hoody, burst onto the climbing scene by repeating the greatest free-solo of the 1980s: Peter Croft’s link-up of Astroman and the Rostrum. Now, in retrospect, it all seems premeditated in a sort of genius way. First, it’s hard to even to call free soloing a “sport.” There are no other sports in which the penalty for even the most modest of errors is certain death.Īlex Honnold’s progression to this point is as much a part of the story as the ascent itself. Though to limit it as an achievement only within the world of “sports,” I think, is far too restrictive. Already, I’ve seen climbers anoint this El Cap solo as the greatest achievement in sports-ever. That quickly gave way to complete and utter astonishment. A post shared by Jimmy Chin on at 9:01am PDTįor many climbers, particularly Honnold’s closest friends, the news of his audacious feat was met with a breath of relief that Honnold had actually survived. ![]()
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