BigHornRam
Well-known member
Very true....
Free Solo
- Thread starter hank4elk
- Start date
He said if he had an obligation to maximize his life expectancy he would quit solo climbing. Then his girlfriend asked if she was an obligation to maximize his life expectancy and he looked her dead in the eyes and said no. You can't build a fire big enough to melt the ice water that flows through him.
AvidIndoorsman
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Life is about choosing a path, I just hope his GF can love and support him on his path and he the same for her...
And to glasseye well, “It’s better to burn out , than to fade away.”
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noharleyyet
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rustneversleeps
Well-known member
Always
Southern Elk
Well-known member
Where can we watch it?
AvidIndoorsman
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Amazon
Southern Elk
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^Thanks
I didn't intend it as a negative I was just surprised he didn't him-haw (sp?) around the answer at all.
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Definitely worth the time to watch. I'll be pulling for this kid to get his sack full and retire.
Mudranger1
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He should have got rid of that woman long ago...bringing his dreams down...crazy and awesome all in 1
Nameless Range
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The wife and I watched it tonight. Great, intense documentary. He puts it to the test like no other person I’ve ever seen.
Dougfirtree
Well-known member
I watched it recently. Truly an amazing thing to watch, though I have to say, the most fascinating part, for me, was trying to understand the way his brain works. I don't think that he's just an exceptionally good climber who is very, very brave. I think his brain actually works differently from most people's. They got into this a bit with the brain scan he did and also the family history of Autism, which they kind of throw out there and then don't dig into. I thought the movie was as much about his personality and his relationships, as it was about climbing. Both aspects left me feeling respectful of him, even liking him, but also a little uneasy.
jnagel32
Active member
I watched your suggestions this past week. Currently TDY with nothing to do off shift but go to the gym and watch TV lol. They were both really good. Love watching shows and reading books on climbing/mountaineering even though I've never done it. I can appreciate how hard it is and the grit it takes to accomplish what these guys have done.
Threedognight
Well-known member
I was surprised by all the preparation he takes. He has notebooks loaded with every hand position/foot hold he makes to get through the transition areas. Big time nerves of steel!
AvidIndoorsman
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The preparation is what makes me view his climb a bit differently than other extreme sports. I competed in freestyle skiing for a decade before I ever picked up a rifle and have friends and aquaintenses that in the top tier of a bunch of different “extreme” sports. What is similar is the amount physical training that goes into getting ready for the event... hours in the gym, on the hill, paddling, etc. but in all those sports you basically train your muscles and reflexes to work on autopilot, when I’m in a mogul course I’m going so fast I don’t have a chance to think it’s all trained reaction, and when things go wrong they go wrong fast. Alex’s climb seems very methodical and practiced, he knew every move and thought out every problem, I feel like it’s more like playing an extreme complicated piece of music on a piano then it is like skiing, biking, sky diving l, etc.
In a couple of interviews Honold brings up the fact that none of or maybe only a couple of the free soloists mentioned in the movie who died, died free soloing. They all died doing other risky shit, most BASE jumping, some other extreme sports. In those cases the risking taking they did in climbing bleed over into other sports where the things happened fast, and weren’t calculated.
Perhaps in that respect free soloing killed them because it made them numb to the fear that would have kept them alive. Also it was only briefly mention in the movie, but it’s possible he trained his amygdala to have less of a reaction to stimuli by doing tons of scary things rather than being born different, ie, nurture rather than nurture.
I hope that el cap will be the pinical of his public climbing, and that he focuses on climbing for him, in cool places, with protection. We have lost a huge number of athletes who were pushing it for the sake of pushing it, to keep their followers entertained and to stay relevant... I hope he doesn’t go down that road.
