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Eric Beck
Sport climber
Bishop, California
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 28, 2010 - 01:09am PT
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This is inspired by the excellent thread on Alex Honnold. While people have died free soloing, it has not been common. For me, John Bachar comes to mind as well as a person on the Steck Salathe whose name I can't remember right now. Who can add to this list?
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David Knopp
Trad climber
CA
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Mar 28, 2010 - 01:12am PT
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derek hersey
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 28, 2010 - 01:12am PT
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I don't remember any story about John Bachar dying free soloing.
I thought he slipped and fell on the descent after doing the climb.
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David Knopp
Trad climber
CA
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Mar 28, 2010 - 01:13am PT
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renato casarotto-in a crevasse fall, on his way back from the most difficult denali route of his time.
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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Mar 28, 2010 - 01:45am PT
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It was K2, not Denali, walking back to camp after an attempt on the Magic Line. Slipped hopping a crevasse. Be careful out there...
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Mar 28, 2010 - 02:51am PT
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I wouldn't tell anyone what to do, but I used to run laps on various routes in JT. One day I was doing the Right Ski Track, and was past the crux on the the little dihedral above. A crystal broke on a smear, and I barn-doored for a second. Longest second of my life. Finished it up, but never thought about 3rd classing the same again afterward.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
climber
. . . not !
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Mar 28, 2010 - 03:13am PT
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Walter A. Starr Jr. on Michael Minaret (1933) .
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Mar 28, 2010 - 03:29am PT
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Who knows how people die. A slip when making a move, a slip on icy/dicey ground, making a descent, making an ascent, an act of Gawd, an act of Karma, in their sleep (that's as good of way as any), a serious error or miscalculation, a morning dove shitting on a climber just when a serious move is being completed (yeck), a strong wind blowing across a cornice...
let me count the ways
Seriously, none of them are ideal.
For example...
"Evidence of the massacre of at least 321 people in Democratic Republic of Congo has been uncovered by the BBC."
We choose to climb... most of us understand and face the consequences of f*cking up, but some humans do not have that choice.
I suppose my point is that...
...I am not sure, but I count myself lucky.
BTW, I do not mean any disrespect to any person, alive or no longer with us.
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Chief
climber
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Mar 28, 2010 - 10:55am PT
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Paul Preuss comes to mind as an early practitioner and example.
Jimmy Jewel's another one.
There's no better feeling than moving over the stone unfettered and free.
I did lots of mellow third classing and was taught that a certain amount was de rigeur for the committed rock climber and alpinist, you know, the mind control excecise etc.
Kor said, "If Buhl thought that, so did we".
Bachar, Breashears, Fowler and others set the example.
One day while doing laps up and down one of my 10a favourites, my left foot greased off the same spot I'd confidently glued it a thousand times before. The other foot came off and I swung on my good hand holds, reset my feet, climbed down and pretty much quit third classing.
I still haven't seen a climb worth a friend's life.
Have fun, be careful.
Perry
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 28, 2010 - 11:07am PT
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Diana Hunter,
In Rocky Mountain National Park, somebody correct me here: maybe Cathedral Wall, after unroping on top of the main climb, fell while climbing on third class terrain near the finish.
Ed Webster’s girlfriend, Lauren Husted, similar scenario, unroped after the main event on a climb in the Black Canyon.
We’ve had some good discussions about free soloing in the past here on the forum.
Might be instructive to take a look at them; one in particular simply celebrated the activity.
Lately the complexion of the forum has changed a little bit perhaps, including quite a bit more support for the position that free soloing is simply reckless and should be avoided; and furthermore that it is irresponsible to support it, and at the far outside that it is negligent even to talk about it.
That’s quite an arc!
My feeling has been that, concerning traditional climbing, a bit of free soloing on moderate terrain, developed to a level of fundamental competence, is arguably an asset in terms of experience to the degree that it helps a climber cope with mandatory unprotected sections while on lead, to prepare a climber to deal with 3rd class terrain in the mountains and generally helps square the head up.
Dedicated free soloing near one’s technical limit, as a primary modality, I would submit, is another thing altogether, though not completely (because the potential outcome is the same as in moderate third class), it is different purely because the repeated exposure to the inherent risks is ratcheted so much higher and the edge is so much finer.
Traditional climbing and mountaineering are inherently dangerous.
Perhaps the fine point between the two however, is that in big mountains, whether engaged by siege or by fast and light Alpine style, objective dangers can only be diminished so much.
In contrast, the free soloist on pure rock is choosing to eschew a rope and partner, not as a necessity but as a way of upping the ante; many people here see this as an elective and therefore regard it as an unwarranted choice. That’s the difference I would draw between mountaineering and free soloing on rock.
Again, one could argue that free soloing on clean rock, at a high-level, is an independent category of activity altogether.
Ultimately that’s a personal choice, to engage any of those unroped modalities.
These are all personal choices, but as climbing becomes increasingly more visible in the public eye, these questions are getting more attention and the question of social responsibility is growing.
Increasingly, we are a risk-averse society.
Balancing personal risk with the responsibility we bare to others is a tension point to be sure.
This might seem crass, but concerning John Bachar, who expressed his art form at the cutting edge for nearly 35 years before paying the ultimate price: I’d say he played the odds pretty well, that’s a huge number of unroped hours on the rock.
As a culture, it seems we sometimes lose sight of the fact that all roads lead to death.
We try to live long lives, we try to live full lives.
We do the best we can.
-Roy
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 28, 2010 - 11:09am PT
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Ricky: Goukas fell on lead.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Mar 28, 2010 - 11:16am PT
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Rachel Farmer, if I recall correctly, slipped on some 5.3 while unroped.
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville
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Mar 28, 2010 - 11:21am PT
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"Who can add to this list?"
This "list" has no value.
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gunsmoke
Trad climber
Clackamas, Oregon
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Mar 28, 2010 - 11:46am PT
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Clint, what are details on 1981 - Vik Hendrickson - Uncle Fanny; 1985 - Robert Steele - Royal Arches? I always thought the Hersey accident was the first true free solo accident in Yosemite.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Mar 28, 2010 - 11:48am PT
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I still 3rd class every once in a while, but easy stuff I've done for years. There is still something very liberating about it. I have kids that need me now, and for me it seems more selfish than it used to be when it was just me and my thoughts. Everyone has to make their own decisions. Just know that a minute of inattention or bad luck changes everything, so be prepared.
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Gilroy
Social climber
Boulderado
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Mar 28, 2010 - 12:08pm PT
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'generally helps square the head up'
most worthy comment in this death roll +1 for the man in the straw hat
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Gilwad
climber
Frozen In Somewhere
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Mar 28, 2010 - 12:53pm PT
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"I specifically repeated death routes to get on the cover of R&I a few years ago, BASE jumping the whole time and having INSANE group sex! That just scratches the surface."
Hank, that line wins. Hope you're staying with the good parts of it all.
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Hawkeye
climber
State of Mine
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Mar 28, 2010 - 12:54pm PT
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so hank, you actually had getting on the cover as a goal? good honesty, lame thing to be motivated by. group sex will only be believed by pics...
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Mar 28, 2010 - 01:33pm PT
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gunsmoke,
> what are details on 1981 - Vik Hendrickson - Uncle Fanny; 1985 - Robert Steele - Royal Arches? I always thought the Hersey accident was the first true free solo accident in Yosemite.
 July 10, 1981 - Vik Hendrickson (age 16, born in Yosemite), soloed up Uncle Fanny, which is a technical 5.7. It has a tricky squeeze chimney with deep handjams, and finishes up a rounded crack which is often dirty due to leaves from the trees above. "He got stuck in a place beyind his abilities, lost his holds, and sustained a 100-foot fall." [Death in Yosemite p.362]
May 16, 1984 - Robert Steele (age 24), Royal Arches (text does not say exactly where). "had been free-soloing and lost his holds unwitnessed. He fell 200 feet." [Death in Yosemite p.363]
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