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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 20, 2017 - 06:32pm PT
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Am I the only one who has had trouble getting motivated to solo since what happened to Uli??? It was a bit better today but I still have moments where I feel like if it happened to him it could easily happen to me..... a few weeks ago I drove the 45 min to the cliff, sat in the parking lot for a bit and drove home. Too windy was the excuse but that would not have stopped me in the past....
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WBraun
climber
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May 20, 2017 - 06:35pm PT
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You pussy ....:-)
LOL
I've done the same many times, Big fkin deal .... so what, it's nothing
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ruppell
climber
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May 20, 2017 - 06:35pm PT
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It can happen to you or me. The idea is to do it when it feels right. If it doesn't feel right go home. For me, that's always been the way. I've sat at the base of many climbs and didn't get off the ground because I didn't feel like my mind was in the right place that day. It's a choice. Choose wisely.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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May 20, 2017 - 06:48pm PT
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Soloing used to bring fame and fortune. Those days are gone. It's not worth it. Go bouldering.
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F
climber
away from the ground
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May 20, 2017 - 06:53pm PT
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Enough time in the zone and you sometimes hit the one in a million oopsie.
Stay positive, and if your spidey sense is too tingly that day, go to the bar instead.
I did a lap on a long route solo about 10 days ago after not having really climbed in rock shoes for months. Slightly anxious, but the familiarity of the route and one move at a time, it felt great after the first 100 feet. If you've soloed a lot, I think you just slip right into the mode.
Totally worth it for the experience, every time.
And I bootied a quickdraw, a cam, 2 slings, and 2 biners. All brand new. F*#kin g millennial n00bs!
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Topic Author's Reply - May 20, 2017 - 07:19pm PT
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Jgill. No bouldering for this guy. that sh#t is way dangerous! I will climb Ice any day over bouldering ;) last thing i need is a broken ankle.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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May 20, 2017 - 07:31pm PT
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on soloing:
"so much to lose, so little to gain"
 Jim Bridwell
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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May 20, 2017 - 07:32pm PT
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Maybe what you are feeling is, before Ueli died, you knew in your brain that you could die soloing but, in your heart, you didn't REALLY think it would happen to you. But now that it happened to him, doing something much more "routine" than other stuff he's done, you are feeling that reality of death.
But you know, that reality is there whether you are soloing or roped. There are objective hazards everywhere. Memorial Day weekend is coming up and if an earthquake hits the Owen's Gorge, 100 sport climbers might die.
I personally am not a fan of soloing, but people should do what their hearts tell them to do. Listen to your heart.
Best wishes, Phyl
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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May 20, 2017 - 09:21pm PT
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Bad thoughts in general are telling us to be aware . . . certainly when deciding to solo something, we are sorting through our emotional guidance system. The difficult part is discerning between real concerns and imagined fears . . . to be or not to be? Doubt is not a good state of mind for productivity, but sometimes we show our best after overcoming self imposed mental limitation. It is a fine line the unroped soloist walks . . . anything can happen and no one is immune to death.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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May 20, 2017 - 09:47pm PT
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For me, if I didn't feel in the zone and like it was no big deal, time to bust out the ropes. I did very little soloing, but if I ever felt the need to motivate myself, that would be a sign that it's not a good day to do it.
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drF
Trad climber
usa
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May 21, 2017 - 12:54am PT
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I think the soloing thing gets more traction than deserved a lot of the time.
Most of the times I've been roped up in Alpine or Ice you spend much of your day in the 'no falls allowed' zone.
What amazed me about Uli was his fitness and vision of objective.
An off the charts athlete
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Topic Author's Reply - May 21, 2017 - 03:33am PT
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We have to tell ourselfs that we won't make the same mistakes that those of us who get chopped make. Its human nature. Ocasionaly we realize that mental game we play is just a game and we are just a vurnable as those who did not make it....
Of course in Ulis case I will never go to everest so I can tell myself with honesty that I will not put mysef in those same circumstances yet I will certainly find myself on a steep frozen snow slope somewhere, in the no fall zone with just trecking poles and approach shoes at some point in my future.....
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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May 21, 2017 - 06:05am PT
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Thanks, Ed, for that quote from The Bird. I've done only a little serious soloing, and I pretty quickly came to the same conclusion: Not worth it.
BAd
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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May 21, 2017 - 06:51am PT
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Everyone checked their harnesses after Todd Skinner died and started checking each others knots after Lynn Hill's accident......it's human nature.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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May 21, 2017 - 06:56am PT
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Bonatti turned back from the FA of the Croz Spur six times before sending, don't feel special. ;-)
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crankster
Trad climber
No. Tahoe
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May 21, 2017 - 07:05am PT
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Better to be cautious and stay alive. Your loved ones will appreciate it and your ego will recover.
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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May 21, 2017 - 09:31am PT
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Lose not loose. Yup. Nobody cares.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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May 21, 2017 - 09:37am PT
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"Too windy." Sounds like the ST weather report.
Ed, I like your JB quote...pithy.
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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May 21, 2017 - 11:21am PT
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Richie Copland(cordless, unknwn,) , Andrew Barnes-6/9/15 (cordless, unknwn), -but the one that stopped me- Brian Delaney. ( TR/Rap,? Rope,Solo, unknwn)
(Then, to re-instill it, drive it home this past year, Jim Detterline, TR, Rope, Solo)
All At the same time, in a matter of a few years, there were about 5-6 very well heeled, highly skilled 'expert' climbers who got the chop.
Most of them were all younger than I am.
Stopping, ( going off by myself ) Has been Hard. It has been hard also, NOT to jump up, familiar rocks, that I've climbed cordless for the last dozen or so years.
The system, Top Rope soloing, takes a lot of the spontaneity out but the risk/dangers still lurk.
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gunsmoke
Mountain climber
Clackamas, Oregon
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May 21, 2017 - 12:01pm PT
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Is soloing dangerous? What that means to me is "Is soloing dangerous compared to other forms of climbing?" Perhaps someone here knows the stat, but I believe it to be the case that free-soloing in Yosemite has (or at least had) a lower mortality rate per hour of activity than other forms of climbing. Hence, I would deem soloing as "not dangerous" using my proposed construction of the question.
Another factor is whether having a partner would lead to a different outcome. The other day my wife suggested I not solo hike in an area where a solo hiker recently pitched off the trail over a tall cliff, and was missing several days before the body was discovered. My feeling is, if I pitch I pitch. I'm not roping up on class two. Having someone with me doesn't change my outcome, it just means a friend has to live with the memory of seeing my demise.
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