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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Jun 17, 2011 - 08:31pm PT
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Hi KaroD , Thanks for the kind words. Yes, that is a good book idea! I would want to do it with real kindness and insight. It would take a great deal of new journalism, shifting the tale from the crude one of bluster and hyperbole to the development of a better understanding why climbers will just go out and climb like this. Next issue of Alpinist has another article of mine that you will like by the way.
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WBraun
climber
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Jun 17, 2011 - 09:16pm PT
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People don't need to know why someone free solos.
They either understand or they don't.
If you don't understand ..... too bad.
It's not to be understood by everyone anyways .....
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Jun 17, 2011 - 09:47pm PT
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I agree Werner, the why they do it is ephemeral anyways, unexplainable. But the history of it and first hand stories from people like Peter and Werner, and countless others would be an incredible read. Let people figure the why out for themselves, after reading the stories.
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Bad Climber
climber
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Jun 17, 2011 - 10:52pm PT
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DMT: Interesting point about Achilles. He had a choice--to live a long life or die a glorious warrior. He chose the later. The interesting follow up to this is that when Odysseus meets him in Hades and says how cool it must be to have died a great warrior and how he must, like, totally rule the underworld, Achilles says: "Better to be a poor slave of a poor master than rule in the underworld." Big regret. Actually, Plato, that old fascist, wanted this passage redacted from Homer because Plato thought it might sap the will to fight from young warriors. What seems so important in the flame of youth is often less so with the advent of perspective.
That said, bloody impressive solo! Hats off, and I hope he lives long and prospers.
BAd
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Jun 17, 2011 - 11:32pm PT
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Haan Solo!
Dropping knowledge.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jun 18, 2011 - 12:29am PT
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And Alex has the name of one of the greatest Greek heroes of all, a real one at that.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jun 18, 2011 - 12:37am PT
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We have been doing these kinds of extreme solos for more than fifty years.
Longer than that Peter. In fact, if you go back past fifty years and look at what passed for roped climbing... Suffice to say that there was a lot of serious sh#t done a long time ago in which the rope was just something used to bring the second up.
(Which is in no way to disagree with the spirit of your comment.)
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Jun 18, 2011 - 12:42am PT
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True Ghost. And some of that was quite hard too. Like 5.10 maybe more. For these historic pseudo-roped climbs there is much more known than the later 'actual' solos of our era, general mountaineering literature covers those older events well. It is the extreme solo jaunts without even the pretense of equipment that might bear up to more of a literary look as time allows and climbers involved age to point they actually are recording their recollections.
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jun 19, 2011 - 05:42pm PT
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I'm with Peter and Drummond on this one. The whole thing makes me sad. I'd hate to have been in the cheering crowd when an accident happens. Thats MHO. Flame on.
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jfailing
Trad climber
Lone Pine
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Jun 20, 2011 - 10:19am PT
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Written in the dust on Alex's back window this weekend:
"Stop soloing my projects"
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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Jun 20, 2011 - 11:41am PT
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Still looking forward to photos of Alex on the Phoenix.
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hb81
climber
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Jun 22, 2011 - 10:39am PT
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So this link brings you to Alex's comments on his ascent, tells us it was filmed by Peter Mortimer and perhaps most interestingly of all, Ray Jardine's reaction to Alex's climb.
I once lost my grip while free soloing 1,100 feet above the ground, and started to fall but managed to grab a tiny (5.11) hold another foot down. I learned a big lesson from that - that I wasn't in "total" control. And that was my last free solo.
Whew!
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Jun 22, 2011 - 12:37pm PT
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It is rather interesting that we discuss Honnold's soloing so much more that any other major solo climber's soloing.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
bouldering
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Jun 26, 2011 - 04:13am PT
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He had to be sizing up Southern Belle for a solo run too.
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dfinnecy
Social climber
'stralia
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Jun 26, 2011 - 08:35am PT
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Mr Haan, I will add my vote to see that book as well.
In a perfect world Mr Braun will contribute some poems to be interspersed between chapters and salient pages. Maybe he can write a few pages himself. I'll buy 20 copies to give to anyone I climb with.
Coz wrote:
I never filmed my solos because I never wanted to share a very personal experience. More over set a bad example, but that's just me.
I'd say that all risk taking for your own glory and satisfaction is selfish, it certainly take maturity to understand the difference in a higher purpose and purpose of the self.
I never filmed my solos because no one who knew what it meant ever would have cared even a bit. And I only solo really easy stuff, so no one will care period. Still though, solos are the crowning experiences of my time climbing.
I always felt my own glory (glory generally not to be shared in specifics outside my skull) and satisfaction was the only higher purpose. What other higher purpose is there in soloing?
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Jun 26, 2011 - 08:49am PT
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Still though, solos are the crowning experiences of my time climbing.
I haven't done a ton of solos, but I can't say I consider them "crowning experiences" in my climbing career. Significant? Yes. Extremely personal? Definitely. Satisfying? Deeply.
But, hardly the best or brightest when I look back on the climbing I've done. In part, that's because they've always been on lines where I knew I could control all of the risks involved. More of what I consider my peak experiences were all doing roped FAs while operating way outside my comfort zone.
That said, I certainly understand and respect different climbing priorities and perspectives around this kind of experience and how people internally 'value' them over the long haul.
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russellg
Sport climber
Malibu, CA
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Jun 30, 2011 - 01:02pm PT
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That's just silly (but quite rad).
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nutjob
Gym climber
Berkeley, CA
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Jun 30, 2011 - 02:22pm PT
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I just can't conceive that much skill and ability. For me it's like trying to imagine how big a "google" is in terms of particles of sand. I can start on the path to calculating or comparing with my experience in a rational way, and then it just breaks down.
It must be hard to have sooo much skill and ability at something (even though climbing isn't important in the scheme of things), to be so far out on the extreme tail of human ability. What do you do with that? Is there some responsibility toward one's self or to others to take advantage of that skill and ability? Is there some kind of inner crime to not exploit such a gift? Or is it a curse, an affliction? Is there an inner cry to just be mediocre? Or are all of these just my mediocre climber musings, grasping at straws to understand what cannot be understood by me?
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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Jun 30, 2011 - 02:57pm PT
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It is rather interesting that we discuss Honnold's soloing so much more that any other major solo climber's soloing.
Two thoughts.
1. California-centric website, california routes being soloed, californian kid doing the soloing.
2. Who exactly are "other major solo climbers" who are doing it on a regular basis? Dean and ???
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