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John Mac
Trad climber
Littleton, CO
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Apr 30, 2012 - 04:06pm PT
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Wise words spoken!
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Reeotch
Trad climber
4 Corners Area
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Apr 30, 2012 - 04:18pm PT
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if Alex Honnold happened to be your own son, what advice would you give him?
Son, I wish you would stick to the granite . . .
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Mimi
climber
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Apr 30, 2012 - 04:31pm PT
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Wow! Nicely documented experience. Stay solid out there, Alex!
Werner, I'm glad you got control of that fickle mind too.
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labrat
Trad climber
Nevada City, CA
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Apr 30, 2012 - 04:39pm PT
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Son,
My fondest memories are experiencing and sharing things with people. Not the things I've done out and about by myself.
Take me climbing! My summer break is almost here......
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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Apr 30, 2012 - 05:12pm PT
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become an old dinosaur posting on some future climbing website.
LOL!!!
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Apr 30, 2012 - 05:14pm PT
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become an old dinosaur posting on some future climbing website.
I think I prefer that to cratering at high velocity from high high up....
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Apr 30, 2012 - 05:21pm PT
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to become an old dinosaur posting on some future climbing website.
Hey! F*#k you!
;-)
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Apr 30, 2012 - 05:24pm PT
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Hudon, +1 !!!
These are for you sonny...
( . )( . )
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goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
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Apr 30, 2012 - 07:08pm PT
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These are for you sonny...
( . )( . )
And these are for you grandpah ;)
ŲŲ
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S.Leeper
Social climber
somewhere that doesnt have anything over 90'
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Apr 30, 2012 - 07:15pm PT
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phuq, I WISH a 9 pitch .12b solo, was boring to me.
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yo
climber
Mudcat Spire
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Apr 30, 2012 - 07:25pm PT
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Did you get that vibrator I faxed over?
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Apr 30, 2012 - 07:46pm PT
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What room? I didn't see past the little shorts, oh wait...yeah, there it is.
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part-time communist
Mountain climber
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Apr 30, 2012 - 07:48pm PT
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For sure, the guy can write pretty well. I hadn't seen his stuff before.
What can we say? We can doom and gloom and repeat the names of the fallen, but it is the statement of his entire being that he wagers with the price of his own hide.
I wish Alex all the luck in the world. I hope that the industry built around him doesn't taint his quest.
you should try to stay on topic
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Apr 30, 2012 - 07:52pm PT
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I wish Alex all the luck in the world. I hope that the industry built around him doesn't taint his quest.
Did you say "taint"?
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Apr 30, 2012 - 08:06pm PT
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No, he isn't as deep.
Here is proof;
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WBraun
climber
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Apr 30, 2012 - 08:28pm PT
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Alex is the best trad climber in world.
The only guys better than him the materialists can't see with their mundane eyeballs.
Ho man .....
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Longstick
Social climber
Seattle, WA
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Apr 30, 2012 - 08:43pm PT
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Son, everything for you is marked on a yardstick scale from 'utterly boring....to....this screams, "I am alive!!!" ... do you carry any other yardsticks? Tell me about them...I want to hear those stories and feel what that is like for you. Stop...don't run away. I want to hear... intensely, I want to listen. Don't talk to me about climbing ...not now. Too many people ask you for that one...and you forget about the rest.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Apr 30, 2012 - 08:44pm PT
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i liked the write-up, especially the puff for angel's landing and the bit about following the bighorn up and out.
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S.Leeper
Social climber
somewhere that doesnt have anything over 90'
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Apr 30, 2012 - 10:44pm PT
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Alex H. onsighted this one:
Shune's Buttress!!
Yesterday I onsight soloed Shune's Buttress, a 8 pitch 5.11+. It was something that I'd considered for the first time years ago but had never been motivated enough to do, but yesterday I had the right amount of pent up energy and hunger for adventure so I finally made it happen.
The forecast in Zion was super grim; it'd been raining the day before and it was supposed to rain after 1pm, but I figured that gave me a solid 5 hours to climb something before the next wave of storm came in. My biggest worry was that Zion's soft sandstone might be too friable after the previous nights rain, but I figured I could tread carefully and bail if it seemed suspect. I'm super careful when I'm soloing anyway, so whether it was wet or not I still would be just as suspicious of the rock.
I hiked up to the base of a couple different routes, trying to decide what looked the driest and most doable. Ultimately I settled on Shune's since it's mostly secure-looking crack climbing and they looked pretty dry. Normally to descend off Shune's you rappel the route, but since I didn't want to take a rope and harness up the route [it sort of takes the fun out of soloing if you have to carry all the same gear but alone] I figured I could try to pioneer a hike off the top.
I took a tiny backpack with my running shoes, a pint of water, 2 Z Bars, a Mojo bar, and some Blocks. I hadn't really eaten breakfast, but I was impatient to get on the route and beat the coming weather.
The climbing was a pleasure. I hadn't climbed on sandstone cracks in a long time and as soon as I started jamming I felt totally indestructible. The position is nice and exposed and you climb up a pretty cool tower. Even the climbing is enjoyable and technical. It was everything I hoped for, and almost entirely dry. At least dry enough to not be a problem. I felt great when I topped out - until I looked up and realized that I had at least another 750 ft of snow covered slabs to ascend before I reached the rim of the canyon. As I sat on top and considered the first snow flakes started falling, which suited my mood perfectly. It was really pretty but they weren't really sticking, entertaining but not a problem.
But as I started up the snow [well, consolidated hail actually] covered slabs it started snowing in earnest. Visibility dropped to a hundred feet or less, which was a big concern since I wasn't entirely sure where I was going and the topography in Zion is super complex. Big sheer canyons cut every which way through the mesa, making it hard to hike cross country or in straight lines.
My pants and sweater started getting pretty wet from post-holing in snow and falling down all the time. I had to switch back into climbing shoes because the slabs were so steep and technical, particularly because of the snow. For a few minutes I actually worried that I might get stuck on the slabs and that exposure could be an issue, though I eventually found a way onto the main ridge and back towards the mesa.To make a long story short, I eventually stumbled across the hiking trail [quite the stroke of luck, since everything was under a solid foot of snow] and made the 10 mile hike back down to the canyon floor. It snowed the whole time. I was wet and cold and hungry.
The day's summary: the 8 pitches of glorious climbing probably took less than an hour , the snowy nightmare descent took something like 4+ hours. But I had exactly the adventure I was hungry for, and today I'm actually content taking a rest day. I fed the beast.
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