An honest question.....How long do you guys give Hondo?

I recently had a friend take a 40 ft fall soloing at New Jack City and he is lucky to be alive. He shattered vertebrae, broke his arm, and obliterated both of his feet to the point where they were de-gloved. There was even talk of amputation for a while. He seems to be in good spirits but he knows he has a long road ahead and that he may be permanently crippled. He realizes now how dumb soloing was for him personally. Coincidentally he is the same guy that was doing the naked porch swing when the boys were sending the dawn wall.

The man is clearly not part of the normal equation. The rest of us will all fall and get hurt before he will.

I think your question is something of an 'elephant in the room' in many climber's minds who see such amazing talents doing things as far on the edge as humanly possible.

Will we climbers stop paying Honnold to solo?

We love to watch the professional videos that he's in.

He has no control over his actions. Nobody has.

So, again, Honlove has 0% control over his actions.

Savoring a nice Pinot Noir after a baked cod dinner.

Solo climbing kills

Mar 19, 2015 - 06:00pm PT
Circle jerk wankfest thread.

re Chiloe's Gambler's Fallacy upthread here

I eat peanut butter from the jar with my index finger

A large black cloud hung over Nanda Devi," he insisted. ... everyone — for health reasons — to use a clean utensil or cracker to scoop out the peanut butter.

Father Sanctimony has spoken, everybody disperse.

Wait a minute!!! So if you place one bullet in a six shooter, spin the chamber, place it to your temple and pull the trigger.......and get real lucky

...it won't affect your lifespan if you then repeat that procedure once a week for years to come?

Stopping a dangerous game won't stack the odds in your favor?

However I have not lost anyone super close to me because of high risk taking...

I agree. Have you seen half the posts that go up on this forum? This is a valid thread, so relax folks.

More so than questioning Honnold's longevity, I question the impact and the indirect influence he is having on amateur soloists. Don't get me wrong, I think the guy has unquestionable talent, and privately he is probably living a very fulfilling life. But why then does he strike up deals with Sender Films and other film companies that expose his wild antics to the public? These media companies advertise soloing as the next level of extreme climbing. This "next level" view of soloing is what is damaging, in my opinion. Honnold is a smart dude, he knows this will happen. He has seen it happen and continues to interview and allow Sender to throw him in the public light and glorify his extreme soloing.

Of course, I believe in freedom of speech, and Honnold can do whatever the hell he wants. But just like everything, there are consequences to actions. He may not even be the one directly to blame (if there is any blame to be had). Honnold is a freak of nature. That's how he needs to be featured in all these films. Instead, soloing is glorified and Honnold is featured as the one spearheading this "next-level" movement.

I too, know this guy that Brother Bock has spoken about. I've climbed with him and run with him. It breaks my heart to see the level of physical and emotional pain he is going through. Of course, he doesn't blame anyone for his mistakes. He doesn't point the finger at Honnold or the soloing movement. He even wants to climb (with a rope of course) once again, if that is possible. But even he will admit to you that he got caught up in this next-level mentality and didn't think twice about what he was doing and the consequences if anything went wrong.

In the end, it was his choice and his responsibility. His fall ultimately was due to a foothold that broke off the wall. But it saddens me too.

I have, but not climbing.

There it is folks. We have an important new voice on ST.

Ha ha. Thanks for that intro Jstan. I like to do more reading than writing. ;-)

Alex is a once in a generation phenom and it would be presumptuous for anyone to tell him how to go about his craft. We can just watch and admire and send our best wishes.
Others, who want to emulate him should think long and hard about both their abilities and, most importantly, their motives.

some hipster music playing in the background...

Climbing is for anarchists and loners who set their own personal standards without much regard to what others think.

Climbing is for anarchists and loners who set their own personal standards without much regard to what others think.

a soloist has none

yeah, objective danger. there are things beyond his control. all of you who think that he has everything under control are probably lousy poker players..

There is a huge difference between a soloist who does laps on stuff they have wired that is several full grades below their limits and someone who onsights near their limits. dude is cutting it way too close.!

what if you get stung by a wasp?

The biggest problem I find with his activities is the impression it leaves on non-climbers and beginners.
I have spoken to people that have seen the video of his exploits (which are spectacular) and believe that it is the norm.

You know you're about as funny as a sh#t casserole.

In the English dialect of the southern United States, the two senses of the adjective queer (homosexual and weird, odd, different, or unwell) are sometimes distinguished by pronunciation. Queer (homosexual) is pronounced (kwîr), queer is pronounced (kwär). This is generally considered old-fashioned and is only used when the word is emphasized, as in the phrase "that's awful queer" (pronounced THăts ôr'fəl kwär). The distinction is dying out as that latter sense of the word dies out.

(weird, odd, different, or unwell)

Nuth'in mor queer than solo'in gett'in all this publicity>

Bullshit aside, soloing is what people who like to solo, do

Climbing is not a team sport

healyje -- "basically think he's safer without a rope than 85% of today's climbing demographic with one"