Want sweaty palms?
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You may or may not have seen the documentary “Free Solo” where Alex Honnold climbs the 3,000 ft El Capitan route solo (no ropes). He’s the first to do it, it’s beyond remarkable.
Anyway I stumbled onto this video earlier today. If you have 30 minutes to truly let yourself be immersed into the video….wow it gave me even sweatier palms than Free Solo. Mainly because it follows a top Norwegian climber as he somewhat unexpectedly does his first major free solo alongside Alex. And he’s nervous.
Link to video -
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Tell me if anyone watches this. I was thinking about it today. There are some things you have to be WIRED differently for. This is one of them. Not just the physicality, but the ability to focus and not think about the (vertigo-inducing, sweaty palms creating) idea of what happens if one foot or one hand slips just once. What if the rocks get hot? What if it rains? What if you have a sneezing attack? What if it gets too windy?
I wonder if it's similar to being a kid. I remember climbing a 75-foot skinny tree that swayed back and forth at the top. I remember "free soloing" a rock wall that was about 50-feet up one time while camping. Stuff I wouldn't ever think about doing now, nor being able to see my kid doing. But as a kid... it was more of an adventure and trust in my ability. I also weighed less then.
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Best line was Alex apologizing to viewers for the video not being perfectly steady, adding “but I’d like to see you free solo a 5.9 while holding a camera steadier”.
Clear too it’s not a go pro, he’s carrying a camera.
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Best line was Alex apologizing to viewers for the video not being perfectly steady, adding “but I’d like to see you free solo a 5.9 while holding a camera steadier”.
Clear too it’s not a go pro, he’s carrying a camera.
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I’ve been impressed by Alex. Seems genuinely sincere about his craft, but almost in a slightly autistic way where he acknowledges how insane what he does is but without the normal “caring” about dying. It’s humorous to watch.
I’ve seen a few other videos where he breaks down the realistic aspect of famous movie scenes with mountain climbing. Funny to watch. And he name drops casually some insane climbs he’s done, or other climbing techniques in a millisecond. He’s a master at what he does and his fingers are so strong it looks like sausages.
He had a toddler now. I’m surprised it hasn’t changed the risks he takes.
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Fucking crazy. “Yeah that happened to me in Africa when I was free soloing this sandstone rock in Chad that had never been climbed before, and the rock under both my feet just totally disintegrated and left me hanging by my hands, and I was thinking, “this is like Mission Impossible”, totally rad.”
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I liked the reviews of the movie climbs better than the actual climbs---way less stressful to watch, lol.
That said, the guys coaching abilities are almost as impressive as his climbing. Great combination of helpful directions, and motivating demeanor. (without phony/useless 'rah rah!' nonsense)
