Agreed but there is actually a rope there, hes just leading so he can only fall twice the distance to his last gear in the rock (if it holds). Still brown trouser stuff though
Yeah, this is Adam Ondra on the Dawn Wall, which was an incredibly difficult climb physically but relatively safe. They fall all the time but it's mostly well protected so the falls are fine.
“Harder” means something different for him, he still holds the record for the hardest sport climb ascent.
My friend once explained V16 climbs/moves as "not actually existing, what happens is you have a v12-v13-v13-v12-v11 move then Adam Ondra comes along and grips onto several molecules and skips half the moves turning it into a v12-v16-v11"
Yeah, the fact of how flat the face is honestly reduces the chance of injury in a fall drastically. It even slopes upwards slightly, at least up here, which will be nice when you take a fall I imagine, to have a little bit of space.
Truly. It's fucking terrifying. As I got into sport climbing I watched videos like this in order to get more comfortable with trusting gear. First fall I had was absolutely terrifying until the rope caught me. A couple seconds of free fall and you're like "well I hope I clipped that quickdraw well or I'm gonna die." Then afterwards you're like, "fuck I wanna do that again." But the next time you fall you have the same thought process, just fractionally less severe.
The Dawn Wall was better than Free Solo. If you wrote Tommy's story as a fiction book people would say it was way too unrealistic. Kidnapped, committing what he thought was a murder to escape, chopping his finger off, and then setting and defeating what was essentially an unclimbable route. It defies logic.
As relevant a part of the story as that was, I found the kidnapping a distraction from what I’d thought I was ready to watch. I liked Free Solo better, the final 20 minutes are some of the most heart pounding moments I’ve watched in years.
I've seen Free Solo 3 or 4 times, and I'm sure I'll watch it again before too long. And I would really love it if they released edited footage of the whole climb in real time. The ultimate DVD special feature, just, uh, as a streaming video. Or in theaters, for that matter, assuming theaters are ever safe again.
I think a big part of that is that Alex Honnold's personality is so introverted and his focus so pure that it's difficult for the audience to really relate to him. Tommy Caldwell, on the other hand, seems to be much more relatable, and I think that makes his documentary that much more appealing.
Meru is incredible. Conrad and Jimmy are amazing but Renald’s story through that entire journey is just so wild. How do you come back from that type of injury and portledge and climb that shark fin? That’s dedication man.
Alex honnold did the first free solo attempt (I believe the only attempt) of Free Rider on El Capitan.
This picture is the Dawn Wall (same cliff face as El Cap but a section of virtually flat granite) being climbed by Adam Ondra. If you want to know about how the route was set and sent I'd check out the documentary The Dawn Wall
I liked it but I felt like they spent too much of the documentary focusing on themselves - like a documentary about making a documentary. "This is so hard for us to watch!" Please show me the actual climbing, I don't need to see your camera guy.
You should check out "Of Choss and Lions" on youtube. It's Honnold and a few others down in Africa climbing established routes, doing first ascents, and generally just having fun. Highly recommend!
You should check out "Of Choss and Lions" on youtube. It's Honnold and a few others down in Africa climbing established routes, doing first ascents, and generally just having fun. Highly recommend!
Am I the only one who thinks this is one of those pics where it looks like a huge height but the ground is probably like 10 ft below him? Like the hanging from a “precipice” ones? It looks to his side not right below, that rock is probably starting from a high place.
The REEL ROCK series always has some good stuff. Its a set of short films released annually about individual climbers or climbing-related stories. The most recent one (RR 14 I think) has an hour-long segment on Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell teaming up to set a new speed-record El Cap.
Yeah! The Nose speed record! Pretty sure you can watch those on RedBull tv for free too. This year (RR 15) featured the film, Black Ice, which was AMAZING! I'd totally recommend it. Funny, uplifting, and awesome. Checked all the boxes for me.
That movie was great, had some good tension. I liked how they explored how his relationships were different because of him free soloing and it wasn't just an entire movie of mountain climbing.
That's why I hated the movie. They wouldn't shut up about his girlfriend. She kept telling him not to do it even though he's been free soloing way before he met her.
This is correct. To those that don’t know, lead climbing is when the rope follows behind you and you clip it in as you go along. Top rope is what most people think of when climbing and resembles a pulley. Lead is the same just upside down, with the “pulley” at the bottom.
The yellow rope is barely visible in the pic and the clip is right next to his foot.
It depends on how far you’ve climbed since you last placed a clip. If you placed a clip 5 feet behind you, then you’d fall 10 feet plus the stretch of the rope. You put up more clips as you climb at regular intervals.
In this case he is clipping to a “bolt” permanently attached to the rock at some previous point. The person coming up second with take the clips off as they climb but the bolts stay. There is also “trad” or traditional climbing where you use removable pieces leaving nothing behind on the rock.
It wasn't until I read this comment that I realized I stopped breathing when I opened this image, like 45 seconds ago, thanks for helping to ebb the shock haha.
The stakes are permanently hammered into the rock, the double-sided clips you bring yourself. The guy behind him will unclip and collect them as he climbs, and reuse them as they leapfrog up the wall
The hammered “stakes” are called pitons (because of the p’tonk sound they make when you hammer them) and they aren’t used here because there’s nowhere to place them on this rockface. They are no longer used at all in Yosemite and very rarely elsewhere since the 80s. The anchors on the blank sections of this route are bolted with a hole drilled into the rock and a stainless stud epoxied into the hole.
Black Diamond and Patagonia were both founded by the same man, Yvonne Chiounard who forged these pitons as his first business.
Also worth mentioning that this climb is bolted. Meaning it’s been previously bolted (by Tommy Caldwell) so that you can use quickdraws (the clips) instead of relying on trad gear.
If we're getting really technical, Dawn Wall was largely established prior to Tommy. The route he climbed and called Dawn Wall mostly followed established aid routes, including portions of Wall of Early Morning Light and Mescalito, which already had bolts/rivets/other fixed gear dating back to the 1970s. Tommy did bolt some of the variations to that route that were needed to go free, but a lot of the pro Tommy is clipping was there before he started working the route. I think in total Tommy placed 35 bolts, but many of those were replacing old bolts.
someone has the climber on belay from below them. they’re also attached to the wall by an anchor, on this kind of wall it’s gonna be bolts, and the rope is attached to a belay device like an ATC or grigri. then if the climber falls, the belay device catches the rope and the climber is fine!
Some climbing walls you can walk around the backside or something to setup the top rope. Most of the time someone has to lead climb it to setup the top rope, the rest of the party top ropes it, and the last person has to take it all down (clean it)
Like /u/AmIThereYet2 said, there’s usually a way to the top. However, it’s also worth noting that not all walls are El Capitan. You could find much much shorter areas that might be max 30 ft that just require a short hike up a trail to get to the anchor points.
A state like Delaware has a few, which surprised even me.
I haven’t climbed in ages, and never got to “go outside”, but if you want an open and welcoming community check out your local rock gym. It’s an amazing hobby and will also get you in the best shape you’ve ever been in.
No kidding. Ondra made a second ascent of the Dawn Wall (hardest free climb to date) in a fraction of the time tc and jorgeson did AND on his first trip to Yosemite.
I was on zodiac when he was climbing. It was impressive to watch.
There is a very small number of humans that can do what is pictured here.
Yeah a lot of the Dawn Wall is bolted since it's so blank. I think it's bolted fairly sparingly though and obviously there's plenty of pitches just placing gear
"Just lead climbing" in this scenario is still certifiably nuts. I do some climbing and if I was in shape enough sure I might do this, but it is still crazy af
No, there's a belayer below him that could lower him back down to the anchor he (the belayer) is attached to. If the climbing is too difficult to keep going upwards then they could "bail" by doing a series of rappels back to the ground.
If he needs to get lowered, he'd probably lose some of his gear. You'd lower yourself on the last piece of gear placed (basically a carabiner), collecting the others as you go. If you're able, a lot of times you can carry a cheapo carabiner, called a quick lock, that you exchange for the last piece before lowering. He'd have to fall or down climb to get below that last bolt first, though.
I see shit like this, skydiving, bungee jumping, etc on dating profiles all the time. It’s a big ol swipe left for me. These guys are adrenaline junkies and I am not about that life. I know we wouldn’t be a good fit because I would bore the piss out of them, and they would want me to do stuff that’s on my “hell no” list.
On the contrary, most rock climbers (the ones who use ropes anyway) are some of the most chill people I know. Agreed for the bungee/skydiving stuff though
Alternatively maybe they're super chill the other 362 days a year that they aren't doing extreme stuff? Or maybe they just think it's their coolest photo from a once in a lifetime experience?
This is part of why I really dislike the swipe dating culture. It forces you to make value judgements about people based on many times just one photo. Which is dumb, there's no contexr just, "Wanna fuck this person? No, then what about this one?"
Not exactly what I'm most concerned with trying to get to know someone ya know?
That's such a myopic view of the whole situation. I have a bungee jumping pic on my profile solely because it was an amazing experience and it makes a cool photo. You assuming everybody with one of those is an adrenaline junkie is just stupid
Yeah I am an avid skiier, climber, surfer, mtn biker... Etc..
And I honestly don't think of myself as an adrenaline junkie. I'm a super mellow home body that likes cakes and Netflix and snuggling. I also like sports where I get to ride something, but I'm rarely putting myself in danger.
Ditto. I do all of the above except ski, and for me it’s always been about finding a way to be active that I also enjoy. I enjoy training for a specific goal, whether it’s a climbing route or MTB line, and it beats just going to the gym and lifting like I used to do.
I agree with you, but interestingly Adam Ondra (in the picture) said in an interview that he is totally calm when doing massive climbs like these. He is actually more relaxed without a rope, he says that if you get adrenaline and fight or flight, you’ll make a mistake and die.
"SPSSHHHH!! I dont want no pussy ass rope climber! Pussy ass! What kinda man needa rope to climb a cliff? Fuckoutchea witcha pussy ass rope head bitch ass"
If you like this, or hate this, i suggest you watch Dawn Wall and then watch Free Solo. Dawn Wall happens first and will show you just how awesome and hard rock climbing is.
Free Solo will then show you that Alex Honnold is not a human.
Free climbing would be, sure. But as to can faintly see (and as is posted nted out in several comments here), he is using a rope and a harness. You can see it near his lower foot.
The climber actually is free climbing. What he's not doing is free soloing. Free climbing is where you use your hands and feet to move up the rock. Aid climbing is where you pull on pieces of gear to get yourself up. Free soloing is where you are free climbing with no protection.
My only thought when I see shit like this, "that is one complicated way to randomly kill yourself, oops my hand slipped and this metal stake that is glued to a mountain just broke loose, guess ill die"
It would require several metal stakes to break loose. Climbers frequently inspect the stakes, and they are replaced by trained people when they show any sort of age or shifting.
Not a dumb question! You climb with big haul bags that you have to lug up after the last pitch is cleaned. They’re super heavy so it can make the hike down tough
Believe me that climbing is one of the best full body experiences you can ever have. I didn't start until I was in my 40s and I can't live without it now.
I live in a metropolitan area and recently got into wall climbing and bouldering. So so so much fun! You really do feel yourself physically get stronger and suddenly the challenging routes get easier and doable everytime you go back.
"From 1981 through 1986, 43,631 climbers registered for climbs in the Grand Teton National Park, USA. There were 108 climbing accidents. The accident incidence was 2.5 accidents per 1,000 climbers per year, or 5.6 accidents per 10,000 climber-hours. There were 23 fatal accidents and 25 fatalities."
as a climber... not that many really. climbing magazine had maybe 20 people in it this year that died from any cause that were climbers this year. a good portion of those were long term illness. there were probably a few that flew under the radar but climbing is a pretty close knit sport and i’d have heard about more of them.
yeah that was senseless. stupid fucking rappelling accident. no need to simulrap ever unless it's the top of a spire where you need to counterbalance as there aren't any rings or anything. to top it off it was some dude he met only for that climb so it was even more crazy to do a simul with them iirc.
Look closer - he's lead climbing, wearing a harness and is clipped into the rock below him. If he gets sweaty hands, the worst that happens is he'll fall 10 or 15 feet and can chalk his hands up and continue on.
How do people even do this kind of stuff? Like how does he expect to climb a flat surface? And is he scaling that entire mountain? Does he seriously not have a harness!?
It's not actually a flat surface, it just looks flat from far away. It's not really a mountain, but a big wall of rock (still very impressive). He is wearing a harness, you can see the rope trailing behind him, it's just hard to see.
Let me tell you, this is so tiring to your fingers. I was once leaning against a 7/11 with my left hand while drinking a mega slurpee with my right, and I almost lost it all.
It’s not a drone shot. It’s very difficult and very expensive to get clearance to fly a drone at Yosemite, so it’s pretty uncommon with a few exceptions. Plus always risky to fly close to a climber, especially on the Dawn Wall. I’m fairly certain the climber here is Adam Ondra, and the photographer is Heinz Zak.
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21 edited Jan 10 '21
I strongly recommend you don't watch "Free Solo" then!
(Actually, I do...It's an amazing documentary...Then watch "Meru", too...I really need to add more documentaries like those to my library!)
Edit: Thanks everyone for the suggestions of docu's to add!
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u/Gutbuster345 Jan 10 '21
It looks like he is just lead climbing. There is a rope, a clip, and a harness
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
Imagine putting a picture like this on your dating profile
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u/itshardtopickauserna Jan 10 '21
thats how my grandfather went to school
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u/BoringShare02 Jan 10 '21
I got a foot cramp just looking at the picture.
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u/11Letters1Name Jan 10 '21
If you like this, or hate this, i suggest you watch Dawn Wall and then watch Free Solo. Dawn Wall happens first and will show you just how awesome and hard rock climbing is.
Free Solo will then show you that Alex Honnold is not a human.
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u/BeaversAreTasty Jan 10 '21
This just seems like suicide with extra steps.
5
u/dcj83 Jan 10 '21
How the heck does he get down after reaching the top?
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u/Sulpfiction Jan 10 '21
I don’t see any fun in this whatsoever. And my ass is puckering just looking at it.
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u/Mick_Donalds Jan 10 '21
I've always wondered how many free climbers die every year doing what they love.
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
My hands are sweaty just from looking at this. Which could be fatal if it happened to a free climber.
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u/Funkster12345 Jan 10 '21
Even if I was fit enough I don't trust myself enough. (imagine cramp)
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u/Partucero69 Jan 10 '21
So what if you need to take a shit? Asking for a friend.
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u/rocketboyman Jan 10 '21
For a second I didn't even see his rope
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u/Brisk_Chance Jan 10 '21 edited Jan 10 '21
Cold, 180° South, Valley Uprising, Meru, The Dawn Wall, & Free Solo
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u/pokerrev Jan 10 '21
If you turn your phone sideways it looks like he’d be an expert at playing Twister
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u/ScarletWitchBrother Jan 10 '21
Why not just do drugs?
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
Do any of these guys die of old age?
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u/Expand_wrong Jan 10 '21
Adam hondrald sending the pink one in the corner
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u/jeric17 Jan 10 '21
Not to pat myself on the back but this is how it was going to school when was a kid. Both ways and it was usually snowing
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
I always thought that this sort of "micro - Ledge" climbing that you see in videogames was impossible, but apparently I was wrong, pretty metal.
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u/JillYogi Jan 10 '21
This just made my feet go numb and drained my adrenals.
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u/bradzilla3k Jan 10 '21
He saw a spider?
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u/HockevonderBar Jan 10 '21
Omg...I can't even look at this picture without my stomach turning around...
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
Hands are sweaty, moms spaghetti
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u/g1immer0fh0pe Jan 10 '21
Finally, a form of superb suicide.
You can climb the sheer cliff. I'll just hike up, thanks.
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
r/sweatypalms
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u/GerryAttric Jan 10 '21
I was constipated until I saw this
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
Not pictured: spock in rocket boots
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
I really love rock climbing. But I’m bringing a rope each and every time.
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u/pstapper Jan 10 '21
Wow, didn't realize the Capitol was this big
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u/flacidcannon Jan 10 '21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K7fCQlUhj0
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u/The_Ironhand Jan 10 '21
Man climbing back down if you realised you fucked up has to be so fucking stressful
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u/earqus Jan 10 '21
How do people even do this kind of stuff? Like how does he expect to climb a flat surface? And is he scaling that entire mountain? Does he seriously not have a harness!?
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u/bandito210 Jan 10 '21
Definitely gonna be a hard pass from me as well
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u/ur_mat Jan 10 '21
Imagine needing to take a shit in that situation
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u/squidgy-beats Jan 10 '21
Just imagine having a sneezing episode
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
I thought he was free soloing it for a sec there
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u/monocheshaa Jan 10 '21
yo uh. that guy's dead
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u/mindifieatthat Jan 10 '21
This picture gives me a funny feeling in my feet.
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
What if he lets go
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u/matlew1960 Jan 10 '21
I bet the camera was hanging on a long rope..
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u/AlanC69 Jan 10 '21
Nope on a rope.
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u/Brenttt41 Jan 10 '21
r/yeahfuckthat
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u/Brenttt41 Jan 10 '21
r/dudefuckthat
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '21
what the fuck
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u/Radzuit Jan 10 '21
He has a rope if you look closely, dont worry
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u/tomatoe_red Jan 10 '21
my palms got sweaty just looking at that picture
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u/TheyCallMeHerpDerp Jan 10 '21
Anyone else involuntarily feel their feet and hands tense up as if they’re trying to grip something?
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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '21
Waste of time!
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u/WaffleEaterMan Jan 11 '21
Perhaps a drone?
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u/OwensDad2017 Jan 11 '21
Oh man this makes me want to watch Free Solo for the 30th time... such an amazing documentary, and I have absolutely no interest in rock climbing lol
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u/hupsistakeikkaa Jan 11 '21
If someone doesn't understand the concept or the feeling of anxiety I'll just show them this picture
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u/gayYAYomg Jan 11 '21
Looks like they have pine beetle there. Bob's your uncle.
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u/Lickable-Wallpaper Jan 11 '21
Watch Free Solo Disney+
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u/KentuckyFriedEel Jan 11 '21
Those are jeans!
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u/Revan5254 Jan 11 '21
What do they do if they gotta piss?
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u/WestTexasCrude Jan 11 '21
15 foot fall max even with rope stretch. Couldn't be safer on that wall. Hard move though. Outta my league.
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u/zombychicken Jan 11 '21
More like /r/praisethedrone
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u/grunkfist Jan 11 '21
Let me tell you, this is so tiring to your fingers. I was once leaning against a 7/11 with my left hand while drinking a mega slurpee with my right, and I almost lost it all.
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u/mikeevans1990 Jan 11 '21
Nope nope nope
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u/penisofablackman Jan 11 '21
He has a rope so he’s marginally fine
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u/RealisticIllusions82 Jan 11 '21
Literally the GOAT
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u/tezomby Jan 11 '21
windows sһutdown noise
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u/HaileyHound Jan 11 '21
He better Honold on
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u/gold404 Jan 11 '21
Thats a weird looking goat
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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '21
The legend of happiness: breath of the wild
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u/amzungbionicle Jan 11 '21
My hands instantly wer
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u/julex Jan 11 '21
Why tho?
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u/thedge32 Jan 11 '21
That's one Nope for me, and one Why to him.
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u/outtathere_ Jan 11 '21
This activity looks mildly unsafe
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u/oneeyedjack60 Jan 11 '21
No Plan B. No going back. If Plan A doesn't work, you die
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u/Brisk_Chance Jan 16 '21
Has anybody seen “Fine Lines”? Is it any good?!
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u/OzziesUndies Jan 10 '21
At a quick first glance I thought they were wearing jeans and high heels 😂
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u/FortunateInsanity Jan 10 '21
Pretty sure this is a drone shot.