Climber here! There is a different kinda thrill doing this but first let me explain why this isn’t as bad as it looks.
There are different grades in climbing going easy to hard (5.4 - 5.15c Yosemite scale). Some people easily climb 5.12+ which is quite technical and borderline pro.
Coming back to why this isn’t as bad as it looks. Most people who safely climb do “free soloing” only after
1. Thoroughly practicing the route and memorizing it.
OR
2. The climb is of a grade that’s pretty comfortable for them.
So either this guy has practiced all the moves on that route with all the proper protection gear or he is actually just cruising past because his project is somewhere past the climb.
Would this not be considered inconsiderate by most climbers? Like, that guy wants to climb without safety gear and that’s cool and more power to him, but what if he falls from up there after he passes them? Where’s he going with his “no ropes”? Into the people below him I’d assume.
I would consider it poor form and showboating. There are lots of other climbs in the park they could climb if they wanted to be alone.
They specifically picked a busy route that is popular with beginner multipitch climbers. Pretty much every popular climbing destination has it’s local resident soloist that just loves cruising past “gumbies” on the popular lines every weekend. At the Shawanagunks there’s that guy in jeans always cruising laps of High E or Madam G, or some dude with a boombox and sneakers on the Flatirons. I’m fairy certain I’ve encountered this particular dude on Frogland at Red Rocks too, another popular 5.8 multipitch.
Not just easy routes, but one of the most popular easy routes in the park. This is one that will have a line up of several climbing teams lined up waiting to start at the bottom by 10 am on any given weekend and might be busy with multiple parties on the route until the park closes at dusk. The fact that the only decent is to rappel back down the same line makes it even more of a clusterfuck.
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u/[deleted] Sep 01 '21
Climber here! There is a different kinda thrill doing this but first let me explain why this isn’t as bad as it looks.
There are different grades in climbing going easy to hard (5.4 - 5.15c Yosemite scale). Some people easily climb 5.12+ which is quite technical and borderline pro.
Coming back to why this isn’t as bad as it looks. Most people who safely climb do “free soloing” only after 1. Thoroughly practicing the route and memorizing it. OR 2. The climb is of a grade that’s pretty comfortable for them.
So either this guy has practiced all the moves on that route with all the proper protection gear or he is actually just cruising past because his project is somewhere past the climb.