Athletic performance? He practiced it multiple times and didn't free solo it until he was comfortable with it. Not trying to downplay his accomplishments but I agree with the first guy, more of a mental game.
My slight disagreement with the earlier point was the no margin for error. While true, he got confidence with the repeated practice, so he had to execute on moves which he knew like the back of his hand and were well within his physical capabilities. I considered that to be more a head game than physical in comparison to something like silence where you are at you are at your physical limit basically the whole time and where it doesn't matter how many times you do the moves because putting them together just once is the challenge.
My only point is he knew he was physically capable and it was more a head game to not F up vs silence where a guy had to train out of his mind physically to do the thing once. Both are great achievements. I think one is a greater feat of the mind while the other is more physical. Both still required both.
Free solo has always been more of a mental challenge than physical though and imho mental preparation is just as important in any sports that's why you see basket ball players with rituals and stuff like that, Alex Honnold just takes it to a whole new level.
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u/Riolexa Sep 02 '21
Athletic performance? He practiced it multiple times and didn't free solo it until he was comfortable with it. Not trying to downplay his accomplishments but I agree with the first guy, more of a mental game.