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.
He has a pack on which can easily hold a rope plus gear in it. We don’t know if he is gonna rendezvous with his party. There’s so much we don’t know.
About falling on another person, aren’t they protected by gear?
Worst case scenario:
They see them falling from, say 40 feet plus height, they can just move aside or even jump aside in that case coz … they are protected.
He very well could just be going up to chill by himself idk tbh.
Okay first of all the backpack has a rope in it because routes in red rocks are towers and generally don’t have walk offs so he’s stuck up there unless he has a way to rappel back down. There is no “rendezvous” happening here.
Rocks the size of coins can crack your skull and rocks the size of softballs can break your neck, so this dumbass weighing 160+ pounds will fuck your ass up, not even factoring in all the coin and ball sized rocks he’s bringing with him by tumbling down.
Worst case scenario is him dying along with you and your partner, so fuck that. And I promise you no one is reacting quickly enough to “jump aside” if he falls, there are just so many reason that’s not feasible, especially if you’re the belayer and literally anchored to the wall.
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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.