FREE Solo of El Capitan

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/advent...ark-el-capitan/

Climber: Alex Honnold
Route: Free Rider, west face of El Cap
June 5, ascent with no ropes
3000 feet of vertical climbing, with very high difficulty.

This has to be one of the all-time great human accomplishments. I'm so glad i saw this done in my lifetime. its hard to believe he pulled this off. This is an enormous feat of mental strength!!

If he did 120-150 moves for each pitch, with a total of 30 pitches, then he executed 3600-4500 moves with flawless precision, not one mistake!!

BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Alex Honnolder.

Pete

And he did it with no protection at all.

Kudos to the man.

Lee

Well soloing with protection would be weird. Although there was this movie with Sylvester Stallone...

Glad he made it. Always have mixed feeling about famous climber doing dangerous things. Ueli Steck died not too long ago, so you know.

That's an astonishing accomplishment! I have some mixed feelings about it; on one level I kind of hate to see the publicity as it might encourage some to try that's not capable of the feat (and really, who else is?). And just for my own part it seems dangerous well beyond the point of recklessness. But I guess if you can do it...

Alex Honnold is a very fine, skilled climber - no question about that. I am pretty sure that most people see solo, unprotected climbing as dangerous.

It really comes down to one's tastes and preferences. Personally, I enjoy the teamwork and camaraderie of conventional roped climbing with protection and belays (and good helmets!). That mode of climbing is certainly not without its hazards. I'll bet most climbers have done some solo climbing on occasions, although not at as high a standard as AH.

When Lynn Hill first free climbed El Cap, Warren Harding said "If you call that free climbing".

Wonder what Warren would say now?

Impressed you go this one through on a family-friendly forum!

Haha, didn't even think of that. Wait until you hear about all the other things climbers say that might be interpreted differently by others...

The route he climbed, known as Free Rider, is rated at 5.12D. Thats a difficulty rating above anything I ever climbed, or dreamed of climbing. It is very close to 5.13. I still remember the 'old days' when 5.13 was the hardest that anyone in the world could climb, with or without a rope.

To climb this route, at an elevation of 2300 feet above the floor of the Yosemite Valley, Alex had to put one thumb (or one fingertip) into a tiny hole in the rock face, and pull his entire body weight up on it. And then repeat. The crux moves, at 2300 ft above the ground, require this level of strength.

It blows my mind that he did this without a rope, or any form of protection. I just dont have words for it.

No doubt there will be fatalities when other young climbers try to repeat this performance. I wish it wouldn't happen, but its practically guaranteed.

Pete