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Delhi Dog
climber
Good Question...
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Words seem inadequate at this point.
I've been pondering this since it happened and still am grasping at the technical + mental strength. Sure HE can say it was light exercise, but we all know (including him I suspect) what an accomplishment it is.
As to this: he had to get his mind into a place that no human mind has ever been I was thinking the same thing until the image of those soldiers on Omaha Beach pushing forward despite almost assured death...that also had to be a whole 'nother level of mental strength.
Congratulation Alex!
Truly amazing.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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I get slack jawed just thinking about this....
It IS the ultimate human athletic achievement...
maybe when somebody swims from California to Japan it will be equaled.
slack jawed and speechless.
respect
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paul roehl
Boulder climber
california
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Speechless is right. Imagine if you could go back in time and tell Harding and his fellow Nose climbers that in the relatively near future someone would climb this big stone in only four hours and they wouldn't even use a rope. I wonder what their response would be? Staggering.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Well Paul, we know what one of the first Nose ascent party said after the fact, "Beautiful."
Wayne Merry's thanks to Tom for the Honnold Freerider photo essay
I am guessing that up until about 1967 the answer from everyone would have been, "You are crazy!" Then climbers starting showing how free-climbing could be expanded, and eventually even free-soloing became normal, so to speak.
I have noted that the older the climber posting on this thread, the seemingly more their posts reflect "when, not if" to capture the moment. I have been pondering this and I think that the more impossibles you have seen fall the more inevitable they become. With the videos of the free climbers struggling to get across the Great Roof pitch, I cannot image a free-soloist doing it. I am certain I am wrong. Not because I can envision it, but because I know that the future always comes. Just as Alex' smooth dispatch of really hard climbing makes it look like 5.6, someone, maybe Alex, will push to find a way to make 5.14 seem effortless.
I was not close to Warren, but my guess is that he would not have dismissed as impossible a free-solo out-of-hand: he had done the impossible.
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gonamok
climber
dont make me come over there
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un f * # k I n g believable. People searching for some comparable achievement, give it up, there is none. I'm astounded even tho I kind of expected it. Gad, everything on the cap is steep, awkward, greasy n heinous, just thinking about being in one of those slimy wide cracks ropeless, with the next ledge 2 or 3 pitches away makes me wanna puke. You go Alex, you are THE man!
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G_Gnome
Trad climber
Cali
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I just finished reading all the links for the achievement and I can't get my sweaty hands to stop. Amazing! I can't wait to see the film to watch how calm and relaxed he was. It is always remarkable to watch him climb.
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shady
Trad climber
hasbeen
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Way to go Alex!
Ha Ha! Your name's a superlative!
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Most people when asked to imagine the future are locked in the present and therefore almost always underestimate the change that will occur.
Conversely, people who have done something in the past when presented with the present are almost always shocked.
Salathe, a little hard of hearing, when told that the Steck Salathe had been climbed in two hours said, and I paraphrase...Two days! Three days maybe but not two days.
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JLP
Social climber
The internet
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I'm thinking that to do this, he had to get his mind into a place that no human mind has ever been, and keep it there for four hours.
People solo things that feel easy and familiar to them all the time, the trick nobody had pulled off until now is to make that happen on the side of El Cap.
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AKDOG
Mountain climber
Anchorage, AK
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Inspirational on so many levels!!
Soloing is the most pure form of climbing and Alex is a true master….
Here is hoping Alex continues to be safe as he continues a journey, that few have the mental or physical capacity to follow.
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fear
Ice climber
hartford, ct
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The Nose still awaits a free solo I believe......
Unless someone here has done it and just not said anything.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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So Jim, and Kevin, since you guys were climbing hard before big walls were free climbed, what would you have thought if someone had said that in 50 years the Captain will have multiple free routes and someone will free-solo the easiest one? Think back to a time before the East Face of the Column was all free but after you had climbed "The Crucifix", for Kevin, and "Basket Case" for Jim.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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I've had a smile in my face for a while, looking at people around me as I exited an airplane or waiting for a ride- how to explain it to them? People who don't climb can't really form a frame of reference to imagine how gnarly this is. Just climbing El cap is way gnarly for most people, but it's hard to appreciate the distinctions of gnarliness. I'm sure I can't really appreciate it because I can't free climb at that level, and just aiding the thing would be a proud achievement for me.
Many of us can relate to feeling in the zone and climbing something that seems reasonable, when screwing up would mean death. But taking it to so much of a higher level in terms of physical and mental strength and endurance... man oh man... and the pics make it more visceral how audacious this is.
Still dumbfounded and searching for words when I think about it.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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no one at work can even begin to comprehend how high of a bar was set, how stunning the achievement actually is.
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TLP
climber
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Imagine if you could go back in time and tell Harding and his fellow Nose climbers that in the relatively near future someone would climb this big stone in only four hours and they wouldn't even use a rope. I wonder what their response would be?
Warbler nails it: Harding would have said, hey pass that over and let me have a swig of what you're drinking!
I think the wall pioneers would have had an immediate gut reaction of no way, ever, but that would be quickly replaced by knowing it was inevitable, since they saw standards zoom upward much faster in their era than they ever have since. They saw Sacherer and Pratt do incredible things right then.
Still, it is really hard to get your mind around the idea that somebody just walked up to that rock, and then climbed right up the side of it, no muss no fuss. It's a landmark in human achievement, both mental and physical.
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Curt
climber
Gold Canyon, AZ
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Hm, I thought he was just another suit lobbying in D.C.
That's merely his Clark Kent persona.
Curt
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DaveyTree
Trad climber
Fresno
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Hard to fathom but completely RAD!
Love the pic ^^^^. Suit and approach shoes.
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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I hope the man starts mountain biking and skiing and going to jam band shows.
Really.
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Cancer Boy
Trad climber
Freedonia
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Like most, this is completely outside my realm of understanding, and I've soloed a little bit.
It's kind of bittersweet to say that most of the folks who can truly appreciate the achievement are no longer with us to bear witness or weigh in. These include Derek Hersey, Charlie Fowler, Dean Potter, Ueli Steck, Patrick Edlinger; possibly Walt Shipley and Dan Osman. Maybe Yabo. Most poignantly (for me) are John Bachar and Michael Riordan.
Those still alive are few: Croft, of course (yay), and I'd say the feat is probably also within Werner's wheelhouse. Sorry if I missed any of you other badass Zen masters.
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