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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Peace
Karl
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Thanks Wbw. Right, I don’t think there are any posters on this one thread that argue the usual “soloing is crazy and causes everybody else pain”, but there have been over the years some of these here on ST and other forums; and of course the nonclimbing public usually understands it only in this way and that it is apparently valueless.
It is interesting there are so few solo deaths. Yes, Derek’s was tragic. I also said that the soloist knows more clearly the “terrible factors” than others do; the soloist is almost always a world-class expert and is handling the situation directly, not from the ground, from the campfire or the office chair. He certainly is not delusional and unaware of his circumstances, quite the reverse.
The solo venture is so utterly personal but so utterly dramatic at the same time, that then later facing others, friends, has aspects to it that are very interesting and unusual, including a weird sort of embarrassment. To have failed violently in one’s mission climbing alone unroped would have precipitated a shocking cascade of pain and horror for dozens of family, friends and rescue people. And the private nature of just going out and climbing with no protection whatsoever is hard to mesh with ordinary reality and community.
best to you all, PH
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426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Mr. Haan, I am curious how much "virtual" free soloing you did when you went alone on Salathe? It helped me immensely when I got 'wound tight' to think about you up there years ago, on the big Alone.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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426,
Do you mean by "virtual soloing", that in soloing the Salathe how much of it did I not bother to protect and just ran stuff out?
If that is the question, I pretty much climbed it with the protection I would have installed had I been leading with a partner. But in those days (1971) that could have meant enormous runouts, anyway, since there were no Friends and no reliable wide pro devices and we just all climbed this way.
In Hollow Flake I put in only one or two pieces (bongs) after the pendulum, and pretty much only higher up, because it made cleaning it quick and easy. On the summit pitch, I had a piece way up inside the slot and downclimbed from it to do the outer jam crack, just as anybody would even today, and put then something in shortly thereafter too on the last vertical part. My approach was not in great distinction to ordinary methods of that day, other than being solo and climbing all of it free that up to that date had gone free. I did not completely trust myself and so took reasonable precautions. I knew I was in a strange zone and could make an error of judgement more easily than if I was just day-climbing at Arch Rock.
best, Ph.
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Barbarian
Trad climber
So Cal
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I'm with Cliffhanger... I free soloed the Royal Arches when the Rotten Log was still balanced up there. That shaking was a bit unnerving!
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426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Thanks Mr. Haan, that was exactly what I was wondering about...
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Sport climber
Will know soon
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Reading all your takes is an interesting mind journey for me. Peter H. I can see how coming back to camp would be a physical and mental mindblower in many ways. lynnie
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Yeah. You come back to camp and thank god you're still alive and in good form. You might even marvel over this state of affairs. You might feel really extravagant and maybe that you have taken "more than your share" that day, especially when you face others in their campsites....
You also know that in a way, you could have caused an enormous hassle all kinds of grief and misery had you fallen while out there unroped, high and hard. It is a proud moment to perform these deeds; they seem so impeccable and so honorable and perhaps so eternal. But the situation also has the other possibility that you were wrong, were foolishly killed, and then necessitated the help of dozens of people and agencies and family and loved ones to clean up your mess. Your dead mess.So much for deep self-knowledge.
I am a proponent of soloing, was one of the very early high and hard soloists from the sixties and seventies. But you must not fall, you must make it through, and must truly know what the hell you are doing on all levels. Or in other words, live.
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WBraun
climber
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But you must not fall,
I know a couple of people who did and one of them posts here occasionally.
I fell too ......
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mark miller
Social climber
Reno
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For those who want to solo....Have you ever hit the ground from 40+' and got to live and have your "Bros' take you to the hospital? Hitting the ground from up there is like a primitive Startrek transporter "Beaming a 2"x8" through your body. I used to, free solo, but after escaping serious injury ( Although bandaged from head to toe, like a mummy, and sewn back together, From head to toe). I just take along the rope and cover my ass....You guys climb harder but it only takes one lose block or......
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flyingkiwi1
Trad climber
Seattle WA
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For me to experience the feeling of flow, of the actual river of life flowing around and through my body and soul, requires, first and foremost, a heightened sense of focus.
Climbing heightens my focus; soloing heightens it more. Much more.
A secondary requirement is an extended, uninterrupted period of outdoor exercise. Climbing provides this, sort of; nordic and backcountry skiing, other such forms of outdoor aerobic exercise, and soloing, more.
So, for me, doing an easy alpine solo with a 2-hour approach is the best means I have of obtaining the best feeling I know.
It would be great to know how to get such focus without my life hanging in the balance. I don't.
Ian
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Misha
Trad climber
Woodside, CA
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So, for me, doing an easy alpine solo with a 2-hour approach is the best means I have of obtaining the best feeling I know.
Amen!
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Rudder
Trad climber
Santa Rosa, CA
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I always thought John, rather than title his article the "only" blasphemy, should have titled it the "last" blasphemy.
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426
climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Any changes of perspective/attitude/habit/mental status since JB died free soloing?
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Soloing appeals to the minimalist in me. I never liked the getting ready part of climbing (putting on shoes, mostly) and I always thought that placing pro detracted from the experience of dancing on the rock. Someone who climbs a pitch with half of the gear of another will most likely have climbed the pitch in better style (IMHO). Soloing is a natural and I guess ultimate extension of this phenomenon. Just climbing, ...only stopping when you need to rest or figure something out. It's pure and natural, man.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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I've always liked the freedom of soloing. I follow two rules: I always solo well within my ability, and I never solo in front of others.
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