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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:02pm PT
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People have been soloing in front of movie cameras since Leni Riefenstahl directed Das Blaue Licht. Ueli's going to solo Metanoia for Jeff Lowe's movie. We've seen movies of any number of European stars on rad solos in the Alps.
Saying that one should solo only for oneself is essentially saying that no one should be a professional climber. Many of us may long for the good old days of dirtbags and trustfunders, but the age of the amateur is over.
Moreover, for the new gen, video is no different than stills were for the oldsters. My students video themselves doing absolutely everything, even when there's no chance anyone will pay them.
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:04pm PT
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Maybe maybe not who knows. Do you know what providence holds?
If the man falls off then next life he'll return to try and finish the task again?
All kinds of insects/frogs/critters, free solo on El Cap daily ..........
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David Knopp
Trad climber
CA
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:08pm PT
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Cat Stevens?
WTF?
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:10pm PT
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Rodents .......
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okie
Trad climber
San Leandro, Ca
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:12pm PT
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Yeah, what Werner said...lol!
One time I watched Werner soloing at Arch Rock. On the crux section at the top of English Breakfast Crack his movements did not seem fluid, kinda jerky and it made me nervous to watch. But he probably was in total control and the fear was entirely mine, not his...at all.
Like Tom Woods said, just surviving should not be the standard. Isn't the ultimate standard the climber themself as best protection?
Life and death are equal. A climber could solo a hard route in total control, never in danger and then get the chop driving home to his family.
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:16pm PT
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So ....?
The moral of the story?
Don't drive home .......
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:22pm PT
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hahahahahahaha
werner's on a roll
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:29pm PT
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I thought Peter's post was at least as distasteful as Ed's.
Next logical step? Maybe. For a select few.
Kind of like running it out on the back of Half Dome. But then rap bolting for a "safe" route that would become the new classic, became the next step.
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Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:31pm PT
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Does Alex have children? That should be the deciding factor. Everything else is up to Alex.
If you have minor children who depend on you, you have no business soloing.
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Redlands
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:43pm PT
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Honnolds doing it for the cameras, Croft wasn't like that
Don't let facts get in the way of your narrative.
Painted Spider: 7min of Croft soloing the Rostrum
Tips: well published photo of Croft soloing up (then back down) this classic fingercrack.
There are others, pics soloing Red Zinger, and probably a lot more that I don't know off the top of my head. And I don't mean that as a knock on Croft in any way, shape, or form.
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elcap-pics
climber
Crestline CA
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Mar 19, 2010 - 08:59pm PT
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the lad has a wonderful mother... does her feelings count?
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Muir Woods National Monument, Mill Valley, Ca
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Mar 19, 2010 - 09:03pm PT
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If you have minor children who depend on you, you have no business soloing.
Word
(and then some; "depend on you" goes way beyond financial support)...
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okie
Trad climber
San Leandro, Ca
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Mar 19, 2010 - 09:29pm PT
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Or don't solo, Ha Ha! Whatever, Death is still waiting...Yeah, It's all about choices...until it's not anymore.
Enjoy it while ya got it.
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bmacd
Trad climber
Beautiful, BC
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Mar 19, 2010 - 10:38pm PT
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Honnolds doing it for the cameras, Croft wasn't like that
Don't let facts get in the way of your narrative.
To clarify my statement, Croft didn't arrange for film coverage for his first solo of Astroman, like Honnold did for Halfdome. Whatever ... obviously things are different now
Soloists choose death to be an option, who are we to judge. Ask Bachar or check some of his final posts for insights.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Mar 19, 2010 - 10:47pm PT
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Touché Ed Drummond!
I am loving this: a provocative entreaty, spurring discussion which fractures out in all measure of direction.
(Free soloing for me runs deep; primal, instinctive, tribal … yes, but unyielding to discursive cultural narrative).
In my naiveté, my Pollyanna ways of absorbing intent and divining abstruse directives, I took Ed’s whole piece as a lush entertainment, poetically assaying the complexion of the times as they stand, here, now, today: dedicated to Alex only in so far as he is the current holder of highest suspicion upon said deed.
I read this thing, in short, as do most: just as I wanted to.
… And enjoyed it very much !!!
Welcome do the forum Ed!
-Roy
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Bullwinkle
Boulder climber
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Mar 19, 2010 - 10:50pm PT
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Yikes Ed, laying it on a bit thick don't you think? made me laugh. . .So I guess your post wasn't a complete waste of time. . .
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MH2
climber
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Mar 20, 2010 - 02:10am PT
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Whew! If Alex can't handle his own life, then I'm greatly mistaken. I saw that movie, too, and he sounded genuine and smart. Of course, trouble is, as he said so rightly, the motivation to do something like he's done is huge, if you can handle it. Against that urge you have to keep a really clear mind and gauge your chances.
I'm sympathetic for his Mom.
Anything Ed Drummond says is going to be worth saying, but this may just be a generational divide.
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Send
climber
Earth
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Mar 20, 2010 - 09:10am PT
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It seems to me that the OP'ers poetry sounds more like high school gossip in the girls locker room. Ed, did you talk to Alex yourself about his plan to solo the Nose?
If not, just leave the guy alone and let him make his own decisions.
I'm not going to post up on dirtbikers.com and tell somebody to stop riding cause I gotta 'feeling'.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Mar 20, 2010 - 10:08am PT
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Ed, if you are reading along, have you noticed how varied the responses are to your post, from the literal up and down voting on Alex' right to solo, the sensibility of you telling him to stop, to a few readers who took the piece from a step back in which Alex' soloing is just the structure of your reflections of how soloing fits into a life.
I think this sort of instant feedback across a wide range of perspectives is a unique feature of 'publishing' on a forum. I think it is sort of cool.
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nature
climber
Tucson, AZ
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Mar 20, 2010 - 10:23am PT
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Roger... you left out there part where a widely published and highly regarded writer's english is criticized.
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