John Bachar timeline 1957-2009

Bachar is largely unapologetic about his contentious past, saying he doesn't regret the path he took. He estimates that in total he chopped around 50 bolts and thinks that maybe chopping wasn't the right thing to do. Peter Croft (another renowned soloist) didn't chop bolts, Bachar says. "He just did his own thing."

No one is apt to accuse Bachar of bending to the will of others. After his hiatus from climbing, he returned to the sport that he once lorded over. After years of other pursuits, he just got bored and realized that climbing was the only real deal, the only sport where you lay it on the line.

He says today he sees himself in a lot of athletes in the top of their fields. They're lonely, shunned, trying to gain acceptance by excelling at their sport. Says Bachar, "They have no clue. Only later, when you master your sport and feel good about yourself and make some money, do you realize that that sh#t isn't really that important. Then you relax and it doesn't matter so much."

He says, too, that ultimately you just have to climb because you dig it, a nugget of wisdom that he says "took him 50 years to realize."

Who was out there that was anywhere near as good?