62strat said:

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Did they close el cap to other climbers while they did this? Seems like it would be a huge risk to have other climbers on there while he's doing it.

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No, he actually passes other climbers while he's doing it. (One in a unicorn costume!)

Wish they would have given him time to talk on stage

Counterpoint said:

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62strat said:

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Did they close el cap to other climbers while they did this? Seems like it would be a huge risk to have other climbers on there while he's doing it.

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No, he actually passes other climbers while he's doing it. (One in a unicorn costume!)

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So to me, this negates the whole philosophy of how this isn't 'risky' for him because he trained enough to where he simply knew he could do it, and wouldn't fall.

By having these other elements in play (other people), you have things outside of HIS control, like someone dropping something, someone falling and swinging by him, someone breaking off a small hold or kicking loose rocks that then fall down, someone heckling or distracting him, etc.

He was so confident that he trained enough and memorized the route/holds that he could do it without falling, claiming it's not as if he just didn't value his life, yet all of these things could happen since it's just open to the public, so clearly, a lot of risks remain.

I've watched several interviews of him in the last days, and he adamantly states that he only would attempt it once he felt he eliminated the risks (otherwise he would've just walked up done with with no preparation), but there are still lots of risks, and the consequence is of course death, yet he says of course he is afraid of falling and dying.

It doesn't quite add up in my opinion. If it were as he explains it, seems he would have made the effort to get everyone else off the mountain (or at least those who would be near his route). Then, combined with his preparation, he would have eliminated the risk of falling.

His options were to:
1) Climb it with no one filming or watching and not tell anyone he was doing it. And risk passing climbers on the way at non-peak hours.
2) Climb it with a limited film crew and only he knows and they know. And risk passing climbers on the way at non-peak hours.
3) Tell everyone he's making an attempt to free solo the wall, tell everyone the day that he's going to do it. Hope that people respect his space and don't show up to watch, don't show up to climb with him (because realistically he has no right to shut the wall down just for him) and hope that the park rangers actually allow him to free solo it in the first place.
4) Don't climb it at all.

He began climbing at 5:27AM before the sun came up and finished climbing at 9:21AM. This is a climb that apparently normally takes people several days to get up with ropes. I only noticed him pass one group of climbers (I watched it at home and was in and out of the room cleaning, so I may have missed others) and they were still seemingly asleep on a ledge when he came to them. They woke up when he went searching for a water bottle that he had previously stashed on the ledge and he was in such a zone that he didn't even recognize that the guy was wearing a pink unicorn costume.

The doc really didn't go too much into his training for El Cap. Honnold is the pinnacle of a "don't train until you can do it right, train until you can't do it wrong" mentality. The movie had a brief glimpse into it when he read out his training journal just before the climb started, but I think they skipped weeks/months of training, especially at Freeblast and the Boulder Problem.

bthotugigem05 said:

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The doc really didn't go too much into his training for El Cap. Honnold is the pinnacle of a "don't train until you can do it right, train until you can't do it wrong" mentality. The movie had a brief glimpse into it when he read out his training journal just before the climb started, but I think they skipped weeks/months of training, especially at Freeblast and the Boulder Problem.

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I feel like this was illustrated by the fact that, when asked what he was going to do to celebrate, he said "i don't know, probably go back to the van and do some hang boarding."

Old School Brother said:

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bthotugigem05 said:

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The doc really didn't go too much into his training for El Cap. Honnold is the pinnacle of a "don't train until you can do it right, train until you can't do it wrong" mentality. The movie had a brief glimpse into it when he read out his training journal just before the climb started, but I think they skipped weeks/months of training, especially at Freeblast and the Boulder Problem.

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he said "i don't know, probably go back to the van and do some hang boarding."

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My wife and I say that after any big accomplishment now, as a dumb inside joke.

Happy to see this come full circle with the award!

Looks like it's back at AMC Studio 30 (Dunvale) IMAX at either 6pm or 845pm

Going to see it in IMAX tonight with the family

Sunday night it will be on Nat Geo. If you don't see it on IMAX, find the biggest TV and watch. Such a great experience.

I've got my DVR set to record. My uncle and I are planning a camping trip in Yosemite in September. El Capitan is amazing in person. Of course, the whole park is amazing in person.

chico said:

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Just outstanding film. Beyond the epic climbing scenes, getting into Alex's head, his (non) relationships, the girlfriend. Really, really outstanding.
And watch "Meru" if you want to see one of the filmmakers' (Jimmy Chin's) climbing capabilities. He's also quite good.

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when i saw the trailer for this, i thought this feels like Meru. i wonder if that guy is involved. sure enough he walks on stage for the Oscar.

Meru is a great film. can't wait to watch this.

Y'all should watch Dawn Wall. Not nearly as hair raising, but still a great doc.

hph6203 said:

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Y'all should watch Dawn Wall. Not nearly as hair raising, but still a great doc.

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Wow that looks really good! I might have to rent that ($3.99 everywhere; no free streaming)

It's extremely satisfying, it gives a bit of back story on Tommy Caldwell (who helps train Honnold in Free Solo), because he's basically been famous for climbing since the age of 15. He's basically king of El Capitan and there's something that trailer doesn't discuss that makes his climb all the more impressive.

Intentionally rented it on iTunes as I felt like they'd probably earn my $6. And boy did they.

Two amazing accomplishments:

- Soloing El Cap
- filming it

So many times, things like this go unnoticed by the public. This one got noticed in a big way.

Tabasco said:

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hph6203 said:

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Y'all should watch Dawn Wall. Not nearly as hair raising, but still a great doc.

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Wow that looks really good! I might have to rent that ($3.99 everywhere; no free streaming)

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Thanks for the recommendation. Definitely worth the 4 bucks on amazon. Very interesting.

Showing commerical free on National Geographic channel

That was insane.

Troutslime said:

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That was insane.

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That was an Epic achievement!

62strat said:

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Counterpoint said:

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62strat said:

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Did they close el cap to other climbers while they did this? Seems like it would be a huge risk to have other climbers on there while he's doing it.

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No, he actually passes other climbers while he's doing it. (One in a unicorn costume!)

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So to me, this negates the whole philosophy of how this isn't 'risky' for him because he trained enough to where he simply knew he could do it, and wouldn't fall.

By having these other elements in play (other people), you have things outside of HIS control, like someone dropping something, someone falling and swinging by him, someone breaking off a small hold or kicking loose rocks that then fall down, someone heckling or distracting him, etc.

He was so confident that he trained enough and memorized the route/holds that he could do it without falling, claiming it's not as if he just didn't value his life, yet all of these things could happen since it's just open to the public, so clearly, a lot of risks remain.

I've watched several interviews of him in the last days, and he adamantly states that he only would attempt it once he felt he eliminated the risks (otherwise he would've just walked up done with with no preparation), but there are still lots of risks, and the consequence is of course death, yet he says of course he is afraid of falling and dying.

It doesn't quite add up in my opinion. If it were as he explains it, seems he would have made the effort to get everyone else off the mountain (or at least those who would be near his route). Then, combined with his preparation, he would have eliminated the risk of falling.

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I felt like a big point of the documentary was about how he doesn't view things as risky when they inherently are. I mean hell, the opening scenes have him talking to media about how "low risk" free climbing is.

Yeah, there was way more risk than he talked about but I'm not sure why that's a sticking point for you. Anyone watching that doc knew there was a ton of risk (and they even showed him passing other climbers)