Plus she let him buy a fridge that was way too small for the spot in the kitchen.

Buy a bigger fridge! That would kill my OCD.

again, i think we watched a different movie.

And he met his girlfriend 3 years after his 60 minutes piece and National Geographic coverage, 2 years before this climb and 3 years before the documentary came out. Honnold wasn't and still isn't a household name. I talked about this doc at work and not a single other person had heard about it or him. The conversation they had where she asked if he'd ever quit for her probably occurred within a year or year and a half after they met and she lived in Washington for awhile before joining him in his van. It's an early relationship conversation trying to still understand one another and he's hard to understand.

He has money, but it's not an outrageous sum and it's not like he spends it lavishly. Dude eats macaroni and cheese regularly and still lives out of his van on occasion. She lived out of the same van as him. I don't care how rich or famous someone is most gold digging/fame seeking women aren't going to live in a van just to acquire that.

I hate every one of you on this thread for making me (ok enticing me) to watch this movie.

I can't explain it but despite knowing the outcome I know things like this are too much for me. I'm not scared of much really and I'm not even really scared of heights - I've never been afraid to go to any high viewing building or lookout or anything like that. I've done the Eiffel tower, Golden Gate bridge, St. Louis Arch and Empire State Building just fine.

But it's a very different thing with nothing below your feet effectively and I lose it. I freaked out at Capilano in Vancouver not on the bridge or even the cliffwalk because there is something under your feet on those. But I could not go out on this even a step......




Family wanted to take a group picture out there and I could not even get out there.

However I was fine on this and this..... go figure







Anyway.....I made it through the movie in about 2 hours with several pauses to calm myself. But it's now 1 hour later and my heart is still palpating. I had nearly the same reaction to Man on Wire but it wasn't as prolonged the actual stunt there.



That said - amazing amazing movie really. But he's insane. Ok not insane.

My son is Aspergers and within 2 minutes I said to my wife - Aspy - she said yep. The relationships, the lack of compassion really. His mom had it bad too. Usually inherited like that. Yes I have it to just not severe. the other thing which many people don't realize is the high functioning autistic is usually hyper focused on some particular skillset or "hobbie" and/or fanatical in preparation and detail to a mindblowing level. He is both.

When they showed the lego building it really got me - my son is now almost 24 and still builds huge detailed lego designs. the thing is he now builds them from memory he doesn't need the 600 page instruction booklet and he will tear them down and build them again just because. He will also talk about a certain design aspect used within a particular set and the only other places that piece is used in all of lego like everyone knows that kind of thing.

Anyway that's just to say I get that level of focus and commitment - even though it's a more serious endeavor it is the same underlying cause.

So anyway yes I'm glad I watched but I'll never watch it again. The stress on his climbing "friends" and the crew was really telling. With his lack of emotion that was needed.

The girlfriend was fine - trust me when I tell you that is an incredibly difficult relationship to be in. Kudos to her. She does not seem to be trying to change him which would not work anyway, but to allow him to open up to change or learn. That's different. She has incredible patience actually. Believe me after 24 years with my son.... it's a challenge and I never had a choice about being in the relationship. Cut her a lot of slack.


EDIT - forgot a few things.....

Some very predictable stuff throughout ranging from just his answers to things or his attitude - none of it surprised me.

Most notably when he bailed on the 1st attempt and they went to Vegas I said to my wife "he isn't quitting... he's getting rid of her." He didn't need or even want a house perhaps. But putting her in a house 7+ hours away was what allowed him to focus - and getting the cameras to back off. then she was there in the van the day before and he was evasive about his answers - but one notable thing about a lot of Aspy's they don't actually lie very well. She figured it out too and knew she had to go for him to do what he needed to.

I also said when he reached the top - his "celebration" is going to be very underwhelming. very happy but not over the top and no demonstrative actions. And it wasn't. He literally said he was "so delighted" a few times and just smiled big.

I also know he had no idea what would come after - he had never even thought beyond that for years. Not because of the possibility of death but because it served no purpose. He might have thought a day or two beyond it at most in terms of going home, seeing her, etc. but that's about it.

Zombie Jon Snow said:

---

I hate every one of you on this thread for making me (ok enticing me) to watch this movie.

I can't explain it but despite knowing the outcome I know things like this are too much for me. I'm not scared of much really and I'm not even really scared of heights - I've never been afraid to go to any high viewing building or lookout or anything like that. I've done the Eiffel tower, Golden Gate bridge, St. Louis Arch and Empire State Building just fine.

But it's a very different thing with nothing below your feet effectively and I lose it. I freaked out at Capilano in Vancouver not on the bridge or even the cliffwalk because there is something under your feet on those. But I could not go out on this even a step......




Family wanted to take a group picture out there and I could not even get out there.

However I was fine on this and this..... go figure







Anyway.....I made it through the movie in about 2 hours with several pauses to calm myself. But it's now 1 hour later and my heart is still palpating. I had nearly the same reaction to Man on Wire but it wasn't as prolonged the actual stunt there.



That said - amazing amazing movie really. But he's insane. Ok not insane.

My son is Aspergers and within 2 minutes I said to my wife - Aspy - she said yep. The relationships, the lack of compassion really. His mom had it bad too. Usually inherited like that. Yes I have it to just not severe. the other thing which many people don't realize is the high functioning autistic is usually hyper focused on some particular skillset or "hobbie" and/or fanatical in preparation and detail to a mindblowing level. He is both.

When they showed the lego building it really got me - my son is now almost 24 and still builds huge detailed lego designs. the thing is he now builds them from memory he doesn't need the 600 page instruction booklet and he will tear them down and build them again just because. He will also talk about a certain design aspect used within a particular set and the only other places that piece is used in all of lego like everyone knows that kind of thing.

Anyway that's just to say I get that level of focus and commitment - even though it's a more serious endeavor it is the same underlying cause.

So anyway yes I'm glad I watched but I'll never watch it again. The stress on his climbing "friends" and the crew was really telling. With his lack of emotion that was needed.

The girlfriend was fine - trust me when I tell you that is an incredibly difficult relationship to be in. Kudos to her. She does not seem to be trying to change him which would not work anyway, but to allow him to open up to change or learn. That's different. She has incredible patience actually. Believe me after 24 years with my son.... it's a challenge and I never had a choice about being in the relationship. Cut her a lot of slack.

---

TLDR. Just kidding! Actually thanks for that story. Very informative and good to hear it from someone who knows about that condition.

So we just got a new tv and this was the first thing we watched on it. The visuals are stunning, but I still wish I'd seen it in IMAX.

My pulse was racing like crazy throughout, especially at the end. Like a lot of you, I feel pretty certain that he's on the spectrum. The one thing I wish they'd gone into more was his physical training regimen. Surely climbing and hangboarding aren't the only things that he does?

As for the girlfriend, I'm surprised how many of you are being critical of her. She met him before he was famous, so didn't come off as a groupie to me. She seemed like she was trying to be supportive and respect his boundaries. It's not quite the same, but my husband has a very dangerous job and I go through periods where it is extremely difficult to not beg him to quit - and this is after 11 years of dealing with it. From my perspective, it appeared that she was doing a pretty good job of not distracting him and accepting the reality of being with someone like him.