UKC

Alex Honnold has soloed the 'Yosemite Triple' (El Capitan, Half Dome and Mount Watkins) in under twenty four hours.

"You're adrift on a wall in the dark and it's weird..."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=67184

In reply to UKC News:
Speechless!

In reply to UKC News: Amazing........

In reply to UKC News:
His interview on the North Face site is amusing, he just wants to go and eat and sleep and they keep asking questions.

In reply to UKC News: Haha he is the man. I am a member of The Church of Honnold

In reply to UKC News:

Read the TNF interview. Its hilarious. Whoever called him up from TNF office clearly hasn't got a clue. Its amazing AH didn't just tell them to "F@@@ off, I'm tired, hungry, and will do this sh@@ in a bit"!

In reply to Will Hunt:

I think the urgent interview will be his sponsor capitalising on the publicity opportunity.

In reply to UKC News:

This makes me really wonder what the drives are for Honnald. He almost sounds as though he'd prefer not to have been on the wall in the dark... So why do it?!

My wonder at the sanity of such a prodigy aside. What can one say? Astounding behaviour. Brilliant.

In reply to EZ:

Well it is what they pay him for. Sorry, son, you want the cash you've got to do the work.

In reply to Wiley Coyote: Do be fair I reckon he worked pretty hard for his money that day...

In reply to mike kann:

Absolutely he did. But it's part of the pact with the devil when you take sponsors' money. You do the interviews while you're still piping hot news, just like footballers losing a final and then having to answer the "What went wrong?" questions before they've even got their breath back.

In reply to UKC News:

Sender Films just released some raw footage of Alex on Watkins. Only 2 minutes out of the 19 hours he was climbing for but it's absolutely mind-boggling stuff. I've seen climbers run out above dodgy gear and pulling on smaller edges but I've never seen anything that made my palms sweat quite like that! youtube.com/watch?v=uQb4_8PyZBM&

In reply to Luke90:

Thanks for the link. Eek! What special (not necessarily happy) place must Honnold be at in his climbing just now.
I can't help but start asking a few questions, though regarding motivations, sometimes it's better not to ask, and trust the expression. (And hope things continue to go well.)

Dave.

In reply to DAVETHOMAS90:

Well, I guess you're more qualified than most to speculate on that Dave.

In reply to DAVETHOMAS90: Blimey, not very funny when his foot slips. That was close. Not nice to watch.

In reply to Luke90:

Must be horrible to be filming that kind of stuff, there have been lots of hardcore solo climbers over the years, but never one so filmed. I think Alex Honnold is amazing and inspiring but this ascent makes me feel pretty uneasy about where he's headed, soloing through the night can't be a good idea....

In reply to Will Hunt:

Link?

In reply to UKC News: Has anyone got a link to The North Face interview? Cant seem to find one!

In reply to yogi2749:
Click the link in the OP

In reply to GDes:

Ever since watching the fantastically filmed Nat. Geo. film of him soloing Moonlight Buttress (was it? Zion, anyway), I feel quite uneasy about watching videos of Honnold. Besides anything else he comes over as such a nice, goofy bloke, you just wish he'd stop doing it and particularly doing it for cameras. His roped climbing is plenty impressive enough. Of course he has the right to do whatever he wants, but I don't think I want to watch anymore.

In reply to TobyA:

Was that the "Alone on the Wall" film? I think I've got it on a First Ascent Series DVD. I remember watching it with my wife and her asking, "Why is someone filming this and what are they going to do if he falls off?"

I find it inspiring and terrifying in equal measures and quite compelling, if uncomfortable, viewing.

In reply to galpinos: I saw it in a cinema and it looked stunning, but those are very fair questions!

In reply to UKC News:

Honnold is Teen Wolf.

Wow, anyone know how he got between the climbs? its a fair trek on foot!

In reply to jonny2vests:

..and of course I didn't mean to imply an "unhappy place" either, which is a fairly common assumption. Despite the cameras, Just Alex and the stone; a surrogate perhaps.

Dave.

In reply to UKC News:
Did The triple in 1978! only slightly slower! total time valley to valley 220 hrs we went as quick as we could i was knackered for a couple of days after each of them. Absolutely awesome feat of concentration , talent and pure physical endurance, well done that young man, I wonder how he got passed the in situ screwdriver section on Mt Watkins if it's still there it was wobbly in 78 and in the middle of an A3 section?
egg

In reply to UKC News:


Probably him telling them to bugger off! He seemed pretty blunt in the interview.

In reply to adam06:

He hiked from the top of Mt Watkins to the Tioga pass and drove round to The captain. Then drove from the bottom of the east ledges descent to the Stables and hiked the death slabs to Half Dome.

E

In reply to TobyA:


This more or less sums up how I feel about it. I posted something similar and then deleted it as being in doubtful taste. He's clearly exceptionally talented and I assume that in his own head he's doing these big solos for the right reasons, but I'm not at all sure about the up close and personal filming.

Anyway, it sounded from his interview as though he was off to focus on other stuff for now. It would be nice to see the cameras being just as interested in that.

In reply to JonC:

Me too Jon. Mind you, the other stuff he's doing at the moment - the Nose record - is almost as dangerous. 2H:50something yesterday on a practice run... This is what I mean, copied from the SuperTopo thread:

Hans led to Sickle in 16 minutes, which was too fast. They re-geared at the pendulum over to Dolt and then Hans led in one pitch to Eagle Ledge in 1:25! He carried only one #2 Camalot and one #3 Camalot and didn't leave either behind until climbing Boot Flake! He clipped 9 total pieces of gear, including the belay anchors, from the Dolt pendulum to the top of Dolt Tower - this is over 500 feet of climbing! Alex wants him to leave the #3 Camalot behind as well, but Hans uses it extensively on the last Stovelegs pitch. He jams with one hand and pulls on the #3 with the other hand.