UKC

This week's Friday Night Video is about dirtbag climber Matt Cornell soloing the hardest mixed climb in Hyalite Canyon, Montana. Conrad Anker provides some context to the difficulty and notoriety of the route through a series of cliches, but overall the lasting feeling from watching the film is how scary soloing a mixed climb looks...

Read more

In reply to UKC News:

Nope, nope, nope.

It looked like a great route. I've never done any mixed with M grades. What's the hardest that goes on natural gear?

In reply to UKC News:

Watched earlier this week when it popped up on Facebook. Quite alarming somehow.

I sort of see the beauty in soloing pure ice, it is quite meditative in a way, but somehow soloing mixed routes feels a bit 'wrong'. Particularly this case where the rock is said to be dodgy, but generally there is something a bit disjointed and often changing about mixed routes that just makes them 'not right' to solo. I'm sure this is just me though, and actually at much much lower level have really enjoyed climbing some UK scrambly- winter mountaineering routes on my own, and I guess technically they are mixed routes.

I remember seeing those pics of Alex Lowe soloing back in the 90s, didn't fully get why he didn't wear a helmet then and still don't now! Sure, it won't work like a parachute if you fall but probably most ice climbers can remember a time when ice they've displaced has clocked them on the lid with enough of a "clunk" to make you think - "glad I put my helmet on!"

In reply to UKC News:

Is Anker gently taking the piss?  A bit hard to tell.........

In reply to TobyA

you are not alone in feeling this is going too far.  Solo in solitude meditating ok.  When someone eventually peels off will the camera keep rolling ?  The camera is the problem

In reply to barry donovan:

I share that feeling.  I worry, particularly after Free Solo, that there's going to be more pressure on people who want to publicise their climbing to solo things.   Sooner or later that's going to end badly for someone.  The popularity of these videos just makes that more likely.

In reply to UKC News:

As for Anker - wassatabout ?

In reply to UKC News:

I wonder if his mum's watched it yet?

In reply to UKC News:

This trend for soloing isn’t going to end well; it can’t end well. 

Having been filmed by a drone I can assure you there’s no peace and solitude in the experience. The “solo” films present an inherently lethal activity as a reasonable aspiration. A terrible role model for youngsters which is clearly catching on. 

We recently had a young lad on the forum asking for advice on soloing Sloth... Only by looking back at his profile could you see how young he was and how little experience he had; yet he still asked, and others gave advice...

We need to question the trend of publicising soloing as an “elite” (Anker’s words) activity and the impact it is having on the behaviour of people watching. 

If you want to do it, fine. But why film it and encourage other people to do it?

In reply to Annabel Tall:

Soloing, soloing winter routes, and filming soloing have been going on since long before Free Solo came out.

youtube.com/watch?v=ycdi06FZNy4&
youtube.com/watch?v=NmUOpBZqhC8&

If anything, since Free Solo came out there seems to be a trend for people (especially non-climbers) blaming soloing on Free Solo.

In reply to Myr:

Especially non climbers - Mums dads brothers sisters husbands wives friends colleagues - what do they know ? 

In reply to Myr:

and some of us older (does 50+ make me ancient?), wiser, experienced climbers can see the risk easily promoted solo films present to impressionable youngsters (the age of youngsters I teach) seeking likes, Kudos etc on social media. 

The world has changed. Media needs to be used responsibly. 

In reply to Annabel Tall:

I disagree. Soloing has always been part of climbing and all climbing carries some risk. You can't just selectively suppress filming of some types of climbing. If you're going to censor a highly rehearsed and controlled solo such as this you'd certainly have to target any sort of serious alpinism too for a start.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Agreed. And I actually thought it was commendable that they made it very clear how rehearsed the ascent was.

Shared a house with Matt for a month in Patagonia last year - really nice guy and constantly spilling over with enthusiasm for climbing. Made me feel a bit sick watching this but great to see him climbing so well.

In reply to Annabel Tall:

Um, to be fair, the overwhelming majority of the advice was "don't".

In reply to barry donovan:

Yeah.  They'll all be queuing to solo the Nose at the first opportunity.  Fortunately they won't get past Pine Line.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Hmmm - it's not so much that these videos set an example to other climbers that worries me - as you say, it has always been part of climbing.

But I do worry that for climbers who need publicity either to gain sponsors or keep existing ones happy, there will be more pressure to solo stuff because the rest of us are more likely to click on the links if they have "solo" in the title.

In reply to AdrianC:

Again, that argument can be applied to all sorts of serious climbing. If you are an alpinist who needs to attract sponsorship to continue climbing full time, you are going to have to continue exposing yourself repeatedly to all the objective dangers of alpinism. And one day your number might well be up unfortunately. 

In reply to UKC News:

Can anybody tell me what the intro song is?

In reply to UKC News:

i don't get this, but each to their own. plus conrad's god-like tone just makes cringe. i doubt is the hardest mixed route in hyalite. 

In reply to Robert Durran:

Think Anker has better things to do with his time than take the piss. 

Something not all of us can say🤔

In reply to jazzyjackson:

Well the blurb about the video says that Anker provides a series of cliches. It did almost seem like he was parodying the sort of stereotypical American stuff that regularly gets commented on unfavourably on here. It was certainly odd.