UKC

I'd been putting it off for far too long. For two weeks I'd been spraying in the Meadow about how I'd solo Brandon Adams and Kristopher Wickstrom's unrepeated El Cap A4 - Neptune. Now, I was the last person to believe it would happen. My faith was wavering too. I actually had to climb it now.

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Oliver, I enjoyed your article immensely, but what everyone should know is that you have posted a series of YouTube videos (https://www.youtube.com/@olivertippett), detailing your day-to-day progress - they are absolutely stunning. I have been watching them over the last few days as you have edited and released each one. 

If I can suggest to a new viewer, if you have a little bit of time, look at them in sequence, rather than going straight to the ones with falls in the title - it lets the tension build... my palms are sweating just writing this!   

I admit I have very little understanding of aid climbing, but I really enjoy Oliver's writing. 

11 days on the wall. You might not be a f*&king Alpinist, but that's one hell of an impressive level of mental and physical endurance!

The videos are strangely beguiling, soothing to watch a scared man swear about obviously terrible placements in a beautiful place. The updates are a daily treat.

Will

The 'alpinist' line made an already great article perfect.

Great read and videos – thank you.

Yep, they somehow have a strangely ASMR-like effect...

Its worth having this gigapixel topo of the route open when reading the report or watching the videos: https://www.xrez.com/blog/el-capitan-gigapixel-climbing-routes/

Just to see quite how outrageous the territory is. I've got slightly obsessed with Oliver's excellent videos in the past week - fascinating and terrifying in equal measure! I've also got intrigued by the ethics of hard aid - obviously a big clip stick is a major no-no, but having in situ heads and the belay bolts to aim for presumably makes it easier going than the 1st ascent? I'm sure I can't be the only one that would love an article on state of the art aid for armchair punters - the last time I remember reading about it was Paul Pritchard's Deep Play, so I'm guessing things have moved on?

More vids please and stay safe!

A stick clip is mostly unethical, unless they used it on the first ascent. There's a few examples of this, like the Tequila Straw pitches on Disorderly Conduct where you have to place a cam with a 10' pole. If Tom catches you with a stick clip from the Meadow, he'll take your picture and post it with the caption "Stick of the Day". 

In most ways it's harder making the FA. Especially on Neptune, they would have been hand drilling 3/8" bolts off really sketchy gear in a few places, and working out where to take the route and whether it's possible would certainly be more of a mental challenge.

There is perhaps something to be said about the fact that it's acceptable for a First Ascent team to drill where they like, which maybe makes it slightly less stressful than for a subsequent ascent where drilling is not acceptable.