Free Solo

[glademaster]

Watched it for the first time over the weekend. The guy is a headcase. That isn't just years of mental conditioning, he's fundamentally different from most people. The climbing was impressive, but I was more struck by just how "off" he seems when interacting with people.

[AK47bp]

They tested his brain with stimuli and his brain reacted to the stimuli the same as a sociopath’s brain.


So yeah, he focuses that on climbing instead of collecting beautiful women and wearing their skin.

At least this is what my climbing friend that knows him said.

[Dantheman]

...and you can’t quite feel the next move...

Except he memorized every. single. move. on all 30+ pitches. There was never any question what the next move was. Committing the whole thing to memory like that is an incredibly impressive feat all on its own.

Watched it for the first time over the weekend. The guy is a headcase. That isn't just years of mental conditioning, he's fundamentally different from most people. The climbing was impressive, but I was more struck by just how "off" he seems when interacting with people.

Considering that they suspect his Dad had some degree of ASD, it seems pretty clear that Alex shares some of those traits.

[Danno]

Watched it for the first time over the weekend. The guy is a headcase. That isn't just years of mental conditioning, he's fundamentally different from most people. The climbing was impressive, but I was more struck by just how "off" he seems when interacting with people.

It's not exactly earthshattering to suggest that a guy who free solos El Cap is wired differently than us.

[glademaster]

It's not exactly earthshattering to suggest that a guy who free solos El Cap is wired differently than us.

That's a fact, but I didn't start a new thread to present my "earthshattering" treatise on Alex Honnold's mental state, I posted four sentences in a thread about the movie.

Solid film, well worth watching. His girlfriend is very cute, but I also found her annoying as hell.

If I were to watch it again, I would skip the first hour.

[EWG]

By the way (I don’t remember seeing this mentioned yet) did another else get a big kick out of him saying he made as much as a “moderately successful dentist?” TGR troll!

[bagtagley]

So good. Like somebody else said, I knew it was a crazy accomplishment, but didn't know the full extent until watching.

Glad I'm not the only one that found the GF a bit irritating. It was almost set up like a swan song for him. She had no control over this one, but she can change him dammit, and this is the last one.

[HankScorpio]

Caught this on an flight last week. Holy shit, so goddamn good. I was squirming in my seat, palms sweating for the El Cap climb. Thank goodness I was able to get a double g&t from the steward to calm down.

[Danno]

just watched Dawn Wall. Great flick. Totally different than Free Solo.

[bagtagley]

I loved Dawn Wall. Free Solo shows a more impressive individual feat, but I thought Dawn Wall was a better movie. It was a perfect story, and fortunately they did it justice. I watched it again with the family, and they liked enough to rope my MIL in for another watch. So good.

[bobz]

Speaking of climbing docs, don't miss Dirtbag: The Legend of Fred Beckey, which you can stream on Amazon for $1 (with or without Prime membership). Trailer at http://dirtbagmovie.com/

[wyeaster]

finally saw it. riveting and exhausting. i just felt sorry for the girlfriend and some of his comments about women were less than stellar. but then again, he never heard i love you or knew about hugs. some parts of him are hyperdeveloped, others not so much.

unless he quits, i still see early death in his future

[fomofo]

Didn't catch it in a theater, but watched Free Solo on DVD at home a couple years back. Recently picked up a copy of Alone on the Wall, and reading that renewed my interest, so just watched Free Solo again on library DVD, and also watched The Dawn Wall on Netflix last week. Don't climb myself, but I love hiking and being in the mountains, and I admire and am inspired by the skill and mental and physical strength of these elite climbers, especially Honnold. A friend has access to an online talk Honnold is giving later this week, and I'm gonna join her to watch. I'm guessing standard motivational speech, (which will still be great), but we'll see.

Anyway, poking around I came across this...



Amazing to see how much the speed record has come down over the years. Interesting to ponder just how much more it could possibly be trimmed going forward? At some point as with running the mile there's gonna be a physiological limit.

Also occurred to me watching that sped up version with its long view how much it looked like ants climbing a tree. Perhaps someone will name a new dish after H&C's climbing achievement?

Alex and Sanni's baby as painted by Margaret Keane:
Attachment 254400

Lacks dimples.

[stealurface831]

I'm guessing standard motivational speech, (which will still be great), but we'll see.

that ain't ehsakly honnold's MO. honestly i can't imagine the dude giving a talk in the first place. should be interesting though. i'd like to hear an update if you get the chance.

[fomofo]

that ain't ehsakly honnold's MO. honestly i can't imagine the dude giving a talk in the first place.

No need to imagine - Behold!

(1st Page, Post #21)
Don't know if his TED talk has been posted.
I almost like this more than the movie: Alex TED talk

Everybody's gotta make a living, and Honnold does that partially with speaking engagements. I believe he donates a third of his income to his foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of the less fortunate.

should be interesting though. i'd like to hear an update if you get the chance.

Will try to accommodate.

[yeahman]

He's also launched a new podcast called Climbing Gold. Haven't listened yet but here had had some interesting guests.

[AK47bp]

He was also on the Bear Grylls show recently.

Must be trying to stay relevant and make some cash


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Supermoon]

Yeah, good for him. Cashing out while you can is key for an athlete.

The new podcast is actually pretty good. Lots of fun stories so far

[fomofo]

A friend has access to an online talk Honnold is giving later this week, and I'm gonna join her to watch. I'm guessing standard motivational speech, (which will still be great), but we'll see.

i'd like to hear an update if you get the chance.

So it wasn't a "talk", (like the above linked Ted Talk), rather a standard Covid-era virtual split-screen video interview. Very informal/relaxed. An exec with the outfit hosting the event was in an office, he was in what looked like a spare bedroom. She asked him questions for the first thirty minutes, quick ramp up on his background and some general climbing stuff, then into a variety of topics that led into a nice, natural conversation. The last 30 minutes was Q&A via submitted questions, with a lot coming in from climbing kids (of attendees). The interviewer did a nice job, Honnold was present and engaged, and even though he's probably done a thousand of these by now very enthusiastic at times. He seemed to especially enjoy interacting with the kids (via the questions)

A few highlights...

Said he'll be climbing in Yosemite with Caldwell again soon. (Didn't say what exactly.)

Upcoming cameo in a tv show.

Doing a virtual reality rock climbing film in Europe this summer.

Talked about how film crews can help him in that they end up transporting stuff (food, water) up that he can access during climbs that he otherwise would have to climb and stash ahead of time himself, and also by carrying gear down afterwards (roped climbs/practice). (I wondered about eating/drinking during "Free Solo" - he had some food and water on the way up the film crew stashed for him at 1000/2000 feet.)

Talked about bringing solar tech to environments where primary travel for natives is on a river, so electric motors for canoes/boats and panels/batteries for charging and power. This not only empowers the locals, but also can help avoid building roads into areas in order to bring in petrol and other stuff. Once those roads are cut ... well, you know how that goes. More here for the curious.

Still eats out of a pan. (Probably only when his wife's not around. You know how that goes too. ;-)

Cool/nice guy - hard not to like him.

[Dantheman]

Must be trying to stay relevant and make some cash

I would have to think that Free Solo has and will continue to make him enough money to be completely set for the rest of his life. He also did a big expedition with NatGeo in Central America somewhere recently. He probably just did the Bear Grylls thing because they asked him and he thought it would be fun.

[mcski]

Finally got around to watching it the other day and holy shit, I could barely watch and I knew he made it. I don’t know how the camera guys could stomach watching w all potential for awfulness

I got to wondering how many times did he practice the route and the tough moves?

The toothbrush scene made me wonder if the team cleaned and or cleared any potential problems before he got to them (especially the boulder problem)

The unicorn guy clearly had to know what was happening and wanted to get in the movie. Was there any fallout or no harm no foul?

Great movie ! Chin did such a good job, it got me wanting to actually watch Nyad.

I’d have to assume that after the climb and movie that Honnold has move up from moderate to very successful dentist level

[fomofo]

Saw it this past weekend, damn. What a movie. Definitely going to rewatch it. Not sure if anyone's posted it here lately so I'll toss in my second-favorite AH soloing video:

that hand crossover move is so insane, makes my palms pour sweat. can’t recall the exact time in the video it occurs but I’ll rewatch and post it later.

Yes, intense! It's 4:40 into the vid...

https://youtu.be/Phl82D57P58?si=kmd9mYQI6ei_f8Xi&t=280

The Olympics got me stoked on climbing. Haven't gone back and watched Free Solo again (yet), but I did come across this, which is an episode in Jimmy Chin's Edge of the Unknown series.



https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19238142/episodes

[HappyCamper]

Yikes - I saw this bump and was expecting bad news. I hope he has scaled back or stopped free soloing.

[fomofo]

Yikes - I saw this bump and was expecting bad news. I hope he has scaled back or stopped free soloing.

Sorry, no intent to alarm, just share some interesting stuff. Here are a couple things he's been up to more recently...



The film that came of that is included in Reel Rock 17. He also talks about it in one of his Climbing Gold Podcast episodes.

Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold is a 3 episode series that's apparently available on Hulu/Disney if you have that. If not it's aggregated into one vid, free (with commecials) on Youtube...

[Dantheman]

I'll put money on both of those never being repeated. So rowdy.