12 Reactions to Alex Honnold’s Freerider Free Solo
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Tommy Caldwell
Read more thoughts from Tommy Caldwell in his essay for Outside, Why Alex Honnold’s Free Solo of El Cap Scared Me.
Will Gadd
I'm pondering risk and responsibility this morning as I think of Alex Honnold's recent solo, and as I set up to speak to…
Posted by Will Gadd on Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Emily Harrington
Jimmy Chin
Sasha DiGiulian
I feel gripped enough climbing with a rope in Yosemite – What Alex Honnold has accomplished to me is at once nauseating,…
Posted by Sasha DiGiulian on Saturday, June 3, 2017
Cedar Wright
Because there hasn’t been enough Alex Honnold. in your feed lately, I give you one of my best shots of “The Hon” doing…
Posted by Cedar Wright on Monday, June 5, 2017
Steph Davis
It's taken some time to process Alex Honnold's achievement on FreeRider, and I bet it's taking him some time to process…
Posted by Steph Davis on Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Matt Samet, Editor of Climbing
The idea of going ropeless on a 2,900-foot free climb up slick granite on El Capitan, with multiple pitches of 5.11 and 5.12, will seem ‘horrifying’ or ‘unrelatable’ to most climbers, but it’s clear that Alex prepared long and hard for his ascent and that he felt he could control the variables, his mind included, while he climbed. Such is dedication; such is mastery. While the rest of us will never, ever experience what it’s like to be on Freerider without a rope, we can still appreciate the skill and self-discipline involved. Will it inspire ‘copycats’? I doubt it. Watching Usain Bolt run 100 meters in under 10 seconds might prod us to get off the couch and go for a run ourselves, but it doesn’t mean we’ll ever approach his super-human speed. Ditto for Honnold on Freerider: This was a calculated ascent at the bleeding edge, made by the best free soloist in the history of our sport. I’m glad it came off well; may we all draw inspiration and use it in our own way in our own climbing.
James Lucas, Associate Editor of Climbing
Ethan Pringle
Jared Leto and the city of Nashville
Cedar Wright (again)
I'll just leave this here. 😜😍😚🙌
Posted by Cedar Wright on Tuesday, June 6, 2017
