Grrr. These guys give climbing a bad rep. I led mountaineering trips for 12 years. It is one of the safest sports when done correctly. But then some kid decides he does not need a rope and fall to his death. Conclusion? Climbing is dangerous.
I would never climb with those fools. And I assure you they have no cred among serious climbers.
Not to get in your face. So let me try to philosophize over this. You mention climbing is safe when done 'correctly'. I understand what you mean by that, by following best practices and being responsible, ensuring gear is top notch, and not take unnecessary risks. No matter how you twist or turn it, it won't be as safe as playing snooker, but I get where you're headed at. Considering you've done this for 12 years, you should have a lot of knowledge about the driving forces behind why people climb. For those who stick around for a long time, I can only imagine that the strongest driving forces are those of internal nature.
But it might seem from your post that you're belittling Alex Honnold and his achievements. You call him 'some kid who decides he does not need a rope and falls to his death'. Did you watch the 60 minutes documentary about him, and how he got started? He started by climbing 3 hours six days a week, in a climbing facility, then he has proceeded from there, gaining a lot of experience, and constantly expanding his skills. While being high risk, what he does is also a huge testament to the human strength, and then I look at both physical and mental capabilities.
Instead of talking down on him, why not draw inspiration from it? There are a very little percentage of climbers that do free climbing, because it's rather high-risk, and most people are not willing to take that risk. And chance is that most recreational climbers does not train as much as him. He live for this.
If he were a fool, he would probably be dead already. Clearly he's not a fool. What appears for the bystander to be something incredibly dangerous, might not seem that dangerous to him. I've seen him go a route with rope first to prepare it for free climbing, chalking up where it's safe to go, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't climb if the weather forecast is not to his advantage, and I'm pretty sure he's very much prepare no matter where he goes.
While any man or woman that takes on incredible feats, or high-risk sports could easily be brushed of as stupid silly risk takers with a death wish, the fact is that a lot of the people that do engage in such sports does not take unnecessary risks, but their perception of risk, is quite different from that of a normal person.
If you look at America, a lot of people eat themselves to death, they come by McDonalds every day, and load up on sugar and fat. Those are risk takers, as what they will do might shorten their lifespan, and lead to an early death. And then you have smoking, alcohol and drugs. Lots of people do 'dangerous' things, but all of that's easy.
What Honnold does is not easy, and it's quite clear that he does not do it for the fame, he does it because this is what he does. Look at the happiness in his eyes, there's no insanity in there. This is what he does.
Claiming that he has no credit among serious climbers is a weird statement to give. Clearly what he does gives him some serious credit, or else he would not be known and be featured on 60 minutes and the like.
Most skilled athletes concentrate on what they're doing themselves, and does not spend much of their time to criticize other athletes.
Calling him a fool and claiming he has no cred among lifters seems to indicate jealousy. Sorry if I'm wrong on that part. I just do not understand how anyone criticizing him is not able to acknowledge the incredible things that he's actually doing. He climbs difficult mountain walls that even climbers with ropes have a big problem of doing. This is his lifestyle, and he does it 100%. I don't see him complaining about anyone else. He seems 100% focused on what he does.
And if he dies young, makes a wrong move, so what, he dies, having lived a short life to the fullest extent possible. That's more than can be said about most people. I look at him with awe as a symbol of what human determination and will is capable of. If for nothing else, I think we should draw inspiration about this - something we could use in our daily lives, perhaps sometimes just going for what we want, instead of always 'being safe'.
I'm pretty sure he's aware of the risks, and the consequences to any error he might make. But this is his life, this is what he chooses to do, no matter who criticizes him or what these people says.
He's on an entirely different level than most climbers will ever be. I guess a lot of climbers have a hard time swallowing that fact.
While I think his climbing is truly inspirational, I at the same time recognize the dangers, and I don't have any desire to attempt anything like it, nor do I have the desire or drive to climb as much as he does to develop a skill set like his, and even if I tried, starting at a young age, I would probably never be able to achieve what he has achieved.
In conclusion, it's easy to talk shit - but please recognize that there's hundreds and thousands of hours of practice to be able to reach his level. While average people never having done anything athletic at all easily can spew uneducated shit talk towards his achievements and his lifestyle, I would most certainly expect something else from someone with a lot of experience from climbing.
How about: "What he does is quite incredible, however my personal opinion is that this is quite risky, and I would never do it myself, or encourage anyone to do this kind of free climbing". Completely dismissing his achievements and calling him a fool, only reflects negatively on the sender of that message.
You might not agree RodeoX , but I would think a man with 12 years of experience with climbing would be able to recognize his talent and achievements as something extraordinary, albeit risky.
