lol your name, interesting that you'd be into climbing

She never got the phone call to belay

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iraeg5mW3dnMiI0.htmlsi=yu9fAInQjX17CD_b Check this one out - Dave comments on the solo pretty thoroughly.

Thanks. I have a couple of thoughts in response to that. First, while everyone is different, I feel that free soloing is a place for a cool head, so its kind of hard to go from a deep state of calm to super excited just because you topped out. Second, this ascent was just a small part of training for a much much harder and more dangerous route (Echo Wall). So this was rather weighing on my mind at the time. It would have been premature to be celebrating with the dangerous lead still ahead.

you only solo this hard if you expect to send it, so why would you be excited when you do send it? same thing with Honnold's "delighted" reaction after topping out El Cap

I thought it was 'let down' (by today's standards anyway) by the lack of various angles. No drones back then, no 5 or 6 cameras, which for me make Echo Wall age pretty quickly. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

@@denislejeune9218 still a thoroughly impressive climb. To date not repeated and filmed by misses macleod who must have a massive amount of believe and strength to film her husband undertaking multiple climbs with pretty severe consequences for any mistakes. Truly epic stuff

@@stewart6329 We are in agreement.

2:56

So is the chalk of the foerarm so you can transfer it to you hands and reach into a chalk bag?

But no pads so free solo

As might be expected from Dave, not a bad response... kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rLCcjKSmlcfLe3k.html

Sweaty arms? I assume that if you have really sweaty arms that sweat can run to your hands anytime you drop your arms down. Wouldn't want that ruining his grip, especially given the stakes. But that's my best guess.

Luke Skinner I think he didn’t want to have to reach behind himself at that point to chalk up...my guess...

I've tested a theory that any sweat generated on your hands will get soaked up by the chalk on your wrists and arms.

I'm pretty sure he is just controlling the rotation of his body there and using his other arm as an intermediate hold to more precisely place the left hand. So to avoid getting sweat on his left hand he chalked up his right forearm before.

It's easy to solo when you're from the MacLeod Clan and cannot die anyway because you're a Highlander. 😅

The solo was probably a bit easier. It is amazing how much a few clips break your rhythm!

It would be a highball if he'd padded it out

I don't consider topping out as a defining trait of a highball. on a route like this I would consider wether a fall from the hardest moves would likely cause injury. I think this is in the blurry line between the two and without pads is a bold effort :)

This def makes me nervous since soloing crack climbs is a little more reliable. But I know this dude had sent this many times before. Still...

I totally agree with you Christian 🤔 some days feel all go & other moments are questions of concern about the situation 🤬 the best decisions are about walking away with the wrong approach and knowing why 😎 emotional investment & classic rock 🙂 Have fun climbing Christian 👌👍💪

@Jimmy Alain Robert would be very close competition with an 8b. if i remember it correctly he also did an 8a+ in Bijoux that he then downclimbed, all free solo

Was at the time and I reckon still probably the hardest.

@@crescentfuze Kevin Jorgeson - The Fly: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g8ykZs6Qy5baf4E.html

Michal Makuša not a free solo. 6-7m tall and with a crashpad, it’s just a tall boulder problem

@@michalmakusa6923 that's just a high ball

8C so V15. Then again it says 8B+ so V14. Epic either way

I would think v10 or maybe v11 for French 8b+/8c crux?

...without any mats. No biggie.

No. I was onsighting 8a+. But then I wasn't doing much onsighting really (I've never had good endurance). Perhaps if I were doing a lot I could have been onsighting into 8b at a push.

@@climbermacleod Makes sense. I think that a little-discussed climbing dichotomy is "project" climbers v. "onsight" climbers. Of course someone like Ondra can do both at the highest level, but historically you have say a Megos v. Gullich (and maybe Yuji v. Huber?) the former almost never spending more than a day on a climb v. someone spending years just to work out a crux. I tend towards the latter, and it cuts in to my urge to travel more or hard onsighting. Good work on using this particular experience to build on.

Because he totally fell off and jumped back on at that point :-)

Fasmistic good, I was not sure first, but now it’s two of us... :-)

Ga Wa mental fortitude

Mind training before doing super hard and bold trad...

Indeed, why would you ride a motorbike with your eyes shut? Mind you the number of fatal motorbike accidents in the Scottish highlands sometimes make me wonder if they are doing just that!

@@climbermacleod You are obviously a careful and considered person in many respects. Do you feel any urge, or observe it, to increase the danger level. Or do you feel that, as the difficulty gets greater through improvement, the risk itself stays the same (or reduces)?

I think that isn’t going to be repeated for a long time. Alex Honnold skilled like 2 or 3 generations of free solo climbing and is in a league of his own. Nobody has even considered free soloing half dome again and he did that in what, 2012-2013? This dude is probably a better boulderer although I haven’t seen honnold boulder much. This climb is very impressive in its own different way. Honnold is great and perfect in his safety zone of mostly crack climbing. I’m not sure Alex would attempt this. Maybe if he had mastered it.

Skipped* 2-3 generation I mean