Good summation.

i think Alex simply is incredible aware of people their emotions/state of mind and he mostly kept talking to reassure Magnus and distract from fearful thoughts. Don't forget he's been with many people and he himself likely has experienced debilitating fear when climbing (actually I know he did, where he was stuck all alone free soloing).

@@thetasurfers My thoughts aswell

Honnold is a different kind of human being.

@@thetasurfers well honnold started free soloing with a near death experience sooooo he definetly did

Exactly

thats y it s so absurd n hilarious at the same time :D

Alex' borderline Asperger's really came across in that video 😅

And the both are doing the same thing, the feel it differently

lmao it made for great watching

Yep I can see why he is as good as he is looking at this from a complete novice perspective. Lingering on past holds and difficulty can cloud your brain and make you not "be in the moment" so to speak. There is a time and place to reflect on dangerous moments of the climb, and it's best to not reflect on those when you're hundreds of feet in the air with no protection.

It's funny you say that. One thing I've noticed about Alex is how present he is. It goes a long way to explaining why he can do what he does

It really surprised me, i understand that this IS easy climbing for Magnus but Alex didn't just pick an easy spot to go climb, he was there to guide him through it all with both advice and encouragement completely understanding how scary it is. It's easy to see Alex as some complete madman but he really is all there only difference from others is that he's genuinely married to his sport

@@kim98677 Don't forget that he actually has a girlfriend, the super self-important one that ruined his movie and basically made it unwatchable.

I see a lot of people complementing Alex on this, and while certain aspects of what he says is helpful for sure, he also says some things that really raised Magnus’ anxiety at times.

Very true. I also feel like them talking about the experience together is the best directors commentary anyone could ask for. Him reliving the experience and her as a very present reminder of how scary this is from an outside perspective, as well as the perspective of someone who Magnus is really important to.

My dad used to take risky hiking expeditions on the regular, and as a kid I lived in fear of him dying and that partially contributed to me purposely emotionally detached for most of my life.

You’re always at risk for something happening. And like Alex said, driving a car is probably more dangerous than this - for an experienced climber.

Indeed

Annoying tbh

Next next episode: climbing a route i made in Yosemite cus my girl left me

for those who dont get it, it was a dawn wall reference lmao

Lmfao

The other "free solo"

XD

Aim for the bushes

THERE GOES MY HEROOOO

3:03

But a bush has the potential for piercing damage thoo..

@@BradyBegeman I sang that line in my head lol

What is the podcast?

They either died or retired. Not very inspiring to hear.

Kid in a pepper store

Yeah I'm sure it's a tight knit community, I don't assume there are people rioting to be free climbers

@@YourAverageBunny And presumably there aren't very many free-climbers rioting.

2:32

Facts

No shit Sherlock, Magnus is not a solo climber

@@wooshbait36Elementary, my dear Watson! Who said he was?

@@Dr.DiegoDuarte That climb was way too easy; I'm not even a climber and do more dangerous things at my workplace as a construction worker, like doing intense psychical work at 200 meters height without protective gear.

@@wooshbait36 lol ok.

@@wooshbait36 if it's so easy, then try for yourself!

😂

😂😂😂

Alex "mountain goat" Honnold

But even mountain goats make the one-point plummet. LoL

For him it's like a Sunday hike, his jokes about filming and free soloing ...

Eh, I hope he was being extra carefree due to being in a video that would be seen by millions. If he climbs like that all the time he is going to leave a widow with children. Most of the best free soloist who have died did not die on difficult routes but on climbs like this they had gotten careless doing as a warm-up or teaching new soloist and did not have the hyperfocus necessary where 1 minor mistake can become deadly.

@Baronarx V literally has adopted a new meaning. f scott fitzgerald described jay gatsby as "literally glowing" in the great gatsby. that was in the 1930s. go to any dictionary and you'll see the alternative definition of literally. language changes constantly.

Totally agree. You have inspired me to never climb, but you have inspired me to build more upper body strength. I'm up to 3 pull-ups from 1 just a month ago. I have a fear of being more than 5 ft off the ground, but I do like being able to do monkey bars with my kids. Love your regular videos. This one is almost too intense, but also really good.

I also agree, and have started climbing because of him! Do more climbing videos!!

such a good comment

💯

Agreed!

I had the exact same thought 😂

Makes my balls tingle

Aye bruh a 50 m free solo wall is still really huge

50m free solo is gigachad-tier climb, good job man.

That's super scary! You could have died! Magnus could have even died on his 12m wall!

Maybe I'm retarded but the sheer unpleasantness lowkey attracts me to it. Before I do any soloing I need to get like 2000% stronger though, and maybe clear a few highball boulders first lmao.

I am not a pro climber, not even a very good climber, but I find free solo climbing very appealing. I have done some pretty technical scrambling and even some 5.8 stuff solo, but only when I am 100% confident in my abilities, the conditions, and in the right mindset. Having that perfect combination, is a very amazing experience.

no I would say the movie free solo is the best by far, the production the climb the story, basically everything about it

@@MegaCharns 1st I'm not a climber! I've watched both, Free Solo is mindblowing but so out of reach of 99.99% of humans that you cannot relate to it any more than I can relate to living on Mars in a SciFi drama. The Magnus video is instantly relatable, I know Magnus is an outstanding climber, but you can see that the rock might be climable by many - if there was no drop. I can almost imagine myself there and therefore feel the danger. However you can also see how hard it is, see the mind bending drop and really feel his emotion. This moves the Magnus/Alex video to another level!

@@MegaCharns I was talking about like KZfaq creator content, obviously Free Solo is an absolute masterpiece! But it also wasn't a super accurate depiction of the average experience. This video gives you more of a normal, sane person's perspective. Honnold is literally just built different lol

Do u think the constant commentary helped or distracted Magnus? I know in the beginning of the climb Magnus said it helped him but a few times he looked annoyed by the constant talk.

@@cameronh.3668 I kind of felt that too but Alex seemed pretty relaxed and understanding of the fact that Magnus needed to concentrate so I don't think there was any real problem with that. I would rather be distracted a few times by someone who can keep the atmosphere relaxed than having dead silence and a tense mood.

@@kristoferkrus yeah, I noticed that too (mainly in myself). I'd tell him to shut up and be a little more empathetic with my predicament. Not that it would help me though and that's what I feel Magnus realized during those moments, went along with him and said nothing.

@@cameronh.3668 Throughout the reaction video he hinted that it annoyed him during the climb, but that looking back Alex's comments were important.

@@cameronh.3668 there’s also a chance it wasn’t constant, like Magnus said there was 2 hours of footage, a lot of it that got cut could have been that silent climbing and he just kept in all the bits with commentary because it’s more entertaining

yeah feels like it's rare to see healthy and mature relationships on the internet nowadays

Agreed. Enjoyed watching that one too.

Most definitely, especially “if you don’t feel confident at the time being, take a moment, re-access, take two steps back and find another route” is such a good one.

…in bed

@@CamCadie ya love that one. And theres another where he says something like “dont worry about whats behind you or ahead of you, just take it one move at a time”

glad you pointed that out. I noticed it when i first saw the video and had hoped they would point it out here. my fav was when he said "hey man don't freak yourself out by worrying about whats coming up or whats below you, just focus on whats in front of you and find the next hold" - Im paraphrasing but it was something to that affect, which is great life advice

After that video... I literally have been eating A bell pepper for a snack. Its actually reshresing

huh? in germany this is totally normal. like eating raw tomatos, karrots, kohlrabi to light meal

No lie, I ate a pepper raw for the first time because I saw him do it haha

@@Lumi_nance true. also everywhere else like norway too... but i think how he ate it is the kicker.

you 'murricans are really weird.

I wanted to say the same things, really amazing videography! What really stood out to me too were the close up shots on the rock and you can still achieve those while rope climbing. I love watching your videos every now and then.

I agree with this... you don't have to worry about topping this video. TBH my hands started sweating with fear about 1/2 through the video and I had to skip over a few parts just to make sure things ended smoothly D: ..

Yeah I see this as a very different like kind of a special episode thing. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a video that cannot be topped as well

And even if that’s the top technically, we’re probably not the target audience for it

Spot on Ash! We wanna keep Magnus on this planet with us! lol.

the way he just casually stands on teh side of a mountain like a goat, filming calmly.. its insane

i just think of the infinite universes where he was once considered an idiot and is now considered a greasy spot at the bottom of a wall

I free solo'ed 3 flights of stairs the other day 🦾

he surrenders to the moment... not wanting to be anywhere ells...down....or allready on top and done it... its the moment of being in the moment...and then dealing with those emotions...untill they are no longer present or distracting u from the present moment and goal...once u let that voice in your head take over or let it chatter...its all wrong emotions and being, i wish i didnt do this ,i wish i wasse still down, i wish it wasse allready over, what if i c'ant do this, what if i fall, what if i loose my strainght, what if a hard wind makes me loose my grip, what if it starts raining, what will happen if i fall, what will my family think if i die, how angry will my girlfriend be when she fiends out i free climbed... u cannot have that chatter in your head, and for magnus it wasse still present....he did it, but he didnt enjoy it... i really believe alex loves the fear, beating the fear... so once its beaten it must be a freeing feeling of life when ur up there.losing to the fear of failure is the worst feeling. alex beaten that

i free solo from my bed onto the floor

That's what I thought. It felt like he was totally in his element

​@@trustnugget280 probably because he was excited having Magnus with him. I think he dislikes filming himself

i bet you cant even climb out of bed

I only climb vicariously through others on KZfaq but I agree! This is one of the scariest vicarious solos I’ve done! ;) I watched the original & really enjoyed this version w/ his gf! Seeing her reaction highlights the consequences very well! It’s strange how scary it can be just watching, even though you know the climb was successful. As much as I enjoy watching Free Solo climbing, I wish people would not do it. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are if just one of the hundreds of holds breaks loose!

i think that one video where a young man falls of a cliff to his death is a bit more terrifying...

@Aaron couldn't find it anymore, must be deleted... found something quite simular but still horrific: /watch?v=EP9odtyv9ho

Right?! Whew, that was a legendary video though! 😅

Same reaction from my wife lol

So soloing is twice as risky for married guys lol

@@terraflow__bryanburdo4547 Excactly! If you survive and succeed, your spouse may still strike you down dead for the anxiety it caused.

I suspect she got the rolling-pin out off camera...

This!!

Yes. 100%

This + no music would be beautiful.

this needs more likes

And if you can get Alex to release his unedited footage of El Capitan too, that would be insane to watch! I'd like to see them both

You summarized in two lines what took me long paragraphs to talk about. well done and cute avatar.

Where he was looking or where he was looking where he was looking?

@@echoactual1776 😂

Alex did a great job filming!

It's the sudden moves, and the very narrow field of vision being that so close to the rock. The scariest part is when he bumped the camera right into the rock. I can imagine just the instinct to pull away quickly when you bump into something unexpectedly, and how that could throw off your balance while you're clinging for dear life to the cliff.

Wow. I feel for you and your family. We all know the risk, but the reality always seems so much further from us.

Jesus Christ... Nature is unforgiving

@@arnavrawat9864 but Jesus Christ on the other hand is the epitome of forgiveness.

@@TheSuburbansky1 tbh I've never asked my dad but my understanding is one fell and hit the other as they fell. Not 100% sure though.

As a teenager myself my brother and a mate were climbing down a 5-6m cliff and my brother fell flat on his back onto a rock.. i pretty much flew down sure he was paralyzed at least but thank christ he was ok. One slip.. mind you I'll still climb every now and then

exactly

LOL the amount of people ignoring the part where magnus said okay to all of this and alex asked magnus if he wanted to do it. magnus could have said no alot of times hes a f**kin adult. -.- do you not realise people make their own choices?

@@n1troni and you’re ignoring the part where Alex completely lied to him about the path. He told him there were no cracks, clear chalk paths, and stable holds all the way through. They encounter all 3 of these: a crack, areas with no chalk, and slippery rocks. And what’s his excuse when they get to the crack? “Oops, forgot that was here.” And there _is_ no backing down at that point. Even if he wanted to call a rescue chopper and pay a shitload of money, he doesn’t see the crack in time to do any of that. He doesn’t know it’s there until he’s right below it.

@@AG-ur1lj dude isntead of making your assumptions check out magnus interview a few months ago about this where he says its totally his choice and at the end of the day alex culdnt say anything if magnus said no. He actually said he disagrees with comments like yours LOL Ur like a woman jumping to conlcusions without evidence. Bye 🙋‍♂️

P.s magnus also said he is an adult person capable of making his own choices. Do what you want with that​@@AG-ur1lj

I seen that meme! The cameraman was running faster than the guys in the race LOL! he should have got the trophy!

Great comparison, although unfortunately the camera video was faked, it was for an ad or something

@@Aname550 yes, those videos are usually filmed from a unit on wheels. 😉

@@Aname550 there is a "real" one where usian bolt does his victory lap and a big camera guy comes in super sonic style

That's a well illustrated image fr lol

Really well put

she is half bald... Scandinavian women🤢🤮🤮

I noticed she’s touching his arm a lot, kinda subconsciously verifying he’s next to me and alive, and it’s all okay. Lol

Yea, it also gives us some insight that feels real, right?

yes

his sense of humor is layered

This one cracks me up for sure, love some good dark humor haha

Gallows humor dummies

People say Alex is “casual” and “brutally honest” because of stuff like this. I think he’s just a sociopath with genuinely no ability to empathize.

Really nicely put comment!

Comment award 🥇 presented to you

Man that's well written!!

I agree. Well said.

Definitely a privilege to watch. I am extremely grateful for this type of content. Insane that we get this for free.

Dam that's crazy I've climbed the Mormon rocks free climb

That only works before marriage. 😂. If they were married it would be a very different video. 🧐🤬

Yeah, it's horrible. What a betrayal of trust. She shouldn't marry him.

@@CziffraNum 😂😂😂😂😂

@@CziffraNum ROFL, good thing we have the judge here. Make sure you tell her!

@@cconnon1912 Wife reacting to our divorce ft. Alex Honnold

I felt like Alex pushed Magnus into something he didn't really want to risk, not cool… But don't get me wrong, encouraging and pushing you when you have a rope and are safe is totally fine, but not when it is a life or death situation in case something were to go wrong.

If risking your life is a great culture i would reconsider my view on life

@@heinzketchup3323 are you posting this comment to make people angry?

@@heinzketchup3323 Alex was completely fine with Magnus not even trying the climb.

@@wanzed6235 Magnus said he didn’t really want to go several times, and at the top also said „you made me“, which means that he must have felt some type of pressure.

I wouldn't say lack of ego, but more like a transparency of ego, which is better in my opinion. There is never a lack of ego in us humans (or maybe if you 're a special guru or smth) but we just have to be open about it observe it and not feel exposed by it. I agree that this is what makes both these videos so interesting.

@@Sanoi737 very well said

@@Sanoi737 I think Marte is keeping Magnus honest.

yes

And so nonchalantly too 💀

@@Seanph25 "No big deal" Alex.

@@Eventual-Visitor fr haha, or when we he try’s to make a couple moves while holding the camera 😭😂

I literally just remembered that the dude woke up one morning and went up El Capitan without any ropes and lived, I still can't comprehend it the man is a God or something

@@GabrielConstantinides his brain works completely different than most... His amygdala doesn't light up at all when exposed to fear. Most people's would be so lit up when climbing they would fall to their deaths lol he's definitely a different breed.

Phil, just to add to your story, I've had 9 near-death events in my last 69 years and watching Magnus looking down with his GoPro and seeing 200 meters below his feet made my hands shake in fear that he was about to buy the farm even though I knew he edited what I was watching.

near-laxative experience best quote EVER! I have had a couple of those myself.

I’m a rock climber and a part time skydiver. For me, rock climbing is much more intense than jumping out of an airplane. Skydiving is very very simple, climbing takes a lot more concentration, training and fear management. I never climb if I’m not feeling well, had too many drinks the night before, stressed out or angry? Skydiving, I could do all those things and not have any issues.

@@davida1679 My sentiments exactly!

@@davida1679 the hardest part of sky diving is looking down and jumping. If you don't pass out, very less chances of parachute failing

"funny" weird way to spell terrifying

I mean yeah it’s all in your head until a hold breaks and you die lmao

It's not all in the head when you literally don't have any physical protection. If he had harness etc then it would be ONLY in the head

Funny way to spell despite too. Hence?

Hence basically means “therefore”. The word you’re looking for is “despite”

So funny when Magnus blushes when he takes about the cute girl in school when she throws the side smile. A real couple. It's great how well his subs have taken to her energy.

She has such a great sense of humour

Yeah, I thought the exact opposite, she was so annoying, and to keep reiterating the idea of him falling "backward" might be a coping mechanism for watching the video but super not necessary.

She’d make a great interviewer. Her questions were on point

Completely agree and can’t help but read into this a comment on Alex Honnold. I can’t really believe he put Magnus through that when it was so emotionally painful to watch him pushed so far out of his comfort zone ! I could never

His content is already S-tier. Nothing needs to be topped. Just keep doing what you do Magnus, and stay safe.

Well said.

Hmmm there's more people than you think who are capable of this, just look at online logbooks etc. However it doesn't necessarily overlap with the skills of being a good climber overall. As magnus says, its like a different sport. I think this was being thrown in the deep end a bit tbh.

Didn't magnus and Alex do another free solo in February?

Haha same here.

His girlfriend was just looking at him with the funniest "wtf are you talking about" look.

Is a “better video” judged on the number of views alone? This poses the question would this story of Magnus free soloing garner more attention, less attention, or just a different kind of audience if the outcome were different? Celebrities die of cancer all the time but the story of magnus overcoming his fear and the physical and mental challenge of the wall with everything at stake is a positive story i feel emotionally invested in. I felt impressed and relieved at the end of the video. Impressed clearly by Magnus climbing abilities and relieved considering how Magnus seemed to be honest with his girlfriend about how scared he was at specific moments of the climb and hope that your relationship will grow in trusting each other. The other thing is that Magnus was clearly risking more than just death, this video is a “good video” because I feel so relieved for his girlfriend. Another kinda dark question is well how good of a climber really is Magnus, what’s the riskiest most challenging thing that he could do that’s still surmountable. This specific climb feels like it was pretty close to the current surmountable limit of his mental ability Ie what he’s comfortable with and actually able to do without falling into a shear panic attack and making a mistake. Yes this was a surreal video i wasn’t sure I was going to watch. I saw the thumbnail a few months ago and only watched now holding out as long as I did for fear that by watching this video and adding to the view count I’m somehow feeding Magnus fuel to push himself to the limit. It goes without saying I caved and eventually watched the video because like mosquitoes drawn to a flame everyone likes a good story it’s just a hell of a lot nicer when it’s a happy ending.

Get yourself to a indoor gym asap Never to late Enjoy

not better than the original lol since this is based on that . how can you say such absurdity my friend. if you are reading this Alex please forgive the lesser mentally inclined like ROBIN

@@gamesthatmatter9374 You didn't have to go their

@@gamesthatmatter9374 my guy...chill

@@gamesthatmatter9374 it's your comment what's absurd - of course that commented video can be better and it's because of the commenting - don't be like a kid

@@gamesthatmatter9374 things that are better than the original are literally everywhere. innovation is literally the act of making improvements on the original thing.

I was a diver in my younger years. I stopped after my Dad died, he was the only one that I trusted enough to go out with. That's what amazes me about this video, even with Alex's words of encouragement I would still not be convinced. I had a good friend that became a SAT diver and after he got out of the service, he learned quickly how NOT like the service the private sector was! He would find missed steps and make them do complete rechecks of everything before he would go under. He developed some really bad health issues associated to the industry, which is something that they tell you in the military to expect. He passed away 10 years ago, but he worked until his age prevented him from going on extended dives. Trust is such an important part of these types of activities. These guys seem to know each other and they're both pros. My Dad told me, nobody promised you a tomorrow. I like seeing these guys doing these things and having someone they trust to do it with.

I too have done scuba diving in my younger years, and I am also currently a hiker and I love climbing small mountains here in New Zealand 🇳🇿. I can also relate to what you are saying and I was very aware of the technical aspects as I was watching this. 😁

quickly up vs quickly down

@@UNUSUALUSERNAME220 diving is easy Bro...there are sharks to help u

Loving the moomin cup too

🍝

yo im sweating too lol

Is that a thing

@@sheikhyehirboty42069 - there are YT awards but don’t know exactly the categories

@@sheikhyehirboty42069 Nope, but if it were, it certainly would. This video is legendary.