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Free Solo

Started by touchingcloth, December 04, 2019, 09:23:33 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

chveik

happened to one of my friend. almost died, spent months in the hospital. not a very wise thing to do imho.

buzby

Quote from: Elderly Sumo Prophecy on December 04, 2019, 03:02:28 PM
When they're climbing up, there must be times where they absolutely cannot see any viable handhold or foothold that they could get any purchase on, so what do they do then? Just fuck it off and climb back down, or make a leap of faith and hope they can grab onto something?
They usually make at least one ascent assisted (i.e. with ropes) to scope out the holds and traverses they will need to do on the route before attempting it unassisted. Famous climbs like El Capitan in Yosemite and El Potrero Chico (in northern Mexico, where this accident occurred) are so well-known and practiced they will know the routes like the backs of their hands.

Icehaven

Quote from: imitationleather on December 04, 2019, 02:29:55 PM
Ah man. I wish that this had happened to loads of people I went to school with.

Well to be honest of the 100 odd people in my year he'd be one of the few I'd not have wished anything bad on, I don't remember loads about him but he was definitely one of the nice kids.

Icehaven

Quote from: Ray Travez on December 04, 2019, 03:28:02 PM
Quite literally, a survivorship bias.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

Hmm that's interesting. This bit...

QuoteIn highly competitive careers

Whether it be movie stars, or athletes, or musicians, or CEOs of multibillion-dollar corporations who dropped out of school, popular media often tells the story of the determined individual who pursues their dreams and beats the odds. There is much less focus on the many people that may be similarly skilled and determined but fail to ever find success because of factors beyond their control or other (seemingly) random events.[9] This creates a false public perception that anyone can achieve great things if they have the ability and make the effort. The overwhelming majority of failures are not visible to the public eye, and only those who survive the selective pressures of their competitive environment are seen regularly.

...reminded me of an article I read years ago about exactly this, people who had been aiming for success in showbiz or sport and had worked/trained with some major stars before they were famous, but they themselves hadn't ended up getting anywhere, as by nature the vast majority in highly competitive fields do. There was a guy who'd been in the same go-karting/junior car racing (or whatever it's called) club as Lewis Hamilton and was extremely bitter about how (in his opinion) Hamilton was given opportunities and he wasn't, as if it was between the two of them, when in reality there must have been dozens of others in the club who thought the same thing. It was quite sad actually, he was in his mid 20s iirc, hadn't driven competitively for years and wasn't in that world at all but still called himself a racing driver if people asked what he did.

Kryton

Quote from: ProvanFan on December 04, 2019, 10:12:23 AM
He died while abseiling didn't he?

His own fault for abseiling without a rope.

Alberon

There's a film called 'Free Solo' about another one of these madmen.



It's well worth watching. The subject of the film, Alex Honnold, does talk about the high chance of death as he prepares for an attempt to Free Solo El Capitan (even Captain Kirk couldn't manage to climb that).

Dang, beaten to the punch by Alberon. But anyway, seeing as I'd already written it:

Watch the documentary of the same name as the thread (I think BlodwynPig's image is from that). It gives a pretty good insight into what these people are all about. And as someone alluded to earlier in the thread, when someone does plummet to their death, they basically go, «Yeah, that's fair enough».

But don't watch it if you've got a fear of heights. There are some absolutely hair-raising scenes in it that made me break out in a cold sweat, and I don't particularly mind heights in general.

Replies From View

Quote from: buzby on December 04, 2019, 03:38:49 PM
They usually make at least one ascent assisted (i.e. with ropes) to scope out the holds and traverses they will need to do on the route before attempting it unassisted. Famous climbs like El Capitan in Yosemite and El Potrero Chico (in northern Mexico, where this accident occurred) are so well-known and practiced they will know the routes like the backs of their hands.

Who the fuck knows the back of their hands briliantly well?

Replies From View

Quote from: Alberon on December 04, 2019, 04:50:36 PM
There's a film called 'Free Solo' about another one of these madmen.



It's well worth watching. The subject of the film, Alex Honnold, does talk about the high chance of death as he prepares for an attempt to Free Solo El Capitan (even Captain Kirk couldn't manage to climb that).

JIMMY CHIN helped make that one.

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Sex Festival Organizer on December 04, 2019, 05:06:15 PM
Dang, beaten to the punch by Alberon. But anyway, seeing as I'd already written it:

Watch the documentary of the same name as the thread (I think BlodwynPig's image is from that). It gives a pretty good insight into what these people are all about. And as someone alluded to earlier in the thread, when someone does plummet to their death, they basically go, «Yeah, that's fair enough».

But don't watch it if you've got a fear of heights. There are some absolutely hair-raising scenes in it that made me break out in a cold sweat, and I don't particularly mind heights in general.

I suffer from vertigo but im addicted to watching free solo, especially Alex. Terror but from the comfort of a futon for me

Ferris

Quote from: Elderly Sumo Prophecy on December 04, 2019, 03:02:28 PM
When they're climbing up, there must be times where they absolutely cannot see any viable handhold or foothold that they could get any purchase on, so what do they do then? Just fuck it off and climb back down, or make a leap of faith and hope they can grab onto something?

That's what I can't grasp (ho ho). Imagine climbing up a few hundred feet and then "...oh. Um... oh dear, maybe I could reach... no... hmm, arms are getting a bit tired here, maybe I could grab... ah, no that won't work. Oh... oh dear"

BlodwynPig

They dont just rock up and up rock... loads of prep plus that stack Alex is climbing in the pic and film is i think called a chimney and much easier to climb free as you just wedge your massive hands in the huge crack and up you go

The ledge bit is mind numbing though. On phone but you can find pic

Ferris

Quote from: BlodwynPig on December 04, 2019, 05:49:24 PM
rock up and up rock

Lovely stuff.

I assumed some prep went into it, but it does all very odd to me. It's not my thing, I suppose - not everything has to be aimed at me and that's totally fine.

QuoteBlodwynPig: I suffer from vertigo but im addicted to watching free solo, especially Alex. Terror but from the comfort of a futon for me

Best/worst bit of the film for me was that part of the route where he had two choices: Either an absurdly complicated sequence of meticulously planned moves (left ring finger on tiny outcrop on the right, right middle toe on miniscule shelf down and to the left, left thumb quickly in and out of anus and then jammed into narrow crack above right ear, and so on), or making a leap of faith he had failed every single time before (when secured by ropes). And he went for the leap. Fucking hell!

Oh, and that bit where we see someone (not Alex) apparently plummet hundreds of feet to their certain death, and then ...

BlodwynPig

Plummet is a great word

Tumble too

Id rather tumble to my death than plummet

Quote from: BlodwynPig on December 04, 2019, 06:08:26 PM
Plummet is a great word

Tumble too

Id rather tumble to my death than plummet

Not sure I agree. To me, to plummet is straight down and SPLAT!, while to tumble is to hit all kinds of obstacles on the way, in a kind of Tom and Jerry way. Sure, for onlookers the latter is probably funnier, but if I were to fall to my death, I'd want it to be dignified (except for the screaming).


touchingcloth

Quote from: Sex Festival Organizer on December 04, 2019, 06:18:00 PM
Not sure I agree. To me, to plummet is straight down and SPLAT!, while to tumble is to hit all kinds of obstacles on the way, in a kind of Tom and Jerry way. Sure, for onlookers the latter is probably funnier, but if I were to fall to my death, I'd want it to be dignified (except for the screaming).

I think a tumble down some rocks is probably more humane, assuming you pick up enough speed and dash your head against something hard enough quickly enough you'll be out of it before actually experiencing most of the tumble. A plummet through space knowing what awaits you at the other end would be far worse for far longer.

Quote from: Sex Festival Organizer on December 04, 2019, 05:06:15 PM
But don't watch it if you've got a fear of heights. There are some absolutely hair-raising scenes in it that made me break out in a cold sweat, and I don't particularly mind heights in general.

I don't have a fear of heights in general, but for some reason just lately whenever I've seen a drone shot from above a city with lots of high rise buildings I've found myself preoccupied with the thought of falling from that vantage point, and thinking what it'd do - try and drift towards a ledge so I could grab a hold and have my arms ripped off, or turn myself to face upwards so that the moment of impact came with less anticipation.

Replies From View

You can tumble without hitting any obstacles, surely.  It's just a bit of rotational force enlivening your downwards route with some queasiness.

dr_christian_troy

A friend of mine from school was an avid rock climber. Years later, she and her fiance were climbing a mountain in France somewhere, attached together as they went up. He took a slip and fell, taking her down with her. She died, he survived. Not too surprisingly, he was fucking devastated.

Sin Agog

Quote from: touchingcloth on December 04, 2019, 06:41:05 PM
I don't have a fear of heights in general, but for some reason just lately whenever I've seen a drone shot from above a city with lots of high rise buildings I've found myself preoccupied with the thought of falling from that vantage point, and thinking what it'd do - try and drift towards a ledge so I could grab a hold and have my arms ripped off, or turn myself to face upwards so that the moment of impact came with less anticipation.

Would probably have a quick cheeky peek to see what's been happening over on General Bullshit.

touchingcloth

Quote from: Replies From View on December 04, 2019, 06:43:56 PM
You can tumble without hitting any obstacles, surely.  It's just a bit of rotational force enlivening your downwards route with some queasiness.

True, but that would also be a plummet. I'm talking plummetless, bouncy tumbles.

touchingcloth

Quote from: Sin Agog on December 04, 2019, 06:53:29 PM
Would probably have a quick cheeky peek to see what's been happening over on General Bullshit.

I'd try and start a thread on my way down, and the accident investigators would piece together my phone to find the words "DEAD SO" punched in.

Quote from: touchingcloth on December 04, 2019, 06:54:04 PM
True, but that would also be a plummet. I'm talking plummetless, bouncy tumbles.

Exactly!

Quote from: touchingcloth on December 04, 2019, 06:55:30 PM
I'd try and start a thread on my way down, and the accident investigators would piece together my phone to find the words "DEAD SO" punched in.

Surely it would be "GRAVE VERY, VERY SOON!"?

Edit: Doh!

idunnosomename

let us not forget that a man died here

so lighten up

Twit 2

Quote from: Ray Travez on December 04, 2019, 03:28:02 PM
Quite literally, a survivorship bias.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

Also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment

Quote from: icehaven on December 04, 2019, 04:41:25 PM
Hmm that's interesting. This bit...

...reminded me of an article I read years ago about exactly this, people who had been aiming for success in showbiz or sport and had worked/trained with some major stars before they were famous, but they themselves hadn't ended up getting anywhere, as by nature the vast majority in highly competitive fields do. There was a guy who'd been in the same go-karting/junior car racing (or whatever it's called) club as Lewis Hamilton and was extremely bitter about how (in his opinion) Hamilton was given opportunities and he wasn't, as if it was between the two of them, when in reality there must have been dozens of others in the club who thought the same thing. It was quite sad actually, he was in his mid 20s iirc, hadn't driven competitively for years and wasn't in that world at all but still called himself a racing driver if people asked what he did.

In the education sector there was a big push on "fixed vs growth mindsets", promoted by the likes of Carol Dweck and Matthew Syed. I always suspected it was a load of cherry picking bollocks that ignored all sorts of mitigating factors whilst managing to kick people while they're down (it's your fault your thick!). Equally, like a lot of this stuff (cf. "mindfulness") there's some good points being made, which inevitably gets lost in the corporate frenzy. Like all fads, it's been and gone.

Replies From View

Quote from: touchingcloth on December 04, 2019, 06:54:04 PM
True, but that would also be a plummet. I'm talking plummetless, bouncy tumbles.

Oh like that homer simpson one out the back of an ambulance

Replies From View

Quote from: Sin Agog on December 04, 2019, 06:53:29 PM
Would probably have a quick cheeky peek to see what's been happening over on General Bullshit.

Cheeky PEAK amicorrect, haha!

idunnosomename

Quote from: Replies From View on December 04, 2019, 07:18:07 PM
Oh like that homer simpson one out the back of an ambulance
best simpsons animated gag ever

touchingcloth

Quote from: Replies From View on December 04, 2019, 07:18:07 PM
Oh like that homer simpson one out the back of an ambulance

Who is Homer Simpson?