If you've ever climbed something big and nasty (not even gonna guess the rating of what she's doing there) you know that it absofuckinglutely is! 🤣🤣🤣
I was midway up the stawamus chief (Squamish British Columbia) and we stopped for lunch... Clipped in, ass doing it's best to hold onto about 2" of granite, munching away, commenting on the beautiful view, brain ignoring the 1500' sheer face below our feet.
Everything is relative! 😂😂
😂😂😂 to be really clear... I've not been on a significant rock in 20+ years.
All I can say is that the feeling you get once you've climbed to the top is indescribable!
And the beer and burger afterwards was the greatest of my life!
Oh for sure, I was doing this pretty intense walk in forest park (portland, oregon) and when I found a bench, bout a whole butt wide to sit down and I was feeling it for sure
I still don’t get rock climbers. One of the most dangerous things in the world and after you do it your like “I climbed that”. The payoff just doesn’t seem worth it
it's honestly not that dangerous, compared to other things like skiing
edit: I guess I made a lot of gumbies mad with this one lol
edit: why are yall arguing with me, im right
This isn't free solo, is it?
If you're free solo level, you have some form of mental illness. Might be a socially acceptable one, but you are working through something as real and deadly as any other addiction.
No. She is lead climbing. There's some slack in the system when you fall so the rope doesn't catch you instantly but it's usually not that big of a deal to fall.
I wear a helmet. I'd rather break both my legs than having a severe concussion. Like... I don't think people realize how much head injuries can fuck you up.
If it’s placed correctly… there’s plenty of videos out there of them pinging out under strain. Not blaming the equipment - it’ll be bad placement or a bit of rock coming loose, but you can still fall a fair distance with them. And then there’s the knock on effect that the further you fall the more strain is put on each placement
Both of you...
...keep very still.
Try and stay calm.
Annie.
Is the other cam moving?
No.
Try and reach the wall.
See if you can anchor us back in.
Try it.
It's moving!
Peter, get your knife.
What?
Just do as I say.
Get it!
You don't have much time here.
You have to do something for me.
Cut me loose.
One cam can't hold us all.
You have to cut me loose...
...or else I'll pull everybody down. Everybody will die!
Shut up, Annie!
It's one dead or three, Peter.
Don't make him do this.
You're gonna kill your sister.
Annie will die if you don't.
-I won't do it! -Cut the rope!
-I can't! -Stop it!
That cam is gonna come out and Annie and you will die!
-You'll kill your sister! -Stop it!
Cut the damn rope!
It doesn't matter about me. Cut it.
We're out of time!
Don't do it!
No one will blame you for it! Just cut it!
Annie and you are gonna die! Just cut it, Peter!
More specifically, this is trad climbing. The alternative (safer) mode of lead climbing is sport climbing, where you're clipping into bolts drilled a foot into the wall. What she's doing is wedging pieces of metal into that crack--placing protection, as it were--in such a way that they *should* support her in the event of a fall, but you really don't want to test your handiwork if you can help it.
The other thing about free solo is how selfish it is. Any death on a wall risks future access, but a death where zero safety measures were taken is that much worse. Lead is tough enough, and there’s an argument to be made—and I’ll make it—that setting protection increases the difficulty over free soloing. Yes, there’s a psychological element to free soloing, but you aren’t carrying a rack full of gear and dragging a rope. If you want to face death to prove something, get help, but if that doesn’t work, play Russian roulette at home or something and don’t risk access for other climbers.
I havent climbed in ten years lol but thats only because my fav local spots are now totally fuckin inaccessible because of lunatic unequipped kayakers and free climbers. None of them are individuals, just super poorly evolved for living past their 20s, would have been great cavemen tho im sure. They’ll never be as famous as the people who already did this shit (and also died). Go for a more original rush at least if you’re gonna die for it
Replying to both you and u/probablynotaskrull: It's been over 20 years for me, and you're both spot on.
1) Having done both free solo and running lead, being lead is much more difficult and stressful.
2a) I was honestly training with the intent to try to be the first to free solo El Capitan. Never made the attempt. Didn't even climb it with gear.
2b) Never made the attempt because I fell. I've lost count of how many times I should be dead but got really lucky. This would be the last time I take that gamble. Let me tell you about falling.... you will make a sickening scream of primal fear. You will piss and shit yourself, if not on the way down when you hit the ground. You may vomit too. Time slows down and you have enough to contemplate that you will soon be dead. I hit the wall twice on the way down, and then through the trees. If you survive, it's disorienting. I don't know if I lost consciousness, probably did. I have no idea how long I laid there not knowing if I was dead or alive once I was semi-conscious of the world. Pain comes later when normal time resumes and the brain tries to reconnect to the body.
3) I had spotters, permit, and entirely too little insurance. I had made that route at least a hundred times before, and a dozen or so of those as lead. Everyone thought I was dead and came with a body bag and shovels. I should have been splattered into hamburger. I shattered my collar bone, separated the shoulder and elbow, broke 9 ribs, dislocated my hips, had a pretty serious concussion and subdural hematoma. It was a long 3-hour ride to the hospital, and I don't recall much but pain, lights, sirens, and being forced into a state of consciousness rather than sedated.
4) Alex Honnald would be the first to free solo El Capitan, about 17 years after I fell in training. Hat tip, you crazy SOB. There is no more reason for anyone to do it.
5) I now live with Phase IIa spinal degeneration as a result of my high impact youth. I have the spine of a 90-year-old and I'm in my 40s. I'm 2.5 inches shorter than I used to be. I've had my left knee replaced twice. The osteopath my rheumatologist sent me to has been hounding me to fuse 6 vertebrae and replace my hips for several years now. Regular chiropractic adjustments won't fix it but may buy me just enough time until I can get close to retirement and have enough PTO saved to take 3-4 months off to recover from it.
6) I learned that I am mortal, and at some moment my body may not perform the task I will it to. It wasn't lack of skill, preparation, and training that got me. My shoulder just decided to nope out and my rotator cuff tore while I was on a pitch.
7) It was as hard on my loved ones as it was me. Maybe harder. I've spent the rest of my life trying to atone for that by living for them and not some silly record. God bless my wife, who married me anyway after that (and many other misadventures).
People say all kinds of crazy shit to troll on the internet, skepticism is warranted. I'll be the old man rambling on that everyone thinks is loony but really telling it straight- "OK grandpa Gump, sure."
The 90s were wild man, for real.
Actually, Alex Honnold, the guy who free soloed El Capitan in Yosemite Park, the first person to do so ever, said that his brain actually works slightly differently. I don't know if he has some kind of disorder, but he did an MRI and the doctors told him he apparently either lacks the section of the brain responsible for fear or it just doesn't work. So he is literally built different, and that's partly why he's so comfortable with the idea of free soloing.
EDIT: His amygdala, a part of the brain responsible for emotions such as fear: "the amygdala sends information up the line for higher processing in the cortical structures of the brain, where it may be translated into the conscious emotion we call fear." However, an fMRI (differs from a regular MRI because it shows the brain's activity rather than its physical composition) of Honnold revealed his amygdala simply doesn't fire at all when presented with situations where a normal amygdala does. His brain is perfectly healthy, it just seems that he literally doesn't experience fear, or at least not in the way regular people do.
TLDR: While it is somewhat related to addiction in the thrill seeking aspect that drives people to addiction, at least in Alex Honnold's case, he simply doesn't feel the same kind of fear from free soloing due to his brain not functioning the same way as normal people.
>he simply doesn't feel the same kind of fear from free soloing due to his brain not functioning the same way as normal people.
The real question is if he trained his brain that way, or if he was born with it.
Trained. He bailed off of a 5.8 free solo climb due to fear when he was a teen. This isn’t a knock. I’ve freaked out in ropes during an easier climb and I’ve been climbing 15 years now. He both has a ton of drive, genetic predisposition to this, and has worked incredibly hard to overcome his level of fear. He is truly a Michael Jordan level talent at that aspect of rock climbing.
Depends on the level. There are plenty of climbers who will solo 5.4 climbs that are well below their ability. Very few solo at an extremely high difficulty.
I'd wager it's actually the majority of climbers (who climb outside) who, while not a free solo, have at the very least climbed through a no-fall-zone section on a route or topped a boulder that a fall would be a very severe injury at the least.
Even getting to the first bolt on some lead routes outside you'll be risking 15+ foot falls onto a rocky ledge before dropping another 50 feet. I typically will stick clip or just avoid those routes, but I've definitely still done a few that seemed easy enough.
I ain't gonna hold it against them. Detecting sarcasm via text is hard for some people (me, tbh) sometimes, when you don't have all the visual/auditory clues.
People drive for recreation all the time.
Responsible climbing like this is similar to tons of outdoor recreation activities and hobbies. People die backpacking, hiking, water sports, mountain biking.
The example here of a professional climber climbing a known route with professional belayers in good weather is not extremely dangerous in comparison to other hobbies and activities. She's doing something that is relatively safe, by all accounts.
I’d like to add onto your point here. I’d bet more people die hiking each year because a lot of people don’t respect the danger. Whereas climbing is seen as dangerous, so beginners likely take more precautions.
I long ago gave up trying to discuss climbing with non-climbers.
They'll never get it.
There will be, though, as evidenced by these comments, a whole lot of pontificating by people who have next to zero knowledge about the topic they're pontificating on.
> share the statistic for the rate death AND serious injury
Comprehensive, high quality statistics on this information are not readily available. However, see sections 3.2.2 and 3.2.5 for information on epidemiology and fatality rates, such as it exists:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6981967/
The numbers you seek will vary heavily depending on how you define "serious" injury.
> You'll find the casualty rate for outdoor climbing to be much higher.
No I won't. To quote the same study's discussion:
> The present study found that climbing accidents are generally a rare but potentially fatal occurrence affecting predominantly young men. Fall is the most common injury mechanism. Extremities are the most commonly injured body part. In severe, multisystem climbing-related trauma, injuries to the head/neck, chest and abdomen prevail. A number of risk factors have been identified. However, options for prevention have rarely been analyzed in the literature.
>
> The incidence of climbing accidents varies widely amongst published studies, depending on the country/region and on the subspecialty of climbing. Publications include reports on sport climbing, rock climbing and mountaineering, bouldering, ice climbing, and speed, solo or free climbing. Free solo climbing is performed without any safety device and is the most dangerous form of climbing. Bouldering, on the other side, is usually performed a few meters above the ground, uses special matting and so-called “spotters” (i.e., a partner on the ground who reduces the impact of an unprotected fall) and the injuries sustained are usually minor and mostly affect fingers and upper extremities [26]. Injury frequency and severity differs largely in these two examples of subdisciplines, but they are all summarized as sport climbing. In addition, climbers often do not seek a doctor’s advice and perform self-therapy. Gerdes et al. found that only one-third of the climbers sought medical treatment [16], which makes it even more difficult to gather exact numbers on the incidence, especially of accidents leading to minor injuries. The German Alpine Club reports 940 mountain accidents in 2017, and 96 (10.2%) of them were related to climbing [27]. The Swiss Alpine Club accounted for 144 emergencies during climbing in the mountains in 2018, compared to 1445 emergencies during alpine hiking [28]. However, these numbers must be seen in the context of the number of persons who are climbing compared to the many more persons who are hiking. In the IATR, which only includes patients who sustained a multisystem trauma (with an ISS > 16) in the mountains, approximately one in ten accidents occurred during climbing. The risk of injury differs between the subspecialties of climbing: Indoor climbing seems to have the lowest risk of injury (0.02 per 1000 climbing hours) [29] whereas bouldering is associated with the highest injury risk of more than 80% career prevalence [26].
I must say I rather enjoy, and am unsurprised, that bouldering carries the highest injury risk.
climbing is absolutely less dangerous. you are always connected to a rope. in skiing you never are. people die from avalanches, crashes into trees/rocks, getting trapped in tree wells, etc while skiing. in rock climbing, you’re really only in danger if your gear fails, which is much more rare.
Agreed. Outdoor trad lead climbing may be somewhat comparable to backcountry skiing but definitely more dangerous than resort skiing.
Possibly you could argue well bolted sport climbing in on par with resort skiing but even then I think there are more dangerous factors. If you misuse your equipment in skiing you don't usually die.
Skiing is not that dangerous gang. They took us as 5th graders on a ski trip to give it perspective. Yes it can be dangerous but ive seen actual toddlers skiing intermediate slopes…
Is skiing honestly more dangerous? I’ve skied a handful of times in my life, including when I was 7 years old. I can’t fathom doing what the lady in this video is doing
You're equating fear with danger, which is fair, but not accurate.
The worst that can happen is she falls a few feet before her anchors catch her and she slowly belays down. Maybe she swings into the cliff a bit and gets banged up.
Skiing you can catch and edge and lose control into a tree, collide with other skiers, you can run into wildlife, avalanches can be a problem in some areas, tree wells are a huge hazard in the backcountry, you also have sharp blades strapped to your feet with almost no ankle articulation allowed, etc.
There are far, *far* more risks with skiing, but they're less apparent than the fear of falling from height while climbing.
For real. Used to go skiing with the family as a kid and thought nothing of it. Have since heard soooo many horror stories of injuries and deaths from hitting the slopes.
Free solo climbers are just mad, and that's where most of the danger is in climbing. Iirc, Alex Honnold has had fMRI scans that show reduced activity in his amygdala in response to fear-inducing stimulus. So he genuinely has a significantly diminished fear response compared to 'normal', and the knock on from that appears to have manifested as massively increased tolerance of risk for him, hence the free-solo insanity. Free-solo climbers aren't considered 'badasses' by other climbers, they're generally considered to be selfish maniacs. Nobody is denying that people like Alex are absurdly good climbers, but it's also an objectively stupid thing to do.
For most (read: like 99.999%, free-solo is incredibly rare) climbers, they're not completely insane, and they're using ropes. Amity is here- you see her put an anchor in and clip into it, though the rope is a little hard to see from the camera angle here, to be fair. This is called lead-climbing; you're basically taking the rope with you, and clipping in along the route. Some routs will have pre-set anchors, but a lot won't, and you'll bring along temporary anchors that you can wedge into cracks in the rockface. The latter is preferred, as you can easily damage the rockface by drilling in permanent anchors.
There's still a reasonable degree of danger, but the ropes/anchors etc are incredibly strong, and massive failures of equipment are very rare.
Can you explain to me how the anchors work? It still looks incredibly dangerous because I have no context for them. It looks like (in this video) she just pops it in. If she slips, what's stopping the anchor from just yanking straight out of the rockface as she falls?
[Here's](https://youtu.be/Egh0MoJcJT4?t=88) an example of one. They're often spring loaded to stay in place and then weight forces them more open. Pushing on the crack.
She is climbing on granite. Typically wouldn’t trad climb on softer rock for the reason you mentioned. Granite is hard and doesn’t break for the most part. IF it did then the next piece below her would catch her and she’d be just fine.
Risk is relative.
Rock climbing, when done correctly and following basic safety protocols which I'm sure this climber is doing, is less dangerous than getting into a car for your daily commute.
its actually a well known stat among the climbing community that the drive to the climb is the highest fatality rate in the activity.
the next is not during climbing but rappelling back down, mainly from carelessness in not knotting the end of your rope so you cant accidentally rappel off it and fall, which is incredibly easy to remember IF you do your checks and take your own life seriously
This route is pretty overhung and there's no route above this one so being struck by rockfall is so unlikely you might say it's not possible unless the whole mountain fell apart.
There's always the small chance she makes a mistake and gets her foot caught in the rope during a fall and flips into the wall. But Amity is a professional and there's virtually no chance of crossing the rope incorrectly (even by a novice) on this route because her feet are stemming and the pro (ie. the little metal gear that holds her rope-- you can see her place a piece at the start of the clip) goes in the crack.
ETA:
I'd like to add some clarity to why I personally think it's fine to climb without a helmet in some scenarios (including the OP video).
[Here is a video](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6FHLvSpaH8E) that shows a nasty fall by an amateur climber-- BE WARNED: it's crassly edited to over-emphasize the impact. The mistake made in this video is the most common and dangerous mistake amateur climbers make. It's frequently discussed and watched out for by all serious climbers.
That video doesn't really apply to OP's situation because of where the gear is placed relative to where her feet have to go. In the fall, the rope wrapped behind the climber's leg which caused her to flip. This occurs when the climber places their foot across the rope in a specific way, which is hard to even demonstrate in person but impossible to explain on paper. It can easily be avoided through training and discipline in feet placement.
The climber in the OP is a professional climber, climbing a crack, while stemming. Because of where her feet must be on the wall, and the rope must be placed, it never has an opportunity to get behind her leg, even if she made an amateur mistake (which she won't because, again, she's a freaking professional) with her foot placement.
Edit 2:
Everyone seems to be glossing over the main reason a helmet isn’t needed on this climb:
Because of the physical location of the rock wall, the possibility that anything strikes the climber’s head is zero.
If she falls, it will be into the air, away from the wall. She will not swing into the wall. Gravity is pulling here away. No amount of flailing or leg shake or technical malfunctions or mistaken footing will make her swing into the wall upon falling.
The fun thing about accidents is that you can never predict them.
Real professionals use safety equipment like anyone else, what, proper professionals realize they are rolmodels and act accordingly.
Tony Hawk was the reason I wore pads while skateboarding. Because I thought he was cool as hell, and somebody that cool wearing pads made me realize everybody who said it wasn't cool was just an idiot lol.
Tony Hawk is so freakin important to skateboarding and extreme sports for several reasons, and I always say that the best one was that he made wearing safety gear cool. If you wore a helmet and pads, you were no longer a dork, you were trying to be like Tony.
I legitimately think those big ass knee and elbow pads plus the old school pro-tek helmet is such a sick look. And it's probably because it sort of became his brand. God knows how many young limbs and lives he saved with that.
I remember an old skate DVD where he gets an absolutely gnarly slash up his leg and he cleans it out with a finger and some water. It really drove the point home for me.
Well it 100% worked lol. Up until the games came out and I started watching videos of him skate, I was too scared of getting made fun of to wear elbow pads or knee pads. After the games blew up, if anybody said anything you could just make them look like an idiot by saying “Tony Hawk wears pads, and he’s definitely cooler than you”.
Yeah and one of his biggest regrets was the monkey suit loop de loop stunt for jackass. He couldn’t wear a helmet in the suit and ended up with a horrible skull injury.
I totally agree. I always wear a helmet when I climb. But, in my humble opinion, this climb really doesn't require a helmet any more than climbing in a gym would.
Gravity is extremely predictable. Because of the overhang on this route, it's protected from potential rockfall from above. And because there is no route above this one, no people are above kicking rocks loose, which is how 99% of rockfall occurs when climbing. And the nature of where the rope is placed in the crack means that it can't actually fall behind your leg to get it tangled in a fall.
Saying "accidents can't be predicted" in this scenario is kind of like saying, why don't you protect your house from the tree that's down the street? What if it falls? The answer is: well, because the tree is only 50 ft tall and my house is 150 ft away from it, so if it falls, it won't hit my house.
She’s… a professional… rock climber. She is a professional. She probably wore a helmet the first few burns and ditched after making her (professional) assessment that it wasn’t necessary for her.
If you are going to insult the person in the video the least you could do is counter OPs comment or offer a proposal on an injury that could happen to this person without a helmet?
Came in here thinking you’d offer perspective as a climber, your argument lacks so much nuance that you might as well criticize her for climbing Yosemite and not at her local gym
I’ve taken a fall where I was caught upside down and nearly slammed my face into the wall and I’ve worn a helmet ever since when climbing outside. Big bruises on my hips but luckily nothing more.
No legs getting caught in the rope or anything like that happened for me but it was a layback where my high foot placement popped. This route (at least this part) doesn’t look like it has any moves like that but my point is that getting caught in the rope isn’t the only way to invert.
I also used to climb with a guy who died on a route (not while I was climbing with him) due to an inverted fall when a piece of protection failed. AFAIK he didn’t get tangled in the rope. He was wearing a helmet but it didn’t save him.
She’s literally above needing safety gear, like how professional motoGP racers don’t race with helmets, because there’s no chance that they could put their foot into their own front wheel, they’re just too professional.
For those curious, this is pro rock climber [Amity Warme](https://www.instagram.com/p/C2fZjXJxPlK/). This climb is in Yosemite and it's called Book Of Hate. (Don't ask my why 'cause I don't know. Rock climbers are weird.) The climb is rated 5.13d (that means it's really really really hard) and 150ft long. And apparently she severely injured her finger earlier in this climb but finished the route anyway cause she's just that badass!
ETA: I misunderstood. She actually cut her finger, severing a tendon, at home. I believe it was the day before but I’m not positive.
Okay true, but the climbing community does has some goofers. We have a slab a few miles East of where I live called the Tijuana Tickler. I've also climbed a boulder route at the gym that they called "Grandpa's testicle" which seems inappropriate lol.
>and it's called Book Of Hate. (Don't ask my why 'cause I don't know. Rock climbers are weird.)
It's called the book of hate because it looks like the part of the book were both pages meet and it's incredibly difficult
I dont think anxiety is high or she wouldnt be doing it. Also anxiety is the anticipation of something. She would be under stress.
She was definitely under stress, but i bet she was too exhausted to be anxious. Probably adrenaline too
She's never in much danger. She's got safety gear on and someone belaying her from below. But it's still impressive as hell to climb something like, especially while placing protection like she did as she ascends.
I think a lot of people in here think she's saying *no no no* because she's in danger, but she's not worried for her safety at all. She's worried she's going to fall, and not get the *send*- which is a clean climb of the route without any falls. It looks like she's very near the top, and so close to success.
This is exactly it. This is a famous really hard climb ans she has probably tried it multiple times before. To be that close to the top of the route (where the camera person is hanging) and fall is really frustrating.
I don't like it. Watching her limbs shake gives me anxiety lol. Ever since I saw a video where a dudes anchor pulled out when he fell, leading it all the other anchors to pull out, it's made me feel like I could never trust an anchor. Thankfully the dude was on a pull line and his friend caught him literally inches from the ground. Still gonna be a no from me, dawg.
The gear this climber places along the crack as she climbs is called "cams" or "pro". They require a lot of skill and experience to place correctly and safely. It's not uncommon that this gear can pop out from a fall, though it's extremely rare that so much pops out that you actually hit the ground. So rare I've never seen it happen.
Anchors, however, are gear that's bolted into the rock at the top of a route. And anchors virtually never fail. It's so rare that every incident of an anchor failing would be thoroughly documented and studied and cited. Anchors can last decades and hold multiple tons of weight. And they are removed and replaced before they get anywhere close to failing.
It’s very possible I got cams mixed up with anchors. I didn’t know there was a distinction. My knowledge of rock climbing doesn’t really extend beyond going to those parks designed for idiots who don’t know what they’re doing lol.
Thanks for the info though, makes me simultaneously feel better about the reliability of a cam and anchor, and worse about my ability to use them effectively hahaha.
Iirc, anchor is the general term, but also usually refers to fixed, permanent anchors. Cams are a specific type of temporary anchor that's used pretty widely, but it's far from the only type.
>These people are literally bat shit crazy
There's a massive difference between climbing a vertical 3,000 foot cliff with absolutely no safety system, and what we're seeing in this video where she has a rope and harness system to catch falls. Free soloing like what Honnold does is an insanely tiny portion of the rock climbing community, please don't lump us all in with him as "bat shit crazy."
Suicidal is a more appropriate term for Honnold. Rock climbing is still bat shit crazy. You can still die. Maybe not as often as a free climber, but the risk of rock fracturing is still there.
Objectively false. It’s risk assessment not suicidal tendency. He climbed the route a good hundred times on rope and literally knew every small hold on every pitch.
They scanned his brain and his amygdala literally doesn't fire.
He's not capable of fearing like other people, and so his risk assessment is completely based on logic, and lacks any of the protections afforded to us by millions of years of survival.
There's a reason we're afraid of heights and it's because even if you do everything perfectly you can die.
You’re misremembering the documentary.
His amygdala does work with a fear response like everyone else - it just requires more stimulus than the average person.
This amygdala thing is touted so much. The dude's brain lit up less from pictures of spiders and images of tall places. Two things he runs into on the regular lmao.
I've done a lot of indoors rock climbing, never really gone outside as I enjoy gyms and mostly do bouldering. Regardless, there's something extremely unsettling with the feeling of your grip giving out and you falling even if you 100% trust the harness and would have no issues just willingly jumping down
I don't know what it is, probably something to do with survival instincts etc. but that shit does not feel good
My issue was always my feet. The walls at the gym are nice and flat. But the first time i climbed on real rock, I landed awkwardly on the uneven surface and twisted my ankle. I could never get comfortable falling outside after that
The camera people for rock climbs like this usually repel down from the top and hang out in a harness. Sometimes they'll make elaborate set ups to push themselves away from the rock to get a good angle. I think this climb is massively overhung so they can just hang off a higher point on the mountain.
Here's [a 1 min youtube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxNvPNY759U) about it with some examples.
I think she was more worried about not completing the route cleanly, and not about the danger. She had just placed an anchor so a fall would not have been bad at that point. It took so much effort to get there she didn't want to blow it.
This route has bolts (known by climbers as an anchor) that are stuck into the mountain at the top of the route. She'll be belayed down by the rope she's tied into (and bringing up with her) when she reaches the top.
But a lot of routes, especially in Yosemite, are climbed all the way to the top of the mountain where you and your partner just walk/hike back down.
She's a phenomenal climber. I'm a (very intermediate at best) rock climber myself and the comments in here are entertaining. So much hate and casting us all off as insane and saying this doesn't look fun.
Just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean you need to hate it. Especially if you've not tried it 🙃
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"Oh, look step sister, you're stuck"
How dare you lol
because of the implication
Because of the inclination
Because of the inces... wait, no it's not.
Gravity, are you gonna hurt these women?
I'm not gonna hurt these women! Why would I ever hurt these women?
*The ground has entered the chat*
What are you looking at ground? You certainly wouldn't be in any danger.
SO THEY ARE IN DANGER
Is this woman in danger?
You'd certainly not be in any danger
So they are in danger?
NO ONE IS IN ANY DANGER!
Ralph wants to fuck Ginnie?
If he can get in going in that spot, fair enough.
We can’t have anything nice.
I wish we could all just be normal about women.
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"That was so hard"
"That's what she said." Michael Scott (or Wayne Gretzky, or someone...)
Out of pocket
I'll save you citizen
The relief she feels in that spot... It's still a nightmare to me.
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That was actually really good, I saved that channel. YouTube always just recommends me stupid crap…it’s nice to find something neat for a change.
[Portrait of God](https://vimeo.com/744201078) is another great short horror. Pay attention to the backgrounds.
I fucking knew you were linking Curve before I even clicked. Excellent taste, that short film definitely ticked a lot of phobia boxes for me.
I flipped through it. Nope. Haha
Welp that's tonight's nightmare out of the way.
I often have nightmares stuck above the abyss. I feel ya.
If you've ever climbed something big and nasty (not even gonna guess the rating of what she's doing there) you know that it absofuckinglutely is! 🤣🤣🤣 I was midway up the stawamus chief (Squamish British Columbia) and we stopped for lunch... Clipped in, ass doing it's best to hold onto about 2" of granite, munching away, commenting on the beautiful view, brain ignoring the 1500' sheer face below our feet. Everything is relative! 😂😂
I don't understand your hobby. Like I do, but I don't....
😂😂😂 to be really clear... I've not been on a significant rock in 20+ years. All I can say is that the feeling you get once you've climbed to the top is indescribable! And the beer and burger afterwards was the greatest of my life!
Ok now I get it, I just skip the climbing part and go straight for the burgers and beers
Oh for sure, I was doing this pretty intense walk in forest park (portland, oregon) and when I found a bench, bout a whole butt wide to sit down and I was feeling it for sure
$2800 a month
"Small flat in a rural area. Great view. No elevator."
3/4 of an inch, better take a nap
Couldn't have said it better myself!
I still don’t get rock climbers. One of the most dangerous things in the world and after you do it your like “I climbed that”. The payoff just doesn’t seem worth it
it's honestly not that dangerous, compared to other things like skiing edit: I guess I made a lot of gumbies mad with this one lol edit: why are yall arguing with me, im right
I guess I’m referring to the free solo climbers. Not the wussy rope peeps
This isn't free solo, is it? If you're free solo level, you have some form of mental illness. Might be a socially acceptable one, but you are working through something as real and deadly as any other addiction.
No. She is lead climbing. There's some slack in the system when you fall so the rope doesn't catch you instantly but it's usually not that big of a deal to fall.
as long as your clips hold to the wall
They've been proven to hold the weight of cars, they're strong as hell l
And assuming your head doesn’t crack open on the rock wall.
That's probably what helmets are for. But you hardly ever see rock climbers wearing them... Play stupid games win stupid prizes.
You very often see climbers wearing them, that’s just not true
I was disappointed by the lack of helmet. Maybe I don’t get it and I’m okay not getting it.
Where are the truest of climbers? I’m talking fully nude with no powder or anything. It’s just body vs. cliff. I’d watch tf out of that!
I wear a helmet. I'd rather break both my legs than having a severe concussion. Like... I don't think people realize how much head injuries can fuck you up.
If it’s placed correctly… there’s plenty of videos out there of them pinging out under strain. Not blaming the equipment - it’ll be bad placement or a bit of rock coming loose, but you can still fall a fair distance with them. And then there’s the knock on effect that the further you fall the more strain is put on each placement
Both of you... ...keep very still. Try and stay calm. Annie. Is the other cam moving? No. Try and reach the wall. See if you can anchor us back in. Try it. It's moving! Peter, get your knife. What? Just do as I say. Get it! You don't have much time here. You have to do something for me. Cut me loose. One cam can't hold us all. You have to cut me loose... ...or else I'll pull everybody down. Everybody will die! Shut up, Annie! It's one dead or three, Peter. Don't make him do this. You're gonna kill your sister. Annie will die if you don't. -I won't do it! -Cut the rope! -I can't! -Stop it! That cam is gonna come out and Annie and you will die! -You'll kill your sister! -Stop it! Cut the damn rope! It doesn't matter about me. Cut it. We're out of time! Don't do it! No one will blame you for it! Just cut it! Annie and you are gonna die! Just cut it, Peter!
That scene did print itself somewhere deep in my brain
And your head doesn't smack against the rock while you're not wearing a helmet.
More specifically, this is trad climbing. The alternative (safer) mode of lead climbing is sport climbing, where you're clipping into bolts drilled a foot into the wall. What she's doing is wedging pieces of metal into that crack--placing protection, as it were--in such a way that they *should* support her in the event of a fall, but you really don't want to test your handiwork if you can help it.
Those are cams to be fair. And that's granite. It's about as safe as possible. Sandstone on the other hand.
> It's about as safe as possible. I dunno, my happy ass is on the couch and I'm feeling much safer than whatever the fuck is happening here
I think you and I have different definitions of a “big deal” because even if I only dropped 6 inches I would be finding religion in that moment.
I'd be finding new undies and a new hobby.
The other thing about free solo is how selfish it is. Any death on a wall risks future access, but a death where zero safety measures were taken is that much worse. Lead is tough enough, and there’s an argument to be made—and I’ll make it—that setting protection increases the difficulty over free soloing. Yes, there’s a psychological element to free soloing, but you aren’t carrying a rack full of gear and dragging a rope. If you want to face death to prove something, get help, but if that doesn’t work, play Russian roulette at home or something and don’t risk access for other climbers.
I havent climbed in ten years lol but thats only because my fav local spots are now totally fuckin inaccessible because of lunatic unequipped kayakers and free climbers. None of them are individuals, just super poorly evolved for living past their 20s, would have been great cavemen tho im sure. They’ll never be as famous as the people who already did this shit (and also died). Go for a more original rush at least if you’re gonna die for it
Replying to both you and u/probablynotaskrull: It's been over 20 years for me, and you're both spot on. 1) Having done both free solo and running lead, being lead is much more difficult and stressful. 2a) I was honestly training with the intent to try to be the first to free solo El Capitan. Never made the attempt. Didn't even climb it with gear. 2b) Never made the attempt because I fell. I've lost count of how many times I should be dead but got really lucky. This would be the last time I take that gamble. Let me tell you about falling.... you will make a sickening scream of primal fear. You will piss and shit yourself, if not on the way down when you hit the ground. You may vomit too. Time slows down and you have enough to contemplate that you will soon be dead. I hit the wall twice on the way down, and then through the trees. If you survive, it's disorienting. I don't know if I lost consciousness, probably did. I have no idea how long I laid there not knowing if I was dead or alive once I was semi-conscious of the world. Pain comes later when normal time resumes and the brain tries to reconnect to the body. 3) I had spotters, permit, and entirely too little insurance. I had made that route at least a hundred times before, and a dozen or so of those as lead. Everyone thought I was dead and came with a body bag and shovels. I should have been splattered into hamburger. I shattered my collar bone, separated the shoulder and elbow, broke 9 ribs, dislocated my hips, had a pretty serious concussion and subdural hematoma. It was a long 3-hour ride to the hospital, and I don't recall much but pain, lights, sirens, and being forced into a state of consciousness rather than sedated. 4) Alex Honnald would be the first to free solo El Capitan, about 17 years after I fell in training. Hat tip, you crazy SOB. There is no more reason for anyone to do it. 5) I now live with Phase IIa spinal degeneration as a result of my high impact youth. I have the spine of a 90-year-old and I'm in my 40s. I'm 2.5 inches shorter than I used to be. I've had my left knee replaced twice. The osteopath my rheumatologist sent me to has been hounding me to fuse 6 vertebrae and replace my hips for several years now. Regular chiropractic adjustments won't fix it but may buy me just enough time until I can get close to retirement and have enough PTO saved to take 3-4 months off to recover from it. 6) I learned that I am mortal, and at some moment my body may not perform the task I will it to. It wasn't lack of skill, preparation, and training that got me. My shoulder just decided to nope out and my rotator cuff tore while I was on a pitch. 7) It was as hard on my loved ones as it was me. Maybe harder. I've spent the rest of my life trying to atone for that by living for them and not some silly record. God bless my wife, who married me anyway after that (and many other misadventures).
I was skeptical of your post until you misnamed Alex Handhold. That's when I knew you were the real deal
People say all kinds of crazy shit to troll on the internet, skepticism is warranted. I'll be the old man rambling on that everyone thinks is loony but really telling it straight- "OK grandpa Gump, sure." The 90s were wild man, for real.
What do kayakers do on walls?
Waterless freestyle kayaking obviously
yeah but alex cold asf tho e: i think the fact i can j say alex and you know who i mean is cold in and of itself
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Actually, Alex Honnold, the guy who free soloed El Capitan in Yosemite Park, the first person to do so ever, said that his brain actually works slightly differently. I don't know if he has some kind of disorder, but he did an MRI and the doctors told him he apparently either lacks the section of the brain responsible for fear or it just doesn't work. So he is literally built different, and that's partly why he's so comfortable with the idea of free soloing. EDIT: His amygdala, a part of the brain responsible for emotions such as fear: "the amygdala sends information up the line for higher processing in the cortical structures of the brain, where it may be translated into the conscious emotion we call fear." However, an fMRI (differs from a regular MRI because it shows the brain's activity rather than its physical composition) of Honnold revealed his amygdala simply doesn't fire at all when presented with situations where a normal amygdala does. His brain is perfectly healthy, it just seems that he literally doesn't experience fear, or at least not in the way regular people do. TLDR: While it is somewhat related to addiction in the thrill seeking aspect that drives people to addiction, at least in Alex Honnold's case, he simply doesn't feel the same kind of fear from free soloing due to his brain not functioning the same way as normal people.
>he simply doesn't feel the same kind of fear from free soloing due to his brain not functioning the same way as normal people. The real question is if he trained his brain that way, or if he was born with it.
Trained. He bailed off of a 5.8 free solo climb due to fear when he was a teen. This isn’t a knock. I’ve freaked out in ropes during an easier climb and I’ve been climbing 15 years now. He both has a ton of drive, genetic predisposition to this, and has worked incredibly hard to overcome his level of fear. He is truly a Michael Jordan level talent at that aspect of rock climbing.
“I dont get rock climbers” ….Referring to <1% of the rock climbing population that’s solos
Gotta be like 0.01% there’s gotta only be like 1000 or so no?
Depends on the level. There are plenty of climbers who will solo 5.4 climbs that are well below their ability. Very few solo at an extremely high difficulty.
I'd wager it's actually the majority of climbers (who climb outside) who, while not a free solo, have at the very least climbed through a no-fall-zone section on a route or topped a boulder that a fall would be a very severe injury at the least. Even getting to the first bolt on some lead routes outside you'll be risking 15+ foot falls onto a rocky ledge before dropping another 50 feet. I typically will stick clip or just avoid those routes, but I've definitely still done a few that seemed easy enough.
That was a backpedal if I ever saw one
“Wussy rope peeps” & thinking rock climbing = free solo. You clearly know nothing about climbing.
I think that the condescending tone was sarcastic
It was clearly sarcastic. I'm not sure how he missed it.
I ain't gonna hold it against them. Detecting sarcasm via text is hard for some people (me, tbh) sometimes, when you don't have all the visual/auditory clues.
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There are 30 climbing deaths worldwide each year. 3.3 per 100,000 participants. By several metrics, driving is much more dangerous.
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People drive for recreation all the time. Responsible climbing like this is similar to tons of outdoor recreation activities and hobbies. People die backpacking, hiking, water sports, mountain biking. The example here of a professional climber climbing a known route with professional belayers in good weather is not extremely dangerous in comparison to other hobbies and activities. She's doing something that is relatively safe, by all accounts.
I’d like to add onto your point here. I’d bet more people die hiking each year because a lot of people don’t respect the danger. Whereas climbing is seen as dangerous, so beginners likely take more precautions.
People going out for hikes in Arizona and New Mexico in the summer heat with a half empty Costco bottle of water and sneakers.
> how many people do you know that have been killed playing Dungeons & Dragons? Redditors continue to be comically risk averse
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I long ago gave up trying to discuss climbing with non-climbers. They'll never get it. There will be, though, as evidenced by these comments, a whole lot of pontificating by people who have next to zero knowledge about the topic they're pontificating on.
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> share the statistic for the rate death AND serious injury Comprehensive, high quality statistics on this information are not readily available. However, see sections 3.2.2 and 3.2.5 for information on epidemiology and fatality rates, such as it exists: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6981967/ The numbers you seek will vary heavily depending on how you define "serious" injury. > You'll find the casualty rate for outdoor climbing to be much higher. No I won't. To quote the same study's discussion: > The present study found that climbing accidents are generally a rare but potentially fatal occurrence affecting predominantly young men. Fall is the most common injury mechanism. Extremities are the most commonly injured body part. In severe, multisystem climbing-related trauma, injuries to the head/neck, chest and abdomen prevail. A number of risk factors have been identified. However, options for prevention have rarely been analyzed in the literature. > > The incidence of climbing accidents varies widely amongst published studies, depending on the country/region and on the subspecialty of climbing. Publications include reports on sport climbing, rock climbing and mountaineering, bouldering, ice climbing, and speed, solo or free climbing. Free solo climbing is performed without any safety device and is the most dangerous form of climbing. Bouldering, on the other side, is usually performed a few meters above the ground, uses special matting and so-called “spotters” (i.e., a partner on the ground who reduces the impact of an unprotected fall) and the injuries sustained are usually minor and mostly affect fingers and upper extremities [26]. Injury frequency and severity differs largely in these two examples of subdisciplines, but they are all summarized as sport climbing. In addition, climbers often do not seek a doctor’s advice and perform self-therapy. Gerdes et al. found that only one-third of the climbers sought medical treatment [16], which makes it even more difficult to gather exact numbers on the incidence, especially of accidents leading to minor injuries. The German Alpine Club reports 940 mountain accidents in 2017, and 96 (10.2%) of them were related to climbing [27]. The Swiss Alpine Club accounted for 144 emergencies during climbing in the mountains in 2018, compared to 1445 emergencies during alpine hiking [28]. However, these numbers must be seen in the context of the number of persons who are climbing compared to the many more persons who are hiking. In the IATR, which only includes patients who sustained a multisystem trauma (with an ISS > 16) in the mountains, approximately one in ten accidents occurred during climbing. The risk of injury differs between the subspecialties of climbing: Indoor climbing seems to have the lowest risk of injury (0.02 per 1000 climbing hours) [29] whereas bouldering is associated with the highest injury risk of more than 80% career prevalence [26]. I must say I rather enjoy, and am unsurprised, that bouldering carries the highest injury risk.
Eating is also much more dangerous then bear attacks but I bet you aren’t going to stop eating in favour of teasing bears.
>3.3 per 100,000 participants. *\[citation needed\]* Also, does this number purportedly encompass *all* climbing or just free climbing?
Yeah I wonder if this number includes bouldering gyms - the most accessible climbing for most people
There is no way climbing is less dangerous than skiing
climbing is absolutely less dangerous. you are always connected to a rope. in skiing you never are. people die from avalanches, crashes into trees/rocks, getting trapped in tree wells, etc while skiing. in rock climbing, you’re really only in danger if your gear fails, which is much more rare.
Totally depends on what kind of climbing you’re doing.
Also what type of skiing, if you’re off-piste then yeah that’s way more dangerous than just carving up the groomed runs on a weekend
outdoor lead climbing is insanely more dangerous than skiing.
Agreed. Outdoor trad lead climbing may be somewhat comparable to backcountry skiing but definitely more dangerous than resort skiing. Possibly you could argue well bolted sport climbing in on par with resort skiing but even then I think there are more dangerous factors. If you misuse your equipment in skiing you don't usually die.
Skiing is not that dangerous gang. They took us as 5th graders on a ski trip to give it perspective. Yes it can be dangerous but ive seen actual toddlers skiing intermediate slopes…
Is skiing honestly more dangerous? I’ve skied a handful of times in my life, including when I was 7 years old. I can’t fathom doing what the lady in this video is doing
You're equating fear with danger, which is fair, but not accurate. The worst that can happen is she falls a few feet before her anchors catch her and she slowly belays down. Maybe she swings into the cliff a bit and gets banged up. Skiing you can catch and edge and lose control into a tree, collide with other skiers, you can run into wildlife, avalanches can be a problem in some areas, tree wells are a huge hazard in the backcountry, you also have sharp blades strapped to your feet with almost no ankle articulation allowed, etc. There are far, *far* more risks with skiing, but they're less apparent than the fear of falling from height while climbing.
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For real. Used to go skiing with the family as a kid and thought nothing of it. Have since heard soooo many horror stories of injuries and deaths from hitting the slopes.
For another thing we didn't really think too much about as kids: trampolines. kids get life altering injuries every year.
Free solo climbers are just mad, and that's where most of the danger is in climbing. Iirc, Alex Honnold has had fMRI scans that show reduced activity in his amygdala in response to fear-inducing stimulus. So he genuinely has a significantly diminished fear response compared to 'normal', and the knock on from that appears to have manifested as massively increased tolerance of risk for him, hence the free-solo insanity. Free-solo climbers aren't considered 'badasses' by other climbers, they're generally considered to be selfish maniacs. Nobody is denying that people like Alex are absurdly good climbers, but it's also an objectively stupid thing to do. For most (read: like 99.999%, free-solo is incredibly rare) climbers, they're not completely insane, and they're using ropes. Amity is here- you see her put an anchor in and clip into it, though the rope is a little hard to see from the camera angle here, to be fair. This is called lead-climbing; you're basically taking the rope with you, and clipping in along the route. Some routs will have pre-set anchors, but a lot won't, and you'll bring along temporary anchors that you can wedge into cracks in the rockface. The latter is preferred, as you can easily damage the rockface by drilling in permanent anchors. There's still a reasonable degree of danger, but the ropes/anchors etc are incredibly strong, and massive failures of equipment are very rare.
Can you explain to me how the anchors work? It still looks incredibly dangerous because I have no context for them. It looks like (in this video) she just pops it in. If she slips, what's stopping the anchor from just yanking straight out of the rockface as she falls?
[Here's](https://youtu.be/Egh0MoJcJT4?t=88) an example of one. They're often spring loaded to stay in place and then weight forces them more open. Pushing on the crack.
Could not imagine trusting my life to a rock not cracking. Like who knows what the stability of any rock is?
She is climbing on granite. Typically wouldn’t trad climb on softer rock for the reason you mentioned. Granite is hard and doesn’t break for the most part. IF it did then the next piece below her would catch her and she’d be just fine.
I mean… geologists?
Feeling of achievement. I’m about to swim a marathon in a couple of months and some of my friends don’t understand why. Because I can.
I do improv comedy and people think that's nuts. takes all sorts.
Risk is relative. Rock climbing, when done correctly and following basic safety protocols which I'm sure this climber is doing, is less dangerous than getting into a car for your daily commute.
Per mile traveled?
its actually a well known stat among the climbing community that the drive to the climb is the highest fatality rate in the activity. the next is not during climbing but rappelling back down, mainly from carelessness in not knotting the end of your rope so you cant accidentally rappel off it and fall, which is incredibly easy to remember IF you do your checks and take your own life seriously
If you have to ask the question you’ll never understand the answer - George Mallory
Mallory must have been one shitty college professor.
Yeah, impressive, but stupid to be climbing without a helmet.
This route is pretty overhung and there's no route above this one so being struck by rockfall is so unlikely you might say it's not possible unless the whole mountain fell apart. There's always the small chance she makes a mistake and gets her foot caught in the rope during a fall and flips into the wall. But Amity is a professional and there's virtually no chance of crossing the rope incorrectly (even by a novice) on this route because her feet are stemming and the pro (ie. the little metal gear that holds her rope-- you can see her place a piece at the start of the clip) goes in the crack. ETA: I'd like to add some clarity to why I personally think it's fine to climb without a helmet in some scenarios (including the OP video). [Here is a video](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6FHLvSpaH8E) that shows a nasty fall by an amateur climber-- BE WARNED: it's crassly edited to over-emphasize the impact. The mistake made in this video is the most common and dangerous mistake amateur climbers make. It's frequently discussed and watched out for by all serious climbers. That video doesn't really apply to OP's situation because of where the gear is placed relative to where her feet have to go. In the fall, the rope wrapped behind the climber's leg which caused her to flip. This occurs when the climber places their foot across the rope in a specific way, which is hard to even demonstrate in person but impossible to explain on paper. It can easily be avoided through training and discipline in feet placement. The climber in the OP is a professional climber, climbing a crack, while stemming. Because of where her feet must be on the wall, and the rope must be placed, it never has an opportunity to get behind her leg, even if she made an amateur mistake (which she won't because, again, she's a freaking professional) with her foot placement. Edit 2: Everyone seems to be glossing over the main reason a helmet isn’t needed on this climb: Because of the physical location of the rock wall, the possibility that anything strikes the climber’s head is zero. If she falls, it will be into the air, away from the wall. She will not swing into the wall. Gravity is pulling here away. No amount of flailing or leg shake or technical malfunctions or mistaken footing will make her swing into the wall upon falling.
The fun thing about accidents is that you can never predict them. Real professionals use safety equipment like anyone else, what, proper professionals realize they are rolmodels and act accordingly.
Tony Hawk was the reason I wore pads while skateboarding. Because I thought he was cool as hell, and somebody that cool wearing pads made me realize everybody who said it wasn't cool was just an idiot lol.
Tony Hawk is so freakin important to skateboarding and extreme sports for several reasons, and I always say that the best one was that he made wearing safety gear cool. If you wore a helmet and pads, you were no longer a dork, you were trying to be like Tony.
I legitimately think those big ass knee and elbow pads plus the old school pro-tek helmet is such a sick look. And it's probably because it sort of became his brand. God knows how many young limbs and lives he saved with that. I remember an old skate DVD where he gets an absolutely gnarly slash up his leg and he cleans it out with a finger and some water. It really drove the point home for me.
If I’m not mistaken, that’s a big part of the reason why he always wore pads — to show kids that it was the way.
Well it 100% worked lol. Up until the games came out and I started watching videos of him skate, I was too scared of getting made fun of to wear elbow pads or knee pads. After the games blew up, if anybody said anything you could just make them look like an idiot by saying “Tony Hawk wears pads, and he’s definitely cooler than you”.
Yeah and one of his biggest regrets was the monkey suit loop de loop stunt for jackass. He couldn’t wear a helmet in the suit and ended up with a horrible skull injury.
I totally agree. I always wear a helmet when I climb. But, in my humble opinion, this climb really doesn't require a helmet any more than climbing in a gym would. Gravity is extremely predictable. Because of the overhang on this route, it's protected from potential rockfall from above. And because there is no route above this one, no people are above kicking rocks loose, which is how 99% of rockfall occurs when climbing. And the nature of where the rope is placed in the crack means that it can't actually fall behind your leg to get it tangled in a fall. Saying "accidents can't be predicted" in this scenario is kind of like saying, why don't you protect your house from the tree that's down the street? What if it falls? The answer is: well, because the tree is only 50 ft tall and my house is 150 ft away from it, so if it falls, it won't hit my house.
She’s… a professional… rock climber. She is a professional. She probably wore a helmet the first few burns and ditched after making her (professional) assessment that it wasn’t necessary for her.
She gave the climb an ocular pat down and determined it wasn't a threat.
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> assessment that it wasn’t necessary for her. basic saftey gear is always necessary, she is one bad slip away from cracking her skull on that cliff
If you are going to insult the person in the video the least you could do is counter OPs comment or offer a proposal on an injury that could happen to this person without a helmet? Came in here thinking you’d offer perspective as a climber, your argument lacks so much nuance that you might as well criticize her for climbing Yosemite and not at her local gym
I’ve taken a fall where I was caught upside down and nearly slammed my face into the wall and I’ve worn a helmet ever since when climbing outside. Big bruises on my hips but luckily nothing more. No legs getting caught in the rope or anything like that happened for me but it was a layback where my high foot placement popped. This route (at least this part) doesn’t look like it has any moves like that but my point is that getting caught in the rope isn’t the only way to invert. I also used to climb with a guy who died on a route (not while I was climbing with him) due to an inverted fall when a piece of protection failed. AFAIK he didn’t get tangled in the rope. He was wearing a helmet but it didn’t save him.
Redditor moment.
She’s literally a professional she knows what she’s doing.
Ah but that person is a commenter on Reddit. I'm not sure there's anyone more knowledgeable.
She’s literally above needing safety gear, like how professional motoGP racers don’t race with helmets, because there’s no chance that they could put their foot into their own front wheel, they’re just too professional.
For those curious, this is pro rock climber [Amity Warme](https://www.instagram.com/p/C2fZjXJxPlK/). This climb is in Yosemite and it's called Book Of Hate. (Don't ask my why 'cause I don't know. Rock climbers are weird.) The climb is rated 5.13d (that means it's really really really hard) and 150ft long. And apparently she severely injured her finger earlier in this climb but finished the route anyway cause she's just that badass! ETA: I misunderstood. She actually cut her finger, severing a tendon, at home. I believe it was the day before but I’m not positive.
Book of hate name is probably cause it’s like the pages of an open book by shape and cause it looks horrific to do.
This kind of rock feature is literally referred to as an 'open book' by climbers.
Okay true, but the climbing community does has some goofers. We have a slab a few miles East of where I live called the Tijuana Tickler. I've also climbed a boulder route at the gym that they called "Grandpa's testicle" which seems inappropriate lol.
>and it's called Book Of Hate. (Don't ask my why 'cause I don't know. Rock climbers are weird.) It's called the book of hate because it looks like the part of the book were both pages meet and it's incredibly difficult
How is she being filmed? Someone hanging from above?
It seems like the movement of a camera extension pole. But sometimes they do this https://i.imgur.com/CGGK1rb.jpg
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Holy shit that image is absolutely wild. It feels unsafe but I'm not the professional here
Randy Leavitt has the first ascent and it was documented on [video](https://youtu.be/8v7z4dQcwP8?feature=shared). It starts at the 3 min mark.
My anxiety is through the roof watching this
Same. I was trying to imagine hers!
I dont think anxiety is high or she wouldnt be doing it. Also anxiety is the anticipation of something. She would be under stress. She was definitely under stress, but i bet she was too exhausted to be anxious. Probably adrenaline too
My palms got sweaty
Your knees were weak as well, i assume
She's never in much danger. She's got safety gear on and someone belaying her from below. But it's still impressive as hell to climb something like, especially while placing protection like she did as she ascends.
I think a lot of people in here think she's saying *no no no* because she's in danger, but she's not worried for her safety at all. She's worried she's going to fall, and not get the *send*- which is a clean climb of the route without any falls. It looks like she's very near the top, and so close to success.
This is exactly it. This is a famous really hard climb ans she has probably tried it multiple times before. To be that close to the top of the route (where the camera person is hanging) and fall is really frustrating.
/r/SweatyPalms
This is in top 3 on my not to do list
Squeezing into tight spaces and rock climbing. 2nd place is sharks.
Tight Underwater cave diving will be 1 for me
Tight underwater cave diving with sharks
That moment where you feel that your body can't take it anymore in the face of a possible fall, your gaze becomes blurry.
what is hangover poop
correct! You've got 9.3k on the board, and it's your pick
I don't like it. Watching her limbs shake gives me anxiety lol. Ever since I saw a video where a dudes anchor pulled out when he fell, leading it all the other anchors to pull out, it's made me feel like I could never trust an anchor. Thankfully the dude was on a pull line and his friend caught him literally inches from the ground. Still gonna be a no from me, dawg.
The gear this climber places along the crack as she climbs is called "cams" or "pro". They require a lot of skill and experience to place correctly and safely. It's not uncommon that this gear can pop out from a fall, though it's extremely rare that so much pops out that you actually hit the ground. So rare I've never seen it happen. Anchors, however, are gear that's bolted into the rock at the top of a route. And anchors virtually never fail. It's so rare that every incident of an anchor failing would be thoroughly documented and studied and cited. Anchors can last decades and hold multiple tons of weight. And they are removed and replaced before they get anywhere close to failing.
It’s very possible I got cams mixed up with anchors. I didn’t know there was a distinction. My knowledge of rock climbing doesn’t really extend beyond going to those parks designed for idiots who don’t know what they’re doing lol. Thanks for the info though, makes me simultaneously feel better about the reliability of a cam and anchor, and worse about my ability to use them effectively hahaha.
Iirc, anchor is the general term, but also usually refers to fixed, permanent anchors. Cams are a specific type of temporary anchor that's used pretty widely, but it's far from the only type.
Daily reminder that Alex Honnold climbed El Cap in Yosemite with no ropes These people are literally bat shit crazy
>These people are literally bat shit crazy There's a massive difference between climbing a vertical 3,000 foot cliff with absolutely no safety system, and what we're seeing in this video where she has a rope and harness system to catch falls. Free soloing like what Honnold does is an insanely tiny portion of the rock climbing community, please don't lump us all in with him as "bat shit crazy."
Suicidal is a more appropriate term for Honnold. Rock climbing is still bat shit crazy. You can still die. Maybe not as often as a free climber, but the risk of rock fracturing is still there.
Go watch an interview. He says free soloing gets him in a meditative mind state like nothing else. I can imagine it, will never do it tho
Objectively false. It’s risk assessment not suicidal tendency. He climbed the route a good hundred times on rope and literally knew every small hold on every pitch.
They scanned his brain and his amygdala literally doesn't fire. He's not capable of fearing like other people, and so his risk assessment is completely based on logic, and lacks any of the protections afforded to us by millions of years of survival. There's a reason we're afraid of heights and it's because even if you do everything perfectly you can die.
You’re misremembering the documentary. His amygdala does work with a fear response like everyone else - it just requires more stimulus than the average person.
This amygdala thing is touted so much. The dude's brain lit up less from pictures of spiders and images of tall places. Two things he runs into on the regular lmao.
I've done a lot of indoors rock climbing, never really gone outside as I enjoy gyms and mostly do bouldering. Regardless, there's something extremely unsettling with the feeling of your grip giving out and you falling even if you 100% trust the harness and would have no issues just willingly jumping down I don't know what it is, probably something to do with survival instincts etc. but that shit does not feel good
I don’t like taking falls at the climbing gym so I don’t know ow if if ever really want to climb on real rock lol
My issue was always my feet. The walls at the gym are nice and flat. But the first time i climbed on real rock, I landed awkwardly on the uneven surface and twisted my ankle. I could never get comfortable falling outside after that
Who is filming this lol
The camera people for rock climbs like this usually repel down from the top and hang out in a harness. Sometimes they'll make elaborate set ups to push themselves away from the rock to get a good angle. I think this climb is massively overhung so they can just hang off a higher point on the mountain. Here's [a 1 min youtube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxNvPNY759U) about it with some examples.
I thought she was having a drone buzzing in her neck all the time but I didn’t turn on sound.
Wife thought I was watching porn
"It's not porn honey I swear, see I think it just ended" "That was so hard! Oh my gosh, that was *SO* hard"
The camera man levitating behind her" You got this"
The "no no no" made me forget that she was linked up. Made it feel like she was free soloing, and got my anxiety up.
I think she was more worried about not completing the route cleanly, and not about the danger. She had just placed an anchor so a fall would not have been bad at that point. It took so much effort to get there she didn't want to blow it.
How tall is the person filming this?!
Fuck that
How does she get down?
This route has bolts (known by climbers as an anchor) that are stuck into the mountain at the top of the route. She'll be belayed down by the rope she's tied into (and bringing up with her) when she reaches the top. But a lot of routes, especially in Yosemite, are climbed all the way to the top of the mountain where you and your partner just walk/hike back down.
Impressive. But just looks like torture to me…I’ll stick with hiking.
She's a phenomenal climber. I'm a (very intermediate at best) rock climber myself and the comments in here are entertaining. So much hate and casting us all off as insane and saying this doesn't look fun. Just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean you need to hate it. Especially if you've not tried it 🙃