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fiend
Apr 1, 2005, 9:33 PM
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#1 - The first rule of soling is, you do not talk about soloing.
#2 - The second rule of soling is, you DO NOT talk about soloing.
#3 - If someone cries, gets pumped, or decks, the climb is over.
#4 - One guy to a climb.
#5 - One climb at a time.
#6 - No harnes, no rope.
#7 - Climbs will go on as long as they have to.
#8 - If this is your first time soloing, you have to climb.
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jaybro
Apr 1, 2005, 9:54 PM
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"To solo or not to solo"
If you can decide just be considering the question, then don't solo.
-partime soloist
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sick_climba
Apr 2, 2005, 6:07 AM
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what do you guys think? would you ever try free soloing a route you didn't know very well, or at all?[/,
YEs of course, i always look at the route first and make sure its not more that a low 7 but i do onsight free sloling all the time, infact thats how i got into climbing
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danpayne
Apr 2, 2005, 6:27 AM
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In reply to: What precautions??
Hello!!!
Last Will and Testiment...
oh and
Making sure your shoes are tied....
Thats about it...
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g-funk
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Apr 2, 2005, 7:03 AM
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In reply to: #1 - The first rule of soling is, you do not talk about soloing. #2 - The second rule of soling is, you DO NOT talk about soloing. #3 - If someone cries, gets pumped, or decks, the climb is over. #4 - One guy to a climb. #5 - One climb at a time. #6 - No harnes, no rope. #7 - Climbs will go on as long as they have to. #8 - If this is your first time soloing, you have to climb.
That's pretty funny. . .and a great book by the way.
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fiend
Apr 2, 2005, 7:20 AM
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As much as I hate it when people try to tell others what they should and should not discuss... it is my opinion that soloing is not one of those things that should be talked about in circumstances like those found on forums. It always just comes off as spraying... something that should not be a motive for soloing.
I know people that solo harder than many people lead on gear and they rarely talk about it.
In response to what someone asked in an earlier post: all the free soloing I've done has been onsight.
See what I mean about it sounding like spray? :P
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horseonwheels
Apr 2, 2005, 9:33 AM
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In reply to: i mean as long as you die doing somthing you love right? well thats my additude anyway.
You might want to rethink your "additude" given that you are fifteen! Not to say that your opinion is not valid, but I'm a very different person now than when I was fifteen and its only been 8 years. I would hate to have made many major life decisions for myself when I was fifteen.
In reply to: I know people that solo harder than many people lead on gear and they rarely talk about it.
Exactly! If you take pride in telling other people that you free-soloed something, you're not doing it for the right reason.
In reply to: bring along some friends, so if you do fall, they can at least call an ambulance. better yet, call the ambulance beforehand, just in case.
It's my opinion that you should never have anyone with you if you're free-soloing. If you're not willing to accept complete death and or hours and days of painful dying agony at the base of the crag, then you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. You shouldn't make your friends have to suffer the pain of seeing your cratered body for the rest of their lives. It's your decision, don't force any part of it on anyone else.
By the way, I will not climb with anyone that I know that free-solos (aside from the fourth and low fifth class scrambling, although I don't really like that either). I was climbing with some people once and one of the climbers soloed the route that we were just about to set up a TR on. I was pissed, what right is it of his to decide that his free-solo was to be part of our day as well? Not to mention that he made some bullshit comment about forgetting his rope to the girls at the top of the route. That was the last time I climbed with him.
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ajkclay
Apr 2, 2005, 2:43 PM
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In reply to: In response to what someone asked in an earlier post: all the free soloing I've done has been onsight. See what I mean about it sounding like spray? :P
I reckon it's only a spray if the intent is to make other people think how great you are to puff up your own ego.
Didn't sound like you were spraying to me, it was an honest answer to a question :)
Adam
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lucas_timmer
Apr 2, 2005, 3:47 PM
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If you can ''feel'' the route, and done it a hundred times and you're ready for it than I understand that you want to solo it.But if you have never even climbed it before, or you're mind is ready for it than you shouldn't.
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dingus
Apr 2, 2005, 4:38 PM
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Free soloing isn't just about doing some 5 dot wow route sans rope. Or a bunch of them. Or Potter or Croft doing something legendary. Or someone trying to make a buck off a website.
Its also about punters making snap decisions to scramble up 50 feet of jugs.
Its about mountaineers, experienced and noobs too, scrambling up gradually steepening terrain till they glance betwixt their feet and notice the slightest slip will result in a 1000 foot fall. Its about following a more experienced partner up the approach terrain and knowing when to say when.
Because of this, I think it is healthy to talk about it.
I appreciate fiends warnings. But I don't believe in the purity of the 'don't talk about fight club' ethic. I think most everyone who has ever climbed sans rope has felt the tug, the terrible temptation of doing it for props. Even the likes of Croft and Potter do it... to make money in their cases.
Of course there are zen masters who do not ever talk about fight club.
And there are young men who only do it to talk about fight club.
Marines go to war in many cases to prove something to themselves. So do soloists and make no mistake, this is a young man's temptation. We do it as kids, we dare one another... there is no denying it.
There's a million stories in the city.
I do a lot of mountaineering. I do a goodly amount of it solo. Nothing hard, don't get me wrong. I'm a punter. But punter or not, mountaineers are frequently confronted with the decision... rope/no rope, continue/backoff.
It has been healthy for me to read the thoughts of others on free soloing. I have gotten better about backing off. A few times I pushed through my comfort zone and 3rd classed terrain upon which I was very uncomfortable, VERY. I could name the climbs, but that isn't the point. Suffice it to say they were all easy. Easy or not, free soloing when your mind is roiling, when you are fighting yourself to suppress the terror... when you get to the summit and you are vibrating like a tuning fork... there is both a horror and a seduction.
You are 500 feet up a 1000 foot climb and suddenly you lose the head and have to confront the elemental 'dark side of the moon.' And having come to that realization, you STILL HAVE TO CLIMB another 500 feet. I've had that happen to me. I didn't puke afterward, but I needed to...
I like knowing I can summon the resolve to do this... to push through my fear. But I have wisened to the point that I am much better at avoiding that confrontation entirely now. Chickened out, if you prefer. I am better at chickening out. Because I know in my dark heart I can push through all the way to death. I can, and I know it now.
A soloist at JT last fall fell off a route from 100 feet up and miraculously survived, though with catastrophic injuries. His name is James and it was discussed extensively here and even more on supertopo.com. He has been so totally uprfront about it all it is amazing. I think anyone who is contemplating a career of free soloing owes it to herself to read those threads, especially the parts about the injuries and the recovery prospects.
http://www.supertopo.com/...ml?m=52647&f=70&b=25
LatER!
DMT
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flamer
Apr 2, 2005, 4:42 PM
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And DMT sums it all up nicely.....
josh
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epic_ed
Apr 2, 2005, 4:53 PM
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epic_ed moved this thread from Sport Climbing to General.
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csgambill
Apr 2, 2005, 5:43 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: I could never stick the overhang at our local - until i tired it solo. The lack of a rope makes you that much more inclined to dig deep & hold on. Also see Güllich on Action Directe. There has to be a point where a calculated risk becomes stupidity tho. Here's some good advice... if you can't do the route, try it without a rope to motivate you to send!?!? That's a good way to end up dead. And what does Güllich on Action Directe have to do with soloing?? He definitely never soloed it.
Hey, each to his own. If it's not you that ends up dead, and it's the other guys own decision, who cares. The risks of freesoloing are pretty damn obvious.
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theflyingsquirrel
Apr 2, 2005, 5:45 PM
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hmmmm the only time i'd solo is while deep water bouldering on a highball problem like at the river. ( im talking about the susquehanna river mainly the part thats in York where its ya know 50-100 ft. deep, plus the walls ain't that high 30ft max)
the way i see it water feels so much better than ground, especially if you colided with either.
then again if you want to be captain kirk and solo el capitan lets hope spauk? is there to catch your ass when you fall
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sick_climba
Apr 2, 2005, 11:35 PM
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In reply to: You might want to rethink your "additude" given that you are fifteen! Not to say that your opinion is not valid, but I'm a very different person now than when I was fifteen and its only been 8 years. I would hate to have made many major life decisions for myself when I was fifteen. |
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horseonwheels
Apr 3, 2005, 12:18 AM
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In reply to: i apperciate your input man, but isn't that part of climbing? i mean, in my opionion at least, to be able to climb at your full potential then you gotta be able to accept the fact that you are going to die at some point anyway, so there is no point in fearing it. becasue if you fear death, then you most likly fear falling, and then you're gunna cling to the rock and you're gunna get pumed every time you make a wrong, or quick though move. in turn you will not be able to take huge risks neaded to climb to the full potenial your body will alow. all i'm saying is that personaly, even though i am only 15, i die when i die and as long as i do it doing somthing i love i'm ok with that, because i will have gone down in a great state of mind.
I completely understand what you're saying, but there are many things that are more important to me than climbing. I hope that I will be climbing for most of the rest of my life, but I realize that there's a chance I won't. However, I do know that I want to see my family for the rest of my life and have good times with my friends. Obviously climbing requires some level of risk, but I try to minimize it as much as possible.
People have said this before, but I would bet that nobody who has died free-soloing has said, "Man, that was so worth it," on the way to the ground.
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sick_climba
Apr 3, 2005, 12:37 AM
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In reply to: I completely understand what you're saying, but there are many things that are more important to me than climbing. I hope that I will be climbing for most of the rest of my life, but I realize that there's a chance I won't. However, I do know that I want to see my family for the rest of my life and have good times with my friends. Obviously climbing requires some level of risk, but I try to minimize it as much as possible. People have said this before, but I would bet that nobody who has died free-soloing has said, "Man, that was so worth it," on the way to the ground |
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fiend
Apr 3, 2005, 1:05 AM
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dingus: Very good points. I guess I just haven't come across any of the rational discussions yet (not to say that there aren't any out there) and read too many of the posts that just make all the contributors sound like morons.
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michael
Apr 3, 2005, 1:50 AM
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In reply to: #1 - The first rule of soling is, you do not talk about soloing. #2 - The second rule of soling is, you DO NOT talk about soloing.
pfft. First rule of soloing is only do it for yourself. Any other reason and you're going to die or get seriously injured. No other rules apply.
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fiend
Apr 3, 2005, 2:08 AM
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pfft.
The paraphrasing of Chuck Palahniuk was a joke. I hope people realized that.
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dingus
Apr 3, 2005, 2:57 AM
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In reply to: dingus: Very good points. I guess I just haven't come across any of the rational discussions yet (not to say that there aren't any out there) and read too many of the posts that just make all the contributors sound like morons.
Well bro, count yours and mine as the first!
Cheers
DMT
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gochubug
Apr 4, 2005, 3:18 AM
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In reply to: all i'm saying is that personaly, even though i am only 15, i die when i die and as long as i do it doing somthing i love i'm ok with that, because i will have gone down in a great state of mind.
IMHO, as you spend the rest of your life watching the deck get closer and hearing that wind whistling in your ears, your state of mind will be sheer unmitigated terror.
In reply to: People have said this before, but I would bet that nobody who has died free-soloing has said, "Man, that was so worth it," on the way to the ground.
And I think that's probably a safe bet.
Those are personal opinions only, and I don't expect you or anyone else to agree with or endorse them, but I've had many more years to think about them than you have (when I was 15, JFK was president and rock climbing was still mostly considered a lunatic-fringe activity).
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sick_climba
Apr 5, 2005, 6:22 AM
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well dude not to be an ass or anything, but you havn't lived my life, you don't know my life, so youdon't understand why i would be willing to give my life to climbing... it's the reason i am still here man... yeah thats why i have that additude twrds climbing
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gargrantuan
Apr 5, 2005, 6:45 AM
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In reply to: you havn't lived my life, you don't know my life, so youdon't understand why i would be willing to give my life to climbing
the "you don't know me" defense, beautiful.
next he'll say, "you guys should relax, it is just the internet."
followed by, "if you met me, you'd know how smart/articulate/awesome i am."
/something about arguing on the internet
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loadstar
Apr 5, 2005, 4:15 PM
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The purpose of free soloing is to produce freedom for you and others.
There were many divers who could go out sea to dive for the pearls. They relied on their strengths of experience to make these journeys. Very few could go to the deepest regions to get the best.
Jim Bridwell once said about free soloing “So little to gain and so much to loose.”
If that were true then no one would do it. So many great climbers in the past have done it.
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