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Dwight Schrute

Dwight Schrute

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http://www.nationalgeographic.com/a...solo-climb-yosemite-national-park-el-capitan/

This is absolute insanity.

Sheer granite face over 3K ft tall. No ropes or safety equipment of any sort. Said the obstacle was taller than the John Hancock stacked on top of each other 4 times.

I saw an interview on 60 Minutes before on him. The stuff he does is physically unequalled, nevermind the fear factor.

Might be the most impressive athletic event ever accomplished.

Worth the clicks.
 
Dwight Schrute said:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/a...solo-climb-yosemite-national-park-el-capitan/

This is absolute insanity.

Sheer granite face over 3K ft tall. No ropes or safety equipment of any sort. Said the obstacle was taller than the John Hancock stacked on top of each other 4 times.

I saw an interview on 60 Minutes before on him. The stuff he does is physically unequalled, nevermind the fear factor.

Might be the most impressive athletic event ever accomplished.

Worth the clicks.
Click to expand...

Maybe you're right.

I saw the 60 minutes show that featured him a few years ago and I was riveted watching him climb and listening to him talk about how he does it.

Alex Honnold is not a normal human being, but I like the subject of people who are obsessed with "impossible" feats to the point where they will often kill themselves in the pursuit.

I just read an excellent book called Shadow Divers (highly recommend ) that featured a guy named John Chatterton, who is the Alex Honnold of deep shipwreck diving. Chatterton was once paid the compliment of being told "when you die nobody will ever be able to find your body".

When Alex Honnold dies nobody will be able to find pieces of him bigger than a thimble, but it sure is amazing watching him while he's still whole.

Just a matter of time, though, before he tries to top this and augers in.

That boy is pure crazy.
 
It takes climbers with ropes 3 days to climb El Cap, he did it in 4 hours.
 
I heard on the radio that brain scientists approached him about studying his noggin. He took a few days away from his van - not sure if it's by a river but he definitely lives in a van - and he went in for studies.

What they found thru having him pour thru images of situations most of us would find terrifying was his brain processed the pics fine, but the connection to the frontal lobe is blunted. The fear or flight response does not kick in. I didn't get enough of the story to find out if it was an innate physical mental trait of his or if this was developed over time and training.

He basically doesn't get afraid. It helps him in no way.

I'm sure his parents have adequate levels of fear.
 
my luck would be a freaking snake at the top to bite me and I Fall off....



This is an amazing feat, one I fear others will try and hopefully they have the same success.
 
It takes great skill and nerve. Most people, me included, have a fear of heights. I'd totally lose it at 30 feet. No thanks.
 
chevss454 said:
It takes great skill and nerve. Most people, me included, have a fear of heights. I'd totally lose it at 30 feet. No thanks.
Click to expand...

I've climbed a few normal mountains, like Katahdin in Maine without any real fear even though there are some hairy and really steep sections, but I watched a ski movie a few years ago where these nuts got dropped off on a tiny patch of mountaintop in Alaska and this thing appeared to be almost a vertical drop.

When they pushed off from the summit and started actually skiing this thing the bottom just dropped out of my stomach and I was still freaked out when I tried to sleep that night. I found myself flinching and grabbing the bed every time my mind's eye saw that drop again. My wife thought I had lost my mind.

I couldn't find that clip on YouTube, but this one was hairy for a different reason. Some folks are just nuts.

<div style="position:relative;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aDEaAOcDKnA?ecver=2" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;left:0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
 
I've been rock climbing since my teens. I will NEVER free climb without ropes. What Dwight posted about scientists studying his brain and finding he had little fear makes sense. Rock cliffs are not completely stable. Stuff sloughs off all the time (old man of the mountain in NH). All it takes is a sliver of granite to let loose, or a bee sting and down he goes.
 
bishbash said:
I've been rock climbing since my teens. I will NEVER free climb without ropes. What Dwight posted about scientists studying his brain and finding he had little fear makes sense. Rock cliffs are not completely stable. Stuff sloughs off all the time (old man of the mountain in NH). All it takes is a sliver of granite to let loose, or a bee sting and down he goes.
Click to expand...
this was 1st thing I thought of, or him putting himself near a nest of some sort built into the wall of stone and being attacked by birds.

Pretty freaking crazy.


I had no height fear until I got hurt and now hate it. I was never a seek it out type but have walked steel up 4 stories on a 12 " beam - that sucked, the vibrations you feel in intense.
 
Dwight Schrute said:
This is absolute insanity.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Totally agreed but for the obvious understaemant. :facepalm:

Never was really into climbing, but back in and around my undergraduate years I did a fair amount or caving (spelælogy if you must since I was heavily involved in a large mapping project), rock climbing (mostly on belay, as required on any outing club excursion), and a smidgen of ice climbing. Whenever in even a minor tight spot, I was frightened, sometimes close to terrified, and had to work on breathing and relaxation techniques in order to move forward. And this even though on belay and almost totally safe.

I am stunned by this. Never had those skills though I can imagine or dream of having them. But cannot even conceive of managing the terror in my heart.

But the full video is a must see. I'll take my anxiety meds and marvel at it.

Hope someone who sees it's play date will paste it up here.

Great find, Dwight.


Cheers, BostonTim
 
I really hope there's video of this and NG has a program. I heard he had tried previously and stopped, so he kept this under wraps to avoid a swarm at the base.

I know exactly what you were saying Hawg. I got the same total body pins and needles terror freeze watching his 60 Minutes climb.
 
bishbash said:
I've been rock climbing since my teens. I will NEVER free climb without ropes. What Dwight posted about scientists studying his brain and finding he had little fear makes sense. Rock cliffs are not completely stable. Stuff sloughs off all the time (old man of the mountain in NH). All it takes is a sliver of granite to let loose, or a bee sting and down he goes.
Click to expand...

Same here, I started in 1988 and have been climbing since.

To me, it's just not worth the risk/reward. Plus I was brought up believing that falling is just part of climbing... it's how you get better. There are variables you can't control, and free climbing rolls the dice with those variables every time you do it.

No disrespect to Honnold, everyone's got to climb their own climb. I just value my life I guess!
 
I went to school with a few freaks of nature like this guy...three died from doing the ice climbing thing...one works for North Face as one of their photographers, going all over the world on adventures.

I hate heights...I hated having to work on those stupid scaffolds. FTS...
 
Big/Sky/Fly said:
I went to school with a few freaks of nature like this guy...three died from doing the ice climbing thing...one works for North Face as one of their photographers, going all over the world on adventures.

I hate heights...I hated having to work on those stupid scaffolds. FTS...
Click to expand...

If you knew him well enough you should reach out to him. Honnold is sponsored by North Face(though I don't know what he gets besides possibly free gear and oil changes for the van). There's photographers around him often. It'd be cool if you found out he covers him now.
 
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