Kathryn Jones is attempting a selfsupported record.

[Just Bill]

eye see what you did there...me likes!

He's a clever young man.

I concur.

I cant relate to difficulty of the climb.
But its definitely one of the ballsiest thing I can think of. I pucker up and hands sweat just thinking about it.

I hope he retires on top (pun).

As demonstrated numerous times by others before, it dont matter how good you are, eventually you WILL make a mistake if you keep pushing it in extreme activities. Its just statistical odds.

Whats the sayin..
There are old mountaineers
There are bold mountaineers
There are no old and bold mountaineers

Near on 15 something years ago... 5.12 was about where I topped out. 5.12a would let you place at a competition... 5.12 c/d was usually the final. 5.13 was the best in the world level of climbing.

I think Sharma put up the worlds first 5.15 not to long ago... and 13 and 14 are still pro-level climbing.
I don't know the count... but this route he just did still makes some headlines when done with a rope... a few dozen ascents maybe?

I used to free solo 5.6-5.8 here and there. It sounds risky but it's really not as bad as you think climbing that many levels below your best.
Benching 250lbs sounds like a lot, unless you're one of those record holders who put up 750+ (forgive me for dabbling in that reference).

So this wasn't a typical free solo... done several grades lower... this was right up to edge of what the best in the world climb at the moment.

That said...
My brother was an idiot (a bold mountaineer). But he was physically a better climber than me by a few grades and won several comps climbing at 12 c/d and a 13a or two. I let him lead climb once, and only once.
I'm an old mountaineer... always held back just enough to never get in serious trouble. Granted I'm a Midwesterner so there wasn't too much trouble to get into either, lol.

This dude is not bold, believe or not. He's an old hand with a level of mastery mentally that is unreal. Physically he is one of the best climbers in the world, but not the best.

I used to paint houses and run crews for that college pro painters company. The most common cause of falls off ladders was bee stings.
You have to have the mental fortitude and physical control of your reflexes when poised on a ladder not to react; as the reaction is what causes the fall.
I guess that's the closest relatable thing I can think of to what Alex is doing.

Never having been one personally... perhaps a combat veteran might have some baseline of comparison more accurate. Falling off a ladder sure as hell ain't life or death.

He's physically reached the point that 5.13a is within his level of ability to climb without error. That in and of itself is something few folks can claim in the world. It's one thing to work a climb over and over until you finally send it... this is a three hour marathon during which you pause for a few places to concurrently complete a couple sub-16 minute 5ks, a few 60 second quarter miles... without rest, aid stations or water.

Mentally though...
World class surgeons perform very complicated life or death procedures at this level of focus... with a team of assistants and only their patient's life on the line- not their own.
An Olympic level gymnast's floor routine is a few minutes... this is memorizing a 4 hour routine and executing it with zero margin for error, no music to follow, for a perfect 10.
A chess game is typically 30 moves or less... this is hundreds of moves over 3000' with some crux sections where only one very specific sequence will work.

Even to simply sit and meditate for 4 hours on a comfy mat in a comfy place without loss of focus or clarity is rare among practitioners of that art.
To do so while in motion, performing a very complicated, very specific set of physical tasks, exposed to wind, sun, and any simple coinflip of chance interaction with the natural world... that is Dali Llama levels of mental acuity.

This isn't just balls from this dude... this is mastery on a level rarely, if ever seen.

[Venchka]

... and praying that the folks bivouacked on a ledge halfway up don't accidentally knock you off of a hold as they crawl out their sleeping bag to start their climbing day.
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MuddyWaters]

This isn't just balls from this dude... this is mastery on a level rarely, if ever seen.

I agree

But in the cliche, bold basically means people that take unneccessary chances at extreme activities.

I could rattle off a list of named, but google suffices for anyone inteterested.

Many of the best have perished pushing the limit in extreme activities. As a skier, ive particularly noted a few top extreme skiers that have perished over last 25 yrs. All it takes is one tiny mistake or event out of their control. People make mistakes. $hit happens.

Read of a few climbers too.

[Just Bill]

I agree

But in the cliche, bold basically means people that take unneccessary chances at extreme activities.

I could rattle off a list of named, but google suffices for anyone inteterested.

Many of the best have perished pushing the limit in extreme activities. As a skier, ive particularly noted a few top extreme skiers that have perished over last 25 yrs. All it takes is one tiny mistake or event out of their control. People make mistakes. $hit happens.

Read of a few climbers too.

Guess that's what I'm getting at...
Setting aside that any of these activities we do are unnecessary strictly speaking.
Hell, how many hikers have that friend or family member who thinks we are too bold in our wanderings into the wilds of nature.
And how often do we retort it's safer than commuting to work or walking a city street statistically speaking if you know what you're doing.
$hit does happen, anywhere, anytime... the better you are at something... the more you reduce risk to some freak accident or odd chance. It's still possible, but not likely.

I don't see him as a "bold" climber... though I agree there are certainly many of them out there in any sport.
I could die driving home today through no fault of my own. Just because the life or death of it isn't as in your face black and white as a free solo... it is no less real.
I feel that's what's different and nearly impossible to quantify with this climber... he seems to me to be taking little more risk than he did when he drove to or from the climb that day.
I could certainly be totally wrong... but this doesn't feel like some of the other free soloists who operated on borrowed time. This feels like the "old" climber who has mastered his craft at a level not seen before.

Something about this is a different level of what others have done... on it's face it can be dismissed simply as bold... a coinflip perhaps. But I don't think that's right. That kinda stuff you say, wow, that person is nuts.

This comes across as an extreme instance of risk management.
That's what I find impressive and unique here and I think what people are trying to put their finger on regarding this climb.

[ScareBear]

Guess that's what I'm getting at...
Setting aside that any of these activities we do are unnecessary strictly speaking.
Hell, how many hikers have that friend or family member who thinks we are too bold in our wanderings into the wilds of nature.
And how often do we retort it's safer than commuting to work or walking a city street statistically speaking if you know what you're doing.
$hit does happen, anywhere, anytime... the better you are at something... the more you reduce risk to some freak accident or odd chance. It's still possible, but not likely.

I don't see him as a "bold" climber... though I agree there are certainly many of them out there in any sport.
I could die driving home today through no fault of my own. Just because the life or death of it isn't as in your face black and white as a free solo... it is no less real.
I feel that's what's different and nearly impossible to quantify with this climber... he seems to me to be taking little more risk than he did when he drove to or from the climb that day.
I could certainly be totally wrong... but this doesn't feel like some of the other free soloists who operated on borrowed time. This feels like the "old" climber who has mastered his craft at a level not seen before.

Something about this is a different level of what others have done... on it's face it can be dismissed simply as bold... a coinflip perhaps. But I don't think that's right. That kinda stuff you say, wow, that person is nuts.

This comes across as an extreme instance of risk management.
That's what I find impressive and unique here and I think what people are trying to put their finger on regarding this climb.

If you'll recall, Honnold was the name I used to prove my point that there is big money in being a top climber. Why is it that he signed such a big dollar deal, when he did? Could it be that the Cap Conquest was already on the table? Ummm....yeah, it sure as heck was.

To my thinking, a bold climber is the climber who is willing to take on what nobody has ever done before. Not faster. Not "cleaner". Something nobody has done before. That could be due to physical limitations, logistical limitations or simply gravitational limitations. The list of "bold" climbers still alive that I posted is there because all of those guys were willing to attempt something nobody had ever successfully done before them. When you throw in the human carnage that happened on some of the attempts before a "bold" one came up and did it right, you can see why I call it "bold".

Messner...Everest without O2. Not just "bold". Absolutely beyond bold. All 14 of the Earth's +8000m peaks. Absolutely bold. First to cross Antarctica without dogs or snowmobiles. Bold. Crazy Bold.

Hillary...given the state of equipment...Bold as Hell
Harrer...First up the North Face of the Eiger, having to climb in horrific conditions, including an avalanche. Maybe slightly bold?
Herzog...How bold do you have to be to be the first to even TRY to climb Annapurna and then get it done without supplemental oxygen in 1950, on your first attempt?
Beckey...still freaking climbing! How bold do you have to be to have more than ONE HUNDRED first ascents? Pretty freaking "bold" IMHO
Brown...first up Kachenjunga(3rd highest peak) with a paltry team and even more paltry gear, much of which Brown made himself...
Sir Chris....plenty of first ascents, many of them nobody even thought seriously about before he just went and did it...Bold as Hell
Whittaker...first American to summit Everest. Jim, not his brother Lou. Jim did it. And REI. And Magellan. Jim's just kinda a "bold" guy...
Doug Scott...pure climber...bold as can be...nothing scared him off...nothing was too tough...descend The Ogre with both legs broken at the ankle? That's pretty damn bold....

I guess everyone has a slightly different definition of "bold". To my way of thinking, Honnold's El Cap conquest is the definition of "bold". IMHO, the other stuff cited by you and Muddy is more accurately described as "foolhardy" rather than "bold"

[Just Bill]

Webster's definition-
Definition of bold

• 1a : fearless before danger
  
  That is the sense used in the old axiom mentioned by Muddy.
  Or to quote a good friend of mine, " Any a-hole can climb a mountain, but it takes a mountaineer to return to camp."
  
  So yar- When it don't work out we call it foolhardy... when it does work out we call it bold.
  If one is qualified, we call their efforts courageous or admirable. If one is not qualified we call them reckless or stupid.
  
  I'd say those who truly know what they are doing are quite fearful of the danger.
  Then they calmly, quietly, slowly, and systematically reduce to a manageable level or completely eliminate each danger.
  It is their very expertise and competency at their craft that dictates to what level they can manage it.
  They proceed only when the risk is deemed acceptable. It seems dumb as hell to run full speed at an obstacle and leap... unless you understand that is the very tactic that ensures success.
  
  You could certainly call any of those you mentioned bold, or courageous, tough, or simply badass. Some of those folks were hero's of mine.
  For the most part many of those efforts, especially high altitude mountaineering, come with a set of risks or dangers well beyond the control of those folks.
  When you are a first, especially some of those firsts... there is a point you reach where you are flipping a coin. Or perhaps playing Russian roulette if you are truly bold and not just stupid.
  Don't misunderstand me... that takes some serious guts to pull that trigger. Some serious skill to get it to a 1:5, 1:6, 1:7 depending on which revolver you can muster up to play with. Those are for sure "no guts, no glory" kind of achievements that might even earn you a place in the history books just for failing at them, let alone pulling them off.
  
  I don't think that's what Alex did on this climb. I think we're talking 1:100+ when he goes for it.
  It's not fearless before danger, it's a reduction in danger we can't quite comprehend. Of course there is risk, a certain boldness. But this feels much different than any of those other accomplishments you mentioned. This doesn't feel like someone walking off the edge into the unknown. This feels like someone so intimately familiar with and deeply into what is known that it is not comparable to those achievements.
  
  As I said a bit back- "This isn't just balls from this dude... this is mastery on a level rarely, if ever seen."
  
  All the great firsts, or feats of mountaineering have many unknowns. And predicting a 4-8 hour window of favorable conditions in Yosemite is nothing like managing a Himalayan ascent. There are so many things beyond your control... at some point you must simply go or turn back. Oxygen or hypothermia mean not even your body is under your control. Make that choice correctly often enough and you will grow old... choose poorly and you will be bold. Pulling the trigger successfully until you draw the wrong cylinder. It takes nothing away from those accomplishments to see them as different from this.
  
  In this case... nearly all but some sort of freak occurrence was known. The route, the beta, the conditions, the expectations, the physical requirements, etc. Nearly every danger was accessed, addressed, and met. Despite this being a world class climb it isn't insanity bleeding edge level of difficulty... it was near or at... but not beyond his limits. There is some boldness for sure... but if I was an insurance salesman I'd sell him a policy long before any of those others. This looks like someone in control, yes the best climbing looks easy, but that's not what this looked like either.
  
  Just because the average person sees it as insane, or even his peers can't quite wrap their head around climbing at that level- doesn't mean he cannot. Reading his peers reactions is like listening to magicians who know magic isn't real but can't figure out how this guy pulled this trick off. This is not an unstable dude with his head up his ass or an adrenaline junkie with a rabbits foot. This seems to me a guy who is at a level so beyond others that I don't think he felt any more in harms way than I have when free-soloing a 5.7 at Mississippi Palisades State Park. I could have fallen, I could have died... but I've been way more scared on the sharp end of a lead climb at the edge of my ability than on a 5.7 free solo.
  
  I think that is why reaction to this accomplishment is different. People expected some of those like Dean Potter to eventually end as he did. People watch a car race for the crash. A good brush with death will earn you a round of drinks at the bar anytime. I'm sure many see this as just another one of those things. BOLD. But I think there are some who can't quite put their finger on what else is going on with Alex. Maybe I'm wrong and he's just another "next up"... I'm talking though it as I type and don't know any more than anyone else. Pure speculation.

I'm not sure I'm saying "better".
I have great admiration for the explorer, the adventurer. I just don't think that's what this is. Feels more like a master craftsman at work to me.

[MuddyWaters]

• . but if I was an insurance salesman I'd sell him a policy long before any of those others.

Friend if mine quit climbing after had kids he told me, because he couldnt get life insurance

[ScareBear]

Friend if mine quit climbing after had kids he told me, because he couldnt get life insurance

Try getting life insurance with a private pilot's license and a PADI Divemaster license with certs in rescue, wreck, search and recovery, and cave diving. Oh, and the Enriched Air certification too. Aint gonna happen. Not at a price I can afford. I don't recall any question about climbing, though...I suppose my high-angle rescue certification would doom me in that case...or my resume....just sayin...

[Malto]

Friend if mine quit climbing after had kids he told me, because he couldnt get life insurance

That was one of the reasons I stopped skydiving. Life insurance wouldn't cover death from jumping but no issue with solo winter snowshoeing trips into the heart of the high Sierra. Risk is not perceived rationally.

[ScareBear]

"I'd say those who truly know what they are doing are quite fearful of the danger."

I'd say they are absolutely NOT fearful of the danger. Their experience and preparation do away with the majority of "fear of danger". These dudes RESPECT the danger. They don't fear it. No way they fear it.

Compare it to a race car driver. No room for error. High probability of injury or death in an accident. No driver is scared or fearful of the danger. That is when you get hurt or killed. That is when you make a mistake trying to minimize something past the point it can be minimized. The minute a race driver feels fear or is scared by the danger, it is over. They park the car and walk away for good. Same with pilots. No fighter pilot is afraid of the dangers of flying. The danger is acknowledged, respected and minimized. The minute the fighter pilot feels fear, they land the plane and turn in their wings. Why? Because fear is your enemy. To be afraid of the danger is never a good thing. You lose your nerve and nerve is exactly what it takes to get thru the danger safely. With fear comes adrenaline. With adrenaline, without real need, comes bad things. You need your mind to be in the game. Fear takes your mind out of the game. I won't fly/dive/climb/ski with anyone who is afraid of the action. Yeah, it is dangerous. That is why it is done. To accomplish that which most cannot or will not. I can't have my climbing partner or ski partner freeze on me or lose their nerve. I've witnessed it on a sailboat in the middle of the Caribbean Sea after a dive after my partner had to perform an emergency ascent. He was worthless for even hoisting a sail. Literally a frozen pile of quivering jello ready to piss himself at the sound of gull crap hitting the deck. Yeah, he almost bought the farm. But, he didn't. But, he couldn't wrap his head around the fact that crap like this(a valve failure) will and does happen. Just like dude who got hit in the mask by a 6 foot barracuda at full speed. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that if you dive long enough in the ocean, something organic is going to try and kill you. He won't even snorkel anymore. He was too embarrassed to admit he crapped himself. But in a wet suit...its hard to hide that fact...

Fear. It's what eats your lunch and leaves you for dead...

[MuddyWaters]

I already had group life insurance thru employer when i got my private pilot license. Never occurred to me to ask. I really stopped before i had kids, (too much $ to just stay current) but later find out there was fine print.