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He climbs all these routes with a rope dozens to hundreds of times before free soloing them. The routes that he free soloes are also considered relatively easy

• salty_biscuits 5y ago
  5.12d is pretty hard. Seems beyond intermediate to me (but maybe I'm just soft).
  • pcthrowaway 5y ago
    Absolutely, it's not just pretty hard, it's pretty damn hard. Most climbers will never climb this hard (maybe ~1-5% of climbers reach this grade with lots of practice and training). Even fewer will get to a point where they might conceivably flash or onsight 5.12d (<0.5% of climbers if I had to guess) I doubt there are more than 10,000 people alive who would consider free soloing 5.12d at all, and I don't think anyone else has free soloed a 5.12d big wall route.
    • takk309 5y ago
      I agree with you for sure. I don't think 12d is unattainable to a typical fit person, it just takes a lot of training and focused desire to get to that point. It isn't a grade you can reach in a year or even five (except maybe children with their crazy power to weight ratios) but normal 2-3 days a week climbing over time will get you the strength and technique to climb a 5.12d. Style matters too. Are you good at steep overhung routes, slabby vertical routes that require lots of balance, crack climbing, or even off widths. It is all kinda relative. I am a tall guy so powerful long moves are my preferred style. I have friends a foot shorter than me that can crack climb way better than I can. It is a great sport and there are accomplishments to be made at every grade and every step of your climbing journey. Try hard and people with respect you regardless of the grade.
      • pcthrowaway 5y ago
        Speaking from experience, 2-3 days a week of just climbing isn't enough for everyone to reach 5.12d. Many people would also need focused training and deliberate nutritional support at 3 days a week. It's entirely possible younger people (teens to early 20s perhaps?) could get to 5.12d with less work, but that's not generalizable to the general population of climbers.
        • takk309 5y ago
          For me, 5.13 is my life goal with climbing. I tend to agree that nutrition is a huge component. When I am more focused on training, not just climbing for fun, and eat right I make strides towards that goal. All that being said, my hardest red point outside is 12b. There is a lot of work to still be done.
  • aeonik 5y ago
    This is true, but there are only a few points on the entire route that are this hard. I don't mean to diminish Alex's accomplishments, just sharing things has said in said interviews. But 5.12d is definitely advanced
• 1_player 5y ago
  Is his free solo climb of El Capitan considered an easy to intermediate route?
  • Someone 5y ago
    https://www.coloradomountaineering.com/2012/01/guide-to-yosemite-decimal-system.html https://www.coloradomountaineering.com/2012/01/guide-to-yose...: “Requires considerable knowledge of ropework, knots, and protection to climb. Although "free-soloing", or climbing without a rope, is admired and even revered by some as the purest form of climbing, it is a rare sort of person that enjoys climbing significant class 5 pitches without a rope.” Class 5 is subdivided in 5.1 through 5.15, with ¿some/each? having a further a through d rating. The route he took is rated 5.12d, maybe 5.13a (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14500208 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14500208), so that’s highly elite. Free-soloing is easier than soling with safety ropes in the sense that you won’t have to haul up gear :-) but of course a lot harder mentally. I think ratings ignore length of the climb, and that matters, especially in this case, where there’s little to no time to rest. You have to be confident that you’ll be physically and mentally fit enough for the entire thing (climbing down is more difficult, so you’re committing going all the way fairly soon). For Honnold, that meant almost four hours.
  • NwtnsMthd 5y ago
    Considering what an average (casual) climber can achieve in a lifetime the hardest moves on the route would be very difficult but doable. But the route as a whole is probably out of reach, it requires a tremendous amount of endurance. For a dedicated sport climber the route would be very difficult but doable.
  • up_and_up 5y ago
    Background: I have climbed for 3 years. This is the route: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/106261545/freerider https://www.mountainproject.com/route/106261545/freerider 30 pitches at 5.13a. That is very very difficult. Keep in mind: 1. Very few climbers can even climb one pitch of 5.13 (maybe top 1%) 2. Even fewer could attempt 30 pitches of 5.13 over several days. 3. Like maybe only dozens in the world could attempt 30 pitches of 5.13 in single day 4. Only 1 person ever in history that has attempted that without a rope.
• Fricken 5y ago
  One of Alex's most impressive feats was doing the triple crown in a day, in which he soloed El Cap, Half-dome, and Washington spire (the 3 tallest faces in Yosemite) in a single 18 hour push. Physically the feat is comparable to running an ultra marathon, but to maintain the necessary mental focus for the entire push is beyond my comprehension.
  • up_and_up 5y ago
    More like an ultramarathon where you do 100 pushups every mile.