https://www.coloradomountaineering.com/2012/01/guide-to-yosemite-decimal-system.html https://www.coloradomountaineering.com/2012/01/guide-to-yose...: “Requires

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.