August 26, 2011
caption for a photograph without the photograph
“There is a famous image of me standing on a ledge around 1700 feet up on the Northwest Face of Half Dome,” explained Alex seen here reenacting that photograph. “My back is to the cliff wall and below is a sheer drop. It is part of the route to the top and has to be traversed by all climbers of Half Dome, with or without rope. Some climbers wade down and edge themselves across with their arms along the ledge. Some climbers sit on their backsides and edge themselves across that way. I felt though, that walking across it was cooler. It is around a foot wide at the start, but narrows to six inches by the end. By the end, the cliff wall bows out and pushes your back forwards so that you are literally peering over the sheer drop.”
I’ve been out of climbing long enough not to know who Alex Honnold is, but Jesus, to be twenty-six with the gift of physicality this guy obviously has….
(via the browser)
comments
Leave a Reply
I think the line, “I felt though, that walking across it was cooler.” tells us just about everything we need to know about this guy.
Yes, that bothered me too, but I am committed enough to the brotherhood/sisterhood of climbing to know there is always another layer that is completely unspoken.