Free Climbing
After reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer I knew that my blog post was probably not going to have anything to do with race, ethnicity, or religion. While I am sure that there is a way that you could twist the story and relate it to some sort of religious views, I decided to take Professor Heaney's idea and just post about something in the reading. With that being said I decided to do my post about free climbing. Free climbing is is a type of rock climbing in which the climber uses only hands, feet and other parts of the body to ascend. I remember watching a 60 minutes on free climbing and it has always been something that has interested me ever since.
Solo climbing is not the same as free climbing because you can solo climb with safety gear while free climbing is generally done with nothing but hands and feet. I say generally because some people implement ropes in their climb in case they fall, but I'm willing to bet that that is considered cheating in the free climbing community. It has to be one of the most physically challenging feats in the world. While im sure they take the time to plan out their routes up to the top there is no way it could ever be classified as "easy", except for maybe the people who do it. I watched one video with Alex Honnold in Yosemite where he solo free climbs the Regular NW face of Half-Dome. It is incredible to think that he made this climb of over 2000 feet in under 3 hours with no safety gear or anything. After watching all these videos I heard something in one of them that really makes you understand why they do this. One free climber named Dan Osman would always be asked by reporters if he had a death wish; his response was simply "No I have a life wish". In the book Jon was a climber but he was not a free climber. I can say that he connects with the people in a way that shows that he lives for that feeling of freedom. While he does not dedicate his life to being an accomplished climber it seems that he lives for that feeling he gets while he is climbing. After hearing that It makes me realize that these people who many would consider maniacs for what they do are nothing more than a person who is looking for those moments in life that take their breathe away, and this is how they accomplish that.
- Shane Wilson
Shane, when you say free climbing "has always been something that has interested (you)" since watching the 60 Minutes episode, does this mean it's something that you would consider doing yourself?! I found your post/video very interesting, but personally very hard to relate to. I don't consider myself an overly wimpy person, but knowingly putting myself in this kind of danger has no personal appeal to me. I find it really funny that there are such drastically different types of people in the world. The situations that some people seek out are the same situations that I would do anything to avoid! While reading Into Thin Air, I'm trying to understand the motivational factors, this feeling of "freedom" that you mention, and allow myself to relate to the characters.
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-Amanda
Sweet post Shane, this is more interesting than any race, ethnicity or religion combined. Seriously though, I think this whole free climbing relates to Into Thin Air. Krakauer talks about pushing boundaries a lot through these first few chapters. He talks about sponsorships, and how they are constantly looking for a bigger, better accomplishment. I think this applies to the reason free climbing even exists now. People are always looking to push themselves to that next level. Eventually, climbing mountains with any amount of safety equipment (apparently even a rope) became boring. To get that same rush, free climbers have said forget the rope, I need to be completely insane.
ReplyDelete-Jordan
By far the most enjoyment I've had reading so far in this class was this book. Free climbing has to be one of the most extreme endeavors one can ever complete. Especially a "free soloist", as Krakeur explained, one who climbs by their self with no gear. It is just crazy, and to most people, it is something they would not consider ever doing. But I developed an understanding when I read this book, Krakauer describes how he used to eat, sleep, and breath climbing and although it is something I have never even done, I can imagine how much of a thrill and how much accomplishment one would feel for doing something that is so extreme and dangerous.
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