Climber September/October 2017

news round-up
You can read all the latest news on the
Climber website at www.climber.co.uk/news
Honnold goes big with
Freerider solo
Alex Honnold
BIG news from the USA was Alex
Honnold soloing FreeRider (5.13a) in
Yosemite Valley. Clearly It’s the first time
anyone has soloed a route on El Capitan
and if anyone was ever going to do
something as audacious as this it was
going to be Honnold.
Honnold first stepped into the
climbing spotlight big-time back in 2008
with free-solos of Half Dome and
Moonlight Buttress in Yosemite and Zion.
Over the years there has been a number
of climbers committed to soloing bigger
and harder routes; John Bachar from the
70s, Pete Croft in the 80s and more
recently, Dean Potter. Each making their
mark in climbing folklore.
Honnold’s free solo of Half Dome and
Moonlight Buttress however redefined
what was possible by a solo climber
operating at the top of his game.
Honnold’s co-written autobiography
Alone on the Wall published in 2015,
explained how he got into soloing: “I was
too shy to go up to strangers at a crag
and ask if they’d like to rope up with me.”
Honnold charts his development in Alone
on the Wall: “In 2005 and 2006, I did tons
of routes at Joshua Tree, on the granite
boulders and pinnacles in the desert east
of Los Angles. I developed a voracious
appetite for soloing. I’d do as many as fifty
pitches in a day, mostly on short routes
up to 5.10.” By 2007 he had replicated
Peter Croft’s 1987 solo achievements by
soloing The Rostrum and Astroman in a
day. A year later Honnold soloed both Half
Dome and Moonlight Buttress.
Mark Synott, writing for National
Geographic, confirms that Honnold had
been planning a solo of Freerider for
some time. Only Honnold’s closest
climbing friends knew about his
long-held dream of free soloing El Cap
and they were sworn to strict secrecy.
Honnold’s preparation was meticulous
and part of this was a super-fast ascent
of Freerider with Tommy Caldwell. The
pair topped-out in just over five and a
half hours – the fastest ever. Caldwell
reported back: “Alex was on fire.”
Many climbers are similarly highly-developed
and superbly fit; none however
have Honnold’s mental control. In Alone
on the Wall Honnold quips about dying
when asked about being afraid by a
12-year old: “We’ve all gotta die
sometime. You might as well go big”
was his reply. Aside from that, Honnold’s
mental game is renowned for being
massively strong. It is this ability to
control his fear levels which allows
Honnold to excel whilst free soloing.
His ascent of the 30-pitch, 3,000 foot
climb Freerider raises the bar so far it’s
hard to see what might come next as
Peter Croft says: “It was always the
obvious next step. But after this, I really
don’t see what’s next. This is the big
classic jump.”
Coxsey retains World Cup title
In a dazzling display of power and
purpose Shauna Coxsey took her
eleventh career gold in Mumbai, India
to give her an unassailable lead and the
2017 IFSC World Cup Bouldering title –
her second in as many years.
Shauna Coxsey was dominant in
this round and come the final, Shauna
looked as cool as a cucumber. Shauna
duly completed all four final blocs – the
only athlete to do so in Mumbai – in a
total of 11 attempts. Shauna’s 11th gold
gave her another 100 points which put
her in an unassailable position on 535
points and hence the 2017 IFSC World
Cup Bouldering title. What makes it
even more impressive is that Shauna
had major shoulder surgery after
winning her first title. 6
Coxsey taking her 11th gold
and IFSC World Cup title.
Photo: IFSC
8 Sep–Oct 2017 www.climber.co.uk