5 March 2019
Honnold's Free solo ignored truths?
Climbing has published an article on Facebook that quickly has created a debate in regards Honnold's free solo - "Uncomfortable Truths, But Ignored Others"
"The film ignores two important things:"
1. The film crew created some motivation for Honnold to go for it.
2. The film crew made it more simple for him to bail out.
I certainly do not think these two important things were ignored in the film. On the contrary, they dealt with it perfectly. However, even if they had been ignored, I do not see a problem with this.
The only thing that I think was ignored was how big risk of death did Honnold face? When we judge how irresponsible Honnold was towards his family and friends, it only comes down to the risk of death. Of course, the risk can not be measured in percentage but I do think Honnold's risk for falling to the ground up on El Cap was much lower than the risk of death, the guys pushing themselves towards the top of K2 face.
If this is true, we should question every person trying to summit K2 instead of saying Honnold and his film crew was irresponsible. 8a has had a policy to not publish free solo ascents except exceptional ones which have reached mainstream. In the early days of 8a, before this policy, we several times did receive emails where climbers asked if they would get a headline on 8a if they did a certain route free solo.
28 comments
Sort by:
Date
Reply
Most commented
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
26 January 2026
Sean Bailey FAโs Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โฆ
23 March 2026
Jorge Diaz-Rullo proposes 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia
Jorge Diaz-Rullo elaborates on the reasons for him to suggest 9c for Cafรฉ Colombia on Instagram, which he took down last week after projecting it for 240 sessioโฆ
Favorites
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
16 March 2026
Ondra flashes 3*8C in two weeks
โI stopped focusing on competition bouldering after last yearโs World Cup in Prague, partly because I can already feel it on my body, especially in my shoulders. The modern competition style, with a lot of jumping from one hold to another, is very demanding for the shoulders.
Outdoor bouldering isโฆ
26 January 2026
Sean Bailey FAโs Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โฆ
Favorites
Jorge Diaz-Rullo reports on Instagram that he has made the first ascent of Cafe Colombia in Margalef. At 27, heโs already stacked four 9b+ sends and now heโs adโฆ
16 March 2026
Ondra flashes 3*8C in two weeks
โI stopped focusing on competition bouldering after last yearโs World Cup in Prague, partly because I can already feel it on my body, especially in my shoulders. The modern competition style, with a lot of jumping from one hold to another, is very demanding for the shoulders.
Outdoor bouldering isโฆ
26 January 2026
Sean Bailey FAโs Duality of Man (9c)
Sean Bailey reports on Instagram that he has done the first ascent of Duality of Man (9c) in Dry Canyon. โ After four total years and three seasons of climbing,โฆ


