Man Becomes First To Free Solo Climb El Capitan

Adrenaline inducing activities aren't for everyone. The idea of getting the blood pumping, the heart rate hitting its peak and getting all sweaty just ain't cricket for some, and sitting at home watching a drama on Netflix is more than sufficient for a bit of excitement.

To the dismay of said people, others wear dodgy clothes paired with weird shoes and go and do 'outdoorsy' things at weekends - climbing, jumping, running and all the rest of it.

Don't get me wrong, the Risk Assessment missions with Dom Beasley in GTA look great and all that, but I'm with the people who'd simply see no point in taking it any further than the PlayStation.

via GIPHY

Alex Honnold isn't one of those geezers. He's a real get out there and do it type, proved by being the first man to climb the 3,000 foot granite wall in Yosemite's El Capitan without a harness.

That sort of thing really isn't for the faint of heart, because as you've probably already worked out, a 3,000 foot fall would quite clearly result in death.

El Capitan has reportedly been dubbed 'the moon landing' of rock climbing, such is its enormity. Honnold's ascent was captured for an upcoming National Geographic documentary.

Credit: National Geographic

Honnold's climbing partner, Tom Caldwell, was mightily scared of his friend's climb, as things could have gone very wrong.

"The route is far below Alex's limit, but his goal was to free solo it - to climb it without ropes - which no one had ever done," he wrote in Outside Magazine.

"I figured that Alex would one day do it, but didn't know whether I should encourage him to follow through on his plan, or discourage him from taking the risk.

"Would I be watching my friend perform an act of generation defining mastery or a round of Russian roulette?

"Although I had spent part of the previous week in Yosemite helping Alex with his final preparations for the climb, I was back home in Colorado, playing with my kids, and trying not to think too deeply about what Alex was planning on doing, because it's terrifying to contemplate."

Reckon you could do this? No, of course you couldn't.

Topics: Climbing

Mark McGowan

Mark is a journalist at LADbible, who joined in 2015 after a year as a freelance writer. In the past he blogged for independent football fan channel Redmen TV, after graduating from Staffordshire University with degrees in journalism and English literature. He has worked on campaigns such as UOKM8? and IIOC.