Non-climber surprises me with her take on Honnold's soloing

"I asked if she'd heard of Alex Honnold; she hadn't."

"to me it seems both irrational and emotionally off-putting (because Honnold is such a likable guy)."

Clearly she had no previous notions or impressions of Alex.  Therefore by saying "I hope he dies" is largely immaterial because she doesn't know him from Adam.  The OP was upset because HE thinks Alex is a nice guy and had an emotional relation to the issue.

He's the one that brought the whole thing up to begin with.  It's pretty rude to shove a new topic in someone's face (which she knows nothing about) and then chastise them for their reaction.  It's manipulative and sophomoric.   She went home and told her friends about this weirdo climber who cared more about free soloing than getting laid.

dude, this story is fucked in a hundred ways.....why the fuck would a 35 yo, presumably attractive, female date a 55 year old dude???  seriously.  

she is either incredibly desperate or a gold digger.  based on her comments, i am voting for desperate.

i need to get the fuck off these boards, i feel so dirty just being here.

Russ Keane wrote:

She went home and told her friends about this weirdo climber who cared more about free soloing than getting laid.

How do you know I didn't get laid?

Maybe I did!

And maybe it was amazing!

...ok, I didn't get laid...  but I did go home and masturbate to "Alone on the Wall" so the evening wasn't that bad after all.

Russ Keane wrote:

"I asked if she'd heard of Alex Honnold; she hadn't."

"to me it seems both irrational and emotionally off-putting (because Honnold is such a likable guy)."

Clearly she had no previous notions or impressions of Alex.  Therefore by saying "I hope he dies" is largely immaterial because she doesn't know him from Adam.  The OP was upset because HE thinks Alex is a nice guy and had an emotional relation to the issue.

He's the one that brought the whole thing up to begin with.  It's pretty rude to shove a new topic in someone's face (which she knows nothing about) and then chastise them for their reaction.  It's manipulative and sophomoric.   She went home and told her friends about this weirdo climber who cared more about free soloing than getting laid.

That is a great alternate perspective. She has no idea who Alex is, he's just a word in a singular sentence. 

Or maybe she acted particularly extreme to get OP off her back. Maybe OP posted a 20-yr old photo of himself and she decided the best way to turn him down gently is to have him turned off by her.

faye marshall wrote:

dude, this story is fucked in a hundred ways.....why the fuck would a 35 yo, presumably attractive, female date a 55 year old dude???  seriously.  

she is either incredibly desperate or a gold digger.  based on her comments, i am voting for desperate.

i need to get the fuck off these boards, i feel so dirty just being here.

When I was a kid, people used to say the same thing about mixed-race couples... "it's SO disgusting!"

Then when I was a young man it was same-sex dating that people got worked up... "that is just GROSS."

Now it's age-gap dating that upsets some people.

-----------------------

George Clooney married a woman 18 years younger... I guess he is morally depraved and she's a gold-digger?

Sorry, but I don't have the energy to spend my time judging whether a relationship between two grown adults meets my standards or not.  If they're happy and treating each other well, then I'm all for it.

sherb wrote:

Or maybe she acted particularly extreme to get OP off her back. Maybe OP posted a 20-yr old photo of himself and she decided the best way to turn him down gently is to have him turned off by her.

She is still texting me...

Let me know if you want her number.  You'd better like line-dancing, however...

Faye nailed it!  This stupid troll /macho/ mechanistic/unkind BS keeps the gals off this site.  And you really think that is a good thing?  What the hell is wrong with being nice and just responding with a non snarky "I do not see it that way but....and here is my evidence"????

John RB wrote:

She is still texting me...

Let me know if you want her number.  You'd better like line-dancing, however...

dude....desperate AF

John RB wrote:

When I was a kid, people used to say the same thing about mixed-race couples... "it's SO disgusting!"

Then when I was a young man it was same-sex dating that people got worked up over, "that is just GROSS."

Now it's age-gap dating that upsets some people.

-----------------------

George Clooney married a woman 18 years younger... I guess he is morally depraved and she's a gold-digger?

Sorry, but I don't have the energy to spend my time judging whether a relationship between two grown adults meets my standards or not.  If they're happy and treating each other well, then I'm all for it.

LOL....you know when you compare yourself to Clooney, there are far deeper issues.  I am done fucking with this shit, you're making me sick.

So, Eric, did you read what Faye wrote?  My point too!

One of the reasons why we shouldn't allow doping in sports, often given, is that it sets a terrible example for children who want to be like their sports heros.

John RB wrote:

Bachar -- Died soloing

Croft -- Still going strong

Osman -- Died rope-jumping

Hersey -- Died soloing

Reardon -- Rogue wave (freak accident)

Potter -- Died in Wingsuit BASE accident

Honnold -- Still going strong

So, yeah... very few famous soloists have died soloing.  Henry Barber could fairly be put on this list too, and he's still around I believe.

Very few? That's 2 out of 8. Can you think of another activity with a 25% fatality rate?

And arguably, Osman's, Potter's and maybe Reardon's deaths were from activities in a similar risk profile, so the only thing that kept them from dying soloing is that another risk killed them first (maybe we should add Ueli Steck in this category?).

You could apply the same logic to football players: wouldn't we have a lot less concussions and traumatic brain injuries without them? and their fans help promote their reckless behavior, and high school and colleges support and condone it... it seems like a pretty slippery slope. 

If you are going to wish death on people to make the world a better place, you could do a lot better than Honnold.  

Isn't reckless behavior just a matter of perception? I think parents feeding their kids fast food will do a lot more damage to world health (or at least american health) than an athlete in a relatively obscure sport.

We need to start hoping everyone in the millitary dies before they have kids... I mean how many people out there have joined the military and died in combat because their parent was in the military?

/sarcasm off

I think most people out there who do extreme stuff normally understand the risk better than most who do not. I am not extremely risky but I have free soloed some 50-80ft runouts / climbs that I felt were comfortable for my level of climbing and it was never because some other famous free soloist was doing stuff. I know them but I would never do something because they did it, I only do what is comfortable for what I can do. Anytime you start doing something risky because someone else is doing it you are stupid.

Last time I checked no one needs any encouragement to act like a douche ...

Russ Keane wrote:

"I asked if she'd heard of Alex Honnold; she hadn't."

"to me it seems both irrational and emotionally off-putting (because Honnold is such a likable guy)."

Clearly she had no previous notions or impressions of Alex.  Therefore by saying "I hope he dies" is largely immaterial because she doesn't know him from Adam.  The OP was upset because HE thinks Alex is a nice guy and had an emotional relation to the issue.

He's the one that brought the whole thing up to begin with.  It's pretty rude to shove a new topic in someone's face (which she knows nothing about) and then chastise them for their reaction.  It's manipulative and sophomoric.   She went home and told her friends about this weirdo climber who cared more about free soloing than getting laid.

I reserve the right to chastise people for saying other people should die under most circumstances, especially when someone is uninformed about that particular situation. I think it shows impulsiveness and ignorance in the person's character.

Her response is not all that surprising though. Any time I've explained free soloing to anyone remarks such as "that is crazy", "that person is an idiot", and "they are going to get themselves killed" follow. Saying that they hope he dies so others learn is not all that much of a stretch.....; however, I would be more concerned that she is saying that someone off doing their own thing not endangering anyone should die because she thinks it is crazy or idiotic.

I think the real crazy thing people do is the cables on half dome. That is basically free soloing 4.0 / 5.0 climb and as a climber I would personally never in my life go up that thing without a harness and being clipped into the cable for safety.

People do all sorts of dangerous things unthinkingly because other people are also doing them. Case in point: I'm a surfer. Frequently I encounter people who say they'd NEVER surf because we have White Sharks around here. Yet they think nothing of jay walking across a busy 4 lane street, which is statistically MUCH less safe than surfing around sharks. Free soloing is similar. Peoples' imaginations run wild with the horror of the possible catastrophic outcome (falling for 2,000 feet, munched by a white shark...) and ignore that you're just as dead and much more likely to have it happen getting hit by a speeding taxi cab or run over by a drunk driver. One is socially acceptable and the other considered crazy.

ViperScale wrote: