The Freesoloist YouTube Channel

I love (watching) free soloing

I love climbing

I love spray

I love trolling

I dgaf how remarkable someone is

John Tex wrote: There are truly humble people out there climbing that no one but a few have heard of. How about the guy who free soloed a 37 pitch 12c on his third time on the wall in thedolomites? 

That caught everyones attention when it happened.  After reading your post I remembered it well enough I googled "Auer soloing fish route dolomites" and got the following results:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/news/2007/05/austrian_solos_900m_7b+_in_dolomites-37293

Sadly, when I clicked on the sub-heading of 'news' I realized he was one of the ones who passed away in the most recent high profile death in the mountains.  May he RIP.

He fell on a trad lead at Yosemite a few years ago and split his head open. Not the kind of person I want to support. No matter how solid he seems, he's an accident/tragedy/access issue waiting to happen.

My feeling is, and continues to be, that if you're only free-soloing because you enjoy it, then cut it with all the self-promotion.

skelldify wrote: I used to know some people who knew this guy. He fell on a trad lead at Yosemite a few years ago and split his head open. Not the kind of person I want to support. No matter how solid he seems, he's an accident/tragedy/access issue waiting to happen.

My feeling is, and continues to be, that if you're only free-soloing because you enjoy it, then cut it with all the self-promotion.

Falls happen on El Cap and that access ain't going anywhere. You must not like reelroc videos. Austin might get picked up by the north face for tours and they'll show his soloing for his climbing background. It won't be spray anymore, it'll be something totally different. He doesn't even talk in his videos lol! It's just raw rock climbing. Any soloist is gonna want to watch it. I like watching them, so I can see the possibility of doing it if I ever visit the same walls. 

John Tex wrote: How come you guys dont jump on honnold? He sprays a ton. As a matter of fact, he doesnt solo easy stuff(jre podcast, his words) any more and only does his rehearsed routes with a camera crew. He was so cocky and spayed so much in free solo that peter croft was laughing at him... yet when someone else does it everyone is mad. Why do yall care so much about some people spraying but when your idol does it they seem to be so humble? There is absolutely nothing humble about folks like ondra and honnold. They live with a film crew for christ's sake. Is this guy humble? No. But for people to love some of these incredibly cocky pros and label them humble and then hate on this guy blows my mind.
There are truly humble people out there climbing that no one but a few have heard of. How about the guy who free soloed a 37 pitch 12c on his third time on the wall in thedolomites? RiP. That rivals (yet does not ecclipse) honnolds freerider due to size and scale and the fact it was his third time on it! Yet i bet you didnt know about it. And it was done 12 years ago. But yeah, these super humble guys climbing with a crowd of alerted fans to watch and cameras on every single move are so soft-spoken and cool! If you like them they're humble. If you don't, you hate. Welcome to haterproject, i mean mountainproject. 

Except he doesn’t really, relative to his accomplishments.  There’s a reason Alex is nicknamed “no big deal” Honnold.

This guys climbs hard routes without a rope yeah, but the style is not impressive to me. Gung Ho, and Twinkie don’t top out, so what does this guy do, step into a harness? He climbed a long run out, cool.

If he were out there romping around Tower Rock soloing Insanity Ceiling that would be awesome. Well, maybe if he didn’t spray quite so hard about it. 

He has at least two videos where he has to bail.  IMO he's pushing himself too far above his skills and and it is going to catch up to him in a brutal way.  But I can't lead 5.12 so WTF do I know

P. W. wrote: He has at least two videos where he has to bail.  IMO he's pushing himself too far above his skills and and it is going to catch up to him in a brutal way.  But I can't lead 5.12 so WTF do I know

How did he bail? There's a good vid of Reardon downclimbing out of trouble in Malibu.

P. W. wrote: He has at least two videos where he has to bail.  IMO he's pushing himself too far above his skills and and it is going to catch up to him in a brutal way.  But I can't lead 5.12 so WTF do I know

A good soloist is not defined by how many routes he's climbed but how many he's backed off on.

 I've backed out of many solos but I have gotten my self in situations where I was unable to down climb and it was pretty sketch, one time it wasn't exactly hard climbing it was like 10d (no where near my max) but I got far more pumped than I should have gotten and had no choice but to go on. 

Austin has a overly developed aerobic system so he can back out of  just abouty anything severely overhanging his ability to rest is quite something to behold. He can push really close to the edge, it's only when a move feels too hard that he actually has to back out, hence why he's able to push things pretty far. 

P. W. wrote: He has at least two videos where he has to bail.  IMO he's pushing himself too far above his skills and and it is going to catch up to him in a brutal way.  But I can't lead 5.12 so WTF do I know

Of all the things to be upset about! 

The ability to recognize when to back out, coupled with the ability to ACTUALLY back out, is an excellent skill for a soloist. 

Welcome to haterproject, i mean mountainproject.

yep pretty much every thread now is immediately derailed by 6 troll posts, everyone hates on everything always, and the people trying to converse in earnest are drowned out by the one-liner smartasses.

time to nuke it like supertopo and try again.

RE: howell - he's doin his thing, we live in the age of instagram and if I liked doing something that much, I might also try to put it out there on social media in the hopes that it might someday enable me to do it more often. it's self-branding. like it or not, its here to stay until the next new social phenomenon comes along. you don't like it, there's a ton of other instagram channels to follow instead. soloing hurts no one. live and let live.

Steve Marshall wrote:
yep pretty much every thread now is immediately derailed by 6 troll posts, everyone hates on everything always, and the people trying to converse in earnest are drowned out by the one-liner smartasses.

time to nuke it like supertopo and try again.

RE: howell - he's doin his thing, we live in the age of instagram and if I liked doing something that much, I might also try to put it out there on social media in the hopes that it might someday enable me to do it more often. it's self-branding. like it or not, its here to stay until the next new social phenomenon comes along. you don't like it, there's a ton of other instagram channels to follow instead. soloing hurts no one. live and let live.

More like live and let die.

Steve Marshall wrote:live and let live.

This quote stood out to me when I saw it recently. It resonates with me when I don't see it. Try to imagine two things: you're the last person on earth, and there's nothing around to influence you, other than survive. The other thing is to imagine you're the most famous person, and people won't leave you alone. You're constantly getting battered by business partners, paparazzi, death threats. You're either a follower, or just appreciating what you have, with no need for more/new. Anyone who instigates is stuck in the cycle of consumption. They fill up on whatever they want, digest it, want more. Imagine being famous and you can't be an asshole. People only want to feel lifted up by their role model. 

Free Soloing for Youtube Channel = The wrong reasons.

Jaren Watson wrote:

3:10.

Dude. The Simpsons soooooooo gets it.

More importantly, love him or hate him this thread has doubled The Freesoloist's subscribers! Keep bumping the thread, you know you can't resist.

When Tradiban speaks, you listen.

Austin fell climbing in Linville Gorgoe, North Carolina and has passed away. 

Alexander Stathis wrote: Austin fell climbing in Linville Gorgoe, North Carolina and has passed away. 

It’s a joke, right?

Fehim Hasecic wrote:

It’s a joke, right?

https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/national/article232130272.html 

I knew him and I'm glad to see the last thing posted on this thread before his death was that Simpsons clip. It's almost like MP community had come around.

It's clear that none of y'all have heard this guy tell a story. Everything about him, hat included, makes more sense when you share a yarn and a beer with the bloke.

Wish you were still smelling the mojo, Austin.