Help me toprope Alex Honnald Route on El Captain!

Hi, I've been climbing for a while now (it'll be 3 months on Tuesday!) and I recently started rope climbing (so fun!).  I'm so excited to do more rope climbing, but I don't want to leed climb because I see the people on leed climbs fall a lot and it looks really scary.

Anyway I watched the Alex Honnald documentary recently where Alex free climbs El Captain and it looked awesome.  It got me really excited about the idea of climbing The Captain myself.  I can climb most of the 5.12 climbs in my gym with only resting a few times, so I'm pretty sure I would be able to climb at least most of the Captain.  The problem is, I don't want to have to leed climb it.

Obviously it's really tall so I don't think you could just set up a top rope on it (plus I don't think there are pipes up there to hang the rope on?)...  But I'm wondering if someone would be able to set up top ropes for all the so-called "pishes" that he climbs in the movie to let me try it.  Ideally I would want to climb the Alex Honnald Route up the Captain, but I'd be open for warming up on something else first if that's what you prefer.  I don't have any ropes or any of the stuff to attach top ropes to the screws in the rock, so you would need to bring that, but I did buy the Petzl Corax Climbing Kit and a pair of TC Pro shoes so I have all the other stuff necessary.  I can drive and pick you up from anywhere in the bay area, and I will also pay for a hotel room for Yosemite.  And of course I'll help carry all your ropes and things to the climb.

How old are you, David? If you're really young, you can be forgiven for this request.

2/10

...your kit needs the addition of the signature model spatula, then you're ready for the Captain! Until you buy one and hang it from your harness, stick to the gym....

Lol Roots that's funny.

TaylorP, I'm free in February but I was hoping to climb before then, does 6/10 work for you?

FrankPS I'm 19

TaylorP wrote: 2/10

I dunno, I’d give it at least a 4.

David,

I am going to answer your question as though you are serious.

There is no way this is going to happen. None.

Find a mentor to teach you about climbing outdoors. Do that for a long time. Learn about techniques and gear. Read climbing books. Learn how to climb multipitch and start leading easy pitches, outdoors.

You will eventually see how absurd this request is.

Ted Pinson wrote:

I dunno, I’d give it at least a 4.

no way. -2 and that's generous. 

This is grade school level trolling, I'm ashamed. 

'5.14 in my first year' was way better

Chase G wrote: This is grade school level trolling, I'm ashamed. 

I think you ment grade skool speling.

 So you'll drive, pay for hotel, carry gear and you're stoked to climb? If work didn't keep me in SF 6 days a week and I wasn't flying back for Memorial Day I would take you on some top rope adventures.

 Somebody take this kid TRing for the day!

Just wait until they install the auto-belays on El Cap some time after the 2020 Olympics. Will save you a lot of money on the hotel room.

Who is Alex Honnald?

There have been a lot of Free Solo threads, but this one takes the cake. 10/10

Señor Arroz wrote: Who is Alex Honnald?

Alex Honda*

Anonymous wrote: I'd be happy to take you up Freerider.

0/10 

Hilarious. OP as well as the answers. I went to see Alex Honnold at PG Sunnyvale the last night - it was a COMPLETE ZOO. I almost turned around and left immediately but after driving for 50 minutes on 101 I decided to stick around for a bit. I have met him twice already so I guess that's why I wasn't as motivated as other 1000+ people there. I still love Alex though :) but Oscars has definitely upped his popularity.

As for the OP's seriousness of asking this question... don't know to laugh or cry. But let the kid dream, people! If someone told me just 6 years ago that I'd ever climb in a gym let alone at Yosemite, I'd die laughing. And look at me now, I did Snake Dike last Saturday and lived to tell the tale! And if I was OP's age, I'd just take off and go and live in the Valley for the good chunk of a year... ahh...

Leliko Mana wrote: Hilarious. OP as well as the answers. I went to see Alex Honnold at PG Sunnyvale the last night - it was a COMPLETE ZOO. I almost turned around and left immediately but after driving for 50 minutes on 101 I decided to stick around for a bit. I have met him twice already so I guess that's why I wasn't as motivated as other 1000+ people there. I still love Alex though :) but Oscars has definitely upped his popularity.

As for the OP's seriousness of asking this question... don't know to laugh or cry. But let the kid dream, people! If someone told me just 6 years ago that I'd ever climb in a gym let alone at Yosemite, I'd die laughing. And look at me now, I did Snake Dike last Saturday and lived to tell the tale! And if I was OP's age, I'd just take off and go and live in the Valley for the good chunk of a year... ahh...

you drove for 50 minutes to see honnlove?!?

Anonymous wrote:

I drove 60 minutes to see FreeSolo on the big screen (a small screen in an old theatre, actually) and Alex was there doing Q&A. It was in his "home town." Honestly, seeing him was a tiny bonus for me but, mostly went for the movie; it's not like we'd sit down and shoot this shit for hours on end. Anyway, for some of us 50 minutes is nothing. There are so many crags near me I can't even remember them all. And by near me I mean 60 minutes from me, or more. The gym is 60 minutes away too. Driving 50 minutes or more is par for the course for some of us.

were you flying half mast when you saw him? NAWAMEAN??