GQ article on climbing - thoughts?

Lest we forget, it is possible to both sell out and remain true to your core values.

between reading all the comments and laughing, and counting how much hes been making lately, maybe honnold will chime in......perhaps incognito?

This reminds me of Tony Hawk and skateboarding in the 90s.

I predict climbing will be obscure again it's not nearly as fun to watch as skateboarding.

Good on Hondo to make some dough.

EFS wrote: between reading all the comments and laughing, and counting how much hes been making lately, maybe honnold will chime in......perhaps incognito?

Well speaking of GQ, 

yeah, but notice that thus far, hes only answered questions on one thread, and has chosen to avoid the m/p shitshow... smart man...       

Alex has always been a misfit with a pretty wry sense of humor and doesn't take himself nearly as seriously as a lot of folks here. I think the fashion spread is hilarious. It's FUNNY to do a Zoolander photo shoot in a climbing gym. And he does a lot of good through his foundation which, after all, requires money. 

EFS wrote: yeah, but notice that thus far, hes only answered questions on one thread, and has chosen to avoid the m/p shitshow... smart man...       

His responses began on page six of this thread.

I enjoyed the Larry David article too.  Would love to see Larry interact with Alex.

PNW Choss wrote:
WHO WEARS A FUCKING WATCH WHEN THEY CLIMB!?

I'd say:

• Dan Osman did at least once
• Peter Croft did at least a few times
• Hans Florine did many times
• The Huber brothers did at least once
• Tommy Caldwell did a few times
• Dean Potter did a few times
• Yuji Hirayama did a few times
• Brad Gobright did at least once
• Alex Honnold might have
• etc

cassondra l wrote: This and the Bear Grylls vid have made me come to the conclusion that Alex is in need of funds. For what, I can’t imagine. As for Jimmy’s photo shoot, well, those clothes are a waste of money. Jtree granite eats clothing. I buy all my climbing duds at the thrift store so I don’t cry when the back of my pants rip out because the seam has been abraded by butt scumming.

Honnold has been doing significant work to bring solar power to remote third world villages.  The money helps fuel that effort.  He has created a philanthropic machine that needs $$$ to achieve it's goals.

As someone said, he is probably chuckling at how silly it all is, but if people with too much money want to unknowingly fund his philanthropic projects, why not?

The Aspen/Chamonix/Riviera, etc.,  set have a lot of money to spend to make a wealth statement.  When one has Ferrari's, Bentley's, private jets, million dollar yachts, multi million dollar mountain lodges and beachfront villas, the prices for this stuff is chump change.

Funny I wouldn't wear 95% of that stuff even if you paid me to wear it... Okay maybe more like 100% GARBAGE  
I hope they were well paid and laughed all the way to the bank........Good for them making some cash funding their climbing.

You gotta make hay while the sun shines, but this popularity in the mainstream media makes me a bit queasy.  Not with respect to Alex, but these same buttknockers who don’t really understand a damn thing about Climbing in the first place will be writing even more idiotic and puke worthy pieces if anything ever happens to him. He’s a frickin free soloist after all.  I’d rather work a crab boat with lead boots.

Andy Wiesner wrote:

I dunno. Dress funny. Get money. Go climbing. I didn't know Fred, but I suspect he might have gotten it. 

You're wrong, but feel free to keep worshipping bad-ass climbers who are commercializing climbing, and please feel free to keep showing your coolness by referring to famous people you've never met by their first names.

Josh C wrote: Were the clothes Honnold was wearing hideous? Yes but they also rocked in a "F*ck You, I do what I want" kinda way
Am I jealous of his insane climbing ability and having the leisure time in life to hone that ability? Yes
Am I jealous of the shit-ton of money he is making? Yes
Do I wish that I could make the same amount of money with my climbing ability? Yes
I think I'm gonna take out a personal loan and add to my climbing wardrobe

 

You can admire his ability while also deploring his role in commoditizing climbing. I'm in awe of what he does on the rock; I feel nothing but disgust when I see him in those GQ shots. But he started as a gym climber, so whatever...

I can just imagine someone pitched this initially as being done outside in Yosemite, and referenced the J-Tree photoshoot, and someone else piped up and shot that down with a, "um, let's not".

The colorways used honestly don't look too different than what you'd see in a La Sportiva catalog. Very bright, vibrant. Something that stands out from the rest of what you may see in the out-of-doors and references the colors next to that pink V2 in the corner. I can see what they were going for.

Robert S wrote:

You're wrong, but feel free to keep worshipping bad-ass climbers who are commercializing climbing, and please feel free to keep showing your coolness by referring to famous people you've never met by their first names.

As far as worshiping goes, check that idol of ideological purity and the license it appears to give you to judge, deplore, feel disgust, etc. I’m not sure Mr. Beckey (etiquette point noted) would’ve taken himself quite so seriously.

Josh C wrote: 
Am I jealous of his insane climbing ability and having the leisure time in life to hone that ability? Yes

 

Is it leisure time when it's his job? 

"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different."

                             ​ not Tradiban​​​

Why are people still having meltdowns about this? Climbers have been selling their souls to corporate America since the days of Harding, and include such pure as the driven snow characters such as Bridwell, Kauk, Hill and Bachar. Everyone needs to make a paycheck eventually. 

I had the opportunity to have a rather long conversation with a North Face athlete, someone you'd all know from Reelrock. She has her own profession apart from being a pro climber, and she keeps current in that. As a pro, her job is multifaceted. She is a pro at every aspect of it, and at the top of her profession. She climbs, yes, all over the world, but she also models. More importantly, she tests and helps develop product for her brands  A woman, working on development of technical clothing and gear? A huge plus for the rest of us.

I was super impressed with this outstanding athlete, not just as an athlete, but how she represented her brands.

She was also very human, down to earth, and extraordinarily kind and gracious to an old lady.

The pros work hard for this. Who has sold their soul more? Someone at the top of a profession? Or the drones in the cubicles?

Best, Helen