Do it for yourself and don't worry about if you share it or not, soon enough all of us are dead anyway, nobody gets out alive.

I would submit to you my friends that it is not only appropriate to talk about free soloing it is vitally important to the health of our sport that we do so.

Information, honest information, THE TRUTH, should never never never be taboo. NEVER! Yet another form of Nannyism Censorship, the old 'we're doing it for your own good' bs. Well I don't buy it.

I have written a bit about soloing over the years, trip reports, short stories and musings such as this one. I've given it a lot of thought, looked at it from many different angles. I believe, punter that I am, I know a thing or two about ropeless climbing and I also believe I possess the wit and skill to relate that experience.

On general principle of free thinking people, people of free will for Zeus's sake!, the notion to suppress the topic of free soloing should be rejected outright. Accept nothing but the unfettered truth in your climbing. Gravity can't be lied to.

But when you speak of soloing, speak the WHOLE truth. For when we examine the well from which these impulses rise, we often find there are monsters lurking in our own closets. And death is the reward for a mistake.

the problem with adrenaline is that it takes more to get the high. apply that to free solo climbing and eventually you are going to find your limit. Unfortunately, that limit is absolute.
have you ever had the feeling that - oh s---, I almost lost it there - but you get a reprieve. that gives you an adrenaline rush- which you crave, and need more of.... until you reach maximum effectiveness/ run into your limit...
Falling is what happens when you reach your max. potential and nature ups the ante. and free soloing, you don't get a second chance.

that's all I'm saying - go on and do what you want with your fool selves.

If you need to solo (or climb) to feel alive, then you are already dead.

Michael i couldn't agree more. BTW .. you were a great climber in your time. The fact that you got taken out by a rogue wave is disheartening to say the least. If you makes you feel any better, John Bachar died a few years after you on a climb he had soloed a hundred times. Who knew? My point is .. people who think they have the right to offer their opinion should STFU and suck my balls. I'm always right.

because that was Michael Reardon and he's not alive anymore. Figured the least I could do was respond to his post.

It's a drunk post I'm trying to pass off as a troll, like a tard. A very unsuccessful one at that. But thanks for your input.

One day I'll be able to pull a route solo on the first try. For now though, I'm just happy redpointing them.

Ugh.
I kind of wish this thread had stayed buried. I must have been angry at something 8 years ago, I'm happy I don't remember what.
Like most things my views have softened over time.

I still firmly believe that soloing is personal and each person should decide for themself if they want to solo or not. Also talking about soloing is neither right nor wrong, purely up to the individual.
Telling people why they should or should not solo is lame. Looking for justification to solo is also lame.

Even more lame is running around on the internet calling random people pu$$ies.

Since this thread was orginally started I've soloed hundreds of pitchs. They've been some of my best days in the mountains. Every single one of those solos I did for me.
Most of them were cruiser, as they should be, a couple of times they were alittle too close to the edge and I was somewhat lucky to pull them off. In both situations I learned alot about myself.

I'm still here, I'm still soloing.
Mostly I'm just trying to live and have fun...and not worry about too much.

Cheers,

josh