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Our next guest is a free soloing
phenomenon, please welcome Alex Honnold.

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Here is what I
don't understand.

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One little mistake, one little
slip, and you fall and die.

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Yeah, I mean, uh, you
seem to understand it well...

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- Yeah.
- Yeah.

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And I feel like anybody could
conceivably die on any given day.

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Soloing makes it feel far more
immediate and much more present.

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Does it feel different
to be up there without a rope?

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When you're climbing without
a rope, it's obviously like

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much higher consequence, much,
much higher level of focus.

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You know, it's a whole
different experience.

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So it's not like I'm just
pushing and pushing and pushing

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until something
terrible happens.

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I don't look at it, like,
with that perspective.

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But maybe that's why
it's dangerous for me.

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Maybe I'm too close to it and I can't
tell that I'm speeding towards a cliff.

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Okay.

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I like to differentiate
between risk and consequence.

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You know, when I'm doing these hard free
solos I like to think that the risk,

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you know, the chance
of me falling off is

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quite low even though the
consequence is extremely high.

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And that's kind of like one of the
appeals of free soloing, you know,

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to take something that seems difficult
and dangerous and make it feel safe.

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So, do you think that, uh, being a rock
climber has been a positive or negative

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for your dating life?

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My dating life?

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Yeah.

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I think, uh, I think
overall it's been a negative.

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Um, I just travel too
much and I live in a car.

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Let's talk through some of
the climbing adventures you've had.

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The historic free solo
climb, Moonlight Buttress.

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When I did it, it was like,
"Oh," you know, kind of groundbreaking,

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kind of extreme.

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But for me it always felt
quite easy and pretty secure.

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Well, that wasn't where you
stopped, because that next challenge then

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was free soloing Half Dome.

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Half Dome was a huge step for me
because it was twice as big as anything

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I'd ever soloed.

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Free soloing is so
dangerous that less than 1% of people

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who climb attempt it.

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Alex has done more than 1,000 free solo
climbs, but none were tougher than this one.

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I got quite scared in some places,
and then you start to panic a little bit.

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And then you have to,
like, reel it all back in.

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What is next in
free solo climbing?

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Well, I don't know, I mean,
I've thought about El Cap, like,

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for years and every
year I look at it and I'm like,

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"That's really scary."

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Um, well, I've never even wanted to
really, or I've always wanted to but then

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I've always been like,
"That's too scary."

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I'm aiming towards the most
beautiful valley on earth.

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I remember coming to Yosemite as a little
kid and my dad would always have a little

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cooler in the back of the car, and
have our cookies in the cold milk,

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and we'd sit on these slabs above
Tunnel View, which is, like,

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the most epic
view of Yosemite.

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As soon as you see El Cap it's like,
"Oh, there it is, pretty exciting."

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El Cap is the most
impressive wall on earth.

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Yeah, I mean I love,
I love being in the van.

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I probably feel extra comfortable
in the van now because I've lived

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in it for nine years.

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My first van, well, I actually
stole the family minivan.

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My dad died when I was
19 and I, I quit school.

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There was some life insurance.

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I had just enough to dirt bag.

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Six years ago I was living in a Walmart
parking lot and spending eighty-eight cents

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on dinner every night.

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Living in a van is great but, you know,
at a certain point it'd be nice to have a

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bathroom and have,
like, a shower at least.

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So you have a
girlfriend now, I heard.

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- Hmm, trending towards one.
- Trending towards?

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Hmm, I mean, she's very supportive
about, like, you know, you have to do you.

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Yeah we'll, we'll see.

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But yeah, there probably will be
plenty of girlfriends in my life,

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you know, in terms of,
like, big climbing,

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lifetime achievement deals,
where you're just like, well,

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like I will always choose
climbing, over, over a lady.

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At least, you know, so far.

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How many times have
you climbed El Cap?

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Probably like 40
something maybe.

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- You ever free solo? -No and nobody has.
- Why haven't you done it yet?

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Um, look at it, like, I mean, you know,
think about it, it's freaking scary.

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I don't know, so I mean I've thought about
this since 2009, like, each year since 2009,

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I've been like, "This is the year,"
and each year I climb it and I'm like,

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So I'm like, "Uh." But the
thing is I'll never be content,

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unless I at least
put in the effort.

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Because, like, if I do all the work and
I'm still like, "This is messed up,"

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then maybe it's just not for me,
maybe its future generation, you know.

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Or maybe just somebody who
has nothing to live for.

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When I thought about El Cap years ago, there
were question marks all over the walls.

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It's like I don't know about this
pitch, I don't know about that pitch,

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like I don't know about this particular
slab, there are all these things that

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seem pretty crazy to me.

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If the ultimate dream is to solo El Cap,
then I need a good map of what that will

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take, you know, like a, a mental image of
what the hard parts are, where they are,

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what they will entail.

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If I'm going to do it, Free
Rider seems like the best route.

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Oh, hi.

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What's up, dude?

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Oh, hey.

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Oh, actually, I might as well just
rack it straight onto my harness.

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So, do you wanna lead
the Freeblast or do I?

101
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I feel like we should do what we did
before which would be you lead the, yeah,

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you lead the Freeblast.

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So, basically I'll just try
to take it, like, as far as I can.

104
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Yeah.

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So Tommy just got here
and they're going up Freerider.

106
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Okay.

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I'm just gonna try to shoot this
pitch and the traverse pitch and then

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I'm gonna jug out
like a maniac.

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Okay.

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Do we have enough line
up there to do all this?

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- Yeah.
- Okay.

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The idea of going up
on El Cap with Tommy Caldwell

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is to get a feel for the
route and just visualize it.

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To see what feels
scary and what doesn't.

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Oh, God.

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Look at those fixed ropes
the first climb.

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Tommy's been a hero
of mine since I was a kid.

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I didn't technically have posters
of him up in my room as a kid,

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but it was like the same deal, you know,
where I was like, "Tommy's the man."

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Tommy really showed what was
possible, free climbing on El Cap.

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Tommy is the one that explored
every aspect of the wall.

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And most of the routes that he's put up on El
Cap haven't been repeated because they're,

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they're basically too hard.

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And then, ultimately culminated
with the Dawn Wall which was his

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multi-year project.

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I mean possibly the hardest
big wall in the world.

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I've been obsessed
with El Cap for years.

128
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El Capitan is unbelievably
huge, kind of unfathomably huge.

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It's 3,200 feet
of sheer granite.

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Looking at it, it doesn't seem
right, it doesn't seem like you

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should be able to climb it.

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I understand why
Alex is obsessed.

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El Cap has obsessed
generations of climbers.

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I think it was first climbed in 1958 by
Warren Harding, and it took them 46 days

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over 16 months because they
couldn't do it continuously.

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They had to drill bolts into the
granite and pull themselves up.

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And then ever since then, it's been the
center of the rock climbing universe.

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I've spent 20 years of my life climbing
El Cap but I'd never do it without a rope.

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There's no margin for error.

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Imagine an Olympic gold medal level athletic
achievement, that if you don't get that

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gold medal you're gonna die.

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That's pretty much what
free soloing El Cap is like.

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You have to do it perfectly.

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Today I am playing through
a lot of different scenarios,

145
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so thinking about the moves,
thinking about the body position,

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and more than anything just thinking
about what it would feel like to,

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to be in that position
without a rope.

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There are a lot of things that
you can physically do on a rope.

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Oh, God.

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But then the idea of taking the
rope away, you're just like,

151
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"I don't know if I'd wanna trust
that little foothold. Oh, my God,

152
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my feet hurt so bad and I'm
so pumped and my hand hurts.

153
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I just feel pooped.

154
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We're kind of getting worked.

155
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When you've been thinking about something
for years, that's a long time to be,

156
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like, sort of considering an idea without,
like, really talking to anybody about it.

157
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Especially someone like Tommy.

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When I was climbing, like, up the
endurance corner and across the traverse,

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I was just looking down thinking about,
I was like, "Dude, this seems so scary."

160
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I don't know.

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That part is just
so exposed and it's pretty.

162
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See, that part again is like, at
least you have holds though, you know.

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Yeah.

164
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The Freeblast slabs have
like several moves where it's like,

165
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your whole life just depends
on one foothold, you know.

166
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Soloing is like such a
weird personal activity.

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You never talk about
soloing projects.

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I mean, I've done all my
soloing without telling anybody,

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because I don't want
any extra pressure.

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The idea of climbing El Cap, obviously I
get interview questions about it all the

171
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time, like, "Oh, would
you like to do that?"

172
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And I've always been like,

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"No, well maybe, we'll see.
You know, who knows?"

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But like in the back of your mind
you're like, "Yes, for sure."

175
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I used to be like
a super picky eater.

176
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When I was like 19 or 20 or, well, between like,
20 and 24, I basically decided that I had

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to start eating vegetables, and then
sort of, like, systematically introduced

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myself to vegetables, like one at
a time, which worked pretty well,

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now I pretty much
eat anything.

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I stopped eating meat maybe
three or four years ago, um,

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mostly for
environmental reasons.

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Then once I stopped I also kind of got
into the ethics of it a little bit more.

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We'll just see how
this comes out.

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00:13:44,424 --> 00:13:47,270
Yeah, I mean there are plenty of folks who
probably think that this is, like, terrible.

185
00:13:47,270 --> 00:13:50,530
I'm eating, like,
canned chili and eggs.

186
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Growing up, I mean, I didn't
like eating weird foods,

187
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I didn't like bugs, you know,
I was just like a total tweeker.

188
00:13:59,372 --> 00:14:02,242
I guess I was
quite a shy child.

189
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Bit of a dark soul, I think.

190
00:14:05,245 --> 00:14:07,981
Maybe melancholic is the word.

191
00:14:08,314 --> 00:14:13,119
I remember really liking to play with
my Legos and play computer games and,

192
00:14:13,119 --> 00:14:16,122
uh, and then obviously once I started
rock climbing I was going to the

193
00:14:16,122 --> 00:14:18,580
climbing gym all the time.

194
00:14:18,580 --> 00:14:21,628
But I didn't really have a whole
lot of hobbies or interests.

195
00:14:21,628 --> 00:14:24,297
I definitely wasn't
cool, you know.

196
00:14:24,297 --> 00:14:27,670
I grew up in Sacramento and the
high school I went to, I was, uh,

197
00:14:27,670 --> 00:14:30,170
in an international baccalaureate
program, so we were all sort of

198
00:14:30,170 --> 00:14:32,372
the intellectual kids.

199
00:14:32,372 --> 00:14:35,675
So, in a way it was fine to be sort
of a dorky loner cause, you know,

200
00:14:35,675 --> 00:14:38,611
the whole program was
focused around that.

201
00:14:39,412 --> 00:14:42,615
There was definitely a time when I started
climbing outside more and I was just

202
00:14:42,615 --> 00:14:44,718
starting to road trip
and go to campgrounds,

203
00:14:44,718 --> 00:14:47,320
but I was too afraid
to talk to strangers.

204
00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,457
So, I was doing a lot of soloing, or
just a lot of climbing by myself just

205
00:14:50,457 --> 00:14:53,793
because I didn't know anybody and
I didn't wanna talk to anybody.

206
00:14:55,195 --> 00:14:57,664
It's freaking good,
I've outdone myself.

207
00:15:01,234 --> 00:15:04,370
Spicy chili really
adds something.

208
00:15:10,477 --> 00:15:13,346
As a kid I just love climbing trees
and climbing buildings and, like,

209
00:15:13,346 --> 00:15:15,148
playing on things.

210
00:15:15,148 --> 00:15:17,717
And when I was going to school here I was also
climbing on all the roofs and stuff here.

211
00:15:17,951 --> 00:15:20,120
Uh, and, uh, yeah.

212
00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:22,455
It's actually kind of intimidating
talking to groups of kids.

213
00:15:22,455 --> 00:15:25,392
Like, when I was in high school
I was mortified of standing in

214
00:15:25,392 --> 00:15:26,860
front of the class.

215
00:15:26,860 --> 00:15:28,762
But, like, you kind of get through
it and, like, eventually you feel

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00:15:28,762 --> 00:15:30,196
more and more comfortable.

217
00:15:30,196 --> 00:15:31,464
I don't know.

218
00:15:31,464 --> 00:15:33,266
- There's a question.
- Um, yeah.

219
00:15:33,266 --> 00:15:35,502
How do you feel about being
famous, just for, like,

220
00:15:35,502 --> 00:15:37,103
turning your hobby
into your career?

221
00:15:37,103 --> 00:15:40,240
I mean, I think it's the best thing in
life to be able to take the one thing

222
00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,376
you love most and have it, like, work
out that you can make a living that way.

223
00:15:43,376 --> 00:15:45,612
You know, so it's nice that I
now get paid to do that, yeah.

224
00:15:45,612 --> 00:15:47,814
How much money do you have?

225
00:15:50,350 --> 00:15:53,586
I've got, I've got, I've got probably
like 40 bucks in my wallet, you know.

226
00:15:54,287 --> 00:15:56,389
Um, but no, like,
a, a fair amount.

227
00:15:56,389 --> 00:16:01,594
Um, like, like, you know, say, like,
a moderately successful dentist

228
00:16:01,594 --> 00:16:03,763
or something, probably.

229
00:16:04,300 --> 00:16:05,665
Mr. K?

230
00:16:05,665 --> 00:16:08,401
Alex, could you talk about your
foundation a bit and what you're doing?

231
00:16:08,401 --> 00:16:11,805
Yeah, so, I started a non-profit,
um, I guess maybe four years ago.

232
00:16:12,172 --> 00:16:15,408
Let's watch this piece of video
so you're gonna get a little taste of that.

233
00:16:17,177 --> 00:16:20,714
Climbing has allowed me to travel all
over the world, which has really opened my

234
00:16:20,714 --> 00:16:22,882
eyes to how the rest
of the world lives.

235
00:16:23,583 --> 00:16:26,353
I mean, I see all these people, I mean
they're like a billion people on Earth

236
00:16:26,353 --> 00:16:27,721
without access to power.

237
00:16:27,721 --> 00:16:29,856
And so I started my foundation
sort of as an attempt to, like,

238
00:16:29,856 --> 00:16:31,458
balance the cosmic scales.

239
00:16:31,458 --> 00:16:35,362
So, I've been giving, maybe, like, a
third of my income every year through the

240
00:16:35,362 --> 00:16:37,364
foundation to, like,
environmental non-profits.

241
00:16:37,364 --> 00:16:39,532
I mean, so, like off-grid solar
projects, things like that, like,

242
00:16:39,532 --> 00:16:42,802
things that lift people out of
poverty, but also help the Earth.

243
00:16:57,817 --> 00:16:59,552
Ah, you get out.

244
00:16:59,552 --> 00:17:02,155
- Oh, hi.
- Hi.

245
00:17:05,859 --> 00:17:08,395
I met Sanni, book
touring in Seattle.

246
00:17:08,962 --> 00:17:12,432
And then we just have been
hanging out ever since.

247
00:17:12,632 --> 00:17:15,602
I think, I think this is our very first date
in Las Vegas, and I think we're climbing,

248
00:17:15,602 --> 00:17:17,704
like, a very easy
multi-pitch together.

249
00:17:17,704 --> 00:17:20,740
Um, you know I just took her up
this big tall route because then,

250
00:17:20,740 --> 00:17:22,976
I kind of knew it
would blow her mind.

251
00:17:22,976 --> 00:17:23,977
Is she a climber?

252
00:17:23,977 --> 00:17:27,247
Um, Sanni's like a
little bit of a climber.

253
00:17:27,247 --> 00:17:31,551
She, she's just starting but I'd
hardly characterize her as a climber.

254
00:17:32,852 --> 00:17:36,220
You see straight in front of us, there's
like an depression that looks like a heart.

255
00:17:36,220 --> 00:17:36,956
Yeah.

256
00:17:36,956 --> 00:17:39,459
To the left of that,
that's Freerider.

257
00:17:39,459 --> 00:17:41,995
This is like the whole valley,
like, we're driving in this highway.

258
00:17:41,995 --> 00:17:43,296
Uh-hmm.

259
00:17:43,296 --> 00:17:44,431
And then this is, like, the
valley loop from here to here,

260
00:17:44,431 --> 00:17:46,766
the main rocks are all,
like, between here and here.

261
00:17:46,766 --> 00:17:49,903
Okay, oh, maybe
I should read this.

262
00:17:50,737 --> 00:17:52,872
No.

263
00:17:53,106 --> 00:17:56,509
Alex was giving a talk in
Seattle, in December last year.

264
00:17:56,743 --> 00:17:59,646
I didn't know anything
about him and I showed up.

265
00:17:59,646 --> 00:18:01,748
Wait, you're wearing the same
shirt in half these photos.

266
00:18:01,748 --> 00:18:02,916
I know.

267
00:18:02,916 --> 00:18:04,417
Oh, Alex.

268
00:18:04,417 --> 00:18:06,686
Well, because I don't have
anybody to help me with my wardrobe.

269
00:18:06,686 --> 00:18:10,924
Oh and then, when I got my
book signed, I gave him my number.

270
00:18:14,461 --> 00:18:17,731
Which was sort of a joke with
a friend but then evolved.

271
00:18:18,565 --> 00:18:23,470
I just thought he was really
cute but also brutally honest,

272
00:18:23,470 --> 00:18:25,638
but I'm really drawn to that.

273
00:18:25,638 --> 00:18:28,800
Whoa, look how
precariously balanced it is.

274
00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:30,510
But he's also just
a funny guy, he's weird.

275
00:18:30,510 --> 00:18:33,580
You know, a weird dude,
and I find it interesting.

276
00:18:34,180 --> 00:18:35,949
Oh, we tree
pose on the tree?

277
00:18:35,949 --> 00:18:37,150
It's not wobbling.

278
00:18:37,150 --> 00:18:39,719
It's totally wobbling,
what are you talking about.

279
00:18:39,719 --> 00:18:41,855
Just for you.

280
00:18:41,855 --> 00:18:44,858
- I'm waiting. ALEX: Oh.
- Okay.

281
00:18:49,529 --> 00:18:50,997
When you start
getting eaten by mosquitoes,

282
00:18:50,997 --> 00:18:52,699
feel free to
just start climbing.

283
00:18:52,699 --> 00:18:54,768
Just keep the Grigri on.

284
00:18:54,768 --> 00:18:56,536
I'll wait.

285
00:18:56,536 --> 00:18:59,390
Okay, whatever
you're comfy with.

286
00:19:01,574 --> 00:19:03,677
Having the girlfriend
in the van is awesome.

287
00:19:03,677 --> 00:19:07,547
I mean, she's cute and small and,
like, livens the place up a bit,

288
00:19:07,547 --> 00:19:09,883
doesn't take up too much room.

289
00:19:09,883 --> 00:19:13,486
I mean, it's, pretty much
makes life better in every way.

290
00:19:15,622 --> 00:19:18,525
Alex, you got me tight?

291
00:19:20,727 --> 00:19:23,530
This is nerve-racking.

292
00:19:31,137 --> 00:19:36,843
When I was lowering Alex, I was watching him
come down the final section and the rope

293
00:19:36,843 --> 00:19:38,712
went right through the
Grigri, right through my hands,

294
00:19:38,712 --> 00:19:41,748
and right through the Grigri
and he dropped to the ground.

295
00:19:41,748 --> 00:19:44,840
It was my fault that I didn't
watch the end of the rope.

296
00:19:45,180 --> 00:19:48,588
It was just like, "Oh, my
gosh, what have I done?"

297
00:19:50,190 --> 00:19:53,260
The x-ray didn't show much, but
then they took the CAT scan and then they

298
00:19:53,260 --> 00:19:54,961
said it was, like, two
compression fractures and.

299
00:19:54,961 --> 00:19:57,970
But they only focused on
they didn't focus on the lower.

300
00:19:57,970 --> 00:20:01,340
Right after it happened
I wanted to break up with her.

301
00:20:01,234 --> 00:20:05,405
I was like, "Oh, this is bad
for my climbing." But she said,

302
00:20:12,312 --> 00:20:14,481
Exhale.

303
00:20:14,481 --> 00:20:17,517
As it turns out, compression
fracture isn't too serious.

304
00:20:17,517 --> 00:20:20,387
They said that I could climb and just
be careful about pain management and

305
00:20:20,387 --> 00:20:23,356
all that stuff.

306
00:20:23,556 --> 00:20:26,393
But it's just a
little bit rattling.

307
00:20:26,393 --> 00:20:29,429
Because I definitely know some people who
have fallen super far and survived or,

308
00:20:29,429 --> 00:20:32,980
like, gone through a tree
and sort of been okay.

309
00:20:32,980 --> 00:20:35,769
And now I'm like, "I don't know,
like, I don't think I'd be okay."

310
00:20:35,769 --> 00:20:39,439
And so I imagine falling free soloing
or something from 50 meters up, I mean,

311
00:20:39,439 --> 00:20:42,208
I realize that my body would
just explode on impact.

312
00:20:59,325 --> 00:21:02,495
In 2012, I was here for the first
time and it was right before I went to

313
00:21:02,495 --> 00:21:06,332
Yosemite for the season, and that was
like my best Yosemite season ever.

314
00:21:18,211 --> 00:21:19,746
What was that, Alex?

315
00:21:19,746 --> 00:21:21,748
I said you just passed halfway
and, uh, the rope's actually looking

316
00:21:21,748 --> 00:21:24,551
pretty good now.

317
00:21:25,585 --> 00:21:28,521
Yeah, pretty nice rock.

318
00:21:28,521 --> 00:21:32,250
I think the climbing here in Morocco,
it's good training for El Cap.

319
00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:37,330
It's gonna make him strong, it's gonna get
him good at moving through the mountains,

320
00:21:37,330 --> 00:21:40,266
it's gonna make him feel fit.

321
00:21:46,172 --> 00:21:50,543
Flowing through the mountains in the
ways that you do with Alex is addicting.

322
00:21:54,214 --> 00:21:58,618
His attitude towards risk, it
makes you feel kind of invincible,

323
00:22:02,822 --> 00:22:08,461
which is emotionally appealing, but for
me I don't think it's the smartest thing.

324
00:22:12,132 --> 00:22:13,633
Ah!

325
00:22:13,633 --> 00:22:17,270
Climbing with Alex is,
it's like a vice in a way.

326
00:22:18,338 --> 00:22:21,508
It's like smoking cigarettes
with beer or something.

327
00:22:21,508 --> 00:22:24,678
It's like, I don't really wanna do it but
I just, like, let myself do it sometimes

328
00:22:24,678 --> 00:22:25,879
because it's kinda nice.

329
00:22:25,879 --> 00:22:29,382
- Yeah, buddy!
- Yo!

330
00:22:35,321 --> 00:22:38,291
Can you read me your
journal entry for today?

331
00:22:38,291 --> 00:22:41,795
It says, "Bey wall 7C+, one fallen
crux, two pumped, need more fitness."

332
00:22:44,597 --> 00:22:48,501
Do you ever put things like "Saw
the biggest juniper tree of my life"?

333
00:22:48,501 --> 00:22:50,737
No, not in the
climbing journal.

334
00:22:50,737 --> 00:22:54,307
- Miss my dog.
- No.

335
00:22:54,307 --> 00:22:56,343
- And my mom.
- I don't know, none?

336
00:22:56,343 --> 00:22:58,845
- No, no.
- No. -All right.

337
00:23:11,291 --> 00:23:15,562
Alright, Jim's gonna follow you guys down
partway, Clair's gonna pick you guys up at

338
00:23:15,562 --> 00:23:17,497
the bottom of the gully
going into the base.

339
00:23:17,497 --> 00:23:18,932
Okay.

340
00:23:18,932 --> 00:23:21,468
And then we'll be
shooting on the wall.

341
00:23:21,468 --> 00:23:24,571
So, once we pass you guys, you guys
wrap and then hike to the summit basically?

342
00:23:24,571 --> 00:23:25,705
Yeah.

343
00:23:25,705 --> 00:23:28,441
Jimmy and I have
worked together for 10 years.

344
00:23:28,441 --> 00:23:30,443
We've climbed all
over the world.

345
00:23:30,443 --> 00:23:32,512
We are doing the
triple link up too, right?

346
00:23:32,512 --> 00:23:34,581
I mean, by the time we
get to Yosemite we're gonna be

347
00:23:34,581 --> 00:23:36,883
as Cheyne says, "Yoked."

348
00:23:40,653 --> 00:23:43,690
The team that Jimmy assembled
are all professional climbers.

349
00:23:43,690 --> 00:23:46,393
The best possible crew
for this kind of thing.

350
00:23:46,693 --> 00:23:48,628
And so in a way, I'm like, "This
is kinda awesome." You know,

351
00:23:48,628 --> 00:23:52,165
it's kind of just like I get to
go climb with all my friends.

352
00:23:55,969 --> 00:23:59,606
Mikey, we should put someone right
here because if you lean out you can see the

353
00:23:59,606 --> 00:24:01,474
entire freaking route.

354
00:24:01,474 --> 00:24:03,910
Then let's just put the 100
meter there and the 400 footer here.

355
00:24:03,910 --> 00:24:05,812
Doubled up.

356
00:24:06,212 --> 00:24:11,484
I've known Alex since he pretty much
started climbing in Yosemite, 2008 or 2009.

357
00:24:12,285 --> 00:24:16,923
I've filmed Alex a handful
of times, free soloing.

358
00:24:16,923 --> 00:24:20,393
And then we've also spent a couple of
winters together down in South America.

359
00:24:20,393 --> 00:24:22,962
So, uh, we, the
time's added up.

360
00:24:22,962 --> 00:24:25,398
Uh, I spend a lot of
time with him now.

361
00:24:25,398 --> 00:24:29,569
So, I'm scared because I don't
wanna see anything happen to Alex.

362
00:24:29,569 --> 00:24:32,339
I mean, it's one of the reasons that I
almost said no to this job, and, I mean,

363
00:24:32,339 --> 00:24:34,641
I think Jimmy went through
the same stuff of being like,

364
00:24:34,641 --> 00:24:37,310
"Do we really wanna
be part of this?"

365
00:24:38,645 --> 00:24:41,514
I've always been conflicted
about shooting a film about free soloing

366
00:24:41,514 --> 00:24:44,818
just because it's so dangerous.

367
00:24:44,818 --> 00:24:50,230
It's hard to not imagine, your friend,
Alex, soloing something that's extremely

368
00:24:50,230 --> 00:24:54,461
dangerous and you're making a film about
it, which might put undue pressure on him

369
00:24:54,961 --> 00:24:58,832
to do something, and him falling
through the frame to his death.

370
00:25:03,570 --> 00:25:09,776
And we have to work through that and understand
that what we're doing is something that

371
00:25:09,776 --> 00:25:11,978
we can live with even in
a worst-case scenario.

372
00:25:19,319 --> 00:25:22,422
It's a funny thing, people who know
a little bit about climbing, they're like,

373
00:25:22,422 --> 00:25:25,525
"Oh, he says he has it,
he's, he's totally safe."

374
00:25:25,525 --> 00:25:29,996
And then people who really know exactly
what he's doing are freaked out.

375
00:25:30,363 --> 00:25:33,366
My dad was always like, "I don't
want you to go ice climbing.

376
00:25:33,366 --> 00:25:36,403
I don't want you to
free solo," you know.

377
00:25:36,836 --> 00:25:38,304
Just not, I wonder
if your dad had been like.

378
00:25:38,304 --> 00:25:41,608
When he was my age, he had
had like 20 or 30 friends that had

379
00:25:41,608 --> 00:25:43,430
died in the mountains.

380
00:25:43,430 --> 00:25:45,645
And now I'm at that point where
I've had, you know, 30 or 40 friends

381
00:25:45,645 --> 00:25:47,380
that have died
in the mountains.

382
00:25:47,380 --> 00:25:48,915
That many?

383
00:25:48,915 --> 00:25:50,517
Yeah, I counted
them a while ago.

384
00:25:50,517 --> 00:25:52,850
I mean, like not friends
but people in our community.

385
00:25:52,850 --> 00:25:55,488
Yeah, people, yeah, yeah, totally,
like Kyle Dempster and Scott recently.

386
00:25:55,488 --> 00:25:57,791
People that I have
met, yeah, I'm like, no, yeah.

387
00:25:57,791 --> 00:26:00,627
I haven't had anybody die who I was,
like, really, really, close to yet.

388
00:26:00,627 --> 00:26:04,297
Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
I don't know.

389
00:26:04,831 --> 00:26:09,669
I think everybody who has made
free soloing a big part of their life,

390
00:26:09,669 --> 00:26:11,705
is dead now.

391
00:26:12,505 --> 00:26:15,909
John Bachar was a
pioneer of so-called free solo climbing,

392
00:26:16,276 --> 00:26:20,613
he fell to his death this past
week at the age of 52 from a cliff.

393
00:26:20,613 --> 00:26:22,682
And we're sorry
to have to report on the death of

394
00:26:22,682 --> 00:26:25,180
U.S. Climber Sean Leary.

395
00:26:25,180 --> 00:26:28,154
Sean was killed in Utah and
was found a couple of days ago.

396
00:26:28,154 --> 00:26:30,857
Derek Hersey
was climbing in Yosemite Valley.

397
00:26:30,857 --> 00:26:33,393
His body was found
Saturday morning.

398
00:26:33,727 --> 00:26:37,300
Hersey climbed, as usual,
alone without ropes.

399
00:26:37,300 --> 00:26:39,320
Most people that
are pushing the limits,

400
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:43,503
they have this mentality of "Screw
it, whatever happens, happens."

401
00:27:06,459 --> 00:27:10,630
I think all the soloing he's
done has trained his mind.

402
00:27:10,296 --> 00:27:14,667
He doesn't get emotionally affected
by it the way that a lot of people do.

403
00:27:15,435 --> 00:27:18,204
And not knowing about the science
of that is that's probably a product

404
00:27:18,204 --> 00:27:22,108
of your past more than
it is just a genetic thing.

405
00:27:24,978 --> 00:27:27,914
There's been a lot of speculation
about, like, how I deal with fear and,

406
00:27:27,914 --> 00:27:30,830
like, how I'm
able to free solo.

407
00:27:30,830 --> 00:27:32,919
People are just like, "Oh, well,
he must be a thrill seeker.

408
00:27:32,919 --> 00:27:35,622
There must be
something defective."

409
00:27:38,825 --> 00:27:40,193
So when a writer
contacted me about doing an

410
00:27:40,193 --> 00:27:44,631
MRI, I thought it's kind of cool
just to go and get an MRI and, like,

411
00:27:44,631 --> 00:27:46,132
see what's actually going on.

412
00:27:46,132 --> 00:27:49,569
You know, scan your brain and then
see if it's all there structurally.

413
00:27:52,605 --> 00:27:54,207
We're gonna
start the task now.

414
00:27:54,207 --> 00:27:58,440
Remember to press the button every time
you see a new picture come up, okay?

415
00:27:58,440 --> 00:27:59,913
Okay.

416
00:28:02,515 --> 00:28:05,719
We'll see maybe it turns out I'm some
kind of freak creature or something.

417
00:28:05,719 --> 00:28:08,880
I've had several ex-girlfriends
said that I have personality

418
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:10,230
disorders or things like that.

419
00:28:10,230 --> 00:28:11,825
That there's something
wrong with me.

420
00:28:11,825 --> 00:28:13,927
Emotionally stable?

421
00:28:13,927 --> 00:28:15,228
Agree.

422
00:28:15,228 --> 00:28:17,731
Ingenious, a deep thinker?

423
00:28:17,731 --> 00:28:19,566
Disagree.

424
00:28:19,566 --> 00:28:20,967
Tends to find
fault with others?

425
00:28:20,967 --> 00:28:22,769
Agree somewhat.

426
00:28:22,769 --> 00:28:25,538
Climbing a steep mountain
would be too scary for me?

427
00:28:25,538 --> 00:28:27,707
I have trouble
controlling my impulses?

428
00:28:27,707 --> 00:28:30,777
Is depressed?

429
00:28:30,777 --> 00:28:33,980
Hmm.

430
00:28:34,547 --> 00:28:36,583
Is my, is my brain intact?

431
00:28:36,583 --> 00:28:39,119
Your brain's intact and
it's, it's quite interesting.

432
00:28:39,119 --> 00:28:43,230
Those little two dots that are
further towards the top of the screen,

433
00:28:43,230 --> 00:28:45,558
that's the amygdala.

434
00:28:46,993 --> 00:28:52,198
So an interesting thing, do you
have no activation in your amygdala?

435
00:28:52,198 --> 00:28:55,101
There's just not much
going on in my brain, it seems.

436
00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:59,606
Um, do you think my amygdala actually
just doesn't work or something?

437
00:28:59,606 --> 00:29:04,477
Your amygdala works, it's just that it
needs a much higher level of stimulation.

438
00:29:05,912 --> 00:29:10,316
Things that are typically stimulating
for most of the rest of us are

439
00:29:10,316 --> 00:29:12,318
not really doing it for you.

440
00:29:12,318 --> 00:29:14,754
Maybe my amygdala's
just tired, you know,

441
00:29:14,754 --> 00:29:17,857
from too many years
of being all gripped.

442
00:29:46,219 --> 00:29:50,256
I'm feeling quite fit, but, um, there's
such a mental component to free soloing.

443
00:29:51,424 --> 00:29:55,929
The big challenge is
controlling your mind, I guess.

444
00:29:55,929 --> 00:29:58,331
Because you're not, you're not controlling
your fear, you're sort of just trying

445
00:29:58,331 --> 00:30:01,167
to step outside of it.

446
00:30:03,737 --> 00:30:06,740
Oh, no,
woo, sorry, Alex!

447
00:30:07,730 --> 00:30:10,243
And when people talk about
trying to suppress your fear, I mean,

448
00:30:10,243 --> 00:30:12,846
I look at it in
a different way.

449
00:30:12,846 --> 00:30:17,150
I try to expand my comfort zone by
practicing the moves over and over again.

450
00:30:17,150 --> 00:30:20,286
I work through the fear, until
it's just not scary anymore.

451
00:30:22,756 --> 00:30:24,257
Oh, no, no, no, no.

452
00:30:24,257 --> 00:30:27,594
Oh, so slippery.

453
00:30:27,861 --> 00:30:32,165
But, um, for years Freeblast
has given me the heebie-jeebies.

454
00:30:33,199 --> 00:30:39,500
You're standing on tiny edges, small
variations in the texture of the rock.

455
00:30:39,873 --> 00:30:43,677
If you slip, your
hands can't hold you.

456
00:30:43,677 --> 00:30:47,847
It's just the two tiny points of
contact that keep you from falling, and

457
00:30:47,847 --> 00:30:51,584
when you step up,
there's only one.

458
00:30:51,985 --> 00:30:54,354
Oh.

459
00:31:02,295 --> 00:31:08,702
It's like, it looks so much better
today than yesterday, but we'll see.

460
00:31:11,738 --> 00:31:15,410
I probably fell about 30 feet.

461
00:31:15,410 --> 00:31:19,346
We're up there, we're roped up, Sanni's
belaying me, and then I just fell off,

462
00:31:19,346 --> 00:31:20,513
I don't know.

463
00:31:20,513 --> 00:31:23,216
I just, I don't even know
how, I just, like, fell off.

464
00:31:23,216 --> 00:31:24,984
Show me how much you
can go up and down on your own.

465
00:31:24,984 --> 00:31:27,987
It's, it's like, you know.

466
00:31:27,987 --> 00:31:30,256
I think this looks to me just like
your straightforward ankle sprain.

467
00:31:30,256 --> 00:31:31,624
Okay.

468
00:31:31,624 --> 00:31:33,927
So, you know, we say ankle sprain,
but more or less an ankle sprain

469
00:31:33,927 --> 00:31:35,610
is torn ligaments.

470
00:31:35,610 --> 00:31:36,463
- Yeah.
- That's what it is.

471
00:31:36,463 --> 00:31:37,831
...So what does that mean in terms
of, uh, like hiking and stuff?

472
00:31:37,831 --> 00:31:41,134
I mean, if I just, like, immobilize
it and then, uh, still just hike.

473
00:31:41,134 --> 00:31:43,169
Yeah, I mean, you gotta' get
yourself through the first few days.

474
00:31:43,169 --> 00:31:44,404
Yeah.

475
00:31:44,404 --> 00:31:45,739
Um, but after that and it's
just strengthening and rehab.

476
00:31:45,739 --> 00:31:48,708
Well, and actually, can I make
it worse really, through activity?

477
00:31:48,708 --> 00:31:53,146
Um, you could probably
do too much too soon.

478
00:32:00,420 --> 00:32:02,922
Wait, you don't need
to keep that right.

479
00:32:02,922 --> 00:32:05,492
I can worry as
much as I want internally,

480
00:32:05,492 --> 00:32:09,496
but if he doesn't do
this stuff he'd regret it.

481
00:32:09,496 --> 00:32:14,300
If Alex and I got married and had kids,
I would feel a lot more willing to say

482
00:32:14,300 --> 00:32:19,720
what I thought about what
was acceptable risk or not.

483
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:21,341
He should have
put his shoe on.

484
00:32:24,210 --> 00:32:27,180
- Stubborn.
- Stubborn.

485
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:38,910
I thought you were, you know, walking
and stuff now, I thought you're fine.

486
00:32:38,910 --> 00:32:39,392
Oh, I am, but what.

487
00:32:39,392 --> 00:32:41,828
Doctors said you were
supposed to push it, Alex, come on.

488
00:32:41,828 --> 00:32:43,396
Don't you want
some watermelon?

489
00:32:43,396 --> 00:32:46,533
Oh, well, good thing you have
a personal slave to do that for you.

490
00:32:46,533 --> 00:32:48,902
Uh-huh, I know, I'm
pretty stoked about that.

491
00:32:48,902 --> 00:32:51,805
All right, um, is it gonna be that
no matter how I do this, you're like,

492
00:32:51,805 --> 00:32:53,340
"Why did you do it that way?"

493
00:32:53,340 --> 00:32:54,974
I just want watermelon.

494
00:32:54,974 --> 00:32:56,943
I kind of wanted to blame
Sanni to some extent because

495
00:32:56,943 --> 00:32:58,378
you're just like, "Whatever."

496
00:32:58,378 --> 00:32:59,913
I haven't been injured in, like,
seven years and then it's like I'm

497
00:32:59,913 --> 00:33:02,816
hanging out with this girl that doesn't
climb and I suddenly start getting

498
00:33:02,816 --> 00:33:04,250
injured all the time.

499
00:33:04,250 --> 00:33:06,820
It's like you just
cut down a tree.

500
00:33:15,395 --> 00:33:20,233
When they say "active recovery,"
no, that doesn't mean you're walking

501
00:33:20,233 --> 00:33:23,136
all over the place.

502
00:33:23,336 --> 00:33:27,273
I would be happy if
he didn't free solo.

503
00:33:28,274 --> 00:33:32,846
I've always appreciated that he never
told me beforehand that he was gonna

504
00:33:32,846 --> 00:33:34,814
free solo or anything.

505
00:33:34,814 --> 00:33:37,884
I could come down on him and say,
"You shouldn't be doing that,"

506
00:33:37,884 --> 00:33:40,920
and alienate him,
and, uh, it would've alienated

507
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,523
him because that's
his, uh, whole life.

508
00:33:43,523 --> 00:33:47,270
I think when he's free soloing,
that's when he feels the most alive,

509
00:33:47,270 --> 00:33:49,262
the most everything, the most.

510
00:33:49,262 --> 00:33:50,797
Feels the most.

511
00:33:50,797 --> 00:33:55,168
And how can you even think about taking
that away from somebody, you know?

512
00:33:55,168 --> 00:33:57,237
I wouldn't.

513
00:34:07,313 --> 00:34:10,150
I've been able to stand on one foot
while I put my harness and my shoes and

514
00:34:10,150 --> 00:34:13,386
stuff on, and getting' this
like kind of, a minor victory.

515
00:34:15,622 --> 00:34:19,225
Um, I haven't put on my climbing
shoe basically since I did it.

516
00:34:19,225 --> 00:34:22,262
So swollen. So tender.

517
00:34:26,299 --> 00:34:30,904
Unfortunately, crack climbing
is all ankle-dependent.

518
00:34:30,904 --> 00:34:36,743
And Freerider is 3,000
feet of crack climbing.

519
00:34:36,743 --> 00:34:39,312
All my friends that have sprained
their ankles in serious ways have

520
00:34:39,312 --> 00:34:44,451
all been like, "Oh, it's gonna be at
least six months until it's normal."

521
00:34:45,151 --> 00:34:47,287
If I can't get this
done in the next month

522
00:34:47,287 --> 00:34:51,124
then the weather will change and
I'll have to wait until next year.

523
00:35:02,502 --> 00:35:05,939
You know, a couple years ago,
I remember him telling me that he had never

524
00:35:05,939 --> 00:35:10,243
fallen unexpectedly in his life,
and now I've seen it happen twice

525
00:35:10,243 --> 00:35:12,512
in the past, like, month.

526
00:35:12,512 --> 00:35:15,548
But when you hear stuff like that,
you start to wonder a little bit.

527
00:35:16,816 --> 00:35:20,453
I had this dream the night before
he called me that he had, like,

528
00:35:20,453 --> 00:35:23,456
wandered into our house and asked
us, and, like, started crying,

529
00:35:23,456 --> 00:35:25,658
which really freaked me out
'cause Alex doesn't cry.

530
00:35:25,658 --> 00:35:29,396
And then he had told me that he
fell free soloing and started, like,

531
00:35:29,396 --> 00:35:32,966
revealing all of his injuries, like
he pulled up his sleeve on his arm,

532
00:35:32,966 --> 00:35:36,469
and in my dream a bone just, like, fell
out of his arm and it was all messed up.

533
00:35:36,469 --> 00:35:41,307
And that, and it was this really, like,
kind of vivid, but super freaky dream.

534
00:35:41,307 --> 00:35:45,245
And, uh, and then the next day he
called me and told me he hurt himself.

535
00:35:46,212 --> 00:35:48,480
Hi, hi, Ingrid.

536
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:50,216
Sometimes,
one at a time.

537
00:35:50,216 --> 00:35:51,718
Hi, hello, how's it going?

538
00:35:51,718 --> 00:35:54,721
- Hi, guys. -What's up, Fitz!
- So we got Fitz.

539
00:35:54,721 --> 00:35:57,900
- Hi, Tommy, hi, Fitz!
- Are you gonna carve a pumpkin?

540
00:35:57,900 --> 00:35:58,992
Nice, that's good.

541
00:35:58,992 --> 00:36:00,560
That seems off.

542
00:36:02,295 --> 00:36:03,596
Eww.

543
00:36:03,596 --> 00:36:06,660
Alex said, "I want nothing
to do with the pumpkin carving,

544
00:36:06,660 --> 00:36:07,667
and I won't carve anything
and I hate holidays."

545
00:36:07,667 --> 00:36:09,436
I like having
fun when I have fun.

546
00:36:09,436 --> 00:36:12,972
I don't like being told
that it's time to have fun.

547
00:36:13,173 --> 00:36:16,242
Yeah, I think we need
to a little more.

548
00:36:16,576 --> 00:36:17,677
Whoa, she's squirming.

549
00:36:17,677 --> 00:36:19,746
I don't know. Do you have
a good grip on there?

550
00:36:19,746 --> 00:36:22,615
You put that in my eye
again, I'm gonna drop you.

551
00:36:22,615 --> 00:36:25,850
Why does it not
want to see us?

552
00:36:25,850 --> 00:36:26,186
Just kidding, I won't.

553
00:36:26,186 --> 00:36:27,687
He keeps.

554
00:36:27,687 --> 00:36:29,122
You gotta lift him
up more, you need to.

555
00:36:29,122 --> 00:36:30,657
Bye, Tom.

556
00:36:30,657 --> 00:36:32,325
Oh man, you should have
a lot of fear right now.

557
00:36:32,325 --> 00:36:34,194
Okay, 'cause' I
feel a lot of anxiety.

558
00:36:34,194 --> 00:36:37,297
No one in any part of my family has
hugged during all my formative years.

559
00:36:37,297 --> 00:36:40,667
I had to teach myself how to hug
when I was, like, 23 or something.

560
00:36:40,667 --> 00:36:42,469
'Cause I was like,
"Everyone seems to hug,

561
00:36:42,469 --> 00:36:44,700
that seems like something
I should get into,"

562
00:36:44,700 --> 00:36:46,306
and then I started,
like, practicing.

563
00:36:46,306 --> 00:36:47,707
Now I'm quite a good hugger.

564
00:36:47,707 --> 00:36:49,242
Yes.

565
00:36:49,242 --> 00:36:50,643
You see that the
pumpkin is a van?

566
00:36:50,643 --> 00:36:52,379
- I did see it.
- That's a precious van.

567
00:36:52,379 --> 00:36:53,580
Is it a cat?

568
00:36:53,580 --> 00:36:55,348
- I did the cat. -That's good.
- Look at that.

569
00:36:55,348 --> 00:36:57,170
Um, I did it all by my.

570
00:36:57,170 --> 00:36:58,385
Honestly, it does
look good like this.

571
00:36:58,385 --> 00:37:00,186
It looked terrible.

572
00:37:00,186 --> 00:37:01,788
I think, yeah.

573
00:37:01,788 --> 00:37:05,125
Part of the thing with the L word,
you know, is saying love and stuff,

574
00:37:05,125 --> 00:37:08,461
is that, like, in my entire life no one
in any part of my family has ever used,

575
00:37:08,461 --> 00:37:10,563
you know, that word.

576
00:37:14,667 --> 00:37:17,337
My Mom has only spoken French to
my sister and I our whole lives.

577
00:37:17,337 --> 00:37:20,730
She's a French teacher, so she
says, "Je t'aime" or whatever,

578
00:37:20,730 --> 00:37:24,110
and then my dad didn't
talk about anything.

579
00:37:24,411 --> 00:37:27,747
Nobody had an
emotional bond with Charlie.

580
00:37:27,747 --> 00:37:31,384
Charlie was probably what
we call nowadays Asperger's.

581
00:37:34,154 --> 00:37:36,790
Charlie's obsession, what
everyone called monomania.

582
00:37:36,790 --> 00:37:38,591
He loved to travel.

583
00:37:38,591 --> 00:37:40,994
He lived to travel like
Alex lives to climb.

584
00:37:41,861 --> 00:37:44,731
When he wasn't traveling,
things were not good.

585
00:37:45,632 --> 00:37:48,601
Alex would do something and
we'd call him stupid names,

586
00:37:48,601 --> 00:37:52,539
"Hey, bozo, don't do it like
that," just demeaning things.

587
00:37:53,390 --> 00:37:57,110
If you learn that about your
self-worth when you're this big,

588
00:37:57,110 --> 00:38:00,246
I don't think that goes away.

589
00:38:00,914 --> 00:38:04,484
I have no
recollection of that.

590
00:38:04,851 --> 00:38:07,153
I don't think my dad
put down anybody.

591
00:38:07,153 --> 00:38:11,491
I think my dad is like a teddy
bear, but dad was pretty morose.

592
00:38:13,860 --> 00:38:16,463
And then the thing is once they got
divorced, then they both were, like,

593
00:38:16,463 --> 00:38:19,632
so much happier and it all seemed
great, but he died the next summer.

594
00:38:20,834 --> 00:38:25,772
It's really kind of too bad that he
doesn't get to see how it all played out,

595
00:38:25,772 --> 00:38:30,430
'cause he put so much effort
into nurturing my climbing.

596
00:38:32,579 --> 00:38:33,980
But who knows?

597
00:38:33,980 --> 00:38:37,817
Maybe mom thought that he was, like,
holding us back or, like, you know,

598
00:38:37,817 --> 00:38:41,121
not pushing us to achieve our
full potential or, like, whatever,

599
00:38:41,121 --> 00:38:43,256
you know what I mean?

600
00:38:43,556 --> 00:38:46,626
My Mom's favorite sayings
are, "Presque ne compte pas,"

601
00:38:46,626 --> 00:38:50,530
"Almost doesn't count,"
or, uh, "Good enough isn't."

602
00:38:50,897 --> 00:38:53,533
No matter how well I ever do at
anything, it's not that good.

603
00:38:59,472 --> 00:39:02,676
The bottomless pit
of self-loathing.

604
00:39:04,644 --> 00:39:09,449
I mean, that's definitely the
motivation for some soloing.

605
00:39:19,259 --> 00:39:21,327
Here we are.

606
00:39:22,128 --> 00:39:24,230
So I still
never, like, quietly,

607
00:39:24,230 --> 00:39:26,332
quite understand what
happened when you fell, you,

608
00:39:26,332 --> 00:39:27,867
like, do you even know?

609
00:39:27,867 --> 00:39:29,402
It should be just kinda, like.

610
00:39:29,402 --> 00:39:31,471
Uh, I don't know why I fell off,
but I mean I know that my skin was,

611
00:39:31,471 --> 00:39:32,706
like, hard and dry.

612
00:39:32,706 --> 00:39:33,907
It was like lightly raining
kind of and like really windy.

613
00:39:33,907 --> 00:39:37,677
Weird he doesn't even
say he knows what happened.

614
00:39:37,911 --> 00:39:41,348
He's like, "I, suddenly I was falling,"
which kind of surprised me because I feel

615
00:39:41,348 --> 00:39:43,850
like he's always so aware.

616
00:39:43,850 --> 00:39:46,753
Or like maybe he's not
always totally aware.

617
00:39:47,620 --> 00:39:52,292
You know Alex talks about having this
armor when he solos and I think as, like,

618
00:39:52,292 --> 00:39:55,662
a friend or a family member of him,
you kinda have to have that same thing.

619
00:40:00,700 --> 00:40:04,904
Like after that happened, for whatever reason,
it kinda like waked me up more than normal.

620
00:40:05,872 --> 00:40:08,208
You know, normally I'm just
like, "Oh, he's got it.

621
00:40:08,208 --> 00:40:10,210
He's such, he's such a beast,
you know, he's gonna be fine."

622
00:40:10,210 --> 00:40:16,182
But I just, like,

623
00:40:16,182 --> 00:40:20,487
am stressed out about the
thing a little bit, you know?

624
00:40:24,391 --> 00:40:28,595
Look, I don't wanna fall off and
die either, but there's a satisfaction to

625
00:40:28,595 --> 00:40:32,298
challenging yourself and
doing something well.

626
00:40:33,330 --> 00:40:36,603
That feeling is heightened when
you're for sure facing death.

627
00:40:36,603 --> 00:40:39,706
You can't make a mistake.

628
00:40:40,173 --> 00:40:45,478
If you're seeking perfection, free
soloing is as close as you can get.

629
00:40:45,478 --> 00:40:50,417
And, uh, it does feel good to feel
perfect, like, for a brief moment.

630
00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,557
My friends are like, "Oh, that'd be terrible,"
but if I kill myself in an accident,

631
00:40:57,557 --> 00:41:01,461
they'll be like, "Oh, that was too
bad," but like life goes on, you know,

632
00:41:01,461 --> 00:41:02,796
like they'll be fine.

633
00:41:02,796 --> 00:41:04,297
I mean, and I've had this problem
with girls a lot, you know.

634
00:41:04,297 --> 00:41:07,600
They're like, "Oh, I really care
about you," I'm like, "No you don't."

635
00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:09,235
Like if I perish,
like, it doesn't matter,

636
00:41:09,235 --> 00:41:12,772
like you'll find somebody else, like,
that's not, that's not that big a deal.

637
00:41:12,772 --> 00:41:15,475
I don't know.

638
00:41:15,875 --> 00:41:18,812
Maybe that's a
little too callous.

639
00:41:24,500 --> 00:41:28,555
My foot is improving, but
it still swells up a bit.

640
00:41:32,559 --> 00:41:35,495
Rope!

641
00:41:40,700 --> 00:41:43,370
Pretty epic rappel.

642
00:41:43,370 --> 00:41:46,239
Uh, we're just commuting
down the wall, kinda.

643
00:41:46,706 --> 00:41:49,900
We're just having
a good old time.

644
00:41:50,143 --> 00:41:53,546
If you look at soloing El Cap objectively,
there are probably six pitches that

645
00:41:53,546 --> 00:41:56,349
worry me the most.

646
00:41:56,349 --> 00:41:58,885
Just off the ground, there's
some insecure climbing.

647
00:41:58,885 --> 00:42:01,521
And then Freeblast, Pitch 6,
being the one I fell off of,

648
00:42:01,521 --> 00:42:04,424
which is obviously
a total botch.

649
00:42:04,424 --> 00:42:07,794
Then the down climb
to the Hollow Flake.

650
00:42:07,794 --> 00:42:10,797
And then
the Monster Offwidth,

651
00:42:10,797 --> 00:42:13,600
which is super physical,
difficult style of climbing.

652
00:42:17,704 --> 00:42:20,840
When you're in the Monster Offwidth,
some part of you is always being

653
00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:23,610
crushed in the mountain.

654
00:42:24,310 --> 00:42:27,947
Imagine like the worst type of
Pilates class in the whole world,

655
00:42:27,947 --> 00:42:31,351
somebody like flogging as you do it,
and occasionally like sandpapering skin

656
00:42:31,351 --> 00:42:35,755
off your body, telling you to hold
the position until you freakin' vomit,

657
00:42:36,122 --> 00:42:39,693
and if you lose the
position you die.

658
00:42:43,430 --> 00:42:47,500
The Enduro Corner, in and of itself,
would have been the most difficult part of

659
00:42:47,500 --> 00:42:49,536
virtually any big
solo I've done.

660
00:42:54,574 --> 00:42:57,577
Your feet aren't on
any specific holds.

661
00:42:57,577 --> 00:42:59,746
What makes your feet stay to the wall
is the amount of pressure that you

662
00:42:59,746 --> 00:43:02,816
pull with your hands.

663
00:43:03,483 --> 00:43:06,686
The harder you pull with your
hands, the more your feet stick.

664
00:43:06,686 --> 00:43:10,900
The most demanding for your
arms on the whole route.

665
00:43:10,623 --> 00:43:14,928
And you've climbed 2,500 feet to get to the
Enduro Corner, so you're pretty fatigued.

666
00:43:18,980 --> 00:43:22,100
But the piece that I've always worried about
the most is the crux, the hardest part.

667
00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:28,541
To get past the crux, you have climb either
the Boulder Problem or the Teflon Corner.

668
00:43:29,420 --> 00:43:33,460
2,000 off the ground, each of which
I've fallen off many times with a rope.

669
00:43:38,718 --> 00:43:41,821
The Teflon Corner, which is basically
like a 90-degree corner of glass,

670
00:43:42,222 --> 00:43:46,126
which is ultra-slippery,
just fills me with terror.

671
00:43:46,826 --> 00:43:50,930
Pushing against the two walls of it,
with my feet on glass, my palms on glass,

672
00:43:50,930 --> 00:43:53,900
and trying to make these little micro
adjustments to keep my balance centered so

673
00:43:53,900 --> 00:43:56,803
that I can push evenly
on all four sides of it.

674
00:43:56,803 --> 00:43:59,973
And then I imagine 2,500 feet of
air beneath my feet, you're, like,

675
00:43:59,973 --> 00:44:03,760
that's just a crazy
thing to think about.

676
00:44:05,780 --> 00:44:08,381
The alternative is
the Boulder Problem.

677
00:44:09,549 --> 00:44:12,118
But the Boulder Problem has a 10-foot
section that's incredibly difficult.

678
00:44:15,622 --> 00:44:18,525
It's a very
intricate sequence.

679
00:44:18,525 --> 00:44:22,595
You've got your right hand on a
crimp, left hand on a side pole,

680
00:44:23,129 --> 00:44:26,533
and then you put your right foot
onto this dimple thing.

681
00:44:26,966 --> 00:44:30,770
Right hand goes up to a small down-pulling
crimp, left foot goes into a little dish,

682
00:44:33,730 --> 00:44:36,509
and then you drive up off the
left foot into the thumb press.

683
00:44:36,509 --> 00:44:38,645
That's the worst hold
on the entire route.

684
00:44:38,645 --> 00:44:41,548
So, you get maybe half
your thumb on the hold.

685
00:44:42,150 --> 00:44:46,519
Then you roll your two fingers
over the thumb, switch your feet,

686
00:44:47,687 --> 00:44:50,824
left foot stems out to this
really bad sloping black foothold.

687
00:44:53,660 --> 00:44:56,496
Switch your thumbs.

688
00:44:58,765 --> 00:45:02,350
And then reach out left to a big
sloping bread loaf type hold that

689
00:45:02,350 --> 00:45:05,500
feels kind of grainy.

690
00:45:06,206 --> 00:45:10,877
From there, you either karate kick or
double-dyno to an edge on the opposite wall.

691
00:45:13,913 --> 00:45:17,584
In some ways, it makes more sense to do the
big two-handed jump because you're jumping to

692
00:45:17,584 --> 00:45:20,920
a good edge so there's
actually something to catch.

693
00:45:27,270 --> 00:45:30,130
But the idea of jumping without a
rope seems completely outrageous,

694
00:45:30,330 --> 00:45:33,666
if you miss it, that's that.

695
00:45:35,135 --> 00:45:39,606
But then the karate kick always feels
like you're falling into the other wall,

696
00:45:39,839 --> 00:45:43,760
which also feels
outrageous for soloing.

697
00:45:58,858 --> 00:46:02,128
Honestly, it wasn't like, I mean I
felt, like, pretty strong just pinching

698
00:46:02,128 --> 00:46:03,763
that shit and just
being that, put the foot.

699
00:46:03,763 --> 00:46:05,899
Well, as I said, when you actually
put your foot out there, I was like,

700
00:46:05,899 --> 00:46:06,933
"Well, that doesn't
look that bad."

701
00:46:06,933 --> 00:46:11,671
Yeah, it's not
like crazy, but we'll see.

702
00:46:17,577 --> 00:46:19,212
Did you take
Ibuprofen this morning?

703
00:46:19,212 --> 00:46:21,881
Uh-hmm, I mean, I'm
going to right now also.

704
00:46:21,881 --> 00:46:23,917
- For your ankle?
- Uh-hmm.

705
00:46:23,917 --> 00:46:30,256
Hmm, I'm not, like, super stoked when
he goes soloing, because he's already a

706
00:46:31,124 --> 00:46:34,594
big part of my life.

707
00:46:34,594 --> 00:46:39,299
I tell Alex I love him all the time, and
he shows me that he loves me all the time.

708
00:46:41,134 --> 00:46:43,300
And really just dive in.

709
00:46:43,300 --> 00:46:44,237
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

710
00:46:44,237 --> 00:46:46,339
But I also tell him that I
also need words of affection.

711
00:46:46,339 --> 00:46:49,142
- Yeah.
- We work on that.

712
00:46:50,610 --> 00:46:55,150
In terms of learning how to communicate
emotion, Alex has a long way to go.

713
00:46:55,582 --> 00:47:01,187
And I said, "Sometimes I'm gonna tell you
how I feel, and I just need you to say it

714
00:47:01,187 --> 00:47:03,890
totally makes sense
that you feel that way."

715
00:47:04,624 --> 00:47:07,861
He was like, "Yeah, I can
understand why you feel that way."

716
00:47:09,195 --> 00:47:11,998
I was like, "I don't
really think that you do,

717
00:47:11,998 --> 00:47:14,901
but I'm glad
that you're trying."

718
00:47:16,670 --> 00:47:19,500
Alex, we have
excellent team skills.

719
00:47:19,500 --> 00:47:21,274
Well, I thought, I feel like
we're not quite killin' it, but we're,

720
00:47:21,274 --> 00:47:22,742
I think we're doin' well.

721
00:47:22,742 --> 00:47:25,145
Really?
I think we're doing great.

722
00:47:25,145 --> 00:47:28,715
I'm very happy for Alex
and Sanni that it works so well.

723
00:47:29,349 --> 00:47:32,352
And I'm, I think I'm just
impressed by their relationship,

724
00:47:34,854 --> 00:47:38,892
but to free solo at that level, you
really have to have the mental armor.

725
00:47:39,959 --> 00:47:43,329
Having that romantic relationship
around is detrimental to that armor.

726
00:47:44,264 --> 00:47:47,801
You have to focus and inherently
a close romantic relationship

727
00:47:47,801 --> 00:47:49,169
removes that armor.

728
00:47:49,169 --> 00:47:52,639
You kinda can't have
both at the same time.

729
00:48:18,732 --> 00:48:21,000
There's always something that
has to give you the confidence to

730
00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:23,169
go out and free solo a route.

731
00:48:23,169 --> 00:48:27,400
So sometimes, that confidence just
comes from feeling super, super fit.

732
00:48:27,240 --> 00:48:30,710
Sometimes, that confidence comes
through preparation and rehearsal.

733
00:48:31,378 --> 00:48:34,147
But I mean there's always something
that makes you feel ready.

734
00:48:41,788 --> 00:48:43,957
There's something to be said for, like,
soloing a bunch of pitches to, like,

735
00:48:43,957 --> 00:48:47,327
get into that right space.

736
00:48:49,729 --> 00:48:51,798
It's a little stressful.

737
00:48:52,132 --> 00:48:55,735
It's just, it's unreal.

738
00:48:55,735 --> 00:48:57,370
Yeah.

739
00:48:57,370 --> 00:49:00,774
And as much as I trust Alex and
I know that he's really methodical, uh,

740
00:49:00,774 --> 00:49:03,943
if you're pushing the edge,
eventually you find the edge.

741
00:49:07,380 --> 00:49:08,982
But then there's just some
things that you're, like, well,

742
00:49:08,982 --> 00:49:12,519
you just have to push that far because
they're just, they're just that cool.

743
00:49:12,519 --> 00:49:15,321
And El Cap is that cool.

744
00:49:18,224 --> 00:49:21,695
There's incremental advances
that happen in all kinds of things,

745
00:49:22,950 --> 00:49:25,865
but every once in a while there's
just this iconic leap, soloing El Cap,

746
00:49:26,299 --> 00:49:29,836
if he pulls this off,
is this quantum leap.

747
00:49:30,670 --> 00:49:34,841
It is hard to imagine somebody up
there by themselves, without a rope,

748
00:49:35,208 --> 00:49:37,377
where it's pretty much all the
other big cliffs around here.

749
00:49:37,377 --> 00:49:40,800
I can kinda get it.

750
00:49:40,647 --> 00:49:42,916
How many times have you
soloed both those routes now?

751
00:49:42,916 --> 00:49:47,530
Well, Astroman, three or four
times, but the Rostrum, I mean, literally,

752
00:49:47,530 --> 00:49:49,155
like, fifty, sixty.

753
00:49:49,155 --> 00:49:51,391
Wait, you've soloed
the Rostrum 50 or 60 times?

754
00:49:52,250 --> 00:49:54,270
It was like part
of the circuit and I would,

755
00:49:54,270 --> 00:49:56,162
I would go there and I
would do it at least twice.

756
00:49:56,162 --> 00:49:58,431
Like I was just glommed on.

757
00:49:58,698 --> 00:49:59,933
Uh-huh.

758
00:49:59,933 --> 00:50:01,301
Not like I had a fear, but
just kind of like this is how.

759
00:50:01,301 --> 00:50:03,570
Yeah, because you're so tight. You
know, I love that about soloing.

760
00:50:03,570 --> 00:50:05,472
My footwork gets really good.

761
00:50:05,472 --> 00:50:07,400
Yeah, really,
yeah totally, yeah.

762
00:50:07,400 --> 00:50:09,342
But it's not for anybody
else, this is just for me.

763
00:50:09,342 --> 00:50:11,770
Yeah, yeah, just because
you feel like you're.

764
00:50:11,770 --> 00:50:12,812
And after Astroman,
people were like,

765
00:50:12,812 --> 00:50:14,381
"Ah, we wanna film
you, film you up there,"

766
00:50:14,381 --> 00:50:17,317
and I'm like, "Not interested,
not even slightly."

767
00:50:17,517 --> 00:50:21,187
For me, it was so incredibly important
to be doing it for the right reasons.

768
00:50:21,187 --> 00:50:24,224
I mean, I think I'm still doing
everything for the right reasons,

769
00:50:24,224 --> 00:50:27,460
and I'm still totally stoked, but I feel
like from the outside observer, you know,

770
00:50:27,460 --> 00:50:30,830
they'd be like, "Oh, he's got a
movie crew," like clearly that's the

771
00:50:30,830 --> 00:50:32,465
wrong reasons, you know.

772
00:50:32,465 --> 00:50:38,710
The worst thing about having a
film crew is if it changes your mindset.

773
00:50:48,181 --> 00:50:51,117
I think Alex is
almost ready to do it.

774
00:50:51,351 --> 00:50:54,387
He just wants to take
a few more practice laps.

775
00:50:55,422 --> 00:51:00,927
And we're just trying to figure
out all of our camera positions.

776
00:51:06,166 --> 00:51:10,837
I mean the soloing
headspace is so fragile.

777
00:51:11,371 --> 00:51:15,575
We wanna film it well, but it's about
not getting in his way and making sure

778
00:51:15,575 --> 00:51:18,545
he has the experience he wants.

779
00:51:23,350 --> 00:51:26,186
The worst possible scenario
is that one of us would do something

780
00:51:26,186 --> 00:51:28,880
that would kill him.

781
00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:29,356
Is it gonna be the drone?

782
00:51:29,356 --> 00:51:30,423
Is it gonna be
one of the ropes?

783
00:51:30,423 --> 00:51:34,940
Is it gonna be us accidently
knocking off a rock?

784
00:51:37,597 --> 00:51:40,266
The idea of falling off is, you
know, obviously I'm trying to avoid that,

785
00:51:40,266 --> 00:51:44,437
but it's like kind of okay
if it's just by myself.

786
00:51:44,437 --> 00:51:47,374
But, like, I wouldn't wanna fall off right
in front of my friends, 'cause that's like,

787
00:51:47,374 --> 00:51:50,610
that's kind of messed up.

788
00:51:51,110 --> 00:51:54,314
Where are you comfortable
with us being essentially?

789
00:51:54,981 --> 00:51:57,917
Well, do you have
like.

790
00:51:57,917 --> 00:51:59,252
The traverse into it?

791
00:51:59,252 --> 00:52:00,887
- Uh-hmm.
- Yeah.

792
00:52:00,887 --> 00:52:04,900
And then a, just a camera above, sitting
above the Boulder Pitch, essentially.

793
00:52:04,900 --> 00:52:06,593
- Yeah. -It's distracting.
- Yeah, it's distracting.

794
00:52:06,593 --> 00:52:09,596
Well, it's not just distracting,
but it's also like, you know,

795
00:52:09,596 --> 00:52:13,166
nobody wants to see
that, I don't know.

796
00:52:15,101 --> 00:52:19,172
Like, yeah, I don't,
yeah, it's better not to.

797
00:52:19,172 --> 00:52:21,374
Some things you're like, meh.

798
00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:25,912
Yeah, okay.

799
00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:30,984
So should I rally into the valley
and try to like round out plans?

800
00:52:30,984 --> 00:52:33,153
Yeah, yeah.

801
00:52:36,990 --> 00:52:39,659
Um, the moon set
at 4:50 behind the ridge.

802
00:52:39,659 --> 00:52:44,397
The spire was touched by the sun at 7:30 and
by 8:05, the sun was to the crux probably.

803
00:52:44,397 --> 00:52:45,632
- 8:05?
- Okay.

804
00:52:45,632 --> 00:52:47,734
You don't want it to be
sunny when you get to the crux,

805
00:52:47,734 --> 00:52:51,400
and it takes three or four hours
to get up to the Boulder Problem,

806
00:52:51,400 --> 00:52:53,340
and it's fall so in
order to beat the sun,

807
00:52:53,340 --> 00:52:55,675
you basically have
to start in the dark.

808
00:52:55,675 --> 00:53:00,280
I kinda think just leave the
ground at 4:00 again, basically.

809
00:53:08,154 --> 00:53:09,356
I don't know.

810
00:53:09,356 --> 00:53:11,925
I'm starting to get
kind of psyched.

811
00:53:14,361 --> 00:53:17,197
The moment of just letting go to it is
in some ways the most peaceful because

812
00:53:17,197 --> 00:53:18,765
then it's like
you just do your thing.

813
00:53:18,765 --> 00:53:21,935
There's no more stress, there's no more
anxiety, there's no fear, whatever,

814
00:53:22,435 --> 00:53:24,671
you just go up and do it.

815
00:53:24,671 --> 00:53:27,974
I put on my tight shoes today,
it's like very exciting.

816
00:53:28,875 --> 00:53:32,212
It would be, like, it would be like a
samurai pulling out his favorite sword,

817
00:53:32,212 --> 00:53:33,613
you know like,

818
00:53:33,613 --> 00:53:35,548
"Oh, my gosh,"
you know, and now I'm like,

819
00:53:35,548 --> 00:53:38,151
"Oh, time for the,
the finely crafted blade."

820
00:53:38,151 --> 00:53:41,254
So stoked.
I like sinking into it.

821
00:53:41,855 --> 00:53:47,293
It's, it goes with the Jedi thing,
the samurai with the, and then I just

822
00:53:47,293 --> 00:53:48,962
started taking Ibuprofen.

823
00:53:48,962 --> 00:53:52,980
I've been, like, icing a bunch and, like,
I think my foot's gonna be pretty good.

824
00:53:52,365 --> 00:53:55,568
Yeah, what does Sanni say
when you talk to her about it?

825
00:53:55,869 --> 00:53:57,437
Um, I mean I haven't
talked to her that much.

826
00:53:57,437 --> 00:53:59,720
She's been, like, asking a lot of
questions like, "Oh, you know, how's it?"

827
00:53:59,720 --> 00:54:03,677
And I'm, I just haven't really like, I'm
just like, "Oh, we'll see, we'll see."

828
00:54:03,677 --> 00:54:07,247
You know, the fewer people know
anything, the better really.

829
00:54:09,416 --> 00:54:12,719
I had a dream and you were
limping and you were like, had caught,

830
00:54:12,719 --> 00:54:17,190
had like made the exact same fall and
fallen on your ankle in the exact same way.

831
00:54:17,190 --> 00:54:18,758
That's really nice, San San.

832
00:54:18,758 --> 00:54:20,226
It was like tragic.

833
00:54:20,226 --> 00:54:21,461
I love hearing
stories about that.

834
00:54:21,461 --> 00:54:24,431
- I woke up, like, "Oh my gosh.
- I hope that didn't happen."

835
00:54:24,431 --> 00:54:26,833
That's, that's really nice.

836
00:54:26,833 --> 00:54:28,702
Um, what is your,
is your daypack?

837
00:54:28,702 --> 00:54:30,470
They're bringing it up
there for you and Peter?

838
00:54:30,470 --> 00:54:32,439
Um, no.

839
00:54:32,439 --> 00:54:35,750
For me tomorrow, probably.

840
00:54:35,750 --> 00:54:37,811
For on the mountain?

841
00:54:37,811 --> 00:54:39,813
Um, for the summit, yeah.

842
00:54:39,813 --> 00:54:42,382
Hmm, you and Peter are gonna
try and do the whole thing?

843
00:54:42,382 --> 00:54:45,251
Uh, no, Peter won't be here
for a couple of days probably.

844
00:54:45,251 --> 00:54:47,454
Oh, who are you
climbing with tomorrow?

845
00:54:47,454 --> 00:54:50,423
Um, yeah, we'll just see.

846
00:54:50,423 --> 00:54:52,459
Oh, okay, okay.

847
00:54:55,595 --> 00:54:59,132
Wait, so are you thinking of soloing it
tomorrow, is that why you're not telling me who

848
00:54:59,132 --> 00:55:00,633
you're climbing with?

849
00:55:00,633 --> 00:55:03,269
Um, well, I'm not like
not telling you, but yeah.

850
00:55:03,269 --> 00:55:04,537
Whoa, Alex.

851
00:55:04,537 --> 00:55:06,773
- Whoa.
- Whoa. -Whoa.

852
00:55:06,773 --> 00:55:08,141
How do you feel?

853
00:55:08,141 --> 00:55:11,378
I'm, you know,
I mean, excited.

854
00:55:11,378 --> 00:55:14,447
That's really exciting. Is it
that feeling when you're like...

855
00:55:14,447 --> 00:55:16,750
So exciting I'm gonna
go right back to my book.

856
00:55:16,750 --> 00:55:19,252
Where you're like, no,
I'm not reading it.

857
00:55:20,520 --> 00:55:21,821
When did you decide?

858
00:55:21,821 --> 00:55:23,323
When did you decide
to do it tomorrow?

859
00:55:23,323 --> 00:55:26,493
No, just, you know, uh, yesterday
or the day before or something.

860
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:30,230
Hmm, I'm processing.

861
00:55:55,755 --> 00:55:58,792
I wanna, like I wanna have this more,
like, holistic approach that you have where

862
00:55:58,792 --> 00:56:00,260
you're like "Well,
we're all gonna die,

863
00:56:00,260 --> 00:56:02,529
like might as well do what we
wanna do while we're here and

864
00:56:02,529 --> 00:56:06,833
it's okay when people die," but I feel
like I want you to meet me halfway

865
00:56:08,468 --> 00:56:13,139
and when you solo to
take me into the equation

866
00:56:14,307 --> 00:56:15,575
and then I think you said...

867
00:56:15,575 --> 00:56:18,378
Is there a question? -Some,
there's going to be. -Okay.

868
00:56:18,778 --> 00:56:21,681
Um, would putting me into the
equation actually ever change anything?

869
00:56:21,681 --> 00:56:24,718
Would you actually make
decisions differently?

870
00:56:25,850 --> 00:56:29,856
If I had some kind of obligation
to maximize my lifespan, then like yeah,

871
00:56:30,156 --> 00:56:32,225
obviously I'd have to
give up soloing and, um.

872
00:56:32,225 --> 00:56:35,829
Was me asking you, do you
see that as an obligation now?

873
00:56:35,829 --> 00:56:37,530
...Uh, no, no.

874
00:56:37,530 --> 00:56:39,199
Oh.

875
00:56:39,199 --> 00:56:44,804
No, but I appreciate your concerns and
I, you know, I respect that, but, but I,

876
00:56:44,804 --> 00:56:46,940
in no way, feel obligated, no.

877
00:56:46,940 --> 00:56:48,375
To maximize lifetime?

878
00:56:48,375 --> 00:56:51,444
No, no, I don't know.

879
00:56:53,130 --> 00:56:57,650
Um, but I mean like you saying, "Be safer,"
I'm kinda like well, I mean I can't.

880
00:56:58,785 --> 00:57:00,587
You know, I'm already
doing my best.

881
00:57:00,587 --> 00:57:02,756
So I could just, like, not do certain
things, but then you have, like,

882
00:57:02,756 --> 00:57:05,492
weird simmering resentment because
it's things that you love most in life

883
00:57:05,492 --> 00:57:07,460
have now been squashed.

884
00:57:07,460 --> 00:57:10,397
You know what I mean?

885
00:57:24,778 --> 00:57:28,615
- What time is it? -3:30.
- Oh.

886
00:57:28,615 --> 00:57:31,518
I just woke up one
minute before my alarm.

887
00:57:31,518 --> 00:57:34,220
Yeah, you woke up
before or after?

888
00:57:35,422 --> 00:57:38,525
One minute before.

889
00:57:54,974 --> 00:57:58,545
It's like always about, like,
excellence and perfection.

890
00:58:01,281 --> 00:58:04,584
And I was certainly raised that way, you
know, that you need to, you need to perform.

891
00:58:08,455 --> 00:58:11,458
It's also just like kind of rad because
you're doing something for the first time

892
00:58:11,458 --> 00:58:13,893
in human history.

893
00:58:28,308 --> 00:58:31,611
Let's hope it's
a low gravity day.

894
00:58:33,813 --> 00:58:36,449
Bye, Huck, see
you at the ground.

895
00:58:36,449 --> 00:58:39,619
- Meet you in the ground.
- See you, buddy.

896
00:59:06,579 --> 00:59:09,883
This sucks.
I don't wanna be here.

897
00:59:15,355 --> 00:59:18,324
I'm over it.

898
00:59:18,858 --> 00:59:19,959
What happened?

899
00:59:19,993 --> 00:59:22,462
I cheated on
the slab down there.

900
00:59:22,462 --> 00:59:23,963
Might as well radio it.

901
00:59:23,963 --> 00:59:26,733
Do you
wanna talk to him?

902
00:59:27,967 --> 00:59:30,637
I don't even know what to say,
it's, like, kind of embarrassing.

903
00:59:30,637 --> 00:59:32,839
Uh, hey, whoever's on
the radio, this is Alex.

904
00:59:32,839 --> 00:59:35,642
Um, I think I'm bailing.

905
00:59:37,610 --> 00:59:39,412
Wait, could you repeat?

906
00:59:39,412 --> 00:59:41,681
I
think he's bailing from heart.

907
00:59:41,681 --> 00:59:44,718
Bailing
from heart, that's correct.

908
00:59:48,210 --> 00:59:50,757
It's kind
of disturbing.

909
00:59:54,994 --> 00:59:57,897
Yeah, I wonder what it was.

910
00:59:57,897 --> 01:00:00,734
I don't know if I can
try with everybody watching.

911
01:00:00,734 --> 01:00:02,569
It's too scary.

912
01:00:02,569 --> 01:00:05,505
Just can't, like,
try for real.

913
01:00:19,686 --> 01:00:22,822
- Oh, my gosh. -Good morning.
- What are you doing?

914
01:00:22,822 --> 01:00:24,124
Oh, I bailed.

915
01:00:24,124 --> 01:00:25,658
You bailed, oh?

916
01:00:25,692 --> 01:00:26,893
Yeah, it's chilly outside.

917
01:00:26,893 --> 01:00:28,561
It's chilly, okay.

918
01:00:28,561 --> 01:00:30,663
Okay.

919
01:00:31,431 --> 01:00:32,499
What's going on?

920
01:00:32,499 --> 01:00:37,103
Well, not much.

921
01:00:37,303 --> 01:00:38,505
What's up?

922
01:00:38,505 --> 01:00:40,573
Oh, I just, I went up to Free
Blast and I was, like, nah,

923
01:00:40,607 --> 01:00:42,142
I'm not gonna' do it. But...

924
01:00:42,142 --> 01:00:43,610
Good for you.

925
01:00:43,610 --> 01:00:44,944
Yeah, well, it's just a
little weird, you know?

926
01:00:44,978 --> 01:00:46,713
- Yup.
- Yeah. -No.

927
01:00:46,713 --> 01:00:50,717
Right, I mean there's just too many random,
random folks about and stuff, whatever.

928
01:00:50,717 --> 01:00:52,520
Uh-hmm, yeah.

929
01:00:52,520 --> 01:00:54,821
But, like, basically I did the
first half of the first slab.

930
01:00:54,821 --> 01:00:56,156
Uh-hmm.

931
01:00:56,156 --> 01:00:58,558
And then, uh, and then I
just was like, "Oh, I don't know."

932
01:00:58,558 --> 01:00:59,759
And my feet.

933
01:00:59,759 --> 01:01:01,194
Right, you made the
perfect decision.

934
01:01:01,194 --> 01:01:02,762
I don't know though,
I'm just like.

935
01:01:02,762 --> 01:01:03,963
Yeah.

936
01:01:03,963 --> 01:01:06,320
But now it all has to
drag on longer, I'm like.

937
01:01:06,320 --> 01:01:08,902
You, yeah, I mean, you
never have to go for it.

938
01:01:08,902 --> 01:01:09,836
You can just.

939
01:01:09,836 --> 01:01:11,805
Well, I just need
it to end, you know.

940
01:01:11,805 --> 01:01:13,239
Yeah, yeah, all the...

941
01:01:13,239 --> 01:01:15,141
Yeah, you know what
I'm talking about.

942
01:01:15,141 --> 01:01:17,644
The circus surrounding you.

943
01:01:21,514 --> 01:01:24,818
I just can't imagine,
I wonder if he got nervous.

944
01:01:26,186 --> 01:01:28,822
Is that possible?

945
01:01:28,822 --> 01:01:30,724
Oh, man.

946
01:01:31,570 --> 01:01:33,960
There's a lot of things that I
don't totally understand about him.

947
01:01:33,960 --> 01:01:35,195
You know?

948
01:01:35,195 --> 01:01:36,563
Yeah, I know.

949
01:01:36,563 --> 01:01:40,867
I mean in some ways it'd be kind of
reassuring that Spock has nerves.

950
01:01:52,112 --> 01:01:54,714
It was the first time I've ever
gone up on something like real and

951
01:01:54,714 --> 01:01:56,516
then not done it.

952
01:01:56,516 --> 01:02:01,721
But it's also the first time I've ever gone up
on something real with people all watching.

953
01:02:01,988 --> 01:02:05,592
By myself, I maybe would have just,
like, persevered, I don't know,

954
01:02:06,159 --> 01:02:09,796
maybe I just suck, but,

955
01:02:09,796 --> 01:02:13,166
you know, at least I've
like, at least I've tried.

956
01:02:36,220 --> 01:02:37,957
Thanks for
meeting us again.

957
01:02:41,661 --> 01:02:45,565
It's funny, it always has a certain
smell in here, and I wonder if it's

958
01:02:45,565 --> 01:02:46,966
the paint or the.

959
01:02:47,000 --> 01:02:49,502
Yeah, it's
the fresh paint.

960
01:02:49,869 --> 01:02:52,839
Dining room with
probably also bookshelves.

961
01:02:54,740 --> 01:02:55,675
Wait, so what
am, what am I signing?

962
01:02:55,675 --> 01:02:57,944
"Buyers of unit approves
the home inspection."

963
01:02:57,944 --> 01:03:03,830
Yeah, Alex told me I get
one furniture question a day.

964
01:03:03,830 --> 01:03:05,510
I've always thought
that I ought to buy a house,

965
01:03:05,510 --> 01:03:08,655
just haven't quite had the energy
to make it all happen myself.

966
01:03:08,655 --> 01:03:11,224
I think Sanni will be stoked to have
a place to live and there's so much

967
01:03:11,224 --> 01:03:13,727
climbing all around Vegas.

968
01:03:14,194 --> 01:03:19,532
Big sectional here and
chair or like sofa and two chairs.

969
01:03:22,268 --> 01:03:24,971
Potential, like, bar area.

970
01:03:26,639 --> 01:03:28,274
I would just sleep
straight on the carpet.

971
01:03:28,274 --> 01:03:30,543
It'd be like.

972
01:03:37,784 --> 01:03:41,855
Alex was a huge jerk watching
me struggle with the tape measure,

973
01:03:41,888 --> 01:03:44,924
being an ***hole standing by
commenting on how stupid I look,

974
01:03:44,924 --> 01:03:49,229
but not actually offering to help
or be productive or kind in any way.

975
01:03:49,229 --> 01:03:52,320
And so now it's
all gone to shit.

976
01:03:52,650 --> 01:03:55,168
Yeah, you're asking about our
domestic bliss, it's nonexistent.

977
01:03:56,200 --> 01:03:58,838
You're so angry, but
it's cracking, it's cracking.

978
01:03:58,838 --> 01:04:00,400
It's not cracking.

979
01:04:00,400 --> 01:04:01,307
Yeah, it is, it's cracking.

980
01:04:01,307 --> 01:04:02,909
No, it's not,
I'm still angry.

981
01:04:02,909 --> 01:04:04,210
I can tell you're cracking.

982
01:04:04,210 --> 01:04:05,745
I'm not cracking.

983
01:04:05,745 --> 01:04:07,313
But you're not that
angry, you're cracking.

984
01:04:07,313 --> 01:04:08,948
I'm not cracking.

985
01:04:08,982 --> 01:04:11,510
This is firm
resolve of hatred.

986
01:04:11,510 --> 01:04:13,253
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

987
01:04:14,654 --> 01:04:17,857
Oh, boy.

988
01:04:19,590 --> 01:04:21,795
That one seems very
big and very wide.

989
01:04:21,795 --> 01:04:23,329
Oh.

990
01:04:25,650 --> 01:04:27,701
Whoa, that seems really deep.

991
01:04:29,235 --> 01:04:30,904
We should just ask somebody.

992
01:04:30,937 --> 01:04:32,238
Hmm, I know.

993
01:04:32,238 --> 01:04:33,673
Let's keep looking
for the smaller ones.

994
01:04:33,673 --> 01:04:35,800
Oh, this is the $400, that's.

995
01:04:35,800 --> 01:04:36,276
That's it!

996
01:04:36,276 --> 01:04:37,444
That's it, that's our jam.

997
01:04:37,444 --> 01:04:38,945
This is actually,
like, kind of perfect.

998
01:04:38,945 --> 01:04:41,848
This is like so adequate.

999
01:04:44,500 --> 01:04:45,418
We have a fridge!

1000
01:04:45,418 --> 01:04:48,355
- Hmm.
- Yay! -That success.

1001
01:04:48,888 --> 01:04:50,423
Is it possible?

1002
01:04:50,423 --> 01:04:55,962
We had like a sort of a rough patch
since Yosemite, where, I don't know,

1003
01:04:56,730 --> 01:05:00,700
Alex isn't super good about
putting a name to how he's feeling.

1004
01:05:00,934 --> 01:05:03,737
So, he'll be like, "I know I'm cranky, but
I don't really know why and I'm not gonna

1005
01:05:03,737 --> 01:05:06,206
take the time
to figure it out."

1006
01:05:06,740 --> 01:05:09,776
I'm patient, but
I also have self-respect.

1007
01:05:09,776 --> 01:05:13,847
And then, you know, the second that I
start being mad, he's just like "foom."

1008
01:05:17,250 --> 01:05:18,818
How do you make coffee?

1009
01:05:18,818 --> 01:05:21,287
You need like a filter.

1010
01:05:21,321 --> 01:05:25,250
Definitely my relationship with Sanni
is, like, the most healthy and stable

1011
01:05:25,250 --> 01:05:27,193
relationship I've ever had.

1012
01:05:27,527 --> 01:05:29,929
Oh, look at that, the only
thing in the cupboard.

1013
01:05:30,530 --> 01:05:32,298
Certainly more communicative.

1014
01:05:32,332 --> 01:05:34,834
Even Sanni over the year and a
half we've been dating is like,

1015
01:05:34,834 --> 01:05:36,870
"Wow, you've
really blossomed."

1016
01:05:36,870 --> 01:05:38,538
Well, that's not
really promising.

1017
01:05:38,538 --> 01:05:41,374
And you think you put the coffee in there
and then you push the water through it?

1018
01:05:41,374 --> 01:05:42,742
I don't how to, um.

1019
01:05:42,742 --> 01:05:45,145
Hello,
oh, my gosh, wow!

1020
01:05:45,145 --> 01:05:46,813
Oh, like, how's, why?

1021
01:05:46,813 --> 01:05:48,248
Is this what it is
to be, um, a homeowner?

1022
01:05:48,248 --> 01:05:50,450
You get breakfast and coffee
made for you every day?

1023
01:05:50,450 --> 01:05:53,860
I don't, I don't understand
the, do you put the coffee in here and

1024
01:05:53,860 --> 01:05:54,154
then put the water to it?

1025
01:05:54,154 --> 01:05:55,355
It's really
complicated.

1026
01:05:55,388 --> 01:05:58,910
But she sees
things in a different way.

1027
01:05:58,291 --> 01:06:01,761
For Sanni the point of
life is like happiness.

1028
01:06:01,961 --> 01:06:05,899
To be with people that make you feel
fulfilled and to have a good time.

1029
01:06:06,199 --> 01:06:09,235
For me it's all
about performance.

1030
01:06:09,669 --> 01:06:13,740
The thing is anybody
can be happy and cozy.

1031
01:06:13,940 --> 01:06:17,377
Nothing good happens in the
world by being happy and cozy.

1032
01:06:19,479 --> 01:06:23,416
You know, like nobody achieves anything
great because they're happy and cozy.

1033
01:06:24,851 --> 01:06:29,289
You never wanna feel like you're
getting in the way of someone's goal.

1034
01:06:30,156 --> 01:06:34,961
And it's really hard for me
to grasp why he wants this.

1035
01:06:36,796 --> 01:06:41,468
But it's his dream and he
obviously still really wants it.

1036
01:06:45,271 --> 01:06:48,441
It's about
being a warrior.

1037
01:06:48,441 --> 01:06:51,411
It doesn't matter about
the cause necessarily.

1038
01:06:51,444 --> 01:06:54,948
This is your path and you will
pursue it with excellence.

1039
01:06:56,983 --> 01:06:59,919
You face your fear because
your goal demands it.

1040
01:07:01,254 --> 01:07:05,910
That is the goddamn
warrior spirit.

1041
01:07:05,725 --> 01:07:09,329
I think that the free soloing mentality
is pretty close to warrior culture,

1042
01:07:10,296 --> 01:07:14,834
where you give something 100% focus
because your life depends on it.

1043
01:07:45,131 --> 01:07:49,602
The move I gave up on in the fall was a
right foot on this little edge right here,

1044
01:07:49,636 --> 01:07:53,907
and I basically just have to like stand
on the right foot and just trust it.

1045
01:07:54,107 --> 01:07:57,177
And I was like, "I don't really wanna
have my whole life depend on like standing

1046
01:07:57,177 --> 01:08:00,146
on this one right foot."

1047
01:08:01,414 --> 01:08:04,250
But maybe I
can find another way.

1048
01:08:10,457 --> 01:08:14,600
I think this is like kind
of the business of the whole deal,

1049
01:08:15,950 --> 01:08:18,365
which is interesting because if you're
climbing with a rope it's not at all,

1050
01:08:18,398 --> 01:08:21,534
but without a rope it is.

1051
01:08:50,497 --> 01:08:56,136
That's my variation,
I just don't know.

1052
01:09:04,678 --> 01:09:09,416
I think that he's only comfortable
climbing in front of the camera or in front of

1053
01:09:09,683 --> 01:09:13,386
any other people when he's
really confident and secure.

1054
01:09:13,987 --> 01:09:17,390
And that's been the dilemma that this
whole production has faced, right?

1055
01:09:17,624 --> 01:09:18,825
- Yeah.
- From the beginning.

1056
01:09:18,825 --> 01:09:21,561
Our being there is
always going to change things.

1057
01:09:21,561 --> 01:09:25,298
What made the big difference for me
is that he did turn around last year.

1058
01:09:25,298 --> 01:09:29,102
He didn't feel the pressure to have
to do it because we were there.

1059
01:09:30,270 --> 01:09:33,606
And I really, like
that to me said a lot.

1060
01:09:34,507 --> 01:09:36,609
It meant a lot.

1061
01:09:53,993 --> 01:09:57,597
Is that what you'd
want, us not to film it?

1062
01:09:57,597 --> 01:10:00,133
Hmm, no.

1063
01:10:00,133 --> 01:10:03,303
I mean, hard to say it but I care
about doing it a lot more than I care

1064
01:10:03,303 --> 01:10:05,500
about it being filmed.

1065
01:10:05,500 --> 01:10:06,473
You know?

1066
01:10:06,473 --> 01:10:09,750
You could put your foot down
at any time, and, and, you know.

1067
01:10:09,750 --> 01:10:10,577
Yeah, I mean,
I'm aware of it.

1068
01:10:10,577 --> 01:10:12,312
Like, if I want to, I just won't
tell anybody and I'm just gonna do it

1069
01:10:12,345 --> 01:10:13,513
on my own terms.

1070
01:10:13,546 --> 01:10:14,781
Yeah, exactly.

1071
01:10:14,814 --> 01:10:17,183
Like whatever, like I mean
that's obviously on the table.

1072
01:10:17,183 --> 01:10:19,352
But obviously that would
hose everybody, you know?

1073
01:10:19,352 --> 01:10:20,420
Yeah.

1074
01:10:20,453 --> 01:10:21,755
If you woke up
tomorrow and you were like,

1075
01:10:21,788 --> 01:10:23,230
"You know what,
screw all of this,

1076
01:10:23,560 --> 01:10:25,392
I just don't care enough, like
I don't feel good enough."

1077
01:10:25,425 --> 01:10:26,926
You know,
but that's like, yeah,

1078
01:10:26,926 --> 01:10:29,129
I mean, of course I, I mean, I know
I could do that and just walk away.

1079
01:10:29,129 --> 01:10:34,670
But it's like, you know, I
mean, you know, I don't want to.

1080
01:10:46,546 --> 01:10:50,250
Having all these people around
requires a higher level of preparation,

1081
01:10:50,250 --> 01:10:53,860
a higher level of
confidence basically.

1082
01:10:53,286 --> 01:10:56,589
I need to like dial it in so much that,
you know, it doesn't matter if there's

1083
01:10:56,623 --> 01:10:59,325
like a stadium of people watching me because
it's so easy for me that I'm just like,

1084
01:10:59,325 --> 01:11:01,594
"Check this out."
And just do it.

1085
01:11:03,290 --> 01:11:06,533
Pitch one, stay left towards the
top, splitter, it feels more secure.

1086
01:11:07,567 --> 01:11:10,537
Pitch two, trust the right
foot, rock on, trust the feet,

1087
01:11:10,537 --> 01:11:12,172
right hand to
the last under cling.

1088
01:11:12,172 --> 01:11:13,807
Eight, easy romp. Go fast.

1089
01:11:13,840 --> 01:11:17,177
Nine, stay outside of the
down climb, careful of blocks.

1090
01:11:17,177 --> 01:11:21,810
Pitch 26, sort of lie back and up the
corner, key left-hand pinch thing,

1091
01:11:21,810 --> 01:11:24,651
right foot back step on the lower edge,
left foot faced against the wall, stand up.

1092
01:11:24,651 --> 01:11:28,555
Left hand to the huge ear jug thing,
switch the feet, match the big jug,

1093
01:11:28,988 --> 01:11:32,459
left foot jams into the crack, then you see
right-hand down pulling on the top part of the

1094
01:11:32,492 --> 01:11:36,129
jug, left hand goes into this flared slot
thing, which you can either fist jam or hand

1095
01:11:36,129 --> 01:11:38,398
jam, either way, it's like
a flare jam in the slot.

1096
01:11:38,431 --> 01:11:42,335
Sag down onto it, right hand crosses
under to an under cling, side pull.

1097
01:11:42,369 --> 01:11:45,472
Right foot sinks low to a flat edge,
left foot steps through to an edge,

1098
01:11:45,505 --> 01:11:49,209
right foot back steps really high so you
can sag your weight around the corner

1099
01:11:49,242 --> 01:11:50,777
without having to swing.

1100
01:11:50,810 --> 01:11:53,646
Left foot out to the big horn, right
hand through to a little finger pocket,

1101
01:11:53,680 --> 01:11:56,850
you go left foot out to an edge around the
corner, you can actually push all the way

1102
01:11:56,850 --> 01:11:59,219
into the corner, then you can grab
this down pulling right hand, flat,

1103
01:11:59,252 --> 01:12:00,954
like a small crimp.

1104
01:12:00,954 --> 01:12:03,423
Left hand to the other under cling, switch
your feet on the rail and then just reach

1105
01:12:03,456 --> 01:12:05,759
through the jugs,
and then it's done.

1106
01:12:05,992 --> 01:12:10,330
The key thing for the crux, pull
hard, trust feet, "trust" underline,

1107
01:12:10,330 --> 01:12:12,565
double exclamation
point, period.

1108
01:12:12,599 --> 01:12:15,468
Autopilot. Period.

1109
01:12:35,422 --> 01:12:38,425
I mean, you know, it's not
surprising that Ueli died.

1110
01:12:38,458 --> 01:12:42,162
Considering he's always doing crazy
dangerous things, but I kind of thought

1111
01:12:42,162 --> 01:12:44,831
he was gonna survive.

1112
01:12:46,933 --> 01:12:52,339
Ueli talked about doing sketchy climbs
that you just kind of squeak out once.

1113
01:12:52,339 --> 01:12:55,742
You know I've
always tried not to.

1114
01:12:55,942 --> 01:12:58,812
But when I was talking to him
about, about Free Rider, I was like,

1115
01:12:58,812 --> 01:13:01,414
"Oh maybe Free Rider is one of those
routes that I just need to go squeak

1116
01:13:01,448 --> 01:13:04,584
out once and just like
make sure it's my day."

1117
01:13:05,185 --> 01:13:08,621
You know, obviously
it wasn't his day.

1118
01:13:17,797 --> 01:13:21,334
After Ueli died, it's interesting
with Alex, how he justifies all that

1119
01:13:21,334 --> 01:13:23,636
stuff away so quickly.

1120
01:13:24,237 --> 01:13:26,473
He was just kind of like
shrugged it off, he's like

1121
01:13:26,473 --> 01:13:28,908
"Oh, yeah, yeah,
it could happen."

1122
01:13:32,846 --> 01:13:35,415
I talked to Alex for a
really long time about all of this.

1123
01:13:35,415 --> 01:13:37,384
And I was like,
"What if you die?

1124
01:13:37,384 --> 01:13:40,920
Like what if you die
just like Ueli died?"

1125
01:13:40,920 --> 01:13:44,858
Ueli and his wife, Nicole, had a
really beautiful relationship and they

1126
01:13:44,858 --> 01:13:47,527
would climb together.

1127
01:13:47,527 --> 01:13:51,865
Alex said at one point,
"Well, what did she expect?"

1128
01:13:51,898 --> 01:13:55,635
And I got, I was like, "What do
you mean what did she expect?"

1129
01:13:56,469 --> 01:14:02,375
I was like, "I'm Nicole, Alex!
And I don't expect that."

1130
01:14:02,876 --> 01:14:06,312
Tons of more people
have died and Alex is kind of

1131
01:14:06,312 --> 01:14:11,451
the most likely to die,
but I know he's gonna do it.

1132
01:14:11,451 --> 01:14:15,221
So I'd like to be there to help
him prepare as well as he can.

1133
01:14:17,457 --> 01:14:18,692
Oh, shit.

1134
01:14:19,250 --> 01:14:22,996
If he went to solo it and fell and
died, and I hadn't helped him prepare

1135
01:14:23,290 --> 01:14:24,597
that would be harder for me.

1136
01:14:24,597 --> 01:14:27,634
Like, I just know that I'm, I'm one of
the people that's gonna be able to do

1137
01:14:27,634 --> 01:14:30,503
that the best with
him and so, I should.

1138
01:14:38,378 --> 01:14:42,415
He said he's feeling
tinges of, of like game time.

1139
01:14:44,500 --> 01:14:46,753
I think there's a
chance he goes tomorrow.

1140
01:14:50,790 --> 01:14:54,861
They are remote cameras,
because we wanna stay out of Alex's

1141
01:14:54,861 --> 01:14:56,830
line of sight
when he's doing it.

1142
01:14:59,699 --> 01:15:02,469
Okay, everybody knows what
to do if something goes wrong.

1143
01:15:02,502 --> 01:15:05,238
Josh, just to confirm
who should Mikey call?

1144
01:15:06,639 --> 01:15:08,875
The easiest thing
would just be 911.

1145
01:15:08,908 --> 01:15:12,679
And that we will get kicked into
gear and tell them what you know.

1146
01:15:13,790 --> 01:15:14,414
A climber.

1147
01:15:14,414 --> 01:15:16,316
Yeah.

1148
01:15:16,349 --> 01:15:19,419
All right, no
mistakes tomorrow.

1149
01:15:29,896 --> 01:15:33,933
I'm worried that tomorrow
is gonna be it, like, you know,

1150
01:15:33,967 --> 01:15:37,871
like Alex's existence
will be over.

1151
01:15:39,639 --> 01:15:43,576
I was like, "Oh, I have to be
prepared for that outcome and

1152
01:15:43,610 --> 01:15:47,347
I have to realize that
that is a real possibility."

1153
01:15:51,785 --> 01:15:53,753
Oh, God.

1154
01:16:03,463 --> 01:16:06,866
Remember when you said you were
gonna stand up for my goodbye?

1155
01:16:06,900 --> 01:16:09,669
- Oh, is it time? -Yeah.
- Oh.

1156
01:16:09,669 --> 01:16:12,605
But you don't have to stand
up, but you have to sit up.

1157
01:16:12,972 --> 01:16:16,609
Oh, you could've
just left me.

1158
01:16:18,110 --> 01:16:21,681
No, no, I'm never gonna go.

1159
01:16:22,649 --> 01:16:24,884
Okay, drive safe.

1160
01:16:24,918 --> 01:16:28,555
Ciao, see you later!

1161
01:16:44,671 --> 01:16:46,906
I mean, I didn't
ask her to leave.

1162
01:16:46,906 --> 01:16:48,575
I mean, I would never
ask her to leave.

1163
01:16:48,608 --> 01:16:53,580
But, you know, I think she kind of understands
that, that it's probably easier for

1164
01:16:53,580 --> 01:16:56,750
me if she's gone.

1165
01:16:58,718 --> 01:17:01,454
I don't, I, the whole like
saying goodbye thing I'm like

1166
01:17:01,454 --> 01:17:04,491
"I'll probably see her in
like five days or something."

1167
01:17:04,524 --> 01:17:07,270
It's not like goodbye, it's
just goodbye for a few days.

1168
01:17:12,732 --> 01:17:16,169
You know, I mean there's just
that like weird thought of like,

1169
01:17:16,169 --> 01:17:19,973
don't freaking let that be
our last hug or whatever.

1170
01:17:24,678 --> 01:17:28,648
You know, like I shouldn't
be having that thought...

1171
01:17:32,752 --> 01:17:36,389
of like "What if
something happens?

1172
01:17:36,656 --> 01:17:39,926
Like what if I don't
see him again?"

1173
01:17:41,461 --> 01:17:44,531
You know, like, "Why
do you wanna do this?

1174
01:17:44,531 --> 01:17:48,340
Like it's a
totally crazy goal."

1175
01:19:22,228 --> 01:19:24,300
Hey, Jimmy, do you copy?

1176
01:19:24,300 --> 01:19:26,166
This is Jimmy.

1177
01:19:28,134 --> 01:19:30,603
He
just started climbing.

1178
01:20:08,274 --> 01:20:11,111
It is so
slippery right there.

1179
01:20:11,144 --> 01:20:13,130
This is where he bailed.

1180
01:21:11,304 --> 01:21:15,108
Mikey, do you copy?
This is Jimmy.

1181
01:21:15,141 --> 01:21:17,344
Hey, Jimmy, this is Mikey.

1182
01:21:17,344 --> 01:21:20,747
Can you let me know when
he's through the slab pitch?

1183
01:21:21,881 --> 01:21:24,840
He's through the slab pitch.

1184
01:21:24,117 --> 01:21:26,219
He's through it?

1185
01:21:26,252 --> 01:21:28,888
Yup,
he's almost at half dollar.

1186
01:21:29,422 --> 01:21:31,825
He's moving fast.

1187
01:21:32,959 --> 01:21:37,163
Yes, Jimmy,
he is of course ahead of schedule.

1188
01:21:39,766 --> 01:21:41,801
So how far
is he from Mammoth?

1189
01:21:42,902 --> 01:21:44,871
Doing
the half dollar right now.

1190
01:22:02,155 --> 01:22:05,910
6:21 he's down climbing
to Heart Ledge there's a party,

1191
01:22:06,126 --> 01:22:08,428
in a Porter Ledge still.

1192
01:22:11,231 --> 01:22:14,000
They're awake and
there's, they're aware.

1193
01:22:14,601 --> 01:22:17,337
They're like "Here comes
Honnold." Oh, my God.

1194
01:22:18,371 --> 01:22:21,408
A Dude in a bunny suit.

1195
01:22:25,278 --> 01:22:27,147
The person is getting up now.

1196
01:22:27,147 --> 01:22:29,115
Uh yeah, no there's a tail.

1197
01:22:29,149 --> 01:22:35,288
This person has a tail and it's
either a chicken head or a bunny.

1198
01:22:35,822 --> 01:22:38,240
Oh, it's a unicorn.

1199
01:22:38,224 --> 01:22:40,360
Come on.
Who does that?

1200
01:22:41,528 --> 01:22:44,130
I've never seen
that on El Cap.

1201
01:22:44,931 --> 01:22:48,234
Wow, and Alex is gone.

1202
01:22:48,268 --> 01:22:51,104
Okay, so he's entering
the Hollow Flake at 6:49.

1203
01:22:51,471 --> 01:22:55,108
He just did the Hollow Flake down
climb and is in the Hollow Flake now.

1204
01:23:00,246 --> 01:23:04,250
And then the thing about Free Rider
is that from the base of Hollow Flake

1205
01:23:04,284 --> 01:23:08,210
it's one crack system all the way to
the top which is like what, 2,000 feet?

1206
01:23:10,557 --> 01:23:14,361
That's the most magnificent
crack on planet earth.

1207
01:23:22,235 --> 01:23:23,603
Doug, this is Jimmy.

1208
01:23:23,636 --> 01:23:27,400
Do you know if they've radioed if
he's gotten to the Monster yet?

1209
01:23:28,942 --> 01:23:30,777
Yeah, he's there now.

1210
01:24:03,576 --> 01:24:07,247
He's almost through it.

1211
01:24:20,627 --> 01:24:23,463
There, he's coming
up now actually.

1212
01:24:23,496 --> 01:24:26,466
Now we see him like at
the same height as the spire.

1213
01:24:26,499 --> 01:24:29,569
But you guys are all in
position ready to go?

1214
01:24:30,437 --> 01:24:34,841
Yeah, Sam and I
are at the bottom of the head wall.

1215
01:24:35,342 --> 01:24:39,813
My guess is he's 15 minutes
from the Boulder Problem or so.

1216
01:26:14,400 --> 01:26:18,110
He just did
the karate kick.

1217
01:26:19,713 --> 01:26:21,514
He's got it.

1218
01:26:26,219 --> 01:26:28,880
Oh, yeah.

1219
01:26:29,656 --> 01:26:31,458
That is way too gnarly.

1220
01:26:31,491 --> 01:26:34,294
- Oh, my God.
- He did it. Jesus.

1221
01:26:36,730 --> 01:26:39,132
He just sent the
boulder problem.

1222
01:26:40,166 --> 01:26:43,169
He must be so stoked.

1223
01:26:43,703 --> 01:26:46,439
I mean to have the slabs and the boulder
problem behind him is monumental.

1224
01:26:51,478 --> 01:26:55,315
- Here's the Enduro huh?
- Yup, this is the Enduro.

1225
01:27:31,685 --> 01:27:35,422
I can't believe you guys
are actually gonna watch.

1226
01:27:35,789 --> 01:27:39,426
Oh, I don't wanna, I don't,
I don't, I don't, I don't, no, no.

1227
01:28:02,482 --> 01:28:05,251
Oh, my God.

1228
01:28:13,126 --> 01:28:15,195
Yeah, that's kind
of exposed right there.

1229
01:28:15,228 --> 01:28:18,465
Oh, my God,
it's so exposed.

1230
01:28:18,765 --> 01:28:21,468
That arête move as he
stepped around has gotta be,

1231
01:28:21,468 --> 01:28:22,836
I mean that's one
of the most exposed moves

1232
01:28:22,836 --> 01:28:26,573
like anywhere on El Cap.

1233
01:28:26,606 --> 01:28:29,109
If you just step out,
it all drops away.

1234
01:29:22,328 --> 01:29:24,431
Yeah, buddy.

1235
01:29:25,980 --> 01:29:28,301
Alex is having
the best day of his life.

1236
01:29:28,334 --> 01:29:31,171
I don't know. Not me.

1237
01:29:31,371 --> 01:29:35,842
I'm done, yeah, no, this is it,
I don't, we don't need to do this again.

1238
01:29:40,480 --> 01:29:41,648
Yeah, no.

1239
01:31:45,672 --> 01:31:47,974
It's over now.

1240
01:31:52,345 --> 01:31:56,950
Oh, God, it's done, woo-hoo!

1241
01:31:58,551 --> 01:31:59,986
Oh, God.

1242
01:32:00,200 --> 01:32:02,622
Oh, God, wow.

1243
01:32:03,790 --> 01:32:07,660
Oh, my God, I can't
believe what I just witnessed.

1244
01:32:46,660 --> 01:32:49,736
Oh, God.

1245
01:32:49,769 --> 01:32:52,500
Good to see
you again, yay.

1246
01:32:52,806 --> 01:32:55,642
Wow!

1247
01:32:57,977 --> 01:33:00,613
So delighted.

1248
01:33:01,147 --> 01:33:04,317
That felt so good,
it's freaking raged.

1249
01:33:05,185 --> 01:33:08,488
Like a gigantic weight
off of my shoulders too.

1250
01:33:09,122 --> 01:33:11,791
I have to admit, I mean.

1251
01:33:12,459 --> 01:33:17,397
So delighted,
what a journey.

1252
01:33:18,264 --> 01:33:23,603
Yeah, I just can't even believe
after eight years of dreaming,

1253
01:33:25,805 --> 01:33:28,775
oh San-san's calling me.

1254
01:33:28,808 --> 01:33:30,543
Hello?

1255
01:33:33,646 --> 01:33:35,248
Yeah, so delighted.

1256
01:33:35,281 --> 01:33:38,840
Oh my, you're so
delighted, that's putting it lightly.

1257
01:33:38,118 --> 01:33:41,121
I've like never smiled so much.
Don't say anything too.

1258
01:33:41,154 --> 01:33:43,556
I wanna see it.
What's that?

1259
01:33:43,590 --> 01:33:45,959
Like, I told you I
wanted to see that smile.

1260
01:33:45,992 --> 01:33:47,727
Yeah, I know.

1261
01:33:47,761 --> 01:33:50,997
I've like never cried
so hard and I didn't even see it coming.

1262
01:33:51,310 --> 01:33:54,667
Showing that you talk now,
I was just like "Blah."

1263
01:33:55,680 --> 01:33:56,836
Yeah, no,
I'm, I'm sort of at,

1264
01:33:56,870 --> 01:33:59,773
at risk of crying here too, I'm
like, I feel quite emotional.

1265
01:34:00,340 --> 01:34:03,710
Yeah, no, don't cry
San-san it will make me cry.

1266
01:34:04,944 --> 01:34:07,447
But Claire says cry it.

1267
01:34:07,681 --> 01:34:09,916
I think the movie would be better
if I burst into tears, but I,

1268
01:34:09,949 --> 01:34:11,484
I don't really want to.

1269
01:34:11,518 --> 01:34:13,586
But, well I do want
to kind of, but.

1270
01:34:13,586 --> 01:34:16,156
I'm so happy.

1271
01:34:16,189 --> 01:34:17,590
Oh, God.

1272
01:34:17,590 --> 01:34:19,693
I'm so happy.

1273
01:34:19,693 --> 01:34:21,528
Yeah.

1274
01:34:21,561 --> 01:34:24,497
I'm so happy.

1275
01:34:25,598 --> 01:34:26,833
Well, okay.

1276
01:34:26,866 --> 01:34:29,936
I'll see you, I'll see you in
like six hours or something.

1277
01:34:29,969 --> 01:34:32,172
And
I'll see you soon, yeah.

1278
01:34:32,205 --> 01:34:33,940
Yeah, okay, I love you.

1279
01:34:33,973 --> 01:34:35,842
Thank you so much,
I appreciate you.

1280
01:34:35,875 --> 01:34:36,943
I love you too.

1281
01:34:36,976 --> 01:34:38,511
You're, you're the best.

1282
01:34:38,545 --> 01:34:40,113
And I appreciate
you and I'm really proud of you.

1283
01:34:40,146 --> 01:34:41,715
Yay.

1284
01:34:43,149 --> 01:34:44,451
I don't know.

1285
01:34:44,484 --> 01:34:45,952
I don't, I don't think the mountain
looked that scary this morning.

1286
01:34:45,985 --> 01:34:49,890
It's funny because it does look the
same and hiking up looked the same,

1287
01:34:49,122 --> 01:34:51,224
everything just felt pretty much
the same, except I just didn't have

1288
01:34:51,257 --> 01:34:53,660
much of a backpack.

1289
01:34:53,693 --> 01:34:55,862
I did, I forgot
my rope and rack.

1290
01:34:55,895 --> 01:34:57,464
I felt so good.

1291
01:34:57,497 --> 01:34:59,966
I mean that's why I'm so happy that the
experience was like what I hoped for.

1292
01:34:59,999 --> 01:35:02,535
I didn't compromise on any of the
things that were super important to me.

1293
01:35:02,569 --> 01:35:04,938
Huh, yeah, that felt good.

1294
01:35:05,705 --> 01:35:07,474
All right.

1295
01:35:07,507 --> 01:35:09,943
So what's next, what
are you gonna do Alex?

1296
01:35:10,143 --> 01:35:11,678
Mmm, I'm probably
gonna hang board.

1297
01:35:11,711 --> 01:35:13,179
You're gonna hang board?

1298
01:35:13,847 --> 01:35:16,950
A normal person would probably
take the afternoon off.

1299
01:35:28,528 --> 01:35:30,530
Thanks again for
coming out and climbing with me.

1300
01:35:30,563 --> 01:35:31,865
I'm really proud of you.

1301
01:35:31,898 --> 01:35:34,100
Good work not plummeting
to your death.

1302
01:35:34,901 --> 01:35:36,669
Really glad it's over.

1303
01:35:37,971 --> 01:35:41,775
Oh, my gosh,
you're here, oh, my God!

1304
01:35:43,877 --> 01:35:47,881
Oh, my gosh, I'm so happy
for you, you did it and you're done.

1305
01:35:49,849 --> 01:35:51,885
You know some of the people
that have come before you,

1306
01:35:51,918 --> 01:35:54,554
they, they didn't quit
while they were ahead.

1307
01:35:54,587 --> 01:35:55,955
Maybe it's good.

1308
01:35:55,989 --> 01:35:58,591
Maybe I don't need to
keep charging ahead.

1309
01:35:59,920 --> 01:36:02,620
Right now there's some kid that just read
about El Cap being soloed and he's like.

1310
01:36:02,950 --> 01:36:03,563
"What's bigger?"

1311
01:36:03,596 --> 01:36:05,980
Like "What's cooler?"

1312
01:36:05,131 --> 01:36:07,901
And I mean somebody's gonna think of
something and it's gonna be cooler.

1313
01:36:07,934 --> 01:36:12,105
But I don't know if that will be me.
Maybe, I don't know.