tomdarch wrote:
Surprisingly enough, earning the title "famous soloist" tends to correlate with imminent demise.
How so? Not many "famous soloist"s have died while soloing.
Besides, doesn't being human tend to correlate with imminent demise?
Agreed.
But it seems the MOST famous soloists have died while soloing, in that they have become more famous because of their deaths. so that doesn't quite make it work either.
[size=75]i may be weak, but i have bad technique[/size]
tomdarch wrote:
Surprisingly enough, earning the title "famous soloist" tends to correlate with imminent demise.
How so? Not many "famous soloist"s have died while soloing.
Besides, doesn't being human tend to correlate with imminent demise?
Agreed.
But it seems the MOST famous soloists have died while soloing, in that they have become more famous because of their deaths. so that doesn't quite make it work either.
Dunno...
Famous soloist's still alive:
John Bachar, Henry Barber, Peter Croft, Mark Williford, John Gill ( still soloing in his 70's ) Jeff Lowe, Dean Potter ( alive, but for how long? )
I can only think of a couple who died soloing ( Derek Hersey for one ) The rest died from alpine accidents, car wrecks, drowning and suicide.
I don't neccesaraly condone soloing, but please get your facts straight.
[quote="MarthaP on ST.com"]This press release just sent by Matt Samet:
Michael Reardon Missing in Ireland
Michael Reardon, 36, the accomplished free soloist based out of Oak Park, California, went missing off the southwestern coast of Ireland around 5 p.m. Friday. He had just completed a climb near the Valentia Marine Radio Station, on the small island of Valentia, when a rogue wave took him into the sea. He did not fall 70 feet from the cliff top, or while climbing, as earlier reports had indicated. This is a report from his friend, the photographer Damon Corso, who was there at the time:
“It was just another day of climbing on Atlantic sea cliffs in Ireland with Mike (Reardon). We had arrived on Valentia Island in a slight fog and drizzle. Mike took me around the bottom of Wireless Point to an inlet merely 15 feet above the roaring Atlantic, a situation we were now used to. We arrived at a spot he had climbed at alone two weeks prior. Mike up and downed two different climbs while I shot photos trying to combine him and the raw force of the waves crashing all around us. He finished the two climbs and was waiting, on an-algae covered platform, for the big swells to pass by so that he could walk back over to me on the opposite side of the inlet. A rogue wave came into the inlet and curved rightwards as it crashed into Mike. He tried to stabilize himself on the platform but the water was too powerful and sucked him in. The current pulled Mike out 150-plus meters in mere seconds. I ran up the hill to the Valentia Coast Guard station a mile away. Mike was still conscious in the water when I left him. The Coast Guard arrived on the scene no more than 15 minutes after the incident. Mike was nowhere to be seen at this point. Twelve volunteer rescue boats, the Coast Guard Lifeboat and Chopper were on the scene that evening.â€
A truly amazing guy. His attitude and zest for life seemed off the scale and his awesome rants at our OR booth last year were kick ass! He seemed like a true example of a free spirit but one with a bit of an edge.
He wrote on a poster that is hanging in my bouldering gym "Life is Short, Play Hard!!!" - Micheal Reardon
A terrible loss to the climbing community. I wonder if he has any family? (wife, kids etc.)
512OW wrote:
How so? Not many "famous soloist"s have died while soloing.
Besides, doesn't being human tend to correlate with imminent demise?
Agreed.
But it seems the MOST famous soloists have died while soloing, in that they have become more famous because of their deaths. so that doesn't quite make it work either.
Dunno...
Famous soloist's still alive:John Bachar, Henry Barber, Peter Croft, Mark Williford, John Gill ( still soloing in his 70's ) Jeff Lowe, Dean Potter ( alive, but for how long? )
I can only think of a couple who died soloing ( Derek Hersey for one ) The rest died from alpine accidents, car wrecks, drowning and suicide.
I don't neccesaraly condone soloing, but please get your facts straight.
Let's throw in Dan Osman. My point wasn't so much about wether famous soloists die soloing, but that they tend to die sooner than non-soloing climbers and from a variety of causes.
tomdarch, Dan did not die while soloing. And, I think people who solo die at about the same rate as other, non-soloing climbers. Maybe less often, as they generally tend to be really good at risk assessment.
