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Why is french freeing the salathe more historical? Not that pushing the salathe would not be a fun and BIG day.

Also, I never said that crack climbing was harder then sport climbing for the grade. I agree with you that I think they are the same and sometimes the crack grade is easier.

Honnold said that he does not think that the free rider would be the route to solo on el cap because of the Teflon corner or the boulder problem. He thinks that golden gate would be the better solo. I don't know, I think both would be crazy, but if any body can do it I think he is the man.

Other good mostly free pushes are; the nose (80% under 5.10), the regular NW face of half dome (80% under 5.9). Just pure fun and miles of rock climbing.

ynp1 wrote:
Honnold said that he does not think that the free rider would be the route to solo on el cap because of the Teflon corner or the boulder problem. He thinks that golden gate would be the better solo. I don't know, I think both would be crazy, but if any body can do it I think he is the man.

Hmm, I haven't read that curious where he said that, we were talking a couple years ago about a EC solo (done free blast many times, but not always free!!) about how sketchy the bottom slabs are...Honnold came out and basically said the same thing----

I've thought about it before pitch-by-pitch, all the way up Freerider, and literally the second pitch is kind of tenuous, kind of sketchy. I do it differently every time, and it always feels real insecure. And there are two other slab pitches just on the Free Blast, the first ten pitches. So there are three pitches out of the first twelve that are just kind of sketchy slabs. But all of them would be something you could get amped-up on, they're not really hard. There's just a lot where you'd have to really want it. I don't know, I'm just not fired-up enough yet.

http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/2010/ ... draft.html


I haven't freed the slab pitches since they got uprated. Did them several times when they were 10d, but now they are 11 they feel harder. Plus that second pitch is a real oddity...I've done it free 2x by pinching the lip of the roof and by pimping the underclings (totally different ways) so I hear what Honnold is saying---a very weird pitch, unimagniable to solo for me anyways...

The historical way of teh Salathe is outlined in Long, Hard, and Free (as can be) by Jones/Hudon

Those dudes were bad mofos...

ynp1 wrote:Why is french freeing the salathe more historical? Not that pushing the salathe would not be a fun and BIG day.

If you can't see why The Salathe is the more historical of the two routes, you should go back to Yosemite and ask around.

That second/third pitch of Free Blast is hard... feels like V3 at least! Then those slab pitches... talk about slick as glass!! I always though it was just because I'm a bumbly 5.12 climber, but then I see bad-ass 5.13 sport/5.12 slab climbers whimpering big-time on that "11b" slab pitch too!!

If you are going for historical value of a route, I would think the nose would be the most historical. Yes I do know all about the history of almost all el cap routes. I was thinking more about the history of free climbing on el cap, not the over all history of the route. Which has a lot of aid climbing in it and we know that anybody can aid climb even old ladies and I don't know why you would want to be part of that game.

Guess what though! You can climb it more then one time! You could FF your way up the salathe one days and then come back a few days later and try to free free rider! What an idea!

Honnold was talking about it with Tom Evans at el cap bridge one day. Golden gate shares the same start as free rider (free blast), so he would not be cutting out those slabs you are talking about.

I also was thinking about the freeclimbing history, which is why I chose the Salathe. Was it not the first free route on the main wall? For me, that trumps Freerider and the Nose. Everything I've ever read says that the Salathe is the better quality route, and the first free ascent story is far more interesting.

Making a free ascent doesn't interest me as much as a fast ascent. Not fast in terms of record breaking speed... but fast as in I have little interest in working pitches over and over. It doesn't sound like that much fun, and it just doesn't fit into the schedule of my life. Any pitch on a wall would have to be pretty damned good for me to want to climb it twice. Hence the switch to training and sport climbing. When I struggled up 5.12 cracks, I knew i'd have to aid. Now, I can free the large majority and pull on gear when needed, on the hard pitches.

In my mind, that's the best compromise between aiding and being Alex Honnold, and one I'm more than comfortable with.

I also like climbing fast on el cap. That is why I have done it three times in pushes and I have pushed all but three of the big walls I have done. The only walls i have done wall style sence my first el cap route have been solo. So good choice to give up on all this free climbing nonsense.

A out the free climbing on the salathe... It does have a lot of history. It was the first, but it was done in very interesting style. Skinner and piana were creating the game of big wall free climbing and made some questionable ethic calls. The main one being the fact that they broke the head wall pitches into three different pitches. They could not do the one lone 160 foot pitch from stance to stance so they made hanging belays to make it easier. I believe that the huber brothers were the first to do it in one pitch and I think a few have also done it this way (honnold and steph I am pretty sure have).

One cool thing they did do, that I don't think any other party that claims to have freed the route has done, is they freed the 5.13b pitch leading to the alcove (19). I think almost all the other parties skipped that pitch, one of the cruxes of the route and did the monster instead.

So yes this route is full of free climbing history. It kind of shaped how free climbing is done on el cap.

I remember reading something about alex huber not actually sending the pitch, but after falling, lowering to a no-hands and finishing. I also think I read that Yuji was the first to do the entire pitch clean? Thomas Huber tried to do 19 but couldn't, and I seem to remember a story about a guy who did the 19th, and all the other pitches clean, but never in one push (Herson? Or something like that.)

I just can't see going that far up the route, and then breaking off at the last minute to do Freerider, unless I've already been up the Salathe (including 19... the original free line), not Hubers variation.

You may be right about the hubers not doing the one long pitch and it may have been yuji that did it first. That is the way to free the pitch.. He'll it is only 160feet. I think it was a little light duty to split it into three pitches, but fuck I would have to aid the pitch so what can I say. A lot of people including many old valley locals that do not give skinner and piana the first free ascent. They team freed it that means one of them freed every pitch, and they really dislike the breaking up of the head wll pitch.

I have not heard of anybody else freeing the 19th pitch, but it would not surprise me if it has been done, just recently a lot of people that say they have freed the salathe have done the MO veration.

I do like how the hubers try to do the routes free from stance to stance. Hanging belays are just an aid move.

ON TOPIC: how was the show?