This is Alex Honnold. He was born in 1985 and he is the only person who has ever free-climbed El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park. Free-climbing means climbing without ropes or other safety devices. El Capitan is a massive wall of granite that rises some 3000 feet from the valley below. It is truly awesome.
Honnold's successful ascent of El Capitan happened on June 3rd 2017 and this breathtaking feat is tracked in a feature film called "Free Solo". I watched it on Friday afternoon.
At one point in this documentary film, Honnold's mother says that her late husband might well have been suffering from Asperger's syndrome all of his life though this was never diagnosed.
It seemed to me that in his single-mindedness, his disregard for his own safety and in his burning ambition to beat El Capitan, Alex Honnold may have inherited elements of his father's condition. He clearly found the business of nurturing warm human relationships very difficult.
If you will please excuse the pun, I found this film gripping. Honnold's incredibly testing ascent was filmed by climbing enthusiasts who Honnold knows well. They vividly captured his daredevil bravery as he pushed himself to the limits of his rock climbing ability and scorned the prospect of death.
Not for Alex Honnold the safety of home and the quest for a long comfortable life. He was out there on the rock, his chalked fingers stretching for unlikely handholds, He was really alive, reaching for something beyond himself, being true to himself.
It was a helluva watch.
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As I grow older, I think of the people I've known who were the most unique and the most intelligent and the most daring and I can see that many of them were probably what we would call "on the spectrum." Asperger's at the very least. Instead of trying to define these people as suffering from their differences, I believe we should celebrate these differences. The greatest inventions and insights and accomplishments ever made by humans were probably made by humans who had what I'm going to just call- special ability. A sort of genius. A gift to us all.
ReplyDeleteAnd as I grow older, I think that most of us are "on the spectrum". After all, what is "normal"?
DeleteA woman I know is mother to three autistic boys and the talk of autism being a gift makes her furious, she says it's nothing to celebrate...so there's that.
ReplyDeleteA 3000 foot free climb? thats mad, brave, confident....and just so freaking dangerous
I guess there are different shades of autism. Some people have autistic traits while others are severely autistic. By the way, I think that what that mother has achieved is probably much more admirable that climbing El Capitan without ropes.
DeleteI will never understand rock climbers. That comes from someone who once in a while climbed in the rocks. I live near the Rockies
ReplyDeleteYou have reminded me of The Red Rock Brewery.
DeleteSee http://www.redrockbrewery.co.uk/
It's good that there are all kinds of people in the world -- people who do unique things and people who appreciate them.
ReplyDeleteBut I have to say, this does not appeal to me, and yet I feel I am every bit as alive as you describe this rock climber being.
It's all a matter of taste :)
If we didn't have pathfinders like Alex Honnold I think that humanity would not have come so far.
DeleteI have heard about this movie but I do not think I could watch it! Even knowing that he was successful this film would scare me to death! I am glad you enjoyed it. He is most certainly an incredible climber!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was going to be more scary than it was.
DeleteI usually don't tell people what I'm thinking if I can't say something nice, but today I shall make an exception. I think he's a self-centered idiot. Even if he has no regard for his own life, imagine the horror (if he were to fall) of those watching...and the impact (no pun intended) for his family/mother. Idiot.
ReplyDeleteAt one point in the film he says "Yeah. Love and comfort all very nice but where does it get you? As far as I can see it never got anybody anywhere." Most of his adult life he has avoided loving relationships, preferring to live alone in his van.
DeleteHilltophomesteader definitely has a point there - and a strong one at that. Not everyone can decide for themselves what to do with their lives - live them out in comfort (and style), dedicate themselves to the one cause that matters most to them, or even throw their lives away. As soon as responsibilities are involved (for children, for instance), one's life is not entirely one's own anymore.
ReplyDeleteAs for rock climbing, I can see and understand the appeal. Years ago, some people who know me well said they could imagine it as something I'd enjoy. But I never really gave it a try; I rather enjoy nature by walking/hiking in it.
It's not too late Meike! You could train at Griffwerk:-
DeleteGriffwerk
Fuchshofstraße 66
71638 Ludwigsburg
I don't think I could even WATCH it! His attitude toward relationships is kind of bizarre, whether rooted in Asperger's or not. I can't imagine not seeing the benefit of human bonds.
ReplyDeleteAt one point in n the film another climber suggests that Alex Honnold's "armour" would be compromised by close relationships. He has a girlfriend in the film - Sanny but she talks about her battles to get through to him and recognises his malnourished emotional condition.
DeleteOne of the most thought-provoking of posts, YP. The problem is that I agree with so many of the points made even though some I agree with conflict.
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems is that few of us (particularly me) understand all the differences between the various degrees on the Autism Spectrum. I used to understand Asperger's Syndrome as involving difficulty with social relationship, and obsessive behaviour. AH would seem to fit that diagnosis.
However many of us are 'on the spectrum' to some extent even if it's only insisting (to oneself) that all one's shirts face a certain way, are on wire hangers and that the wire hanger openings face the back of the wardrobe.
On the face of it I agree with Hilltophomesteader but I suspect that such considerations are completely beyond AH's powers of contemplation.
I agree that we are probably all "on a spectrum". Alex Honnold was very driven. It was almost beyond his control. Was Neil Armstrong an idiot? Was Christopher Columbus an idiot? Were Edmund Hillary and Norgay Tenzing idiots?
DeleteI doubt very much that I will watch this movie. Not my thing...
ReplyDelete