I dunno was it? Must have put a crimp in the advertising campaign when the guy was killed trying another stunt later.
Loren
Quicktime won’t never work for me, but I can’t figure out why.
Maybe not..but I have seen that before .
serious climbing involved…some serious camera angles as well.
Slan,
D.
Hmm, that’s too bad. I originally tried to find a WMP version, but couldn’t so settled on that sorry quality quicktime version.
Loren
Eh, by today’s standards that’s a very easy climb, rated 5.7 as I recall. Not difficult at all really, however free soloing it at that speed certainly makes it serious - you slip and…well, that’s it. It’s ironic that the guy later died while trusting his life to a rope - albeit in an ill advised stunt.
Dan Osman, RIP.
Loren
R.I.P. indeed.
One serious guy.
I’ve often wondered about the motivation for such stunts - for want of a better word.
Your life on the line at every given moment. The Rush must be awesome.
I get all the Rush I can deal with getting to the last part of the Foxhunters reel… when I get to play with the high Gs it all becomes very daring.
Push it out to it’s limits…then bring it around again.
Once more with feeling..
Does me.
I’m getting to old for this biking crack
Slan,
D.
It’s funny what people think is “too dangerous”. I’ve known skydivers who would never go down into a cave and cavers who think only lunatics get out of a perfectly good airplane before it lands. (I’ve done both albeit only a few times each. Skydiving is scarier until the 'chute opens but it is an awesome rush.) They all agree that bungee jumpers have a death wish.
I had a friend in high school who was a pilot - almost joined the Air Force during the Viet Nam war, but they wouldn’t promise him “fixed wing”. Combat or no, he just thought that helicopters were too dangerous to fly.
To me, speed free climbing is Russian roulette - it’s just a matter of time. I know they rehearse the climb with ropes and work out all the moves in advance, but there would be no point to the whole exercise unless there is at least a possibility of screwing up.
Roger
Just for the record, because all non-climbers get this wrong (so don’t take offense) “Free Climbing” and “Free Soloing” are not the same:
“Free Solo: To climb with no protective devices whatsoever, relying solely on strength, agility, technique and an ability to accept or ignore the consequences of long falls from high places.”
This is what you see in the video I posted.
“Free Climbing: To ascend steep rock without recourse to artificial aids, using only the hands and feet to propel oneself upward. (Although ropes and anchoring devices are employed for protection, they are not used to bear the weight of the climber or for upward progress.)”
Why the term “Free” then? Back in the day, much of the rock climbing was done using “Aid” techniques - the use of hardware and/or mechanical devices to assist in traversing sections of the rock that were, at the time, deemed “unclimbable” using just one’s body parts alone. Over time, as climbers improved, physically, technique wise, mentally, and as new technologies, like the soft sticky rubber sole shoe/boot appeared (EB’s!), rock climbers were able to “Free up” many of these difficult sections and start climbing them without the use of “aid”. Around this time the term “Free Climb” was established to differentiate between sections, or entire climbs, that could be climbed without “aid” and those where some form of actual hardware/mechanical intervention was required for anything other than safety back-up.
The term “Free Soloing” seems to have been coined around the same time, and certainly became most well known when one John Bachar showed up and started climbing many (difficult) routes all over Yosemite alone, unroped, with nothing but his climbing shoes, shorts, chalk bag, and as Dub would say, 'Nads. 
Many folks thought he was nuts, but John made a point of being honest with himeself, and staying within his limits - he climbed with zen like concentration and focus. To quote John: “The most important thing is to be honest with yourself as a climber. You can fool all sorts of people once you’re off the route, but the important thing is not to fool yourself on the route. You can’t let your desire get in the way.” John is legendary in the world of climbing, one of the true giants.
Loren
On the subject of unconventional cycling, in downtown Portland I’ve seen a dude on a penny farthing bicycle rushing downhill in the middle of morning traffic.
There’s also the odd unicyclist about.
That’s just a unicycle with a training wheel.
Roger