How I climbed a 3,000-foot vertical cliff -- without ropes | Alex Honnold | TED

Summary

スクリプトは、カリフォルニア州のヨセミテ国立公園にあるエル・カピタンでの無繩張りソロクライミングの経験を語っています。スピーカーは、10歳頃からクライミングを始め、20年以上にわたってクライミングに人生を捧げました。彼は、ハーフドームでの挑戦的なクライムを通じて、エル・カピタンでのクライムに向けて準備を進めました。エル・カピタンでのクライムは、3,000フィートの垂直な花崗岩を3～5日間かけて登ることになる大規模なものであり、彼は繩なしでその壁を上るという圧倒的な挑戦に取り組みました。彼は、何度もエラスティックロープを使ってエル・カピタンをクライムし、手と足の数千の異なる動きを繰り返し練習しました。また、メンタルな側面も重要であり、彼はビジュアル化を通じて、全ての動きを自動的に行えるようにしました。2017年6月3日、彼は朝早くに目覚め、通常の朝食をとって、夜明け前に壁のベースに到着しました。彼は自信を持って壁を上っていきましたが、途中でのいくつかの難しさにもかかわらず、滑らかに自分のルーティンを実行しました。3時間56分間の素晴らしいクライムの末、彼は頂点に到達しました。それは彼が望んでいたクライムであり、マスターと感じました。

Takeaways

• 🧗‍♂️ 自由独攀（free soloing）是一种不使用绳索的攀岩方式，非常危险但也是攀岩者追求的极致挑战。
• 🏞️ El Capitan是加利福尼亚优胜美地国家公园的标志性岩壁，攀爬者将其视为攀岩的巅峰。
• 🕒 经过近十年的梦想和准备，攀爬者在没有绳索的情况下成功独攀了El Capitan。
• 🧗‍♀️ 攀爬者从10岁开始在攀岩馆训练，逐步过渡到户外攀岩并开始自由独攀。
• 🤸‍♂️ 通过反复练习和记忆，攀爬者确保了攀岩过程中的每一个动作都精确无误。
• 🧘‍♀️ 攀爬者通过可视化技巧培养了在高空中保持冷静的心态。
• 🏋️‍♂️ 为了完成高难度的攀爬动作，攀爬者进行了长达一年的拉伸训练。
• 🗑️ 为了安全，攀爬者和朋友一起清理了岩壁上的松动岩石。
• 🤔 攀爬者在攀爬Half Dome时感到不确定和恐慌，但最终成功并反思了自己的表现。
• 🏆 El Capitan的成功攀爬代表了攀爬者的技术精通和心理准备的顶峰。
• 🎬 攀爬者的经历和挑战被拍成了电影，激励了许多人。
• 📝 攀爬者在攀岩日志中记录了自己的攀爬，并对自己的表现进行了诚实的评估。

Q & A

スクリプトで話されている「エル・カピタン」とは何ですか？

エル・カピタンはカリフォルニア州のヨセミテ国立公園にある著名な岩壁で、フリーソロクライミングの象徴的な場所です。

フリーソロクライミングとは何ですか？

フリーソロクライミングとは、ロープや安全装置なしで岩壁を登ることを指します。非常に危険であり、クライマーの技術と精神的な強さを問われるスタイルです。

スクリプトで話されているクライマーは、エル・カピタンを何回登りましたか？

彼はエル・カピタンをロープを使っておそらく50回以上登りましたが、フリーソロで登るのは初めての試みです。

ハーフドームのフリーソロクライミングで彼はどのように感じましたか？

ハーフドームのフリーソロクライミングは成功しましたが、彼は自分に対して失望し、満足하지 않았습니다。彼は運が良かったのではなく、偉大なクライマーになりたいと願っていました。

エル・カピタンのフリーソロクライミングを成功させるために彼はどのような準備をしましたか？

彼はエル・カピタンのクライミングルートを何百回かロープを使って練習し、全ての手と足の持ち方を暗記しました。また、メンタル面での準備も重要で、ビジュアル化によって不安や疑いを排除しました。

彼がエル・カピタンのフリーソロクライミングで直面した最も困難な部分は何でしたか？

最も困難な部分は「ボルダ_problem」という名前の部分で、2,000フィートの高さから始まる部分で、手が届かないような手持ちと非常に滑りやすい足の持ち方を要求する非常に困難な動きを要求されていました。

彼はエル・カピタンのフリーソロクライミングを成功させるために、どのような精神的な準備をしましたか？

彼はビジュアル化の練習を通じて、クライミング全体の経験を想像し、全ての持ちを手に感じることを繰り返し想像しました。また、不安や恐怖を感じる可能性のある全てのシナリオを考慮して、地面で全ての疑いを排除しました。

彼がクライミングの準備の一環として、どのような具体的な行動をとりましたか？

彼と友人は、エル・カピタンの特定の亀裂に詰まっている松动した石を除去しました。彼らはその石をバックパックに入れ、それを下ろして降りました。

エル・カピタンのフリーソロクライミングの成功后、彼はどのように感じましたか？

彼はクライミングの全てがスムーズに進み、山が彼に勝利のランウェイを提供しているような気がしました。頂点に到着すると、3時間56分の素晴らしいクライミングの後、彼はマスターと感じました。

スクリプトで話されているクライマーは、自分の人生のどの期間にクライミングを始めましたか？

彼は10歳ごろにジムでクライミングを始め、20年以上クライミングに人生を費やしてきました。

彼がクライミングを通じて学んだ最も重要な教訓は何ですか？

彼が学んだ最も重要な教訓は、運に頼るのではなく、自分の力で偉大なクライマーになることです。また、完全なマスターを目指すために必要な準備とメンタル面の強さを身につけることが重要だと感じました。

Outlines

00:00

🧗‍♂️ 自由独攀：克服恐惧与达成梦想

演讲者分享了他生命中最棒的一天，即在加利福尼亚的优胜美地国家公园的El Capitan进行自由独攀的经历。他描述了近十年梦想的实现，以及在超过2500英尺的高度上无绳索攀爬的挑战。他讲述了自己如何逐渐克服恐惧，以及如何通过多年的梦想和准备，最终在攀爬当天感到舒适和自然。他还简要回顾了自己如何成为攀岩者，以及他的两次最重要的自由独攀经历，特别是第二次El Capitan的攀爬，这是他人生中最充实的一天。通过这两个攀爬故事，他展示了自己管理恐惧的过程。

05:05

🏞️ Half Dome的独攀：挑战与自我怀疑

演讲者讲述了他第一次重要的自由独攀——Half Dome的经历。尽管这次攀爬在攀岩界被视为一个巨大的成就，但他对自己在攀爬中的表现感到不满意。他意识到自己依赖了运气，而不是技巧和准备，这使他决定暂时停止自由独攀。然而，他没有停止思考下一个目标——El Capitan。每年他都会认为自己准备好了，但每次看到岩壁的规模和挑战，他都会感到害怕。他知道，如果要真正掌握攀岩，就必须正确地完成El Capitan的攀爬。

10:05

🏁 El Capitan的完美独攀：准备与执行

经过两个季节的专门准备，演讲者终于准备好了无绳索攀爬El Capitan。他熟悉了整个路线上的每一个抓手和立足点，并且对攀爬过程中的每一个动作都了如指掌。2017年6月3日，他在日出前到达岩壁底部，并在没有犹豫的情况下开始了攀爬。他顺利通过了Half Dome上曾给他带来麻烦的岩板，并以精确无误的动作完成了整个路线。当他到达山顶时，他感到了真正的掌握和胜利。这次攀爬不仅实现了他的目标，而且给了他一种完美的体验，这是他真正想要的。

Keywords

💡フリーソロクライミング

フリーソロクライミングとは、ロープや安全装置なしで岩壁を登ることを指します。このビデオの主人公は、カリフォルニア州のヨセミテ国立公園にあるエルカピタンでフリーソロで登ることを目指していました。このスタイルは非常に危険であり、主人公が10年近く夢見ていたクライミングのスタイルです。

💡エルカピタン

エルカピタンは、ヨセミテ国立公園にあり、3,000フィートの垂直な花崗岩の壁で知られています。主人公にとって、これはクライミングの最終的な目標であり、彼の夢を叶えるための絶対的な挑戦です。

💡恐怖の克服

主人公は、エルカピタンでのフリーソロクライミングを成功させるために、自分の恐怖を克服しました。彼は長年の訓練とメンタルの準備を通じて、登攀の瞬間に疑いを持ちませんでした。これは、彼がクライミングの最高のパフォーマンスを出すために必要とされた心構えです。

💡ビジュアル化

ビジュアル化とは、実際に行動に移す前に、心の中で行動を繰り広げるプロセスです。主人公は、エルカピタンでのフリーソロを心の中で何度も繰り返し想像し、全ての手と足の動きを自動的に行えるように訓練しました。これは彼が実際に石を触れる前に、全ての動きを内面化するためです。

💡ボルダプルロブレム

ボルダプルロブレムは、エルカピタンでのクライミングで最も難しく、最も危険な部分です。主人公は、小さな手がかりと滑らかな足場を使用して、非常に長い間引き上げを行う必要がありました。彼はこの部分を何度も練習し、正確さと柔軟性を求めるカラクリーキックのような動きを遂行する準備をしました。

💡繰り返しの訓練

繰り返しの訓練は、主人公がエルカピタンでのフリーソロを成功させるために欠かせない要素です。彼は同じ手順を何度も繰り返し、安全で繰り返し可能な手順を見つけ、記憶しました。これは彼が迷うことなく、最善の手がかりを選ぶための必要十分な準備です。

💡メンタルの準備

メンタルの準備は、フリーソロクライミングにおいて非常に重要です。主人公は、ビジュアル化を通じて、クライミング中の感覚や恐怖を事前に考慮し、全ての可能性を地面で考慮しました。これにより、実際に石を触れるときに疑いが入り込む余地がなくなりました。

💡夢

夢は、主人公がエルカピタンでのフリーソロを目指す原動力です。彼は10年間夢を抱き、そしてその夢を叶えるために必要な全ての準備をしました。彼の物語は、夢を持つこととそれに向かって努力する意義を示しています。

💡マスタリー

マスタリーは、主人公がエルカピタンでのクライミングを通じて達成しようとしている状態です。彼は、ただ運がよかったクライマーではなく、偉大なクライマーでありたいと願っていました。エルカピタンでの成功は、彼にとって完全なマスターと感じられた瞬間であり、彼の人生で最も充実した一日を象徴しています。

💡リスク管理

リスク管理は、主人公がエルカピタンでのフリーソロを計画する際に重要な役割を果たしました。彼は、落石などの潜在的な危険を排除するために、友人と共に特定の岩場をクリーンアップしました。また、彼は全ての手がかりと足場を熟知し、安全で確実な手順を確立しました。

💡身体能力

身体能力は、クライミングにおいて欠かせない要素です。主人公は、エルカピタンでのクライミングで必要な強さと柔軟性を発揮しました。特に、ボルダプルロブレムでの難しい動きに挑戦するために、1年間もかけてストレッチルーチンを行いました。

Highlights

The speaker achieved a free solo climb of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, a nearly decade-long dream.

Free soloing is a style of climbing without a rope, making it extremely dangerous.

The El Capitan climb was over 2,500 feet off the ground.

The speaker spent years preparing and dreaming before attempting the climb.

On the day of the climb, it felt comfortable and natural, not scary.

The speaker started climbing in a gym at age 10 and gradually transitioned to outdoor free soloing.

The speaker had previously successfully free soloed Half Dome, but felt unsatisfied with the experience.

For the El Capitan climb, the speaker spent years rehearsing and memorizing each hand and foot placement.

The Boulder Problem section was the most difficult part of the climb, requiring extreme precision and flexibility.

The speaker used visualization to prepare mentally for the climb and remove any doubt.

The speaker also prepared by removing loose rocks from a section of the route to make it safer.

On the day of the climb, the speaker executed the route flawlessly, with no doubts or hesitations.

The final 600 feet of the climb felt like a victory lap, with the speaker climbing smoothly and confidently.

The successful El Capitan climb represented true mastery for the speaker, in contrast to the Half Dome experience.

The speaker reached the summit in 3 hours and 56 minutes, marking the most fulfilling day of his life.

The speaker's process for managing fear involved extensive preparation, visualization, and removing any uncertainty.

Transcripts

Hello. I'd like to show you guys 30 seconds of the best day of my life.

(Applause)

So that was El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park,

and in case you couldn't tell,

I was climbing by myself without a rope,

a style of a climbing known as free soloing.

That was the culmination of a nearly decade-long dream,

and in the video I'm over 2,500 feet off the ground.

Seems scary? Yeah, it is,

which is why I spent so many years dreaming about soloing El Cap

and not actually doing it.

But on the day that that video was taken,

it didn't feel scary at all.

It felt as comfortable and natural as a walk in the park,

which is what most folks were doing in Yosemite that day.

Today I'd like to talk about how I was able to feel so comfortable

and how I overcame my fear.

I'll start with a very brief version of how I became a climber,

and then tell the story of my two most significant free solos.

They were both successful, which is why I'm here.

(Laughter)

But the first felt largely unsatisfying,

whereas the second, El Cap, was by far the most fulfilling day of my life.

Through these two climbs, you'll see my process for managing fear.

So I started climbing in a gym when I was around 10 years old,

which means that my life has been centered on climbing

for more than 20 years.

After nearly a decade of climbing mostly indoors,

I made the transition to the outdoors and gradually started free soloing.

I built up my comfort over time

and slowly took on bigger and more challenging walls.

And there have been many free soloists before me,

so I had plenty of inspiration to draw from.

But by 2008, I'd repeated most of their previous solos in Yosemite

and was starting to imagine breaking into new terrain.

The obvious first choice was Half Dome,

an iconic 2,000-foot wall that lords over the east end of the valley.

The problem, though also the allure,

was that it was too big.

I didn't really know how to prepare for a potential free solo.

So I decided to skip the preparations

and just go up there and have an adventure.

I figured I would rise to the occasion,

which, unsurprisingly, was not the best strategy.

I did at least climb the route roped up with a friend two days before

just to make sure that I knew roughly where to go

and that I could physically do it.

But when I came back by myself two days later,

I decided that I didn't want to go that way.

I knew that there was a 300-foot variation

that circled around one of the hardest parts of the climb.

I suddenly decided to skip the hard part and take the variation,

even though I'd never climbed it before,

but I immediately began to doubt myself.

Imagine being by yourself in the dead center of a 2,000-foot face,

wondering if you're lost.

(Laughter)

Thankfully, it was pretty much the right way

and I circled back to the route.

I was slightly rattled, I was pretty rattled,

but I tried not to let it bother me too much

because I knew that all the hardest climbing was up at the top.

I needed to stay composed.

It was a beautiful September morning, and as I climbed higher,

I could hear the sounds of tourists chatting and laughing on the summit.

They'd all hiked up the normal trail on the back,

which I was planning on using for my descent.

But between me and the summit lay a blank slab of granite.

There were no cracks or edges to hold on to,

just small ripples of texture up a slightly less than vertical wall.

I had to trust my life to the friction between my climbing shoes

and the smooth granite.

I carefully balanced my way upward,

shifting my weight back and forth between the small smears.

But then I reached a foothold that I didn't quite trust.

Two days ago, I'd have just stepped right up on it,

but that would have been with a rope on.

Now it felt too small and too slippery.

I doubted that my foot would stay on if I weighted it.

I considered a foot further to the side, which seemed worse.

I switched my feet and tried a foot further out.

It seemed even worse.

I started to panic.

I could hear people laughing on the summit just above me.

I wanted to be anywhere but on that slab.

My mind was racing in every direction.

I knew what I had to do, but I was too afraid to do it.

I just had to stand up on my right foot.

And so after what felt like an eternity, I accepted what I had to do

and I stood up on the right foot,

and it didn't slip, and so I didn't die,

and that move marked the end of the hardest climbing.

And so I charged from there towards the summit.

And so normally when you summit Half Dome,

you have a rope and a bunch of climbing gear on you,

and tourists gasp and they flock around you for photos.

This time I popped over the edge shirtless, panting, jacked.

I was amped, but nobody batted an eye.

(Laughter)

I looked like a lost hiker that was too close to the edge.

I was surrounded by people talking on cell phones and having picnics.

I felt like I was in a mall.

(Laughter)

I took off my tight climbing shoes and started hiking back down,

and that's when people stopped me.

"You're hiking barefoot? That's so hard-core."

(Laughter)

I didn't bother to explain,

but that night in my climbing journal, I duly noted my free solo of Half Dome,

but I included a frowny face and a comment, "Do better?"

I'd succeeded in the solo

and it was celebrated as a big first in climbing.

Some friends later made a film about it.

But I was unsatisfied.

I was disappointed in my performance,

because I knew that I had gotten away with something.

I didn't want to be a lucky climber. I wanted to be a great climber.

I actually took the next year or so off from free soloing,

because I knew that I shouldn't make a habit of relying on luck.

But even though I wasn't soloing very much,

I'd already started to think about El Cap.

It was always in the back of my mind as the obvious crown jewel of solos.

It's the most striking wall in the world.

Each year, for the next seven years,

I'd think, "This is the year that I'm going to solo El Cap."

And then I would drive into Yosemite, look up at the wall, and think,

"No frickin' way."

(Laughter)

It's too big and too scary.

But eventually I came to accept that I wanted to test myself against El Cap.

It represented true mastery,

but I needed it to feel different.

I didn't want to get away with anything or barely squeak by.

This time I wanted to do it right.

The thing that makes El Cap so intimidating

is the sheer scale of the wall.

Most climbers take three to five days

to ascend the 3,000 feet of vertical granite.

The idea of setting out up a wall of that size

with nothing but shoes and a chalk bag seemed impossible.

3,000 feet of climbing represents

thousands of distinct hand and foot movements,

which is a lot to remember.

Many of the moves I knew through sheer repetition.

I'd climbed El Cap maybe 50 times over the previous decade with a rope.

But this photo shows my preferred method of rehearsing the moves.

I'm on the summit,

about to rappel down the face with over a thousand feet of rope

to spend the day practicing.

Once I found sequences that felt secure and repeatable,

I had to memorize them.

I had to make sure that they were so deeply ingrained within me

that there was no possibility of error.

I didn't want to be wondering if I was going the right way

or using the best holds.

I needed everything to feel automatic.

Climbing with a rope is a largely physical effort.

You just have to be strong enough to hold on and make the movements upward.

But free soloing plays out more in the mind.

The physical effort is largely the same.

Your body is still climbing the same wall.

But staying calm and performing at your best

when you know that any mistake could mean death

requires a certain kind of mindset.

(Laughter)

That's not supposed to be funny, but if it is, it is.

(Laughter)

I worked to cultivate that mindset through visualization,

which basically just means imagining the entire experience of soloing the wall.

Partially, that was to help me remember all the holds,

but mostly visualization was about feeling the texture

of each hold in my hand

and imagining the sensation of my leg reaching out and placing my foot just so.

I'd imagine it all like a choreographed dance thousands of feet up.

The most difficult part of the whole route was called the Boulder Problem.

It was about 2,000 feet off the ground

and consisted of the hardest physical moves on the whole route:

long pulls between poor handholds with very small, slippery feet.

This is what I mean by a poor handhold:

an edge smaller than the width of a pencil but facing downward

that I had to press up into with my thumb.

But that wasn't even the hardest part.

The crux culminated in a karate kick

with my left foot over to the inside of an adjacent corner,

a maneuver that required a high degree of precision and flexibility,

enough so that I'd been doing a nightly stretching routine

for a full year ahead of time

to make sure that I could comfortably make the reach with my leg.

As I practiced the moves,

my visualization turned to the emotional component

of a potential solo.

Basically, what if I got up there and it was too scary?

What if I was too tired?

What if I couldn't quite make the kick?

I had to consider every possibility while I was safely on the ground,

so that when the time came and I was actually making the moves without a rope,

there was no room for doubt to creep in.

Doubt is the precursor to fear,

and I knew that I couldn't experience my perfect moment if I was afraid.

I had to visualize and rehearse enough to remove all doubt.

But beyond that, I also visualized how it would feel

if it never seemed doable.

What if, after so much work, I was afraid to try?

What if I was wasting my time

and I would never feel comfortable in such an exposed position?

There were no easy answers,

but El Cap meant enough to me that I would put in the work and find out.

Some of my preparations were more mundane.

This is a photo of my friend Conrad Anker

climbing up the bottom of El Cap with an empty backpack.

We spent the day climbing together

to a specific crack in the middle of the wall

that was choked with loose rocks

that made that section difficult and potentially dangerous,

because any missed step might knock a rock to the ground

and kill a passing climber or hiker.

So we carefully removed the rocks, loaded them into the pack

and rappelled back down.

Take a second to imagine how ridiculous it feels

to climb 1,500 feet up a wall just to fill a backpack full of rocks.

(Laughter)

It's never that easy to carry a pack full of rocks around.

It's even harder on the side of a cliff.

It may have felt silly, but it still had to get done.

I needed everything to feel perfect

if I was ever going to climb the route without a rope.

After two seasons of working specifically toward a potential free solo of El Cap,

I finally finished all my preparations.

I knew every handhold and foothold on the whole route,

and I knew exactly what to do.

Basically, I was ready.

It was time to solo El Cap.

On June 3, 2017,

I woke up early, ate my usual breakfast of muesli and fruit

and made it to the base of the wall before sunrise.

I felt confident as I looked up the wall.

I felt even better as I started climbing.

About 500 feet up, I reached a slab

very similar to the one that had given me so much trouble on Half Dome,

but this time was different.

I'd scouted every option, including hundreds of feet of wall to either side.

I knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

I had no doubts. I just climbed right through.

Even the difficult and strenuous sections passed by with ease.

I was perfectly executing my routine.

I rested for a moment below the Boulder Problem

and then climbed it just as I had practiced so many times with the rope on.

My foot shot across to the wall on the left without hesitation,

and I knew that I had done it.

Climbing Half Dome had been a big goal

and I did it,

but I didn't get what I really wanted.

I didn't achieve mastery.

I was hesitant and afraid, and it wasn't the experience that I wanted.

But El Cap was different.

With 600 feet to go, I felt like the mountain was offering me a victory lap.

I climbed with a smooth precision

and enjoyed the sounds of the birds swooping around the cliff.

It all felt like a celebration.

And then I reached the summit

after three hours and 56 minutes of glorious climbing.

It was the climb that I wanted, and it felt like mastery.

Thank you.

(Applause)