Man climbs 3,000 ft El Capitan without ropes

My girlfriend and I went to Gettysburg and walked up Longstreet's tower on the Reb right and the tower on Culp's Hill.

She was particularly entertained when I explained I was convinced at any moment I would slip on the stairs and super ball my way to the bottom. And yes - the most terrifying ride in any amusement park is whatever version of the Observation Tower they've got. At King's Dominion here in Virginia, it's their Eifle Tower look-a-like.

 

He's a guy without a normal sense of fear coupled with amazing strength. He's been very fortunate, even with extensive preparation.

 

You could make the same case for anyone who survives something dangerous. How much is luck and how much is skill and preparation? Absolutely, even skilled, prepared people can suffer from bad luck, and in his case it would be catastrophic. (A hold breaking off the face, for instance.) At some point we're all beholden to luck at least a little.

 

Ueli Steck was mentioned earlier. Best guess on his cause of death was his crampon slipping while he was in a snow/ice field on Nuptse. He died doing something he'd done millions of times during his climbing career. But this time either his crampons were dull, he didn't kick in deep enough or the ice broke loose.

 

The guy is a lot braver that me. I don't like going on chairlifts. Even climbing a ladder to get on the roof make me nervous.

 

This. Absolutely this.

 

Karl Wallenda would approve.

Life is on the wall. The rest is just waiting.

 

And yet, a helicopter pilot. How does that compute?

 

I wish I knew. I guess it has something to do with how confined I am and how much control I have over the situation. I'm strapped into a seat, wearing lots of gear, with 3,600 horsepower holding me up.

 

I've been on a ladder 30 feet up caulking siding on the Oregon coast, holding on to the roof so I could reach out farther. It was a bit scary the first time I went up because the extension ladder bowed a lot in the middle, but I got used to it soon enough.

Years ago, a buddy and I went to a giant sinkhole in the Ozarks, easily 100 feet or more to the floor below. When we got within 10 feet of the edge, paralyzing vertigo gripped me, and I had to slide on my ass until I could go nor farther, still a good five feet from the edge. It's the only time I've had vertigo. Hell, years later, I jumped off a cliff about 35 feet high into the Buffalo River in Arkansas.

Do the thing you're scared of, and the courage comes after.

 

How could you not do that at the Buffalo? I mean, the setting alone inspires it.

 

The upper part of the Buffalo is truly magnificent. And that bend where the water is probably 30 feet deep was too inviting. Besides, there were teenagers jumping, so I pretty much had to. The picture made a great Christmas card.