Yes he is IMO. You can tell how detached he is with relationships. You can also tell he is aware of this deficit and is trying to work on it. Not sure if it was in Free Solo or another movie of his but he mentions that at a young age he noticed people would hug and thought it would be a good idea to practice that as others do the same. You can tell many emotions he has had to “learn” at a later age in life that normal. In one of the films he mentions when he first started rock climbing it was completely alone because he didn’t know how to interact with others. Additionally there is no social or emotional reciprocity with his gf. He shows repetitive behavior and restricted interests. All hallmarks of what used to be known as Asperger’s. Finally there is the genetic component regarding dad as someone in this thread mentioned.
Can't tell if it's a lack of social skills from being alone so much, being so dedicated to a craft that you don't care about forming relationships outside of it, or if he legit is on the spectrum. He was pretty good speaking in front of groups though.
Just started...first two things that stood out early. When he reaches the summit and stands two fucking inches from the edge had me shaking my head. And wanted to kill the gf when she talked about how she almost killed him by not watching the rope and dropping him.
I laughed out loud at that and the camera guy in the ground having a mini breakdown saying, “I’m never doing this again...”
Him continuing to eat out of pots and pans even when he has a house is hilarious I don’t think he’s autistic at all. He just doesn’t really give a shit about emotions and what other people think
When you're living in a van it's just more stuff to organise and clean. Spent a summer dirtbagging on a beautifully flat boulder behind the ahwahnee and you learn to love foods that don't require utensils.
Jesus Christ that was intense even knowing he made it. My palms and feet are still sweating about 10 minutes after finishing it
I just watched Reel Rock 10. The torrance is available on IPT. First 40 minute segment was Alex and Tommy being the first to climb all the summits of Patagonia in one shot. Pretty amazing considering Alex never did alpine climbing before and didn’t even have the right equipment. It was super cool and their relationship was really funny.
I don't know if this is new, but you can watch the movie on Nat Geo's site and on their app https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/ ETA: you get an hour of preview time before signing in
For those who watched the doc and were left wanting more, this book just came out (Nat Geo also had this guy embedded with Alex to write this): https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1101986646/
I have been noticing that the torrance sites have had a lot of people downloading these types of movies lately. They are really addicting. The Dawn Wall is so good. I want the entire Reel Rock library but they are very hard to find, but you can pay $250 from the film distributor.
From a pure climbing porn standpoint Dawn Wall was far superior to Free Solo. It’s a shame I already knew Caldwell’s kidnapping story so those 20-30min fell flat for me. But man the climbing was unreal. All those 5.14’s just sick shit.
Climbing comp at the gym tonight; men’s open winner got a signed (Chen and Honnold) poster from Free Solo. Pretty sick. Guess the gym had gotten it as a promotion for buying the movie early to show last year, and they decided it’d be a way cooler prize than displaying at the gym.
Was looking for my favourite video. Think it was masters of stone 3. Was when Dean Potter and hüber brothers were in the speed ascents race. Dean did the nose, north west direct and I think something on middle cathedral solo car to car in a day. Dude was my hero.
I just finished. Pretty amazing story. I feel like each of these has more drama than any fictional movie. How the heck did that guy even try it let alone stroke out and still finish 5 months after he smashed his brain open. Insane.
Watched Free Solo Fri night with the family and then Dawn Wall yesterday with just my boy. Was surprised I liked DW more. I get the main antagonist in FS was death and the intrigue because of that. My 95 yo Grandma said she watched it last light and couldn't look away. I also didn't know about the hostage situation so I was hooked pretty quickly. Both great but I really loved Dawn Wall. Meru up next.
I also liked Dawn Wall better. Honnold, as a personality, really grows on you once you have seen him in other movies and shorts. I feel like the way he is presented in Free Solo comes off differently than his other films. He is a funny quirky guy.
I felt the same way. Although, with all the time they’ve spent on various walls, they learn to absolutely trust their equipment. It would take an eternity for me to get to that point