Going up rock at a hard pace

Dear Blog Diary,

My brother is an avid rock climber. We got into it the other day at dinner. Here is my argument that he did not agree with:

Alex Honnold’s free solo ascent of El Capt should be acknowledged as one of the greatest achievements in human history.

His case:

Alex Honnold is by far not the first person to ever climb El Capt. He’s simply the first person to do it without a rope. Not only that, but he did not climb the hardest route up El Capt. Even Alex in interviews claims that he is not the strongest climber nor the climber with the most endurance. My brother claims that he simply shattered the idea of what is realistic in free soloing. Obviously not taking away from the accomplishment, the climb itself is absolutely astonishing and not at all an easy accomplishment.

My case:

There are certain activities that are innate to human beings. Dancing, running, or climbing are great examples. If you were to go back millenniums, there were human beings doing those exact activities. Maybe the runner or climber was simply running or climbing to go somewhere. Maybe the dancer was dancing with very primitive instruments. It’s all the same.

I argue that in the context of humanity for the earliest neanderthal to walk the earth, he or she would think it literally impossible that Usain Bolt could run at the speeds he does. He or she would look at El Capt and think it absolutely impossible to climb the face of that rock. The fact that other humans have climbed El Capt with ropes does not equal the free solo climb specifically pertaining to the mental aspect. It at least bears pondering that if stronger climbers have climbed El Capt probably with a better vigor than Honnold, why haven’t they free soloed it?

I should mention that I whole heartedly admit that I am in fact a “Gumby” (climbing slang for beginner with a slight negative connotation to it) and my knowledge of the art form is but a fraction of what my brother knows. So I leave you with the question, do you need to be an expert on the subject for your opinion to have validity? Is Phil Jackson’s opinion on basketball more valuable than Michael Jordan’s? Can an inexperienced high school drop out give the most grand critique of literature?

Best regards,

Eric