Comment by burritosnob
3 hours ago
People often confuse severe consequences (a fall = death) with high probability. Alex, like most climbers, reduce that probability to near zero through obsessive prep.
The travel to/from Taiwan was statistically riskier than the climb.
Selfish? Not even close.
> The travel to/from Taiwan was statistically riskier than the climb.
That doesn't seem plausible. What's the number of free soloists who have died in climbing accidents vs in commercial aviation accidents?
It's not 25% per climb, but it's not near zero either, especially in aggregate. It only takes one mistake. A fairly high percentage of famous free soloists (I'd say over 25%) have died prematurely, either while free soloing, or during other extreme sports.
>A fairly high percentage of famous free soloists (I'd say over 25%) have died prematurely
Yes but I'd also say Alex is a bit of a different beast. He's clearly not a thrill seeker who attempts climbs he isn't sure about. And as he has once said, there's a very real risk of dying when you get in your car, play football, are a boxer, and so on.
People have a stark reaction to the visual of a guy being 200 meters above the ground but the reality is if you're a circus acrobat and you're 10 meters up the air you're also likely dead or maimed if something goes wrong. It doesn't get more dead than dead and in many ways he's probably more calculated and less reckless than people in other sports or performances.
He is a thrill seeker. He does it for the thrill which he feels but in a muted way compared to us.
> People have a stark reaction to the visual of a guy being 200 meters above the ground but the reality is if you're a circus acrobat and you're 10 meters up the air you're also likely dead or maimed if something goes wrong.
No, it's the large number of free soloists that have died. And the small number of circus performers who have died. People's intuitions about the relative risks are actually very accurate here.
> The travel to/from Taiwan was statistically riskier than the climb
That is not even close to being true, haha. Probably not as risky as it looks but come on.
Near zero is a bs number you pulled out of thin air.
Selfish is too harsh, but don’t go making up stats for this.
> The travel to/from Taiwan was statistically riskier than the climb.
You just made this up.