There’s no good reason to do what these guys are doing, it’s thrill seeking pursued by the kind of people that associate risky behavior with meaningful life experiences.
I am capable of… risk assessment.
Being an adrenaline junkie won’t teach you anything about yourself that you couldn’t learn otherwise. It can be a great distraction from actual self-discovery.
You think ypu are but you are probably not familiar with the sport and the gear. In terms of risk assessment IMO the riskiest part in lthis pic is they are not wearing a helmet!
Rock climbing really has little to do with adrenaline chasing and rock climbers are among the chilliest folks out there. Really all the people in this thread comparing it to base jumping or other crazy things should visit their local climbing gym and have an introductory session, give it a try its awesome.
These folks resting (presumably preparing to overnight?) On a ledge is not something you’d do as a beginner.
Nobody’s life is in any real danger here. They and all their equipment are roped in on at least 3 redundant anchors (probably a number more). Rock climbing looks scary but with proper precautions and training it is not significantly riskier than other outdoor sports.
The level of ignorance from these commenters who know nothing of the sport but speak with such authority on it really reminds me of the worst of reddit.
I feel like that logic could be applied to a lot of the things we do for fun.
Sure, but a lot of the things we do for fun do not involve the kind of risks that require a search and rescue team to pull you out of when you fuck up (or the wind just happens to blow a little harder than you expected that night).
The risk/reward calculation for this scenario is way off.
You keep pretending to be great at assessing risks from your armchair but forget that these two guys are professionals, and you know nothing about rock climbing or this particular situation, you haven’t provided a singke reason why what they are doing is risky, or stupid. Anchors not bomber proof enough? Not enough redundancy? Too much slack? What is the problem exactly?
Yet you feel entitled to judge them. These are probably the guys that come and rescue you, when you do something stupid in the outdoors, not the other way around.
I suppose the search and rescue team that has to pull them out of wherever will also be having fun (if not this climb then a future one).
This has always been a weird take, what do you think attracts people to that kind of SAR work? Generally a love for the outdoors and activities like this. You’ll have a hard time finding someone capable of high angle rescue that doesn’t enjoy or understand climbing as a sport.
