> But even if there is a slightest mistake, it is guaranteed that he is going to die. I mean, why take such risks ?
Interestingly, free soloing actually eliminates quite a lot of potentially deadly mistakes. Protected climbers die usually when they make stupid mistakes in their protection routine, or when their protection fails in unlucky ways. That can't happen to a free solo climber, since he has no protection to rely on in the first place.
A (sane) free solo climber will only try to free solo a route which he has finished multiple times protected and is absolutely certain his stamina and skills are sufficient to complete, and which has no holds of dubious quality.
If you don't misjudge this, the deadly risks that remain are things you cannot really prepare for, like rockfall, cramps, or holds that come loose due to some invisible crack.
I think this is the part of the experience that I never really realized...
There's no such thing as just going out and soloing a brand new spot, is there? THAT's the kind of risk I have always pictured when hearing about free climbing... and that just doesn't happen?
I overstated a bit. Onsight (climbing term for doing a route the first time and without getting information from others) free solo does happen (and Honnold does it occasionally), but is a rare exception and done on routes that are yet again more grades below the climber's skill level than for "normal" free solo, and sometimes people take along protection to use in an emergency.
The essential principles remain the same: never do a move you're not absolutely certain you can finish, and never climb to a point where your stamina is insufficient to either finish or climb back to a safe resting place. For an onsight route, the two combined mean that you must always be able to climb back because you might encounter a situation where you have no certain moves forward.
Interestingly, free soloing actually eliminates quite a lot of potentially deadly mistakes. Protected climbers die usually when they make stupid mistakes in their protection routine, or when their protection fails in unlucky ways. That can't happen to a free solo climber, since he has no protection to rely on in the first place.
A (sane) free solo climber will only try to free solo a route which he has finished multiple times protected and is absolutely certain his stamina and skills are sufficient to complete, and which has no holds of dubious quality.
If you don't misjudge this, the deadly risks that remain are things you cannot really prepare for, like rockfall, cramps, or holds that come loose due to some invisible crack.