Looking over my earlier posts as well as those by others, I am uncomfortable with the possibility that those of us who have climbed or do climb give the impression that we are (or feel we are) speaking for the broader climbing community. Among the many people I have climbed with over the years, and the many discussions I have followed between others who consider themselves climbers, there is no vast consensus on free soloing when it comes to whether or not it should be done. The only thing that everyone seems to agree on is if you fall from a great height, you are very much dead.
I do find it interesting that this topic is as polarizing as it is. I don’t hear a lot of arguments that people should not ride bicycles because they may be hit by cars. What makes that an acceptable risk and climbing without a rope not? Is it the margin of error? Is it having someone else to blame aside from the cyclist? Why does this topic seem to get people agitated to the point that there is no room for nuance and the activity must either be “good” or “bad”?
