RIP Austin Howell, the 'freesoloist'.

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 myrddinmuse 01 Jul 2019

Hearing the news this morning that Austin Howell, "the freesoloist", fell 80 feet to his death while soloing a relatively hard route.

He was known for his naked solos, and thorough documentation of his activities and the "process" involved (also the name of his free Solo themed podcast). By all accounts he was one of the most 'stoked' climbers around, and it was always great to see him explore less mainstream climbing areas than Yosemite and Indian Creek, being based in Chicago.

There might be time for appropriate discussion of the dangers of defining your climbing primarily through soloing, there was a time when I would probably have done so myself, as well as the question of whether he took it seriously enough (often making things harder for himself, climbing in cowboy boots, soloing routes at his limit twice to get a better video). But for now I'm just sad, and sending love to his friends and family, feeling the loss of someone who used climbing as a conduit for his emotion and a tool to lift himself from the depths. That's something most of us can empathize with.


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