The interviewer mixed up “big wall speed climbing” that was popular 10-15 years ago with climbers like Dean Potter, Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell and Ueli Steck with speed climbing a standardised 40 feet route in the Olympics. 😂
@@chinchilla_462to be clear he was billed as one of the headline guests and then on the day we just found out he wasn’t there. His name was removed and nothing more was said.
He misrepresented the average ages of the top competitors quite a bit. Taking an average over a couple of years, Ondra and Schubert are by far the best male lead climbers and both in their 30s. Tomoa is probably still the top male boulderer and he's in his late 20s. Janja always wins boulder and usually wins lead, and she's 25. Until recently, the number 2 boulderer and number 2 lead climber in womens were also not super young. Yes, there is quite a bit of young talent coming through at the moment, but this isn't the first time this has happened (Janja has been winning since she was 16, and many other top climbers also went straight to the top as teenagers and then stayed there into their late 20s or early 30s). There's no reason to think the top comp climbers will keep getting younger.
I feel this interview is thought to bring olympic climbing closer to people that knows very little of climbing... which might be the kind of people that may ask or think whether Alex might compete there.
I don't think Alex in his 20s could've been in the elite level in the comps anyway. His hardest climb is 9a. That was his mid 30s though so i could be wrong. But the Olympic climbers are incredibly strong and athletic and Alex seems more mentally strong than a pure athlete to me.
Not a pure athlete ? You really need to SEE, EL CAP in PERSON, then appreciate how INSANE climbing that in under 2 hours ( with no rope!). Any pure athlete requires the combination of mental and physical endurance. The dude is not only humble but is the GOLD standard for pure athlete.
@@gentlenomad2915 , I think mentally you are right. Maybe even to a pathological degree he has the brains to me the most extreme athlete of all time. But shortly after sending El Cap, Alex had to train extensively with JStar to do what was basically filler climbing for people we've never heard of. There's so much inherent climbing ability in humans it's hard to know too. Climbing is strange in that women are not that far from men unlike other sports. I was very much below average as a young athlete. Never made any sports teams. Always rec league. But I was climbing 12s on less than a year of climbing just going to the gym once a week. So I imagine someone from school that letters in every sport and they give it a try. I just see pics of young Alex and he's not naturally gifted outside of his amygdala basically.
@@un-Lawyer perhaps the comparison is apples and oranges. Visiting el cap is simply, HUMBLING. It might be hard to genuinely appreciate his skill set till then, but to suggest the man is not a “pure “ athlete is beyond absurd. ☮️.
@@gentlenomad2915 well you changed my initial position.. It was whether he'd have been at an elite level in comps, not whether he'd have been an exceptional athlete. The fact that he never got anywhere in comps is instructive. He reminds me of like a good marathon runner. Compared to an elite sprinter, the overall athleticism is just different and I think that's what let's people get to the top of comps. Like narasaki was an accomplished gymnast before climbing. It makes sense. This is not to take away from Alex's MENTAL achievement which is arguably more impressive as obviously that was made into a huge film whereas Silence, which is way harder, is a TH-cam video.
I don't see how the goalposts got moved. I'd not about his purity..I don't question anything that derives from his brain frankly. All I'm saying is really what he's said himself.. If Adam ondra didn't care about the risk of dying, he could send freerider with ease. Alex never really got into the comp scene and considering the gym he came from that's kinda weird. I just don't think he has the elite athleticism to reach the heavenly heights of comps. Obviously free solo of El Cap beats even a gold medal, but it's hardest move is like 13-. That's basically warm-up for Stefano ghisolfi. It's just two different sports. One you need solid skills, stamina, and a pathological relationship with fear. The other is about raw power, speed, coordination, etc. He's close at 9a/14d, but that's the level of plenty of gym rats.
![โรงเรียนห้ามรัก โดนจับได้ตาย...!! [เอิร์นไดเม่]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4u02Sbr556Q/mqdefault.jpg)
I'll go out on a limb & take a wild guess. Is it because he's not a comp climber & didn't even try to qualify? Am I close?
I don't know, that's a pretty wild guess...
Whaaaat. How can that be. He totally free solos so how is it he can't comp climb bouldering in the Olympics?!
The interviewer mixed up “big wall speed climbing” that was popular 10-15 years ago with climbers like Dean Potter, Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell and Ueli Steck with speed climbing a standardised 40 feet route in the Olympics. 😂
@@SanderBessels You do realize he is the cohost of the show?
Honestly, I would love to see a Janja vs Ondra challenge just for the fun of it. Do a little bit of inside and a little bit of outside.
What a cool, humble guy.
He is the Gold standard for BOTH good human and insanely good athlete !!!
Loving the Olympics in the UK and would be fascinated to hear Alex’s commentary that he is doing for American TV - is there anywhere to see/hear this?
Stefano will be missed! Arguably the 2nd best lead climber outdoors behind Ondra and we dont get to see him compete 😢
Arguable? Maybeeeee. Seems like Seb and Jakob have much stronger case.
@@Wheel_Rockit'll be me soon enough
Simone Biles is 27. The average age of gymnasts winning competitions has been going up the last few cycles!
Yeah but 27 is still unusual for a gymnast winning
Idk who the other host is but he's got bad questions lol "would you be good at speed climbing?"
I get the impression he knows Alex a little.
They're asking these questions for the general audience that aren't so familiar with climbing
@@keithscholey651 He is the cohost.
Bro is broadcasting from a telephone booth
Why did he not come to the recent North Face event in London?
I mean it's not like Europe is a fast trip for him
@@chinchilla_462to be clear he was billed as one of the headline guests and then on the day we just found out he wasn’t there. His name was removed and nothing more was said.
@@formlessuk Oh, I didn't know about that. Strange
I think his daughter was sick and had to go to the hospital. He posted about it on Instagram, but not sure if that was the reason...
His wife was sick and had to be adopted to hospital.
He misrepresented the average ages of the top competitors quite a bit. Taking an average over a couple of years, Ondra and Schubert are by far the best male lead climbers and both in their 30s. Tomoa is probably still the top male boulderer and he's in his late 20s. Janja always wins boulder and usually wins lead, and she's 25. Until recently, the number 2 boulderer and number 2 lead climber in womens were also not super young. Yes, there is quite a bit of young talent coming through at the moment, but this isn't the first time this has happened (Janja has been winning since she was 16, and many other top climbers also went straight to the top as teenagers and then stayed there into their late 20s or early 30s). There's no reason to think the top comp climbers will keep getting younger.
Great video - thanks :)
wtf are these questions
Right , feels like the interviewer is looking for clickbait headlines to post.
I feel this interview is thought to bring olympic climbing closer to people that knows very little of climbing... which might be the kind of people that may ask or think whether Alex might compete there.
1:00
Who even wonders that?? 😂😂
but....why aren't you commentating :')
Why is Fitz in a toilet stall
I don't think Alex in his 20s could've been in the elite level in the comps anyway. His hardest climb is 9a. That was his mid 30s though so i could be wrong. But the Olympic climbers are incredibly strong and athletic and Alex seems more mentally strong than a pure athlete to me.
Not a pure athlete ? You really need to SEE, EL CAP in PERSON, then appreciate how INSANE climbing that in under 2 hours ( with no rope!). Any pure athlete requires the combination of mental and physical endurance. The dude is not only humble but is the GOLD standard for pure athlete.
@@gentlenomad2915 , I think mentally you are right. Maybe even to a pathological degree he has the brains to me the most extreme athlete of all time. But shortly after sending El Cap, Alex had to train extensively with JStar to do what was basically filler climbing for people we've never heard of. There's so much inherent climbing ability in humans it's hard to know too. Climbing is strange in that women are not that far from men unlike other sports. I was very much below average as a young athlete. Never made any sports teams. Always rec league. But I was climbing 12s on less than a year of climbing just going to the gym once a week. So I imagine someone from school that letters in every sport and they give it a try. I just see pics of young Alex and he's not naturally gifted outside of his amygdala basically.
@@un-Lawyer perhaps the comparison is apples and oranges. Visiting el cap is simply, HUMBLING. It might be hard to genuinely appreciate his skill set till then, but to suggest the man is not a “pure “ athlete is beyond absurd. ☮️.
@@gentlenomad2915 well you changed my initial position.. It was whether he'd have been at an elite level in comps, not whether he'd have been an exceptional athlete. The fact that he never got anywhere in comps is instructive. He reminds me of like a good marathon runner. Compared to an elite sprinter, the overall athleticism is just different and I think that's what let's people get to the top of comps. Like narasaki was an accomplished gymnast before climbing. It makes sense. This is not to take away from Alex's MENTAL achievement which is arguably more impressive as obviously that was made into a huge film whereas Silence, which is way harder, is a TH-cam video.
I don't see how the goalposts got moved. I'd not about his purity..I don't question anything that derives from his brain frankly. All I'm saying is really what he's said himself.. If Adam ondra didn't care about the risk of dying, he could send freerider with ease. Alex never really got into the comp scene and considering the gym he came from that's kinda weird. I just don't think he has the elite athleticism to reach the heavenly heights of comps. Obviously free solo of El Cap beats even a gold medal, but it's hardest move is like 13-. That's basically warm-up for Stefano ghisolfi. It's just two different sports. One you need solid skills, stamina, and a pathological relationship with fear. The other is about raw power, speed, coordination, etc. He's close at 9a/14d, but that's the level of plenty of gym rats.
A disappointment to his country