Tethered

Last night I watched a movie called "Free Solo," a documentary that chronicled Alex Honnold's untethered ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite.  Using only his hands and feet — and most of all his brain (which apparently has a less-responsive amygdala than most), Honnold was able to climb up the sheer face of the 3,000-foot cliff. No ropes, no belts, buckles or belays. Just the man and the mountain.

By contrast, I recently ascended 400 feet in a balloon to see the temples of Angkor Wat. It couldn't have been safer. The balloon was tethered to the ground and the passengers were encased in wire mesh. I was still weak in the knees.

And last night, I was weak-kneed again. It didn't even help that I knew the guy survived. There's something primitive about it, something hard-wired in us to recoil when we see another human being clinging precariously to a sheer rock face. 

No doubt about it, the untethered experience makes for great cinema — but when it comes to my own ascents, I'll take them tethered every time.