When Alex Honnold and I discussed the Nikon D4 project several months prior, we locked in on Joshua Tree National Park. Given the area's dry weather in late November, J-Tree seemed to be the obvious climbing location. During our first phone call, we simultaneously suggested Equinox as the climb. At 5.12c, this is a test piece in Southern California climbing. On a rope, Alex is a top climber. Without a rope (free soloing), he is in a class unto himself. If Equinox felt good with a rope, there was a high likelihood he would be up to free solo the climb. Again, much like Dane, if Alex did decide to free solo the route, we might only have one opportunity to capture the ascent. Obviously, the stakes are very high, when a fall could mean death. To our amazement, after Alex's first lap he announced "it felt good, actually pretty easy". He then proceeded to do it two more times in the last 20 minutes before the sun set. On the second day of shooting with Alex, the tables had turned. He climbed to the crux (the hardest section of the climb), fiddled with getting good finger jams, was not feeling it and backed down. After a 20 or 30 minute rest, he was back on the wall, did one lap and called it. I really value and respect Alex's ability to listen to his mind and body and not allow any external forces to influence whether he climbed again or not.

video: https://vimeo.com/34666308

拍摄摄影君的摄影君才是神一般的存在啊。

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