How I climbed a 3,000-foot vertical cliff -- without ropes | Alex Honnold | TED

Translator: Ivan Stancel Reviewer: Zuzana Šplhová

Hello. I'd like to show you guys 30 seconds of the best day of my life.

Zdravím. Ukážem vám 30 sekúnd najlepšieho dňa svojho života.

(Applause)

(potlesk)

So that was El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park,

To je hora El Capitan v Yosemitskom národnom parku v Kalifornii,

and in case you couldn't tell,

a ak ste to nepostrehli, liezol som sám bez lana,

I was climbing by myself without a rope,

a style of a climbing known as free soloing.

štýlom „free solo“, teda sám a bez istenia.

That was the culmination of a nearly decade-long dream,

Tak vyvrcholil môj takmer 10-ročný sen a na zábere som vyše 700 metrov nad zemou.

and in the video I'm over 2,500 feet off the ground.

Seems scary? Yeah, it is,

Vyzerá to hrozivo? Veru, aj je.

which is why I spent so many years dreaming about soloing El Cap

Preto som o výstupe na El Cap toľko rokov sníval, ale neodvážil som sa.

and not actually doing it.

(smiech)

But on the day that that video was taken,

Ale v deň, keď vzniklo toto video, som sa vôbec nebál.

it didn't feel scary at all.

It felt as comfortable and natural as a walk in the park,

Cítil som sa dobre a prirodzene ako na prechádzke v parku,

which is what most folks were doing in Yosemite that day.

čiže ako ostatní turisti v Yosemitoch.

Today I'd like to talk about how I was able to feel so comfortable

Poviem vám, ako som mohol byť v pohode a prekonať strach.

and how I overcame my fear.

I'll start with a very brief version of how I became a climber,

Najprv stručne o tom, ako som začal s lezením,

and then tell the story of my two most significant free solos.

a potom o svojich dvoch najväčších sólo výstupoch.

They were both successful, which is why I'm here.

Obidva boli úspešné, vďaka čomu tu som.

(smiech)

(Laughter)

But the first felt largely unsatisfying,

S prvým som bol veľmi nespokojný,

no ten druhý, na El Cap, bol najuspokojujúcejším dňom v mojom živote.

whereas the second, El Cap, was by far the most fulfilling day of my life.

Through these two climbs, you'll see my process for managing fear.

Na nich postupne uvidíte, ako som zvládol svoj strach.

So I started climbing in a gym when I was around 10 years old,

Začal som na umelej stene, keď som mal asi desať,

which means that my life has been centered on climbing

takže môj život sa točí okolo lezenia viac než 20 rokov.

for more than 20 years.

After nearly a decade of climbing mostly indoors,

Po desiatich rokoch lezenia vnútri

prišlo lezenie vonku a neskôr aj bez istenia.

I made the transition to the outdoors and gradually started free soloing.

I built up my comfort over time

Časom som nadobudol istotu a podujal sa na väčšie a ťažšie steny.

and slowly took on bigger and more challenging walls.

And there have been many free soloists before me,

Predo mnou bolo veľa sólo lezcov, takže inšpirácie bolo dosť.

so I had plenty of inspiration to draw from.

Do roku 2008 som zopakoval väčšinu ich sól v Yosemitskom parku

But by 2008, I'd repeated most of their previous solos in Yosemite

a pomýšľal som na prienik do nových terénov.

and was starting to imagine breaking into new terrain.

The obvious first choice was Half Dome,

Prvá a jasná voľba bol Half Dome,

an iconic 2,000-foot wall that lords over the east end of the valley.

ikonická 600-metrová stena nad východným koncom údolia.

The problem, though also the allure,

Problém, a zároveň lákadlo je, že je veľmi veľká.

was that it was too big.

I didn't really know how to prepare for a potential free solo.

Nevedel som, ako sa pripraviť na možné sólo.

So I decided to skip the preparations

Tak som prípravu vynechal a vrhol sa za dobrodružstvom.

and just go up there and have an adventure.

(smiech)

I figured I would rise to the occasion,

Hovorím si, že si nejako poradím, čo, pravdaže, nebola najlepšia stratégia.

which, unsurprisingly, was not the best strategy.

(smiech)

I did at least climb the route roped up with a friend two days before

Dva dni predtým som si preliezol cestu s kamarátom na lane,

just to make sure that I knew roughly where to go

aby som aspoň trochu vedel, kadiaľ ísť a či to fyzicky zvládnem.

and that I could physically do it.

But when I came back by myself two days later,

Ale keď som sa o dva dni vrátil sám, rozhodol som sa, že tade nepôjdem.

I decided that I didn't want to go that way.

I knew that there was a 300-foot variation

Vedel som o 100-metrovej alternatíve, ktorou sa vyhnem ťažkému úseku.

that circled around one of the hardest parts of the climb.

I suddenly decided to skip the hard part and take the variation,

Náhle som sa rozhodol pre túto obchádzku, aj keď som ju predtým neliezol.

even though I'd never climbed it before,

No hneď prišli pochybnosti.

but I immediately began to doubt myself.

Imagine being by yourself in the dead center of a 2,000-foot face,

Predstavte si, že ste v strede skoro kilometrovej steny

wondering if you're lost.

a neviete, či idete dobre.

(Laughter)

(smiech)

Thankfully, it was pretty much the right way

Chvalabohu, veľmi som neblúdil a vrátil sa späť na cestu.

and I circled back to the route.

I was slightly rattled, I was pretty rattled,

Bol som trochu otrasený, vlastne veľmi otrasený,

but I tried not to let it bother me too much

ale snažil som sa tým nezaoberať,

because I knew that all the hardest climbing was up at the top.

lebo som vedel, že najťažšie lezenie čakalo pod vrcholom.

I needed to stay composed.

Musel som si zachovať rozvahu.

Bolo krásne septembrové predpoludnie a keď som bol vyššie,

It was a beautiful September morning, and as I climbed higher,

I could hear the sounds of tourists chatting and laughing on the summit.

doliehala ku mne vrava a smiech turistov na vrchole.

Vyšli hore druhou stranou po bežnom chodníku,

They'd all hiked up the normal trail on the back,

which I was planning on using for my descent.

ktorým som mienil zostupovať.

But between me and the summit lay a blank slab of granite.

Medzi mnou a vrcholom však ležala ešte žulová platňa.

There were no cracks or edges to hold on to,

Nijaké praskliny, hrany, žiadne chyty, len malé nerovnosti na skoro kolmej stene.

just small ripples of texture up a slightly less than vertical wall.

Zveril som život treniu

I had to trust my life to the friction between my climbing shoes

medzi lezeckými topánkami a hladkou žulou.

and the smooth granite.

Opatrne som balansoval

I carefully balanced my way upward,

a prenášal ťažisko tam a späť medzi ryhami.

shifting my weight back and forth between the small smears.

But then I reached a foothold that I didn't quite trust.

Načiahol som nohu k stupu, ale nepáčil sa mi.

Two days ago, I'd have just stepped right up on it,

Dva dni dozadu by som ho použil, lenže vtedy som bol istený.

but that would have been with a rope on.

Now it felt too small and too slippery.

Teraz sa zdal primalý a hladký.

I doubted that my foot would stay on if I weighted it.

Nohu asi neudrží, keď ho zaťažím.

I considered a foot further to the side, which seemed worse.

Chcem sa viac natiahnuť, stále zle.

I switched my feet and tried a foot further out.

Skúšam druhú nohu, že sa posuniem.

It seemed even worse.

Ešte horšie.

I started to panic.

Začínam panikáriť.

Počujem smiech na vrchole nado mnou.

I could hear people laughing on the summit just above me.

I wanted to be anywhere but on that slab.

Chcem byť hocikde, len nie tu.

My mind was racing in every direction.

Myseľ mi lieta hore-dole.

I knew what I had to do, but I was too afraid to do it.

Vedel som, čo musím spraviť, lenže som sa bál.

I just had to stand up on my right foot.

Stačilo sa postaviť na pravú nohu.

And so after what felt like an eternity, I accepted what I had to do

Pripadalo mi to ako večnosť, ale prijal som to,

oprel som sa o pravú nohu.

and I stood up on the right foot,

and it didn't slip, and so I didn't die,

Nešmykla sa, takže som nezomrel.

and that move marked the end of the hardest climbing.

A bol to posledný ťažký krok výstupu.

And so I charged from there towards the summit.

Upaľoval som odtiaľ na vrchol.

And so normally when you summit Half Dome,

Obvykle, keď lezec ide na Half Dome,

you have a rope and a bunch of climbing gear on you,

má lano a kopu výstroja a turisti híkajú a hneď ho fotografujú.

and tourists gasp and they flock around you for photos.

Ja sa vyhupnem zdola, bez trička, zadýchaný, vo vytržení.

This time I popped over the edge shirtless, panting, jacked.

I was amped, but nobody batted an eye.

A nikto nič.

(Laughter)

(smiech)

Vyzeral som ako stratený turista, čo sa zatúlal blízko k okraju.

I looked like a lost hiker that was too close to the edge.

I was surrounded by people talking on cell phones and having picnics.

(smiech)

Okolo mňa ľudia telefonujú a robia si piknik.

I felt like I was in a mall.

Akoby som bol v obchoďáku.

(Laughter)

(smiech)

I took off my tight climbing shoes and started hiking back down,

Vyzul som si tesné lezecké topánky a vydal sa dolu.

and that's when people stopped me.

Až vtedy si ma všimli.

„Ty ideš naboso? To je masaker!“

"You're hiking barefoot? That's so hard-core."

(Laughter)

(smiech)

I didn't bother to explain,

Nič som nevysvetľoval.

Večer som si však do lezeckého denníka pridal „free solo“ na Half Dome,

but that night in my climbing journal, I duly noted my free solo of Half Dome,

but I included a frowny face and a comment, "Do better?"

a mrzutého smajlíka s poznámkou: „Dá sa to lepšie?“

I'd succeeded in the solo

To sólo bolo úspešné a uznáva sa ako prvé svojho druhu.

and it was celebrated as a big first in climbing.

Some friends later made a film about it.

Kamaráti o ňom nakrútili film.

But I was unsatisfied.

No ja som bol nespokojný.

I was disappointed in my performance,

Bol som sklamaný zo svojho výkonu, lebo som vedel, že to bolo tesné.

because I knew that I had gotten away with something.

I didn't want to be a lucky climber. I wanted to be a great climber.

Nechcem mať len šťastie, chcem byť skvelý.

I actually took the next year or so off from free soloing,

Potom som asi rok sóla neliezol,

aby som si nezvykol spoliehať sa na šťastie.

because I knew that I shouldn't make a habit of relying on luck.

Ale aj napriek tomu, som už vtedy myslel na El Cap.

But even though I wasn't soloing very much,

I'd already started to think about El Cap.

Stále mi vŕtal v hlave ako korunný klenot sólo lezenia.

It was always in the back of my mind as the obvious crown jewel of solos.

Je to najpríťažlivejšia stena na svete.

It's the most striking wall in the world.

Each year, for the next seven years,

Ďalších sedem rokov som si hovoril: „Tento rok idem na El Cap!“

I'd think, "This is the year that I'm going to solo El Cap."

And then I would drive into Yosemite, look up at the wall, and think,

Nato som prišiel do Yosemitov, pozrel na stenu a pomyslel si:

"No frickin' way."

„Ani za svet!“

(Laughter)

(smiech)

It's too big and too scary.

Je príliš veľký a strašidelný.

But eventually I came to accept that I wanted to test myself against El Cap.

Až som pripustil, že s El Cap si chcem zmerať sily.

It represented true mastery,

Predstavuje pravé majstrovstvo, ale chcel som, aby to bolo iné.

but I needed it to feel different.

I didn't want to get away with anything or barely squeak by.

Netúžim zasa tesne vyviaznuť.

This time I wanted to do it right.

Tentoraz to musí byť poriadne.

The thing that makes El Cap so intimidating

El Cap je odstrašujúci už pre svoje rozmery.

is the sheer scale of the wall.

Most climbers take three to five days

Prekonať 900 metrov kolmej skaly zväčša trvá tri až päť dní.

to ascend the 3,000 feet of vertical granite.

The idea of setting out up a wall of that size

Nápad vyliezť na takú veľkú stenu

with nothing but shoes and a chalk bag seemed impossible.

len v lezeckých topánkach a s kriedou sa zdal nemožný.

3,000 feet of climbing represents

900 metrov lezenia znamená tisíce rôznych pohybov rúk a nôh,

thousands of distinct hand and foot movements,

ktoré si treba zapamätať.

which is a lot to remember.

Many of the moves I knew through sheer repetition.

Veľa pohybov som sa naučil opakovaním.

I'd climbed El Cap maybe 50 times over the previous decade with a rope.

S lanom som tam vyliezol asi 50-krát za desať rokov.

But this photo shows my preferred method of rehearsing the moves.

Ale tu vidíte metódu, ktorú uprednostňujem.

I'm on the summit,

Na vrchole sa chystám zlaniť dolu stenou s 300-metrovým lanom

about to rappel down the face with over a thousand feet of rope

a celý deň nacvičovať.

to spend the day practicing.

Once I found sequences that felt secure and repeatable,

Našiel som si sled bezpečných a opakovateľných krokov

I had to memorize them.

a zapamätal som si ich.

I had to make sure that they were so deeply ingrained within me

Musel som si ich osvojiť natoľko, aby nebolo možné spraviť chybu.

that there was no possibility of error.

I didn't want to be wondering if I was going the right way

Nemôžem rozmýšľať, či mám správny smer alebo najvhodnejší chyt.

or using the best holds.

Všetko musí ísť samo.

I needed everything to feel automatic.

Climbing with a rope is a largely physical effort.

Liezť s lanom je najmä fyzický výkon.

You just have to be strong enough to hold on and make the movements upward.

Potrebujete dostatočnú silu, udržať sa a postupovať nahor.

„Free solo“ je viac o hlave.

But free soloing plays out more in the mind.

Fyzická záťaž je rovnaká.

The physical effort is largely the same.

Vaše telo lezie po tej istej stene.

Your body is still climbing the same wall.

But staying calm and performing at your best

Ale ostať pokojný a všetko robiť správne, keď viete, že každá chyba znamená smrť,

when you know that any mistake could mean death

requires a certain kind of mindset.

to chce určité mentálne nastavenie.

(Laughter)

(smiech)

That's not supposed to be funny, but if it is, it is.

To nemalo byť smiešne, ale ak bolo, tak dobre.

(Laughter)

(smiech)

I worked to cultivate that mindset through visualization,

Toto nastavenie som si vypracoval pomocou obrazotvornosti.

Skrátka som si premietal, ako budem to sólo liezť.

which basically just means imagining the entire experience of soloing the wall.

Partially, that was to help me remember all the holds,

Sčasti mi to pomohlo zapamätať si všetky chyty,

but mostly visualization was about feeling the texture

no hlavne šlo o precítenie, aká bude ich štruktúra a povrch na dotyk,

of each hold in my hand

and imagining the sensation of my leg reaching out and placing my foot just so.

aké bude napnúť nohu a dôkladne umiestniť chodidlo.

I'd imagine it all like a choreographed dance thousands of feet up.

Predstavil som si celú choreografiu, tanec stovky metrov nad zemou.

The most difficult part of the whole route was called the Boulder Problem.

Najťažšia časť cesty sa volá Boulder Problem.

It was about 2,000 feet off the ground

Je asi 600 metrov nad zemou a vyžaduje najnáročnejšie pohyby tela:

and consisted of the hardest physical moves on the whole route:

dlhé zhyby so slabými chytmi a malé, šmykľavé stupy.

long pulls between poor handholds with very small, slippery feet.

This is what I mean by a poor handhold:

Slabým chytom myslím toto:

an edge smaller than the width of a pencil but facing downward

hranu užšiu ako ceruzka, otočenú nadol, takže palec zapieram dohora.

that I had to press up into with my thumb.

But that wasn't even the hardest part.

A to ešte nebolo to najhoršie.

The crux culminated in a karate kick

Na záver príde „karate kop“ ľavou nohou do priľahlého rohu.

with my left foot over to the inside of an adjacent corner,

a maneuver that required a high degree of precision and flexibility,

Vyžaduje si to veľkú presnosť a ohybnosť.

enough so that I'd been doing a nightly stretching routine

Preto som každý večer cvičil strečing celý predchádzajúci rok,

for a full year ahead of time

aby som nohu v pohode natiahol.

to make sure that I could comfortably make the reach with my leg.

As I practiced the moves,

Pri cvičení pohybov som sa sústredil aj na emočnú zložku potenciálneho sóla.

my visualization turned to the emotional component

of a potential solo.

Basically, what if I got up there and it was too scary?

Napríklad, čo ak tam hore pocítim priveľký strach?

What if I was too tired?

Alebo únavu?

What if I couldn't quite make the kick?

Čo ak nezvládnem ten kop?

I had to consider every possibility while I was safely on the ground,

Musel som zvážiť všetky možnosti ešte v bezpečí na zemi.

so that when the time came and I was actually making the moves without a rope,

Lebo keď príde čas a pôjdem naostro, nebude priestor na pochybnosti.

there was no room for doubt to creep in.

Pochybnosť predchádza strach,

Doubt is the precursor to fear,

and I knew that I couldn't experience my perfect moment if I was afraid.

a ja som vedel, že so strachom prídem o ten dokonalý moment.

Musel som trénovať, kým nezmizli všetky pochybnosti.

I had to visualize and rehearse enough to remove all doubt.

But beyond that, I also visualized how it would feel

A navyše, predstavoval som si, aké by bolo, keby sa to vôbec nedalo.

if it never seemed doable.

What if, after so much work, I was afraid to try?

Čo ak sa po tom všetkom ani neodhodlám?

What if I was wasting my time

Čo ak som márnil čas a nikdy nebudem v pohode v takej náročnej pozícii?

and I would never feel comfortable in such an exposed position?

There were no easy answers,

Ľahká odpoveď neexistuje,

but El Cap meant enough to me that I would put in the work and find out.

ale El Cap pre mňa znamenal dosť, aby som šiel a zistil to.

Some of my preparations were more mundane.

Príprava bola občas nezáživná.

This is a photo of my friend Conrad Anker

Tu je môj priateľ Conrad Anker.

climbing up the bottom of El Cap with an empty backpack.

Lezie v dolnej časti cesty s prázdnym ruksakom.

We spent the day climbing together

Spolu sme vtedy vyšli k jednej praskline v strede,

to a specific crack in the middle of the wall

kde bolo plno uvoľnených skál.

that was choked with loose rocks

that made that section difficult and potentially dangerous,

Ten úsek bol preto mimoriadne ťažký a potenciálne nebezpečný,

because any missed step might knock a rock to the ground

keďže každý nepresný krok mohol zhodiť kameň

a zabiť iného lezca či turistu.

and kill a passing climber or hiker.

Opatrne sme skaly zbierali, nakladali do batoha a zlanili dolu.

So we carefully removed the rocks, loaded them into the pack

and rappelled back down.

Take a second to imagine how ridiculous it feels

Zamyslite sa na sekundu, aké to bolo smiešne

to climb 1,500 feet up a wall just to fill a backpack full of rocks.

liezť 500 metrov po stene, aby sme dali skaly do ruksaka.

(Laughter)

(smiech)

It's never that easy to carry a pack full of rocks around.

Uniesť batoh s kameňmi nie je ľahké a ešte ťažšie je to v kolmom zráze.

It's even harder on the side of a cliff.

It may have felt silly, but it still had to get done.

Napriek hlúpemu pocitu to bolo nutné.

I needed everything to feel perfect

Ak tam mám vyliezť bez lana, všetko musí byť dokonalé.

if I was ever going to climb the route without a rope.

Dva roky som sa sústreďoval výhradne na možné sólo na El Cap

After two seasons of working specifically toward a potential free solo of El Cap,

I finally finished all my preparations.

a konečne som zavŕšil prípravu.

I knew every handhold and foothold on the whole route,

Poznal som každý chyt a stup a presne vedel, čo robiť.

and I knew exactly what to do.

Basically, I was ready.

Bol som v zásade pripravený.

It was time to solo El Cap.

Prišiel čas vyliezť na El Cap.

On June 3, 2017,

Dňa 3. júna 2017 som vstal skoro, raňajkoval ako vždy vločky a ovocie

I woke up early, ate my usual breakfast of muesli and fruit

and made it to the base of the wall before sunrise.

a pred svitaním som bol pod stenou.

I felt confident as I looked up the wall.

Pri pohľade hore som sa cítil sebaisto

I felt even better as I started climbing.

a ešte lepšie som sa cítil, keď som začal liezť.

About 500 feet up, I reached a slab

V asi 150 metroch bola platňa, podobná tej, čo ma potrápila na Half Dome,

very similar to the one that had given me so much trouble on Half Dome,

but this time was different.

ale tentoraz to bolo iné.

I'd scouted every option, including hundreds of feet of wall to either side.

Prešiel som si všetky varianty stovky metrov všetkými smermi.

Vedel som, čo mám robiť a ako.

I knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

I had no doubts. I just climbed right through.

Neváhal som, len som liezol.

Even the difficult and strenuous sections passed by with ease.

Aj zložité a namáhavé úseky som prešiel s ľahkosťou.

I was perfectly executing my routine.

Robil som všetko, čo som si nacvičil.

I rested for a moment below the Boulder Problem

Malý oddych a šiel som na Boulder Problem.

and then climbed it just as I had practiced so many times with the rope on.

Prešiel som ho presne tak, ako predtým mnohokrát s lanom.

My foot shot across to the wall on the left without hesitation,

Noha bez váhania preskočila na stenu vľavo a už som vedel, že som to dal.

and I knew that I had done it.

Climbing Half Dome had been a big goal

Vyliezť na Half Dome bol veľký cieľ a podaril sa,

and I did it,

no nedosiahol som, čo som chcel.

but I didn't get what I really wanted.

I didn't achieve mastery.

Pravé majstrovstvo.

I was hesitant and afraid, and it wasn't the experience that I wanted.

Mal som pochybnosti a strach a nebolo to vôbec ono.

But El Cap was different.

El Cap bol iný.

With 600 feet to go, I felt like the mountain was offering me a victory lap.

Posledných 200 metrov pod vrcholom to bola moja exhibícia.

I climbed with a smooth precision

Liezol som hravo a precízne a vychutnával som si spev vtákov.

and enjoyed the sounds of the birds swooping around the cliff.

It all felt like a celebration.

Bolo to ako oslava.

And then I reached the summit

Potom som dosiahol vrchol po 3 hodinách a 56 minútach krásneho lezenia.

after three hours and 56 minutes of glorious climbing.

It was the climb that I wanted, and it felt like mastery.

Taký výstup som chcel, cítil som, že som to dokonale zvládol.

Ďakujem.

Thank you.

(potlesk)

(Applause)