To honnold is to face fear, literally.
August 13, 2016 1:46 PM   Subscribe

Rock climber Alex Honnold (previously), the most famous and daring free solo climber in the history of the sport, undergoes an MRI to see whether he even has an amygdala. Spoiler: yes, but with caveats.
posted by Rush-That-Speaks (43 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
A Google search for images of Honnold will result in pretty significant physiological responses in most viewers.

Interesting article...thanks..
posted by HuronBob at 2:13 PM on August 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


I like that I've discovered the medical term "low sensation seeker" to replace "scaredy-cat" in my self-description.
posted by muddgirl at 2:21 PM on August 13, 2016 [46 favorites]


Once I had a birthday party at a rock climbing gym and realized half way up the wall that I was afraid of heights. The day was only salvaged by all the beanie babies I was gifted. Bouldering seems like it could be fun.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 2:28 PM on August 13, 2016 [3 favorites]


"Just watching a video of Honnold climbing will trigger some degree of vertigo, heart palpitations, or nausea in most people, and that’s if they can watch them at all."

Is there a name for this, sort of like frisson?
posted by gucci mane at 2:51 PM on August 13, 2016 [2 favorites]


This is fascinating stuff. I am a sensation seeker and have experienced the 'fear-abatement' strategies of challenging and reflecting. It was interesting to read about his reflective practices and how they contribute to his approach/attitude. It is like there is no ego involved, only action.
posted by Thella at 2:59 PM on August 13, 2016


I remember when I was a young child, sleeping in a bunk bed for the first time, I was scared about being so high up, and then my uncle, who was a hunter, a pilot, a motorcycle rider and my model "high sensation seeker", asked me, "how often do you fall out of your bed normally?"

"never?"

"why do you think you'd fall out of your bed just because it's 5 feet higher?"

And I still try to remember that when I'm in a scary spot. In most cases, the circumstances haven't changed. I normally don't lose my grip on a hold unless I'm so tired that I know that my strength is going to fail. I normally don't crash my bike. I normally don't step off a ledge. But, yeah, fear is a powerful and self-fulfilling emotion; and we've all had to develop different mental tricks or strategies to deal with it.

Honnold is a pretty constant face in the annual tours of adventure film festivals that make their way in a circuit around indie movie theaters, and recently there was a film he did called Sufferfest, that was just him and a friend riding trying to climb all of the 14,000 footers in California within a certain amount of time, riding mountain bikes between the mountains. It was less about free climbing danger and more about the relentless grind that can emerge during a trek, when you're just doing a thing for days and pushing through pain, fatigue, and some momentary suck. And it was rather nice to see Honnold going through some of that stuff on camera, letting himself be less than superhuman.
posted by bl1nk at 3:19 PM on August 13, 2016 [8 favorites]


There's a great half hour video of Honnold climbing in Angola here
posted by JonB at 3:25 PM on August 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


I suppose you can learn all you need to know about my sensation alignment by me telling you my palms were sweating while I read the article.
posted by Mooski at 3:43 PM on August 13, 2016 [17 favorites]


This is so fascinating. I have the exact opposite of his brain. The degree to which I can freak out about things amazes even me. I'm not even a low sensation seeker. I'm a no sensation seeker.
posted by ilovewinter at 3:55 PM on August 13, 2016 [13 favorites]


cichlid ceilidh: I'm a climber. I'm scared of heights. Bouldering is in fact great fun. (And no longer triggers any fear for me, well, except topping out. I hate that.)
posted by nat at 4:16 PM on August 13, 2016


There have been many others with brains like Honnold's, but most of them never made it to his age. It's called evolutionary selection.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:18 PM on August 13, 2016 [12 favorites]


This is slightly off topic, but how does he get down afterwards? Does he just do the same thing backwards?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:26 PM on August 13, 2016 [3 favorites]


Scared of heights seems to be the norm for humans. Part of the allure of climbing is going past these limits we have.

A good book to check out, if you're interested is The Rock Warriors Way, which goes into way to overcome things like fear, while climbing, and allow yourself to live at your full potential. You can apply it to other things in life, of course.

And really, some of the advice is to go to a gym, and fall repeatedly while climbing on lead, to understand that you're not going to die.
posted by alex_skazat at 4:27 PM on August 13, 2016


This is slightly off topic, but how does he get down afterwards? Does he just do the same thing backwards

Depends on the climb. Sometimes: yes. Most of the time, there's usually an easier way off you can just, you know: walk down. Example would be Half Dome.

When he's being filmed, there's an a few people that make up the crew, who have extensive rigging set up, so I'm sure if there's no walk off, that crew could have an extra harness available for him to rap off with everyone else.

But if you're like this ladyjump!
posted by alex_skazat at 4:31 PM on August 13, 2016


and recently there was a film he did called Sufferfest, that was just him and a friend riding trying to climb all of the 14,000 footers in California within a certain amount of time, riding mountain bikes between the mountains. It was less about free climbing danger and more about the relentless grind that can emerge during a trek, when you're just doing a thing for days and pushing through pain, fatigue, and some momentary suck. And it was rather nice to see Honnold going through some of that stuff on camera, letting himself be less than superhuman.

If you liked that, you may be interested in something I curate called the Tour 14er, which does the Colorado 14ers, rather than the California ones. And it's self-supported, so no sag wagon, film crew that follows you.

I did it in 2014, and a dude named Joe Grant is doing it now. More information from Joe, his tracker so you can follow him in real time, and here's a thread I (and others) update to add some commentary to his trip.
posted by alex_skazat at 4:40 PM on August 13, 2016 [4 favorites]


There have been many others with brains like Honnold's, but most of them never made it to his age. It's called evolutionary selection.

Paul Preuss, October 3, 1913. On an attempt to make the first ascent of the North Ridge of the Mandlkogel free solo, fell a thousand feet to his death.
Tobin Sorenson, October 5, 1980. Died from a fatal fall during a solo attempt of the Mount Alberta's North Face.
Vik Henderson, July 10, 1981. Died soloing Uncle Fanny (5.7) in Yosemite, CA after falling 100 ft.
Robert Steele died free soloing the Royal Arches in Yosemite, CA after falling 200 ft. May 16, 1985.
Jimmy Jewell, October 31, 1987. Fell to his death from Poor Man's Peuterey (Severe) at Tremadog, North Wales. Ironically he was using the route as a shortcut from a local pub to his climbing club hut. The route was well below his usual grade and capability.
Derek Hersey, May 28, 1993. Died in an accident while soloing the Steck-Salathé Route free solo, on Sentinel Rock in Yosemite National Park.
Dwight Bishop (age 49), July 19, 2004. Fell climbing alone and unroped, Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park, The Grand Traverse.
Jimmy Ray Forester (age 43), November 24, 2006. Fell while free-soloing in El Potrero Chico, Mexico. Forester, an experienced, talented climber, failed to return to camp after setting out on The Scariest Ride in the Park, a 40-pitch 5.9 ridge route known for loose rock. He was found the next day at the base of the wall.
George Gardner (age 58), July 25, 2008. Fell to his death while free soloing in Grand Teton National Park.
John Bachar, July 5, 2009. Died in a free solo accident at Dike Wall near Mammoth Lakes, California.
Akihira Tawara, September 13, 2011. Died while free solo climbing the Directissima 5.8 route on Yamnuska.
Michael Ybarra, July 2012. Died climbing solo on The Matterhorn Peak in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Brad Parker, August 2014. Fell about 300 feet to his death while attempting to climb Matthes Crest Traverse in Yosemite, CA.
Andrew Barnes (age 46), June 12, 2015. Fell 50 ft free solo climbing in New York’s Shawangunk Mountains.
Angus Moloney (age 22), September 27, 2015. Reportedly fell 100 ft free-solo climbing from the Fifth Pinnacle above the Gregory Canyon Trail, Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:46 PM on August 13, 2016 [14 favorites]


Scared of heights seems to be the norm for humans

My two children are completely opposite on this: the boy has never had any fear of heights and regularly goes climbing with me, while my daughter gets nervous even on playground structures that are a little higher than normal.

What's interesting to me is that they've both been this way literally since they were old enough to walk, suggesting that either it was innate to them, or something environmental very early on.
posted by Dr.Enormous at 4:56 PM on August 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


One of my earliest memories was falling down the stairs and it was absolutely terrifying.

One of the last times that time seemed to slow down and life flashed before my eyes is when I fell descending North Maroon Peak (one of the Deadly Bells) near Aspen. I thought for sure that I was going to die, or at least bleed out from a compound leg fracture @ 13,000 feet.

Falling is massively scary for me, but climbing is something I do any chance my body isn't wrecked from all the climbing I do! There's so many easy climbs here, that free soloing a route becomes part of a trail run. Being comfortable in this venue is part of the local vibe. Part of it is allowing yourself to be confident in your abilities - if you think you're going to fall, you most likely will.
posted by alex_skazat at 5:11 PM on August 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


I've been trying to get better at lead climbing lately, so I went to the gym with a friend and all we did was fall practice. Get mid way up a climb, take a fall. Get one clip higher, take another fall. It's super scary! Even though I know that the rope system (including my partner) is reliable, I still don't want to just fall off of a perfectly good wall.

But towards the end of the evening, an interesting thing happened. It was the second or third time falling on a route, and while I was still scared, it felt like I had maxed out my fear. Yes, that was quite scary falling 5-10 feet on a rope, but it didn't increase the level of nervousness more than had accumulated from falling off a moment before that.
posted by Phredward at 5:17 PM on August 13, 2016 [2 favorites]


It is rather important to realize that he has a huge amount of learning (and not conscious) backing his mental assertion that the fear response is not helpful or predictive.

Brains are prediction engines. That's what they do. It would have been interesting to see his fear response before he learned unambiguously it wasn't useful.

How people's brains respond to new data varies from person to person and scenario to scenario. Sometimes they block a signal. Sometimes they transmute a signal. Sometimes they prevent it in the first place. Sometimes they implement it elsewhere. Welcome to plasticity, we're not all running identical programs.
posted by effugas at 5:24 PM on August 13, 2016 [6 favorites]


I read this and thought, man, I'm so bummed that he hurt his back.
posted by sibboleth at 5:27 PM on August 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


I've been climbing for about 8 years now- and the fear only gets me when I try to push past what I know I can do.I try to scare myself once a visit- it's a visceral moment where my heart pounds and congratulate my candyass on being slightly less of a scaredy cat. I never really get past a V2 and I rarely top out on one of those.

The 5 year olds of either gender house me every time. I try not to feel too badly about it.
posted by LuckyMonkey21 at 6:12 PM on August 13, 2016


There have been many others with brains like Honnold's, but most of them never made it to his age. It's called evolutionary selection.

It is selected for more than it is selected against. Look into advertising excess fitness/ risky male strategies. There is a reason why young men are extremely likely to die in accidents. It's apparently sexy.
posted by srboisvert at 6:41 PM on August 13, 2016 [3 favorites]


I've been bouldering at my university gym for a few months. I really enjoy it but I'm not sure I'm ever going to muster the courage to do it out in the wild. Mayyyybe top rope, but even that is iffy.
posted by curious nu at 7:20 PM on August 13, 2016


I am a definite high sensation seeker and one thing that I will note is that when I am, say, riding a motorcycle way too fast down a twisty rural hill, is that the sensation of being in that high risk environment seems to make me literally immune to fear.

Sometimes it will happen though that I finish a ride (or whatever other risky activity) and suddenly in sober hindsight I realize how dangerous it was and I will become almost nauseous with fear.
posted by 256 at 7:26 PM on August 13, 2016 [5 favorites]


I'm not used to seeing the amygdala discussed as a unitary organ; there are usually said to be two, one on each side of of the brain, and they are not identical:
There are functional differences between the right and left amygdala. In one study, electrical stimulations of the right amygdala induced negative emotions, especially fear and sadness. In contrast, stimulation of the left amygdala was able to induce either pleasant (happiness) or unpleasant (fear, anxiety, sadness) emotions.[9] Other evidence suggests that the left amygdala plays a role in the brain's reward system.[10]

Each side holds a specific function in how we perceive and process emotion. The right and left portions of the amygdala have independent memory systems, but work together to store, encode, and interpret emotion.

The right hemisphere is associated with negative emotion. It plays a role in the expression of fear and in the processing of fear-inducing stimuli. Fear conditioning, which is when a neutral stimulus acquires aversive properties, occurs within the right hemisphere. When an individual is presented with a conditioned, aversive stimulus, it is processed within the right amygdala, producing an unpleasant or fearful response. This emotional response conditions the individual to avoid fear-inducing stimuli.

The right hemisphere is also linked to declarative memory, which consists of facts and information from previously experienced events and must be consciously recalled. It also plays a significant role in the retention of episodic memory. Episodic memory consists of the autobiographical aspects of memory, permitting you to recall your personal emotional and sensory experience of an event. This type of memory does not require conscious recall. The right amygdala plays a role in the association of time and places with emotional properties.[11]
The scan they show us seems to be of Honnold's left amygdala.

And speaking of male and female differences:
Amygdalar development

There is considerable growth within the first few years of structural development in both male and female amygdalae. Within this early period, female limbic structures grow at a more rapid pace than do males. Amongst female subjects, the amygdala reaches its full growth potential approximately 1.5 years before the peak of male development. The structural development of the male amygdala occurs over a longer period than in women. Despite the early development of female amygdalae, they reach their growth potential sooner than males, whose amygdalae continue to develop. The larger relative size of the male amygdala may be attributed to this extended developmental period.

In addition to longer periods of development, other neurological and hormonal factors may contribute to sex-specific developmental differences. The amygdala is rich in androgen receptors – nuclear receptors that bind to testosterone. Androgen receptors play a role in the DNA binding that regulates gene expression. Though testosterone is present within the female hormonal systems, women have lower levels of testosterone than men. The abundance of testosterone in the male hormonal system may contribute to development. In addition, the grey matter volume on the amygdala is predicted by testosterone levels, which may also contribute to the increased mass of the male amygdala.

In addition to sex differences, there are observable developmental differences between the right and left amygdala in both males and females. The left amygdala reaches its developmental peak approximately 1.5–2 years prior to the right amygdala. Despite the early growth of the left amygdala, the right increases in volume for a longer period of time. The right amygdala is associated with response to fearful stimuli as well as face recognition. It is inferred that the early development of the left amygdala functions to provide infants the ability to detect danger.[12]

In childhood, the amygdala is found to react differently to same-sex versus opposite-sex individuals. This reactivity decreases until a person enters adolescence, where it increases dramatically at puberty.[13]

Gender distinction

The amygdala is one of the best-understood brain regions with regard to differences between the sexes. The amygdala is larger in males than females in children ages 7–11,[14] in adult humans,[15] and in adult rats.[16]

In addition to size, other differences between men and women exist with regards to the amygdala. Subjects' amygdala activation was observed when watching a horror film and subliminal stimuli. The results of the study showed a different lateralization of the amygdala in men and women. Enhanced memory for the film was related to enhanced activity of the left, but not the right, amygdala in women, whereas it was related to enhanced activity of the right, but not the left, amygdala in men.[17] One study found evidence that on average, women tend to retain stronger memories for emotional events than men.[18]
posted by jamjam at 7:35 PM on August 13, 2016 [4 favorites]


Just sent the article link to my trad-climber, neuropsych-PhD brother.
posted by prettypretty at 7:36 PM on August 13, 2016 [2 favorites]


Oh yeah no. That first picture looks like NOPE and the batshitinsane tag had a baby...and that baby had a gun and a mustache.
posted by sexyrobot at 9:07 PM on August 13, 2016


I know some very little bit of this, and I didn't die when I was younger somehow, but now I am pretty darn risk averse in my old age. For me it's because I've learned that I don't have the sense to know when something should be scary, I don't always know where that line is so I just avoid most dangerous activities. I walk my MTB down steep tricky terrain because otherwise I'll be laughing maniacally right before my concussion.

It's the fear of hospital bills that keeps me safe.
posted by bongo_x at 9:28 PM on August 13, 2016 [4 favorites]


There have been many others with brains like Honnold's, but most of them never made it to his age. It's called evolutionary selection.

Nah. There are people like this in every sport, climbers just really like to write about themselves. The equestrian cross country riders are all like this, basically (one British rider spent Oct in a coma from a fall and was seeing double through April and he's 47 years old), so are a lot of skiers including pretty much all the downhill racers. The sort of thing where if you're afraid to do it you cannot do it without serious injury or death.

Those sports are old and are very good at training people from children to do all the things the article says to manage and eliminate fear. The old "get back on the horse" adage is all about that, you can never go home after a fall because it's all you think about. You have to end on a success, you build slowly up to doing maniacally insane things so that by the time you do they seem completely routine. Muscle memory, focus, framing....

I have had an absolute phobia of needles for years but was able to successfully learn to give myself shots in a few minutes with no drama because I knew a) I had to and b) I knew it would get easier and less scary after a couple times like everything does. I made myself do the first one even though I did not want. It's a useful skill and probably why we evolved this kind of brain.
posted by fshgrl at 10:36 PM on August 13, 2016 [3 favorites]


allow yourself to live at your full potential
I know right.
Just last night I wanted to sleep but instead I powered on to another planet in No Man's Sky.

So Proud.
posted by fullerine at 11:16 PM on August 13, 2016 [13 favorites]


Many years ago a climber from the days of hemp rope and hobnail boots explained to me, "There are old climbers, there are bold climbers but there are no old, bold climbers."
posted by quarsan at 12:28 AM on August 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


I'd read of fMRI scans of low-activity amygdala performance in another context entirely, one which this article seems to very deliberately skirt. I certainly appreciate that discretion, but I still wondered some things, and I wondered if the author would allude to them at all.

“Because, I can’t say for sure, but I was like, whatever,” he says. The photographs, even the “gruesome burning children and stuff” struck him as dated and jaded. “It’s like looking through a curio museum.”

Ah, yes, thank you.
posted by Fantods at 3:26 AM on August 14, 2016 [9 favorites]


Sometimes it will happen though that I finish a ride (or whatever other risky activity) and suddenly in sober hindsight I realize how dangerous it was and I will become almost nauseous with fear.

I lead a much more boring life now, but like a lot of young men I used to do a lot of risky things. Not only did I have the reaction of feeling shaky and nauseous afterwards many times, there were a couple of moments that, almost twenty years later, will still make me feel that way if I let myself remember them. I never had any serious scares climbing, but I mostly did conservative bouldering and top-roped climbing, with not much risk at all.

Heights don't normally bother me much, but one time I was hiking up a very steep slope fairly high up, and all of a sudden I felt total vertigo, like I was about to just fall off the mountain. I had to sit down and wait for it to pass -- it was weird to feel that sensation so intensely out of nowhere, but it was paralyzing until it was over.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:05 AM on August 14, 2016


To honnold is to face fear, literally.

What does "to honnold" mean?
posted by thelonius at 7:30 AM on August 14, 2016


A few years ago Alex Honnold was photographed as he stood, facing outwards on a foot-wide ledge, 3/4 of the way up Half Dome, untethered, wearing only North Face sportswear, climbing shoes and a chalkbag. The photo was used for a widely published North Face advertisement under the tag line 'Never Stop Exploring'. Since then, climbers have mimicked the pose - in far less serious situations - as both an homage to Honnold and as a piss-take of their own inferior abilities, and it was dubbed 'Honnolding'.
posted by Flashman at 8:20 AM on August 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


Sometimes it will happen though that I finish a ride (or whatever other risky activity) and suddenly in sober hindsight I realize how dangerous it was and I will become almost nauseous with fear.

If you let yourself do that then you will teach yourself to be afraid. You have to be mentally disciplined enough to not go there. Psyching themselves out is how people get hurt.

This is actually a chief function of a coach: keeping you from visualizing failure instead of success.
posted by fshgrl at 10:06 AM on August 14, 2016


I was blown away when I saw the 60 Minutes piece. I mean, it was so insane what he was doing. The idea of doing an fMRI and looking at the amygdala is super cool. I wish more detail was provided on what the arousing images were - if they were all rock climbing scenarios it might mean that he is just super good at suppressing fear responses and has been able to perfect this for his climbing. It would've been interesting to see if broadening the circle of scary things beyond climbing induced more fear. Somehow, though, I think he just has a quirky brain/amygdala.
posted by bluesky43 at 10:58 AM on August 14, 2016


bluesky43 - the article provides lots of detail on what the arousing images were -

The selection includes corpses with their facial features bloodily reorganized; a toilet choked with feces; a woman shaving herself, Brazilian style; and two invigorating mountain-climbing scenes.

To which he said:
“Looking at all those images—does that count as being under stress? ... Because, I can’t say for sure, but I was like, whatever,” he says. The photographs, even the “gruesome burning children and stuff” struck him as dated and jaded. “It’s like looking through a curio museum.”
posted by penguin pie at 4:32 PM on August 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


I think I need to start skateboarding again. I'm not across-the-board fearless like this chap seems to be (I get a bit leery about heights), but I can def relate to the feeling of needing a bit more excitement than the RDA. Also the feeling of upsetting things being like exhibits in a curio museum - but again maybe not quite to the extreme Mr. Alex experiences.

Interestingly, in my case I think this is partially-but-not-wholly related to long-term SSRI use. I had tendencies towards extreme sports and stuff before SSRIs, but the whole high-sensation-seeking thing has increased while on the meds. I suspect SSRIs do some funny things with dopamine (but really am just speculating as to mechanisms).
posted by iffthen at 9:32 PM on August 14, 2016


It took me forever to figure out what my deal with heights was. For a long time I would tell people (and myself) I wasn't afraid if heights, but would find myself having irrational freakouts once I was on a height.

So when I was 20-something I finally said, "Ok, I think I'm afraid of heights, but I don't FEEL afraid intellectually, I just react." And it was several years later when I finally twigged that vertigo was a real thing and that was the name of the sensation I get when looking down from a high place. It was finally a conversation with my husband that cemented it. I had to ask him, "wait, when you're on top of a cliff and you look down, you don't feel like you're about to fall? Like, really, really, you start to get the sensation of falling?" And he said "No" and I thought, "oh."

So yeah, I've spent a lot of my life trying to do adventurous things like camp on the top of cliffs and hike mountain trails and drive one-lane roads on the edges of mountains and finally had to admit those were BAD THINGS FOR ME and I should probably just avoid them. Otherwise I will be the person five feet from the edge going "No, really, I'm fine over here. No, I can see fine. I'll just be...a few more feet this way. No reason, just it's nice here."
posted by threeturtles at 1:34 AM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


I rather enjoyed Alex Honnold being interviewed on the Tim Ferriss podcast (warning, Tim Ferriss, lots of ads at the start). It's a pretty wide-ranging interview and once he gets past the initial climber-bro posturing, they get into his fear and fear reactions quite intensively.
posted by Happy Dave at 8:04 AM on August 16, 2016


Many years ago a climber from the days of hemp rope and hobnail boots explained to me, "There are old climbers, there are bold climbers but there are no old, bold climbers."

Meru (previously) is specifically about this, and about a fellow, Conrad Anker, who's a bit of an exception and has watched so many friends perish in this sport.

I do also want to +1 fshgirl's comment about how this sort of fearlessness emerges in many sports, and it's really just climbing that's more memorable. However, I'd quibble about whether it's because climbers just like to talk about themselves. Downhill mountain biking, skiing, surfing -- basically, anything where you're testing yourself against nature, because you are tiny and nature gives no fucks -- they all have this trait and people who like to write about them or shoot films about them in spades. The only difference is that it's possible to depict a surfer's ride, or a mountain biker's speed with an agility and mastery that borders on grace and distracts you from the peril that surrounds them. Rock climbing is just about existing with the peril, and there's nothing to distract you.
posted by bl1nk at 11:07 PM on August 16, 2016


« Older Indian government blacks out internet in Kashmir   |   Rat Poison and Brandy: The 1904 St. Louis Marathon Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments