You can also add the legendary Patrick Edlinger, who died after falling down his stairs at the age of 52. Who can forget the epic "Life By the Fingertips": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj1-58EfWpo

It's too late to edit, but yes, he belongs on the list! I forgot about him.

Survivorship bias (of the most real kind). You can only be great if you live. :)

They were all established capable climbers before they earned a reputation free soloing. That's not really true in this case. I mean, every year there are inexperienced climbers who die, but comparing them to the masters is like comparing some kid with a spoiler on his Honda civic who loses control and hits a tree to a professional formula 1 driver.

What I'm saying is there may have been other great climbers that we just don't know about because they happen to have one small slip early in life.

Survivorship bias needs to be taught in schools at a young age, like in kindergarten. It's so insidious.

I'll add Derek Hersey to that list. He's not as big of a name as those on this list, but there is a movie called Front Range Freaks which has a great segment about him and soloing. He died at 36.

Nukie brown, upside-down!

Dan Osman still died by falling off a cliff.. equipment failure though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY6YsM5Rh0Y

It's worth noting that both Dan Osman and Dean Potter died in part due to park service policies.

The park service allows all kinds of activities that cater to motorized tourists, but bans specialized activities like base jumping. Yosemite is one of the best places in the world to base jump, not just because of its beauty but because the cliffs are oriented well for base jumping. The ban pushes jumpers to fly at dawn or dusk, and hide their activities, in a way that pushes the safety margins.

A ban doesn't force anyone to do anything to break the ban.

The correct response to the ban is to respect the parks wishes and stop BASE jumping.

If you want to push the limits that's on you. You should know the risks and act accordingly.

This starts to resemble something like abstinence-only education in schools, though, where a hard-line stance of "just don't do the risky thing we've told you not to do and you'll be fine" leads to less successful real-world results than embracing the complex realities of human behavior.

No it doesn't. There are other places and countries where you can BASE jump. They chose to do it where it was banned and selected times where they would evade authorities.

This sort of entitled attitude doesn't help IMO. Breaking local laws just confirms that you can't trust these communities and you give everyone a bad name.

Do you honestly think anyone who BASE jumps gives a fuck what you think? Why even waste your time saying it? They're obviously not here to obey the rules. Like, really obviously.

I'm not really sure I understand the point of this comment.

Of course they don't have to listen to me. But people express their opinions all the time.

Of course they should follow local access rules, local ethics and etiquette.

Most outdoor communities I've seen try and keep good relationships with local authorities. We want to maintain areas as much as they do so we can keep using them.

>> The park service allows all kinds of activities that cater to motorized tourists

That's a weird kind of jab. As if the BASE Jumpers walked their way to the park.

Other than driving in your car what motorized activities does Yosemite cater to? Much of the park is wilderness and motorized transport isn't permitted.

Potter also died falling off a cliff, in a wingsuit. If only they had stuck to more sensible pursuits, such as free soloing!

He left his ropes during days in the sun and rain, after having made many fall factor ones with it. Not surprising really.

Dean Potter died doing something even more dangerous than free soloing (as opposed to a random, unrelated thing).

Reardon's death has been attributed to free soloing on a sea cliff, but the official cause of death was drowning.

Well, he was standing around getting his picture taken when a big wave came in and washed him away. Whether he was free soloing or suntanning, it wouldn't have made any difference. Really sad, he was a massive talent and his solo of Romantic Warrior was astonishing.

http://images.summitpost.org/original/281779.jpg

Deep-water soloing is its own discipline, with a unique set of hazards.

Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-water_soloing

He also planned to solo the Free rider

Thomas Bubendorfer, recently got hurt badly in a climbing accident.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bubendorfer there is no English page for him

He free solo'ed the south wall of the Aconcagua within a day in 1991.

Wolfgang Güllich, free soloed Separate Reality and other gnarly routes, died in a car accident with 32.

Dean Potter died in a squirrel suit, not soloing.

It's a very small field, not many people make a discipline of it I wonder why ?

But serious question : of the four top people alive, any data on when they stopped climbing ? I would guess that would correlate with longevity.

I also recall reading somewhere that a disproportionate number of elite scientists and researchers in the 1930's - 60's were mountain climbers.

John Gill was doing long free solos on easy 5th class well into his 60s. Peter Croft is still working as a mountain guide out of Bishop, CA, I have no idea if he still goes out for jaunts sans rope in the high sierras, but he free soloed almost daily for decades.

Hansjörg Auer, alive at 33 Alexander Huber, alive at 48

Auer's free solo of Marmolada 'via Attraverso il Pesce' is something in the same league as Alex's Freeride.

TIL about John Gill. Mathematician and climber.

Eiger Dreams has a chapter on Gill. Worth a read if you're interested.

... and probably many, many, more who died before making it to this list.

adding John "Yabo" to that list.... but I couldn't find how he died, (suicide iirc?)

Yes, he committed suicide.