I'm confident he would be just another climber and wouldn't be world famous and wouldn't be able to demand such high payment. He makes fat stacks because he is extraordinary, not because he's doing what everyone else is doing.

Alex Honnold (born August 17, 1985) is an American rock climber best known for his free solo ascents of big walls. Honnold rose to worldwide fame in June 2017 when he became the first person to free solo a route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park (via the 2,900-foot route Freerider at 5.13a, the first-ever at that grade),

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Honnold

Fortune favours the bold.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 months ago

I'm not saying in the past, nor is anyone else in this thread. We're saying today, now that he has a family. He wouldn't lose his fame because he started using safety gear. He'd still be extraordinary. He'd still be doing things no one else can. In fact, dealing with safety gear would add to the challenge. It'd remove some of the fear, but the climbs would be more challenging.