How to get comfortable with being uncomfortable

A few weeks ago I climbed Freerider for the first time and I almost gave up. This is a 3,300' rock climb up the southwest face of Yosemite’s El Capitan. You may have heard of Alex Honnold climbing this route without ropes in a recent feature-length documentary called Free Solo.

Like everyone in history besides Alex, I climbed Freerider with the protection of ropes. The route is still a huge undertaking. The climbing is difficult (up to 5.13a), so many climbers aid this part of El Cap, standing in sling ladders to hoist themselves up the wall.