Matt Bush Free Solo The Red Bulletin

The hold, more of a wrinkle in the rock really, is as deep as a fingernail. It’s wide enough for five fingertips to be jammed together, three from his left hand, two from his right. As he dangles there, relying on five half-fingertips – the ground waiting 25m below, the valley floor 100m below that and his right foot resting on a smudge of support – his left foot creeps out sideways, blindly seeking a vital hold hidden under a rocky lip. It’s a critical, committing move. There’s no rope. Just the climber pr