The footage is shaky, but there鈥檚 no doubt what鈥檚 in the frame: a man聽climbing a section of shining white rock. 鈥淲hat in the world,鈥� the guy filming says. 鈥淭his guy鈥檚 fucking insane. He鈥檚 soloing, climbing this route, naked, without a rope. He鈥檚 out of his damn mind.鈥�

As the camera zooms out, it becomes clear聽that the soloist is hundreds of feet off the deck. Aside from eschewing clothes and a rope, the climber is also barefoot. All he鈥檚 got on is a gray newsboy cap.聽A twangy guitar lick comes in, followed by the lyrics: You can鈥檛 kill me / I will not die / Not now, not ever / No never/ I鈥檓 gonna live a long, long time / My soul raves on forever.

The clip, just 1 minute 56 seconds聽long, ends with a still frame of the climber looking back at the camera and flipping the bird.

Titled 鈥�,鈥� the video enjoyed a viral moment in the climbing corners of the internet when its subject, Austin Howell, shared it on Vimeo in April 2015. Howell, then 27, was a sinewy string bean with a permanent dirtbag scruff of a beard. His frizzy shoulder-length locks and the hat, which he was rarely without, belied the quickly thinning hair atop his head.

I remember seeing the clip when it came out. I鈥檇 been climbing for five years and was then preparing to take a crack at the 3,000-foot Nose route on El Capitan in Yosemite. I聽was blown away by the absurdity of the video, which struck me as聽one part Free Solo, one part Jackass. But I was also unsettled, filled with a kind of macabre awe. I began following Howell on Instagram, where he went by .

Howell was an enigmatic character, and I found it difficult to look away from his antics. His death-defying behavior was complemented by a fun-loving temperament. When he went out soloing, for example, he kept mini Snickers in his puppy-dog-shaped chalk bag. If he came upon a roped party, he鈥檇 toss a candy bar in their direction.

I followed along as he soloed 19 different 5.12鈥檚, a grade that many people spend their lives trying to climb with a rope on. Many of the routes were in Kentucky鈥檚 Red River Gorge and had little margin for error鈥攁n overhanging 5.12 could be as steep as the underside of a church dome; a vertical 5.12 might have grips the width of a dime鈥檚 edge. One time he free-soloed over a mile of technical聽terrain in a single day. The number of people in the world soloing that volume at that difficulty can likely be counted on one hand.

Howell saw his free soloing as the product of careful, sober analysis. He spent hours ahead of each hard climb satisfying what he called his 鈥減reflight checklist,鈥� making sure he鈥檇 accounted and planned for all the variables that could go wrong. But the annals of climbing, like other extreme sports, are littered with stories of risk-takers who convinced themselves that they could reason their way out of catastrophe.

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California rock climber and guidebook author Charles Barrett has been arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of abusive sexual contact, according to a from the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the Eastern District of California.

An unsealed Tuesday afternoon and filed by U.S. Attorney Philip A. Talbert, alleges that on two separate occasions in August 2016, Barrett raped an individual identified as 鈥淜.G.鈥�

All three alleged crimes took place within Yosemite National Park, according to the indictment.

Barrett鈥檚 arrest comes following an investigation into the charges by the National Park Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Sanchez, Michael Tierney, and Jessica Massey will try the case.

Representatives from the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office could not be reached for comment.

If he is found guilty of the charges, Barrett could be sentenced to life in prison and fined up to $250,000.

In the press release, the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office requested that anyone with further information about the case or any victims call their tip line at (888) 653-0009, or email nps_isb@nps.gov.

Barrett, 38, has been a fixture in the climbing scene in California for two decades, and associates with many top climbers.

According to an article in , Barrett hails from Santa Rosa, California, and has lived in Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, and South Lake Tahoe. The magazine said that Barrett pioneered some of the most challenging bouldering routes in the state. He is the author of several guidebooks including Bishop Bouldering, Tuolumne Meadows Bouldering, and Mammoth bouldering.

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Alex Honnold and Sanni McCandless are having a kid鈥攁 daughter, in fact! For the climbing world, this is the equivalent of a royal birth. I half expect that the guys over at Reel Rock are already working on a father-daughter concept for a film in 2030.

But as joyous as it is, I also found myself wondering if this major life event might give Honnold pause in how he approaches his climbing projects in coming years. Plenty of top alpinists and climbers have dialed back鈥攐r at least done some serious soul searching about鈥攖heir most extreme behavior when they become parents. Will Honnold put it in cruise control once the little one arrives? I鈥檓 not suggesting he鈥檇 be top-roping 5.10鈥檚 for the rest of his days. But might he hang up the soloing shoes?

The hypotheticals related to Papa Honnold only get more complex from there. When star athletes become parents, it鈥檚 not surprising when their kids follow in their footsteps. But while following a mother into the WNBA or a dad into Major League Baseball is one thing, Alex Honnold鈥檚 daughter becoming a free soloist would be something else entirely. For obvious reasons.

So what if Honnold鈥檚 daughter did take a keen interest in free soloing? How would he feel about that? Would he support her? Be steadfastly opposed?

These are the types of questions we posed to Honnold in a recent interview. As he always does, he gave clear-eyed, thoughtful answers.

Even as he entertained my what-ifs, Honnold said there鈥檚 only one thing he and McCandless are concerned with right now: 鈥淔irst we need her to arrive healthy and whole.鈥�

Check out the full interview, or read more about how pro climbers deal with parenthood, .

Climbing: Tell me the emotions鈥攈ow excited are you and Sanni to become parents?
Honnold: I鈥檝e always wanted a family long-term, so I鈥檓 excited to be starting the journey, but so far I鈥檓 not actually feeling a ton. It鈥檚 slightly surreal, since I鈥檓 not the one actually carrying the baby. And I think that for Sanni so far it鈥檚 more about managing the physical challenge of pregnancy than reveling in the excitement. We鈥檙e both excited long-term, it鈥檚 just not quite thrilling yet.

Did you always figure you鈥檇 have kids one day?
Yeah, I always hoped to. I鈥檝e always had a good relationship with my family and grandparents, and I鈥檝e always assumed I would carry that on into the future. We鈥檒l see how it goes!

How, if at all, might becoming a father change your calculus related to risk?
I鈥檓 totally prepared for it to rein in my risk-taking a little bit, though I could see it having no impact as well. I already try to manage and mitigate risk as much as possible鈥擨 certainly don鈥檛 think of myself as a big risk-taker. So it鈥檚 possible that not much will change. But I鈥檓 open to the possibility that I鈥檒l just want to stay at home and play with my kid as well.

Related to that: Do you think you鈥檒l continue to push your free soloing? Or will you dial it back?
I鈥檓 not sure either way. I have no huge soloing goals right now, but I have a few ideas on the back burner that may eventually come together. The biggest difference, I suspect, will have to do with how I spend my time. Having a small child seems more conducive to short bursts of intense training, which lends itself to bouldering and sport climbing. Generally, when I鈥檓 soloing a lot I鈥檓 spending tons of time outdoors on rock, which might be harder if I鈥檓 taking care of a kid. But I鈥檓 open to anything, we鈥檒l just see. Seems like the kid will be the priority.

What would you tell your son or daughter about free soloing? Would you discourage or forbid it? Tacitly allow it? Actively teach them if they decided it was particularly important to them?
It鈥檚 a girl. The idea of her free-soloing seems so far away that I鈥檓 not too concerned. First we need her to arrive healthy and whole, then we鈥檒l just see if she even enjoys climbing. But if she gets into climbing, I鈥檓 certain she鈥檒l have a strong appreciation for the spectrum of risk, from hiking to scrambling to free soloing. Most of my rest-day hikes end with some kind of scramble. I鈥檓 sure she鈥檒l grow up clambering around on rocks. But whether or not that ever turns into soloing will be a much bigger question. I鈥檓 not opposed, as long as it鈥檚 done carefully and intentionally by a mature adult.

Let鈥檚 say your daughter, years from now, decides she wants to solo the Freerider. What would go through your head?
Well, I鈥檇 probably be pretty concerned. But I have a lot of good beta for her.聽That seems very unlikely though. Hopefully it鈥檚 a bridge we never have to cross. But on the other hand, it鈥檚 only 12d/13a. In another generation, that鈥檒l be truly easy.

I鈥檓 sure you鈥檒l support your kid in whatever makes them happy, whether that鈥檚 climbing or something else entirely. But hypothetically, what would be a greater disappointment鈥攊f your kid is purely an aid climber, or if they exclusively use hand jammies?
Using hand jammies is still free climbing, so it鈥檚 still acceptable for any child of mine. Plus, I suppose I want her hands to wind up a little less ogreish than mine. Hand jammies might help.

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