【译文如下】
Hello, I’d like to show you guys 30 seconds of the best day of my life.
大家好，首先，我给大家展示我一生中最美好一天的30秒视频。
So, that was El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park, and in case you couldn’t tell, I was climbing by myself without a rope, a style of climbing known as free soloing. That was the culmination of a nearly decade-long dream, and in the video I’m over 2500 feet off the ground. Seems scary? Yeah, it is. Which is why I spent so many years dreaming about soloing El Cap and not actually doing it.
这是加州优胜美地国家公园的酋长岩，如果你没看出来的话，其实我是独自在没有绳子保护的情况下攀岩，这种攀岩方式被称为自由攀岩（也叫徒手攀岩，无保护攀岩）。这是我一个接近十年的梦想，在视频里我离地2500英尺。看起来很可怕是吗？是的，非常可怕。这就是为什么我花了这么多年时间一直梦想着攀登酋长岩。
But on the day that that video was taken, it didn’t feel scary at all. It felt as comfortable and natural as a walk in the park, which is what most folk were doing in Yosemite that day.
但是录视频的那天，我没有感到很可怕。我感到很舒服自在，就像在公园里散步一样，正如在优胜美地游览的游客一样。
Today I’d like to talk about how I was able to feel so comfortable and how I overcame my fear. I’ll start with a very brief version of how I became a climber, and then tell the story of my two significant free solos. They were both sUCCessful, which is why I’m here.
今天我想谈谈我是如何克服恐惧，感觉到舒服自在的。首先我先简短的介绍一下我是怎样成为攀岩运动员，然后讲讲我的两次特殊的自由攀岩。当然两次都很成功，不然今天我也不会站在这里。
But the first felt largely unsatisfying, whereas the second, El Cap, was by far the most fulfillung day of my life. Through these two climbs, you’ll see my process for managing fear.
但第一次我感到很不满意，而第二次，酋长岩，是我迄今为止最满意的一次。通过这两次攀岩，你会了解我是如何克服恐惧的。
So I started climbing in a gym when I was around 10 years old, which means that my life has been centered on climbing for more than 20 years. After nearly a decade of climbing mostly indoors, I made the transition to the outdoors and gradually started free soloing.
我10岁左右就开始在攀岩馆攀岩了，这也意味着我的攀岩生涯已经超过20年了。在10年的室内攀岩之后，我决定走向户外，并逐渐开始了自由攀岩。
I built up my comfort over time and slowly took on bigger and more chAllenging walls. And there have been many free soloists before me, so I had plenty of inspiration to draw from. But by 2008, I’d repeated most of their previous solos in Yosemite and was starting to imagine breaking into new terrain.
我慢慢的建立起了信心，然后开始尝试更大更具有挑战性的岩壁。在我之前，有很多的自由攀岩运动员，所以我是站在巨人的肩膀上。在2008年之前，我几乎都是重复他们在优胜美地的路线，然后我开始想着去开创一个新的领域。
The obvious first choice was Half Dome, an Iconic 2000 foot wall the lords over the east end of the valley. The problem, though also the allure, was that it was too big. I didn’t really know how to prepare for a potential free solo.
很明显，我的首要选择是半圆顶，一座标志性的矗立在优胜美地山谷东端的2000英尺高的岩壁。问题是，尽管它很吸引人，但它太大了。对于将要进行的自由攀岩我不知从何下手。
So I decided to skip the preparations and just go up there and have an adventure. I figured I would rise to the ocCASIOn, which, unsurprisingly, was not the best strategy. I did at least climb the route roped up with a friend two days before just to make sure that I knew roughly where to go and that I could physically do it.
于是我决定跳过准备阶段，直接爬上去探索一番。我以为我能应付这种情况，但，不出所料，这并不是明智的选择。我至少得在出发两天前和朋友绕绳结组爬一遍，才能确定我大概知道该如何进行。
But when I came back by myself two days later, I decided I didn’t what to go that way. I knew that there was a 300-foot variation that circled around one of the hardest parts of the climb. I suddenly decided to skip the hard part and take the variation, even though I’d never climbed it before, but I immediately began to doubt myself.
但是两天之后，我再次来到这里，却发现那并不是我想要的路线。我知道那里有一段300英尺的Variation路线，是围绕着攀岩中最难的一段。我突然想跳过那段难的路线，选择Variation路线，尽管我从来没有怕过，但马上我又开始怀疑自己。
Imagine being by yourself in the dead center of a 2000-foot face, wondering if you are lost. Thankfully, it was pretty much the right way and I circled back to the route. I was slightly rattled, I was pretty rattled, but I tried not to let it bother me too much because I knew that all the hardest climbing was up at the top.
想象一下你独自一人在2000英尺岩壁的正中间，想着自己是不是迷路了。但是谢天谢地，这是一条正确的路线，之后我又绕回了原路。我有点慌乱，其实非常慌乱，但我尽量不让它干扰我，因为我知道最困难的部分还在顶端。
I needed to stay composed. It was a beautiful September morning, and as I climbed higher, I could hear the sounds of tourists chatting and laughing on the summit. They’d all hiked up the route normal trail on the back, which I was planning on using for my Descent. But between me and the summit lay a blank slab of granite. There were no cracks or edges to hold on to, just small ripples of texture up a slightly less than vertical wall. I had to trust my life to the friction between my climbing shoes and the smooth granite.
我需要保持镇定。那是一个美丽的九月早晨，当我越爬越高的时候，我能听到游客们在山顶上的谈笑声。他们都是沿着北面那条路上来的，而我准备从那里下山。在我和山顶之间有一块光滑的花岗岩。没有任何可以抓住的裂缝或边缘，只有细小的纹理在垂直的岩壁上。我只能把自己的生命托付给攀岩鞋和光滑的花岗岩之间的摩擦。
I carefully balanced my way upward, shifting my weight back and forth between the small smears. But then I reached a foothold that I didn’t quite trust. Two days ago, I’d have just stepped right up on it, but that would have been with a rope on. Now it felt too small and too slippery. I doubted that my foot would stay on if I weighted it. I considered a foot further to the side, which seemed worse. I switched my feet and tried a foot further out. It seemed even worse. I started to panic.
我小心翼翼地向上平衡着自己，把重心在小点之间来回移动。然后我找到了一个不太可靠的脚点。如果是两天前，我会直接踩上去，因为有绳子保护。但现在感觉它是那么的小，那么的滑。我怀疑如果我给脚加了重量，是否还能站稳。我想着往旁边一英尺，这似乎更糟。我交换了双脚，试着再走远一点，情况似乎更糟了。我开始恐慌起来。
I could hear people laughing on the summit just above me. I wanted to be anywhere but on the slab. My mind was racing in every direction. I knew what I had to do, but I was too afraid to do it. I just had to stand up on my right foot. And so after what felt like an eternity, I accepted what I had to do and I stood up on the right foot, and it didn’t slip, and so I didn’t die, and that move marked the end of the hardest climbing. And so I charged from there to the summit.
我能听到人们在我上方的山顶上笑。此刻我宁愿在任何地方，而不是这块花岗岩上。我的思绪开始不受控制。我知道我必须做点什么，但我太害怕了，不敢去做。我只需要依靠右脚站起来。在经历了像是无尽的等待之后，我接受了用右脚站起来，我没有滑倒，并没有摔死，这一脚意味着最困难的部分已经结束。于是我从那里开始向山顶进发。
And so normally when you summit Half Dome, you have a rope and a bunch of climbing gear on you, and tourists gasp and they flock around you for photos. This time I popped over the edge shirtless, panting, jacked. I was amped, but nobody batted an eye. I looked like a lost hiker that was too close to the edge. I was surrounded by people talking on cell phones and having picnics. I felt like I was in a mall. I took off my tight climbing shoes and started hiking back down, and that’s when people stopped me.
一般当你爬上半圆顶时，你身边会有绳子和一堆攀岩工具，然后游客们会非常惊叹，围着你要合照。我这次没穿上衣，气喘吁吁的爬了上去，没有人对我多看一眼。我感觉我像是个迷路的驴友一样，走到了山崖前。我身旁的人打着电话，吃着野餐，就感觉像在商场一样。我脱下了紧绷的攀岩鞋，然后开始往下走，这时人们拦住了我。
“You are hiking barefoot? That’s so hard-core.”
“你赤脚登山吗？这也太危险了。”
I didn’t bother to explain, but that night in my climbing journal, I duly noted my free solo of Half Dome, but I included a frowny face and a comment, “Do better?” I’d succeeded in the solo and it was celebrated as a big first in climbing. Some friends later made a film about it. But I was unsatisfied. I was disappointed in my performance, because I knew that I had gotten away with something. I didn’t want to be a lucky climber. I wanted to be a great climber.
我没有费时解释，但那天在我的攀岩日记里，我记下了我半圆顶的自由攀岩，我皱了皱眉，写下一句，“能做得更好吗？”这次对的自由攀岩成功，这也是攀岩历史中的首次。之后一些朋友还剪辑了一部电影，但我并不满足。我对自己感到失望，因为我清楚的知道自己做了什么。我并不想成为一名幸运的攀岩者，我想成为一名优秀的攀岩者。
I actually took the next year or so off from free soloing, because I knew that I shouldn’t make a habit of relying on luck. But even though I wasn’t soloing very much, I’d already started to think about El Cap. It was always in the back of my mind as the obvious crown jewel of solos. It’s the most striking wall in the world. Each year, for the next seven years, I’d think, “This is the year that I’m going to solo El Cap.” And then I would drive into Yosemite, look up at the wall, and think, “No frickin’ way.”
其实，在接下来的一年里，我把自己从自由攀岩中解放出来，因为我知道攀岩不能依靠运气。尽管我没有很多的自由攀岩，但我已经在考虑酋长岩了。它一直在我脑海深处，就像是自由攀岩皇冠上的璀璨宝石一样。它是最引人注目的岩壁，每一年，之后的7年都是如此，我都在想着“今年我要自由攀岩酋长岩。”然后我就开车去优胜美地，仰望着岩壁，又告诉自己，“根本不可能。”
It’s too big and too scary. But EVENTually I came to accept that I wanted to test myself against El Cap. It represented true mastery, but I needed it to feel different. I didn’t want to get away with anything or barely squeak by. This time I wanted to do it right. The thing that makes El Cap so intimidating is the sheer scale of the wall. Most climbers take three to five days to ascend the 3000 feet of vertical granite. The idea of setting out up a wall of that size with nothing but shoes and a chalk bag seemed impossible.
它太大太恐怖了。但最终我还是决定在酋长岩上考验自己。它代表着真正的优秀，但我需要不同的感觉，我不想侥幸登上它。这次我要正确的方式攀岩。酋长岩令人生畏是因为岩壁的庞大。大部分的攀岩者都会花上3-5天登上3000英尺的垂直岩壁，在那么大的岩壁上只靠一双攀岩鞋和石灰粉来登顶，似乎完全不可能。
3000 feet of climbing represents thousands of distinct hand and foot movements, which is a lot to remember. Many of the moves I knew through sheer repetition. I’d climbed El Cap maybe 50 times over the previous decade with a rope. But this photo shows my preferred method of rehearsing the moves. I’m on the summit, about to repel down the face with over a thousand feet of rope to spend the day practicing by myself. Once I found sequences that felt secure and repeatable, I had to memorize them.
3000英尺的距离，那得有数千种不同的手和脚的运动，而且有很多需要牢记。很多我知道的动作都是纯粹通过重复练习而掌握的。这意味着，在过去的十年里，我得用绳子爬酋长岩50次才能熟练。这张照片展示了我最喜欢的练习方法。我在山顶上，准备用1000多英尺绳子绕绳下降，一整天都处在练习中。一旦我找到了安全且可重复的动作，我就必须记住。
I had to make sure that they were so deeply ingrained within me that there was no possibility of error. I didn’t want to be wondering if I was going the right way or using the best holds, I needed everything to feel aUTOmatic. Climbing with a rope is a largely physical effort. You just have to be strong enough to hold on and make the movements upward. But free soloing plays out more in the mind. The physical effort is largely the same. Your body is still climbing the same wall.
我必须确保熟记于心，不能有任何差错。我不想去纠结我是走对了路或在最好的支撑点上，我需要每时每刻都处于一种主动的状态。绕绳攀岩主要是体力劳动，你只需要足够强壮来支撑然后移动向上。但是自由攀岩还有更多的脑力劳动。体力消耗基本上是一样的，因为你在爬同一堵岩壁。
But staying calm and performing at your best when you know that any mistake could mean death requires a certain kind of mindset. That’s not supposed to be funny, but if it is, it is. I worked to cultivate that mindset through visualization, which basically just means imagining the entire experience of soloing the wall. Partially, that was to help me remember all the holds, but mostly visualization was about feeling the texture of each hold in my hand and imagining the sensation of my leg reaching out and placing my foot just so.
但是，当你知道任何错误都可能导致死亡时，这时保持冷静，并表现出最佳的状态需要一种心态。这并不好笑，但如果你觉得好笑，那也算是吧。我努力通过视觉化来培养这种心态，基本上就是想象自己自由攀岩整面岩壁的经历。在一定程度上，这是为了帮助我记住所有的支撑点，但视觉化主要是感受每个支撑点在我手中的质感，想象我的腿伸出来，并放在那里的感觉。
I’d imagine it all like a choreographed dance thousands of feet up. The most difficult part of the whole route was called the Boulder Problem. It was about 2000 feet off the ground and consisted of the hardest physical moves on the whole route: long pulls between poor handholds with very small, slippery feet.
我想象这一切就像在几千英尺之上精心编排的舞蹈。整个路线中最困难的部分是圆形巨石。它离地面约2000英尺，在整条路线中动作难度最高：双脚点又小很滑，需要在相距很宽的两个糟糕的手点之间用力拉伸。
This is what I mean by a poor handhold: and edge smaller that the width of a pencil but facing downward that I had to press up into with my thumb. But that wasn’t even the hardest part. The crux culminated in a karate kick with my left foot over to the inside of an adjacent corner, a maneuver that required a high degree of precision and flexibility, enough so that I’d been doing a nightly stretching routine for a full year ahead of time to make sure that I could comfortably make the reach with my leg.
这就是我所说的“糟糕的手点”：边缘要比铅笔还要窄，而且朝下，我必须要用拇指向上挤压。但这还不是最困难的部分。最难的是像空手道踢腿那样将我的左脚移到旁边的一个角落里面，这个动作需要十分精准和灵活，因此我提前一年做了伸展运动以确保我能轻松地伸展我的腿。
As I practiced the moves, my visualization turned to the emotional component of a potential solo. Basically what if I got up there and it was too scary? What if I was too tired? What if I couldn’t quite make the kick? I had to consider every possibility while I was safely on the ground, so that when the time came and I was actually making the moves without a rope, there was no room for doubt to creep in.
当我练习这些动作的时候，我的视觉化又转向对自由攀岩的情绪方面。我想着如果爬上去，上面太可怕了怎么办？如果我太累了怎么办？如果“空手道踢”踢不好怎么办？我必须要在安全的地面上时把这些可能的问题都整理清楚，这样当机会到来的时候，我能在没有保护的情况下得心应手的做好动作，因为那时已经没有任何疑虑的余地了。
Doubt is the precursor to fear, and I knew that I couldn’t experience my perfect moment if I was afraid. I had to visualize and rehearse enough to remove all doubt. But beyond that, I also visualized how it would feel if it never seemed doable. What if, after so much work, I was afraid to try? What if I was wasting my time and I would never feel comfortable in such an exposed position? There were no easy answers, but El Cap meant enough to me that I would put in the work and find out.
疑虑是恐惧的先兆，我知道如果我害怕，我就无法体验我的完美时刻。我必须要用足够的时间通过想象和练习来消除所有的疑虑。但除此之外，我甚至想象，如果这是根本不可能的呢？如果在做了这么多工作之后，我害怕尝试呢？如果我在浪费时间，在这样暴露的姿势下，我永远都不会感到轻松自在呢？答案并不简单，但是酋长岩对我意义重大，我必须要付诸行动来找出答案。
Some of preparations were more Mundane. This is a photo of my friend Conrad Anker climbing up the bottom of El Cap with an empty backpack. We spent the day climbing together to a specific crack in the middle of the wall that was choked with loose rocks that made that section difficult and potentially dangerous, because any missed step might knock a rock to the ground and kill a passing climber or hiker.
有些准备工作比较平淡无奇。这是我的朋友康拉德·安可带着一个空背包爬酋长岩的照片。我们花了一天的时间一起爬到岩壁中间一个特别的裂缝，那里堵满了松散的岩石，这对攀爬会变得很困难很危险，因为任何的失足都可能把岩石撞击到地面，从而砸死一个路过的攀登者或徒步旅行者。
So we carefully removed the rocks, loaded them into the pack and rappelled back down. Take a second to imagine how ridiculous it feels to climb 1500 feet up a wall just to fill a backpack full of rocks. It’s never that easy to carry a pack full of rocks around. It’s even harder on the side of a cliff. It may have felt silly, but it stilled had to get done. I needed everything to feel perfect if I was ever going to climb the route without a rope.
所以我们小心翼翼地把石头移走，装进袋子里，然后用绳索拉下来。想象一下，我们爬上1500英尺高的岩壁，只为了装满一袋子石头，这感觉多么荒谬。随身携带一袋石头绝非轻而易举，在悬崖边上就更难上加难了。也许看起来很傻，但我们必须完成。我必须要确保在没有任何保护的情况下攀岩时，周围的一切都保持完美的状态。
After two seasons of working specifically toward a potential free solo of El Cap, I finally finished all my preparations. I knew every handhold and foothold on the whole route, and I knew exactly what to do. Basically, I was ready. It was time to solo El Cap. On June3, 2017, I woke up early, ate my usual breakfast of muesli and fruit and made it to the base of the wall before sunrise. I felt confident as I looked up the wall. I felt even better as I started climbing.
经过两个季节的努力，我终于完成了所有的准备工作。我知道这条路线上的每一个手点和脚点，我也知道该怎么做。可以说，我已经准备好了，是时候出发了。2017年6月3日，我早早醒来，吃过平常的早餐—什锦和水果，然后在日落前赶到酋长岩脚下。我抬头看着岩壁，信心十足。当我开始爬山时，感觉更加美妙。
About 500 feet up, I reached a slab, very similar to the one that had given me so much trouble on Half Dome, but this time was different. I’d scouted every option, including hundreds of feet of wall to either side. I knew exactly what to do and how to do it. I had no doubts. I just climbed right through. Even the difficult and strenuous sections passed by with ease. I was perfectly executing my routine. I rested for a moment below the Boulder Problem and then climbed it just as I had practiced so many times with the rope on.
大约在500英尺高的地方，我爬上了一块石板，就像在半圆顶给我带来麻烦的那块一样，但这次感觉不同了。我大脑快速检索每一个选项，包括两边几百英尺长的岩壁，我知道该怎么做了。我毫不犹豫，就爬了过去。即便是很困难，很艰苦的部分也能轻松应对。我正在完美地攀爬我的路线。我在圆形巨石下面休息了一会儿，然后爬了上去，就像我用绳子多次练习时那样。
My foot shot across to the wall on the left without hesitation, and I knew that I had done it. Climbing Half Dome had been a big goal and I did it, but I didn’t get what I really wanted. I didn’t achieve mastery. I was hesitant and afraid, and it wasn’t the experience that I wanted. But El Cap was different. With 600 feet to go, I felt like the mountain was offering me a victory lap. I climbed with a smooth precision and enjoy the sounds of the birds swooping around the cliff. It all felt like a celebration.
我的脚毫不犹豫地穿过左边的墙，我知道我做到了。爬半圆顶是一个很大的目标，我做到了，但没有得到我真正想要的。我没有达到优秀，我有迟疑，有害怕，那不是我想要的结果。但是酋长岩不同。在离顶点还有600英尺的时候，我觉得山峰给了我成功的机会。我用平稳的步调攀爬，欣赏着鸟儿从悬崖上俯冲的声音，就像一切都在为我庆祝一样。
And then I reached the summit after three hours and 56 minutes of glorious climbing. It was the climb that I wanted and it felt like mastery. Thank you!
然后我用3小时56分钟完成了这次光荣的攀登。这就是我想要的优秀的攀登。谢谢大家！
注：视频及英文原文来源于TED官网。
欢迎分享大家对Alex自由攀登的感受~
Alex Honnold的TED演讲视频地址：
https://v.qq.com/x/page/q0739rj022s.html
网址：www.imagineclimb.com
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