fuck all of you ripping on the guy. all it comes down to is faith and trust in yourself. he free climbs because he believes that he has the ability to safely climb to the top. he obviously was not wrong in that belief. the guy is fucking amazing at what he does, he knows that, he knows what he can and can't accomplish. everything we do in life has some inherited risk, crossing the street there is the possibility that you get hit by a car but the risk is so small that people take it. he assessed the risk of free climbing and beleived that he could do it safely. its the same as tanner hall and his chads gap fall, what if instead of breaking his heels, he cartwheeled onto his neck and broke it. would that be a stupid risk? no, fuck that, he knew there was the possiblitiy of falling but he believed he could do it. but sometimes shit just goes wrong.
the point, is extreme sports sport are all about being comfortable with your abilities to the point that you know that you can accomplish the risk safely.
with that being said, if he used a 3 year old ropes that dealt with dirt and water he should have known to change them. but its the same as getting into a car and not putting on your seatbelt. sometimes shit happens and when it goes wrong you just gotta except the outcome. its just a shame he lost his life.