By Our Reporter Li Ying
Rock climbing, often dubbed the ballet on cliffs. Recently, according to the UK’s Daily Mail, 23-year-old Austrian Michael Karem completed an astonishing "high-altitude ballet" — scaling a 152-meter cliff in France’s Verdon National Park without any safety ropes, relying solely on his hands and feet, and becoming the first person in the world to achieve this feat.
Karem became a star in the extreme sports world not because of rock climbing, but tightrope walking. Last year alone, he completed three bold and extraordinary challenges. In August, Karem walked across a 160-meter-high tightrope in Styria, Austria, breaking a world record; ten days later, he took on the challenge of Austria’s highest peak, the Grossglockner (the second highest peak in the Alps), walking along a roughly 46-meter-long rope at about 792 meters above the ground; at the end of November, Karem carried out his third breathtaking challenge in Yosemite National Park, California, USA — walking a 25-meter tightrope with a diameter of just 2.54 centimeters, 914 meters above the ground, and without any safety protection. With these three challenges, Karem earned the nickname the "Austrian Tightrope Superhero."
Free solo climbing without any safety ropes became the next goal for the "Tightrope Superhero." After performing his first urban tightrope show in Monte Carlo, Monaco, in March this year, Karem began planning his climbing project.
"I searched the world for the right climbing spot — one that was challenging yet doable. The cliff in Verdon National Park is 152 meters high, and no one had ever attempted to free climb it. I thought I could give it a try." Before this adventure, Karem underwent two months of systematic training. Both tightrope walking and rock climbing are high-altitude, high-risk activities, but they are fundamentally different — the former mainly relies on balance, while the latter depends largely on arm strength and body coordination. "If you do things the right way, you won’t be in danger. I believe I’m that kind of person."
The 152-meter cliff in Verdon National Park has almost no handholds or footholds. Thephotographerwho accompanied Karem documented the entire thrilling challenge. "To any ordinary person, every meter Karem climbs upward seems unbelievable. His arms are incredibly strong. When he reached halfway up, I knew he would make it. He was like a gecko, or rather, a Spider-Man."
Many rock climbing enthusiasts, after seeing Karem’s climbingphotos,remarked, "Not everyone can become like Karem through training. For most people, rock climbing is just a fitnessactivity,not something to be treated as an extreme sport."