First-year kinesiology student Frederick “Fre” Solo has always had a hard time staying grounded.
Since he was three years old, his life has been defined by one urge: to climb. Now, he’s set his sights on what he says is the most death-defying stunt on campus: climbing the Aviary.
Growing up on the flat plains of Saskatchewan, Solo had few outlets for his desire to ascend. He started with sitting on Daddy’s shoulders and climbing to the tippy-top of the slide before going down it again. The literal high was addictive. He hasn’t stopped chasing it since.
Moving to Vancouver has been a dream come true for Solo, although the ups and downs of the city took some adjusting.
“The first time I walked up a hill, from Alma up 10th Ave, I was in awe,” said Solo. “My calves were cramping, but I was completely in my element. As soon as I saw that view from the top, I was hooked. The possibility of falling was just the last thing on my mind.”
Since then, Solo has dedicated 20 hours a day to training, including a rigorous regimen of lifting a q-tip on his pointer finger like it’s a dumbbell.
“It’s a mental sport more than a physical one,” said Solo. “It’s all about understanding the climb so well that you can do it instinctively.
So I actually spend most of that time just rotating tall things in my mind: like stairs, or trees, or Ava Michelle from the movie Tall Girl (2019).”
His hard work paid off when he successfully summited the Wreck Beach stairs and Buchanan Tower.
“BuTo was a big step for me, in terms of elevation,” said Solo. “I did end up using the elevator for the final floors, but I had never been that high above sea level before. It was exhilarating.”
He also has attempted less orthodox climbs on campus, including the LIFE building construction site.
“Trying to scale the crane, especially during broad daylight, was a misstep, and they did bounce me,” said Solo.
He was thwarted, but he is trying, as always, to “take the high road.”
Although many don’t understand his freakish urge to take death-defying risks, he has also drawn a small but inspired following of climbers on campus.
“I first noticed Solo during the end of his BuTo climb,” said avid UBC boulderer Gil “Rock Lobster” Wall. “The way he gastoned that undercling — in layman’s terms, to press the little circle formation on the wall— was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. He just jammied into that weird box and shot straight up!”
Solo’s girlfriend Gina Hueco, a third-year sports psychology major, supports his ambitions completely.
“In the three weeks we’ve been dating, I’ve grown to really understand him,” said Hueco. “It’s like an almost psychosexual urge, his compulsion to climb no matter the risk. I think he’s missing the part of his brain that feels fear.”
“Of course I get scared for him,” she added. “These three weeks have been the deepest and most important relationship of my life, and I would be devastated if anything were to happen to him. But, his dream is to put himself in increasingly death-defying situations, and I can’t get between him and his dreams.”
Solo has turned his sights on one of the riskiest climbs on campus, and some say, the world: The Aviary, UBC’s own “climbing wall.”
“It has never been successfully attempted,” said Solo, “But I really believe I was born for this. I will send this highball onsight and top out — or die trying.”
“The Aviary has actually been climbed, many times,” said Aviary lead boulderer Granola ‘Climber? I hardly know ‘er!’ Matryoshka. “And nobody is allowed to climb it without a safety harness. Not sure where the lil guy got that idea from. But he’s a real trooper, with great potential — we don’t want to dim his sparkle.”
The Dingbat is The Ubyssey’s humour section. Send pitches and completed pitches to blog@ubyssey.ca.