Badass is out-badassed by badass camerabadass

Woah!

how can we be sure that this isn't the last known image of these people.

Just imagine all these adventure shows and people and it looks like they have it tough, and it is, don't get me wrong but seriously? Props to the camera man/crew who do this all while carrying all the equipment and getting the right shots.

Actually, for really long free climbs like this one (and I think this is Alex Honnold) they set up a belay anchor system at the top where the photographers hang down from, floating in air, not attached to the wall in any way, which is kinda even more badass.

What joex23 said sound about right to me. It could also have been taken by a drone.

Or it is a screenshot of a GoPro video. Or the camera is on a helmet, and someone else, someone not climbing a fucking rock at this moment, has the shutter button (with wireless link between it and the camera). Or a drone. Or the photographer is on some kind of hammock, the same kind some climbers actually sleep in sometimes.

drones. the answer is drones

The cameramen were let down on ropes from the top. The guy in then photo is one of the first two people to ever free climb the Yosemite Dawn Wall. The cameraman doesn't climb, he uses ropes.