Jimmy Chin is one of my favorite photographers. I really admire his skill and dedication.
Neither of these guys are crazy, IMO. They are very calculated, skilled, and they know what is at stake. This would be undeniably crazy for most people but Alex isn't like most people. The luck involved is that there wasn't a freak accident that couldn't be overcome with skill, experience, and conditioning. The other 99.9% is skill, experience, and conditioning.
What are they proving? Jimmy is documenting, proving it really happened (in a beautiful way) and Alex is proving this is within human ability. Just not an average human. I don't do this kind of climbing but I'm familiar with the attraction of the mountains and the challenges they present.
Anyway, I think this is really cool. Thanks for posting!