As Alex Honnold stepped foot atop Yosemite’s El Capitan on June 3, 2017, he secured his place in the history books as the first man to free solo El Cap. This wasn’t any ordinary climb though. El Capitan is a horrifying 3,200 feet tall, and Honnold climbed the cliff in just under four hours. But without ropes. Or a harness. And yes, he lived.
“Free soloing” refers to the type of climbing in which there’s no gear: simply you and the rock. One simple mistake and death is almost certain. Due to both the size, and difficulty of climbing on El Cap, free soloing it was unheard of. Which is why when Honnold said he was going to do it--fulfilling a lifelong dream of his--National Geographic knew they had to send a camera crew.
Free Solo, a film co-directed and produced by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin about Honnold’s historic achievement premiered on September 28, 2018 in select theaters and is now making its way around the world.
Vasarhelyi and Chin, a documentary filmmaker and professional photographer and rock climber respectively, combined Honnold’s personal and climbing life with breathtaking cinematography of California’s Yosemite National Park to create a film that’s now rivaling many mainstream blockbusters.
In fact, Free Solo recently won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for best documentary, and has received an Academy Award nomination for the same category.
The success of the film has gained immense amounts of attention from the media, launching climbing into mainstream news outlets, a place the sport typically isn’t. Since the initial climb, and especially after the release of the documentary, Honnold has done countless interviews, appearing on television and radio shows as he makes his way around the world promoting the film.
This mainstream exposure to rock climbing is promoting the sport like it’s never seen before. And it’s great. People who have never climbed are going climbing. And people who wouldn’t normally watch a movie about climbing are heading to the theaters. After all, Free Solo is about much more than climbing: it’s about pushing yourself to the limit both physically and mentally, and proving that anything can be accomplished if you want it badly enough. It’s a great lesson to learn, not just for climbers.
Free Solo’s success has finally given the sport the attention it deserves, and paved the way for new members to get psyched on climbing. Driven by a tight-knit community of members dedicated to pushing both each other and the sport, there’s nothing quite like rock climbing. Everyone should try it if given the opportunity. Just first, with a rope.
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