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Man Climbs 3,000ft El Capitan With No Rope In Heart-Stopping Documentary

Man Climbs 3,000ft El Capitan With No Rope In Heart-Stopping Documentary

The fact we know he makes it back to ground safely hardly makes the documentary any less terrifying

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

If you don't like heights, then you definitely won't like Free Solo, but if you like watching stunning human feats/people doing things that defy any sort of logic, then you definitely will like Free Solo.

The film follows rock-climber Alex Honnold's journey as he scales El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in California - without a safety rope. Along its tallest face, the granite rock formation is 3,000 feet from base to summit.

Many highly regarded solo climbers have died attempting to scale the mammoth rock face. In June, experienced climbers Tim Klein and Jason Wells died after falling 1,000 feet from the Freeblast section of El Capitan. The pair were roped together during the climb, which they had completed on dozens of occasions previously.

National Geographic

Since successfully completing the almost unfathomably frightening climb in less than four hours last June, Honnold has been widely accepted as the greatest free-solo climber in the world, with the climb revered as one of the most impressive in human history.

But aside from the sheer awe-inspiring footage of the climb itself, Free Solo documents Honnold's arduous preparation for the climb and the immense strain it has on not only himself, but also his friends and loved ones.

Honnold sustains two serious injuries in the build up to the climb, which cast doubt over the attempt, with producers encouraging Honnold not to feel pressured into the climb.

Filmmaker Jimmy Chin, who himself is an expert climber, said the crew felt a lot of tension and dread throughout the film-making process.

According to The Metro, he said: "You're a pro, but when you have that much exposure and you're moving that much equipment and you're filming on top of it and thinking about your friend, it's a tremendous amount of physical and mental exertion.

"The crew was tortured by the idea that maybe you'll be filming your friend's death."

But co-director, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, said whether the climb went ahead was ultimately out of their hands.

Speaking to the Associated Press, she said: "I don't think our role as filmmakers was to tell him not do it, and that's weird, right? Especially when there's a life on the line."

Indeed, Honnold's long-term girlfriend, Sanni McCandless, could not stop him taking on the climb, despite the monumental risk it posed and the emotional trauma it caused her.

She said: "I don't think I ever wished that he wouldn't do it. I wanted him to not want it, but I never wanted him to not to do it.

"Knowing that he does want it, you realise he's going to be so bummed if he never brings it to fruition."

PA

For Honnold, the film is about the process of eradicating fear in order to accomplish a life-long goal.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: "I think a big part of the film is showing the long process to get to that point where it wasn't scary anymore, because I had been dreaming about soloing El Cap for so many years."

Whether or not the climb ever stops being terrifying to you the viewer tough is a different story.

Free Solo is out today in the US and will be released on 14 December in the UK.

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