When I was in Greece last summer, I visited a beautiful bay surrounded by rocks about 15 meters high. Of course I wanted to enjoy the view and decided to climb it. Atually the word climbing is perhaps a little much, because nowhere did I have to hang on a ledge or look carefully at how I could get up. There were many flat pieces and certain sections almost looked like stairs. Once I was on top, I already had the feeling of being quite high and I could imagine the consequences of a fall. It is therefore difficult to imagine that someone climbs a mountain range, El Capitan in Yosemite Park, of 2307 meters high. Without a single form of security. However, that is what Alex Honnold had in mind and that has resulted in the documentary Free Solo.
Free Solo is the term for climbing a mountain without ropes and Alex has been doing it for a long time. He normally doesn’t tell anyone if he is going to do it, but because no one had ever climbed El Capitan that way, he involves a film crew. They follow him for a while and paint a picture of this special climber, who has a very unique lifestyle.
Making Free Solo is not easy for the crew. After all, they are also climbers who know the dangers and also know enough other free solo climbers who have not managed to survive. As a filmmaker, you don’t want to record the possible death of a friend. They struggle with it and are also worried that their presence may influence his performance. During his preparation (with fuses) things regularly go wrong and when Alex also sustains an injury due to a fall during a climb with his girlfriend, the question is whether he can realize his dream. It makes it a documentary in which, once it starts, you are on the edge of your seat and sometimes you hardly dare look because you know the risks. It is therefore easy to understand why Free Solo eventually won an Oscar.
Free Solo can be watched on Disney+
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