There’s a documentary that you ought to watch. It’s terrifying. It will make your palms sweat. It’s a true story horror film that’s impossible to fathom. It’s death-defying.
Free Solo is the title of the 1-hour, 40-minute film (by National Geographic) and it’s a story of how one man escaped death by climbing one of the planet’s most incredible of rock formations: El Capitan.
Alex Honnold is the real-life actor and climber of this incredible film that won the “Best Documentary Feature” in the recent 91st Academy Awards.
The 34-year-old Honnold did not just climb the 3,000-foot rock formation nicknamed “El Cap,” he climbed it from base to summit without the use of any rope. Yes, climbing the granite mountain with his bare hands.
One slip, one false grip, one momentary lapse of judgement and he could have easily fallen.
But Alex Honnold survived. And the documentary Free Solo was made to record his preparation, anxieties, injuries (leading to the climb) and his actual nerve-wracking climb.
My best friends Dr. Ronald Eullaran and James Co, together with Raycia and Jewel and their children, visited the Yosemite National Park a couple of months ago. When I asked about El Capitan, they were in awe talking about the 90-degrees-steep, all-granite, 914-meter-tall rock monolith.
Rock climbing is a popular sport around the world. There’s indoor wall-climbing (Metro Sports Center, among others, has a facility). There’s outdoor adventure climbing. Here in Cebu, there are a good number of rock climbers who love the thrill of walking vertically. I’ve read about Cantabaco in Toledo City.
Which brings me back to “Free Solo.” The risk of slipping and falling in a near-vertical climb is extremely high. And safety is the number one goal of every rock climber.
Not Alex Honnold. Never mind if he was repeatedly told that he could die, he trained his mind and body to be positive and to perfect the El Capital climb.
So here’s the good and the bad of the documentary. It’s a film that’s extremely good and thrilling (scoring a 97% rating in the Rotten Tomatoes scorecard). The bad part? People will be inspired to follow Alex Honnold and climb “free solo.”
Richard Lawson, a writer for Vanity Fair, said in his review of the film: “I left the theater invigorated and rattled, in awe of this charismatic man’s accomplishment but scared that it will inspire others to attempt the same…”
My advice? Watch the documentary. But don’t ever, ever attempt to climb without that rope, harness, helmet and safety gear.
