Alex Honnold’s generation-defining free solo climb of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park has been chronicled with spectacularly breathtaking cinematography by co-directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (“MERU”) in a documentary aptly entitled Free Solo.
Honnold’s incredible dedication to the lifestyle of dirtbag climbing and addiction to the pursuit of superhuman perfection is delicately portrayed through the lens of a superior athlete with a history of emotional detachment – Alex Honnold in a nutshell.
The gut-wrenching film is intricately interwoven with a touching, yet agonizing love story that stands to threaten Alex’s stone solid resolve required to complete this unfathomable feat.
Get ready for the ride of your life as you watch, perched on the edge of your seat with sweaty palms, while Alex Honnold prepares to scale 3,200 feet of sheer granite – without a rope.
Free Solo is not only the epic telling of one man’s journey to success – the film and the achievement itself serve as pillars for exemplifying the resilience of the human spirit, and represent the epitome of humanity’s quest for divine perfection.
A film not to be missed, for diehard climbers and humble humans alike.
2. The Dawn Wall (2018)
Runtime: 1h 55 min – Watch It Now
A climbing documentary full of substance and heartache, The Dawn Wall showcases the arduous, seven year project undertaken by Tommy Caldwell (and later, Kevin Jorgeson) to free climb the hardest big-wall route in climbing history – The Dawn Wall of El Capitan.
Spanning 3,000 feet in height, and rating at 5.14d in the most technical sections of the route, Caldwell’s successful free-ascent of The Dawn Wall represents the pinnacle of his climbing career, and sets a new standard for elite climbing.
Like Caldwell and Jorgeson’s historic achievement, the resulting film breaks barriers in the realm of adventure sports documentary.
The Dawn Wall includes intimate interviews with Caldwell that expose the inner emotional turmoil he’s felt for years following his time being held hostage in Kyrgyzstan, and in light of a gut-wrenching divorce from his childhood sweetheart, Beth Rodden, both of which served as tragic inspirations for his decision to conquer the Dawn Wall.
The Dawn Wall is by far one of the greatest attempts to document the intricately complicated world of professional climbing while maintaining the often underappreciated human aspect of the sport.
3. Meru (2015)
Runtime: 1h 30 min – Watch It Now
A film designed to tingle your senses while portraying a microcosm of the grandeur and torment of alpine climbing and first ascents, Meru is at once a story of survival and a paradox of defeat.
The attempt to climb the 21,000 ft Shark’s Fin of Meru in the Himalayas by Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk in 2011 started out as an unrivalled arctic ascent and grew into a blistering cold battle of the wits – a triumph over impossible odds and a tale of inconceivable recovery and redemption in the face of utter defeat.
Join alpine expedition climbers Anker, Chin, and Ozturk as they launch into the void by courageously venturing into as-yet-unclimbed snow capped glaciers to set out on the ultimate test of the master climber.
Meru will have you shaking in your boots with anticipation, hope, and moments of despair as these three men foray into the annals of arctic expedition and embark on an endeavour of galactic proportions, sure to captivate the novice climber and seasoned expeditioner, as well as the unacquainted bystander.
4. Valley Uprising (2014)
Runtime: 1h 43 min – Watch It Now
One of the most iconic climbing documentaries of all time, Valley Uprising represents a deep dive into the rich history of rock climbing in Yosemite National Park.
Characterized as a counter-culture, anti-establishment sport from its very roots, climbing has a long history of attracting passionate renegades with subversive visions for how life should be.
The film aims to highlight the original Yosemite rock stars, who, with free spirits and raw, carnal energy, put up many of the first routes in the Valley.
Valley Uprising also strives to depict the evolution of rock climbing as represented by the impressive arc of progress made by climbers in Yosemite between the Golden Age of the mid-20th century (’50s – ’70s) through the Stone Masters of the ’80s and 90’s who first introduced free climbing to the sport, and concluding with the final evolution of sport climbing and free soloing, done by the millennial Stone Monkey generation.
Valley Uprising is a must-see documentary for anyone hoping to make the foray into the subversive history of rock climbing – you are sure to have a rollicking good time watching this documentary, and walk away with a whole new understanding of the world of climbing to boot.
