Free Solo Movie

Kyle vH wrote: I completely agree. If the movie had only focused on Alex it might have been pretty boring. Seeing the pain he inflicted on his friends (Tommy, GF, Jimi) really made the film for me because that is a more whole representation of his actions. Without all of that we might only have Alex's own words, wherein he imagines himself to be part of a warrior culture. Poetic, sure, but not really a completely accurate picture. Great movie.

Wish they had more footage of him just soloing El Cap, I could probably watch all 4 hours of just the ascent uncut if the published it. 

Pain inflicted on his friends?! Is that really how it's depicted?

Tradiban wrote:

Pain inflicted on his friends?! Is that really how it's depicted?

seems like that's the entire gist of the 'b-plot' highlighting the anxiety of the camera crew and tc...

in the moment on social media it seemed like most climbers at all close to the situation were just happy it was over.

brian burke wrote:

seems like that's the entire gist of the 'b-plot' highlighting the anxiety of the camera crew and tc...

in the moment on social media it seemed like most climbers at all close to the situation were just happy it was over.

Ok, so they chose to inflict pain on themselves. Obviously not much trust in Alex. Lame and self centered of them, in my opinion.

Tradiban wrote:

Ok, so they chose to inflict pain on themselves. Obviously not much trust in Alex. Lame and self centered of them, in my opinion.

***SPOILER ALERT***

He did almost go for it coming off a pretty bad ankle sprain. I think they were justified in worrying, regardless of his high level of mastery and previous accomplishments. The drive was there, but didn’t seem like all the elements were aligned on his first attempt. Thankfully he had the good sense to back down when he wasn’t feeling it, so perhaps they should have given him more credit.

Tradiban wrote:But I was more interested in how her being a life coach played into the movie.

It wasn't ever mentioned. She was portrayed as a very supportive partner to Alex, but her occupation was never brought up (I don't believe).

Tradiban wrote:

Ok, so they chose to inflict pain on themselves. Obviously not much trust in Alex. Lame and self centered of them, in my opinion.

Kinda nuanced. I would suggest maybe to watch the movie? You're kinda playing, "telephone" on this topic.

Lena chita wrote:

The are (or can be) licensed. And we can argue about whether the licencing from Life Coaching Institute is worth shit, or not.

But the bottom line is, Someone is willing to pay money for it, so there is a career someone can make out of it. There are a lot of things out there that fall under category  of "who the hell pays for that": professional wedding planner? professional closet organizer? professional clothes shopper?

Professional Climber,    

Matt Desenberg wrote:

Splitting hairs, but I'd put Honnold's solo over FFA of the Nose. 

Whoa, interesting point. Especially seeing as Honnold is incapable of matching Lynn’s feat 25 years after the fact. I’m not sure he could ever free the Nose; too sausage finger-y. 

Don Ferris III wrote:

Whoa, interesting point. Especially seeing as Honnold is incapable of matching Lynn’s feat 25 years after the fact. I’m not sure he could ever free the Nose; too sausage finger-y. 

Yea but honnold is the only one to free solo any route on el cap. More than 1 person has repeated lynn's free climb of the nose. So it is hard to say which would be harder. Obviously the route alex climbed has been free climbed by alot of others so it is an easier route from pure climbing difficulty but we aren't likely to find someone who is as mentally strong as alex and repeat his free solo.

So what is more important mental difficulty of a climb or physical?

Jeff G. wrote:

Not at all how I saw her in the movie.  She cried a few times in the movie because a person she loves was planning to go and attempt the boldest and most dangerous thing ever conceived in the modern history of rock climbing.  I was practically crying with stress just watching the movie and I, of course, knew the outcome.  

I would guess that she has very much to offer her clients who are willing to pay for that type of service.

Sarcasm my dude   

ViperScale . wrote:

Yea but honnold is the only one to free solo any route on el cap. More than 1 person has repeated lynn's free climb of the nose. So it is hard to say which would be harder. Obviously the route alex climbed has been free climbed by alot of others so it is an easier route from pure climbing difficulty but we aren't likely to find someone who is as mentally strong as alex and repeat his free solo.

So what is more important mental difficulty of a climb or physical?

There are different kinds of mental strength as well. Anybody going to argue that the determination to work the Dawn Wall year after year isn't a form of mental strength? Or even just the mental strength to put in the training to be world class at anything.  Most of us don't really know how hard we might be able to climb if we were willing to dedicate ourselves to it as fully as guys like Tommy, or Alex.  Also, I wonder how big Tommy, Scotty and Jorg's fingers are compared to Alex. Never been on The Nose so have no idea how small the Great Roof crack actually is. 

ViperScale . wrote:

Yea but honnold is the only one to free solo any route on el cap. 

The West Face hasn't seen a ropeless ascent?

Marc801 C wrote: The West Face hasn't seen a ropeless ascent?

honnlove mentioned on the enormocast(?) that he soloed the west face the day after(!) doing the 'free triple' with t.c. in 2012 but that also he didn't consider it to be a 'true el cap route' 

Marc801 C wrote: The West Face hasn't seen a ropeless ascent?

The west face is only like 2k ft so it isn't really the same thing. It would be like saying free soloing snake dike is the same as the northwest face of half dome. So if it makes you feel better lets change el cap in my statement to a full el cap climb.

ViperScale . wrote:

The west face is only like 2k ft so it isn't really the same thing. It would be like saying free soloing snake dike is the same as the northwest face of half dome. So if it makes you feel better lets change el cap in my statement to a full el cap climb.

You realize that a lot of the routes to the right of Mescalito are "only like 2k ft", Zodiac being a prime example, and those are considered "full" El Cap routes. The Northwest Face of HD is also "only" 2K'.

Marc801 C wrote:

You realize that a lot of the routes to the right of Mescalito are "only like 2k ft", Zodiac being a prime example, and those are considered "full" El Cap routes. The Northwest Face of HD is also "only" 2K'.

climbing the west face of el cap (or the east buttress for that matter) just  doesn't feel like you're doing an el cap route. If you've climbed them you'll know what i'm talking about. 

mpech wrote:

climbing the west face of el cap (or the east buttress for that matter) just  doesn't feel like you're doing an el cap route. If you've climbed them you'll know what i'm talking about. 

Oh, I get that totally (haven't done the West Face but I'm familiar with the E. Butt.) - my question was more of a technicality since the WF is considered a big wall and it is on El Cap.

Sam Cieply wrote:

***SPOILER ALERT***

He did almost go for it coming off a pretty bad ankle sprain. I think they were justified in worrying, regardless of his high level of mastery and previous accomplishments. The drive was there, but didn’t seem like all the elements were aligned on his first attempt. Thankfully he had the good sense to back down when he wasn’t feeling it, so perhaps they should have given him more credit.

is that the day he rapped freeblast with a sling and biner, and a munter? to me, that's way sketchier than the solo itself.   

Marc801 C wrote:

Oh, I get that totally (haven't done the West Face but I'm familiar with the E. Butt.) - my question was more of a technicality since the WF is considered a big wall and it is on El Cap.

Well technically you can walk up to the top of El Cap so the first free solo than was coming up that way. Why can't everything be simple like devil's tower. It doesn't matter what route you climb, outside of using an aircraft the only way to get to the top is climbing a full length route.

Another review:

https://deadspin.com/free-solo-the-alex-honnold-documentary-is-the-years-m-1829656350/amp

Kyle Elliott wrote:

is that the day he rapped freeblast with a sling and biner, and a munter? to me, that's way sketchier than the solo itself.   

It was the day he woke up at the ass crack of dawn, started soloing, and then bailed after he felt less than awesome on the first challenging slab pitch (mental crux more than physical according to the talking heads in the film).