[Closed] PSA for all you climbers...’Free Solo’

It's really good. The Dawn Wall on Amazon / Netflix (can't remember which) makes a nice companion piece too.

Both on Netflix, watch Valley Uprising first, The Dawn Wall second then Free Solo.
Each is a film in its own right but they kinda go through the generations in that order.

I should think I'll need to get the old chalk bag out so I don't drop my wine glass.

Prize for the first person who doesn't feel like strangling AH's girlfiend half way through Free Solo.

Really? Me and the missus paid for it on amazon not so long ago...

TBH the dawn wall was better IMO.

I'm not a climber by the way, but I do like a good climbing doc.

Prize for the first person who doesn’t feel like strangling AH’s girlfiend half way through Free Solo.

Does she like a bit of breath play then?

Prize for the first person who doesn’t feel like strangling AH’s girlfiend half way through Free Solo.

Wow that's harsh. She's having to deal with her partner doggedly prepare for an activity that could easily kill him. I'm sure that was really easy for her 🙄

So are you claiming the prize?

Great film and I’m a non climber. Agree with the suggestions for Dawn Wall and Valley Uprising 👍🏻

Both on Netflix, watch Valley Uprising first, The Dawn Wall second then Free Solo.

+1, I of course watched them in the wrong order

Wow that’s harsh. She’s having to deal with her partner doggedly prepare for an activity that could easily kill him. I’m sure that was really easy for her 🙄

For me it's the way she fell for the climber then went about trying to stop him being a climber she was trying to change what he is.

I get why she is doing it and I'm sure the film was edited in a certain way to make it look worse. But I felt at the end she was more happy that she thought she had got her way rather than what AH had done. (Rubbish sentence to try and not make a spoiler in case there is someone that didn't know what happened.)

On film suggestions: Have a look for "A line across the sky" (the 40 minute version) - I think it was available on Vimeo - well worth a few ££

You can get Line across the sky for free on Redbull TV. Look at the REEL Rock series, i think it's split across two episodes

Great film. More about the attributes of a person who can do the climb rather than the climb itself.

I've just found out that it (Free Solo) is showing in the cinema in Colwyn Bay next Thursday, too.

Was gutted that I'd missed seeing it on the big screen so I may well go along. (And see it on the medium sized screen, at least 😀 )

I'm not a climber, but watching it gave me very sweaty palms, nail biting stuff!

Well if they ever split up I would gladly take on his girlfriend in a heartbeat....

Ta. Set to record.

Well if they ever split up I would gladly take on his girlfriend in a heartbeat….

He took her to the Oscars. What are you offering.

Spoilertastic there Eddiebaby 🙂

Meru, by the same film-maker, is on Amazon Prime. Best climbing film I've seen by a long way.

Total melter that bird.

If you like this sort of thing then worth checking out if the Banff mountain film festival is touring near you (or any of the various other ones that now exist). You often end up seeing a mix of stuff you wouldn't normally watch but there can be some right hidden gems.

Bump in case anyone had forgotten. On this evening.

Valley uprising has disappeared from Netflix but Dawn wall is still on. Going to watch tonight

9pm tonight on Channel 4 https://www.channel4.com/programmes/free-solo

Also worth watching is the TED talk that he gave

Watching it now - my g/f has gone to bed with a book, she’s refusing to watch it!

I think his girlfriend is pretty amazing. She’s fallen in love with a fairly autistic chap with a penchant for free soloing.
It’s not a straight forward relationship but she’s there with her eyes open and just hopes it doesn’t go wrong.

“There’s a guy there, in a bunny suit! Is that a tail.”
W.T.A.F?
I can understand the guy at the bottom with the ‘scope not wanting to watch.

Sadly Freesat only does C4 in SD so I'll not watch it as it won't give it justice.

The trees below him look like carpet pile he is so high. **** that for a day out.

I wasn’t at all sure I could watch that climb all the way through, but it was engrossing, and I found I couldn’t not watch it.
Astonishing feat of climbing, and to do it in what, a shade under four hours?
Incredible.
I wouldn’t want to arm-wrestle the guy, I reckon he could rip my arm out and beat me with the bloody end!

The Dawn Wall is excellent. IMO Kevin Jorgensen is the real hero of the film, and his part in Tommy's success is massively underplayed.

I have nothing but admiration for anyone who has absolutely no fear of heights or their impending death.
To all you climberists...... I wholeheartedly salute you.

It's a great film made even more spectacular by viewing on a cinema screen.

I had to watch it with the volume turned right down as I couldn't cope with hearing him say "like" every other word.

Spoilertastic there Eddiebaby 🙂

Oops. 🤐
I thought after all this time and the Oscars and all, that everyone knew the outcome.

Spoilertastic there Eddiebaby

That would only be a spoiler if they won an Oscar in the film! And that would take some kind of fangled time-travel...

The Dawn Wall is excellent. IMO Kevin Jorgensen is the real hero of the film, and his part in Tommy’s success is massively underplayed.

Tommy going back when he could have gone on made the film for me. Both did amazing things but I wasn’t expecting it like that. I remember vaguely the excitement in the media when it was happening but I had some major work on and was in a colouring cocoon for a couple of weeks and didn’t really take in any details.
Love Free Solo for the cinematography and the interplay between the couple. For me Dawn Wall is the more satisfying film.
.

eddiebaby
Oops. 🤐
I thought after all this time and the Oscars and all, that everyone knew the outcome.

Must admit I knew of the oscar result before I saw the film, but when I did watch it with a pal of mine he said he was on edge the whole film as he didn't know how it was going to turn out - he wasn't aware of the result of the climb, even

I could only watch it cos I knew he made it. What a guy! His lack of empathy was astonishing...

I wasn't that surprised by the atttitudes of him or her or the filmmakers (not a dig).

I thought his gf/wife was clearly scared witless so I thought her questions were understandable even though she wasn't going to stop him. And yeah he has tunnel vision and detachment but are we really that surprised given his desire to do something so dangerous?
I've been to Yosemite and the magnitude of the scale is something else when you see it for real.

According to the Yorkshire couple we overheard in Yosemite "It's just like the Lake District, but bigger". Somehow they were not impressed.

I’ve been to Yosemite and the magnitude of the scale is something else when you see it for real.

Yes, absolutely - it really doesn't come across in photos. We've hung around near the base of El Capitain spotting the tiny dots making their way up it (with ropes and all the kit). The scale of his undertaking is barely comprehensible.

BTW: My main gripe with his GF was that she DROPPED HIM when belaying a simple climb - also that she didn't seem to understand that the decision whether to embark on something so audacious on a particular day could not be voiced.

In fairness to his girlfriend, he did say early on that she was just starting climbing and that he didn't consider her a climber. And the first route they did on their 'first date' was a multi-pitch. Reading between the lines I wouldn't be surprised if she'd done a bit of climbing at a wall in Seattle then found herself seconding Honnold - something of a baptism of fire.

It's an easy trap to fall in to with climbing - the urge to get out and climb surpasses any sense of self=preservation when conditions are good and you your normal partner isn't about. Anyone who answers the call ends up holding your rope and before you know it you're having a helicopter ride and a morphine drip.

I knew the outcome, but still noticed a distinct increase in my rate of breathing when he set off across the boulder problem pitch. Incredible achievement.

The whole brain scan thing was interesting. My first time up there I was bricking it the whole time. With each successive wall it just got more relaxed and fun. Looks like Honnold has reached the point where being up there is less scary than going shopping to buy a fridge.

I knew the outcome, but still noticed a distinct increase in my rate of breathing when he set off across the boulder problem pitch. Incredible achievement.

I didn’t know the outcome, but I’d kind of assumed that, as I hadn’t heard of anything regarding this climb in the news he’d survived it, but it was the ‘karate kick’ bit that had me breathless, then his huge grin after he cleaned it pretty much indicated he was home free.
His g/f really wasn’t a climber, at least with any real natural rock experience, it seemed; her dropping him showed that, but the fact that she stuck with him showed real strength of character on her part, because he’s so totally focused on things, as anyone with Asbergers usually is, and that’s different for others to cope with.
Good luck to the pair of them, I hope they have a real future together.

Watched it last night and knew the outcome. Just brilliant. He still comes across well enough on the likeable to weird scale. Brain scan bit was fascinating. His girlfriend is a hottie, and I actually thought that considering what night happen at any stage of any of his climbs, she was remarkably ok, relaxed etc. Will check out Dawn Wall too. Kids watched it with me, and want to go to the climbing wall today! 🤣

His girlfriend seems slightly delusional about the likelihood of Honnold just sort of choosing a life of conventional domestic bliss once the project's over, but maybe that's partly a way of coping with the stress of being in a relationship with someone who's a small slip away from death on a daily basis. Fascinating film. I wonder how many people would react to completing a project like that by saying 'I'm so delighted' repeatedly. Kind of totally accurate, but also weirdly without conventional emotional resonance.

Has he fallen off yet ?

According to the Yorkshire couple we overheard in Yosemite “It’s just like the Lake District, but bigger”. Somehow they were not impressed.

I came away from Yosemite thinking much the same. It's obviously impressive but is it any more impressive than somewhere like Glencoe or Torridon?

My main gripe with his GF was that she DROPPED HIM when belaying a simple climb

She was a relative novice belayer. It was the responsibility of her vastly more experienced partner to assess her capabilities.

Thanks to everyone that recommended this, and watching Dawn Wall first - both great, I thought DW told a better story.

I came away from Yosemite thinking much the same. It’s obviously impressive but is it any more impressive than somewhere like Glencoe or Torridon?

I know what you mean I love Lake Garda but prefer Ullswater. Now if they could move Riva, Torbole and Malcesine over from Italy that would be perfect (sorry Pooley.)

I came away from Yosemite thinking much the same. It’s obviously impressive but is it any more impressive than somewhere like Glencoe or Torridon?

It's massively foreshortened from the valley floor, it's hard to appreciate the sheer size of it from the meadow unless you are watching something for scale (ie a climber).

For a rock climber, there's something about that expanse of perfect unbroken rock which makes it far more impressive than even big crags in the UK.

I mean, it's not 'meh', is it?

I'm a bit surprised the Yorkshireman didn't claim that Almscliff or the Cow and Calf were better, though. Having to leave the county to find something to compare it with is shameful. 🙂

I liked his comment "Low risk of a serious outcome". The "low" is for him. In truth, the true risk for free climbing is probably unknown due to self-censoring. Very much a tail of the distribution.

I'm reminded of being the "worlds best cave diver". You really don't want to be!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-48680177/selah-schneiter-ten-year-old-girl-scales-el-capitan

Just for a bit of extra context on the relative sizes - those trees aren't like Nordic pines that you get in the UK, they are all redwood firs (with the comedy size trunks) that are 100m to 150m high, and that's just the tree

any ascent of El Cap is impressive, for a 10yo that's pretty nuts, well done

In truth, the true risk for soloing is probably unknown due to self-censoring.

FTFY. Free climbing != soloing

The only "big" climb I've done in Yosemite was the standard route on Royal Arches. After three or four pitches you find yourself level with the tree tops. Yep, they're big!

The amount of confidence her dad has to have that she will be competent and safe with her ropework in those kinds of situations, when he can't double check and she is inevitably fatigued.

GF: "So does our relationship make any difference to your attitude to risk?"

AH: "Errrrrr....... no!"

I saw it on a big screen and my palms sweated quite a lot. However I did find his trendy California vocal fry rather irritating. I had a feeling I was watching the former class weed who returns having reinvented himself as a bullfighter or test pilot.

Watched it last night at the local cinema, it really needs watching on a big screen to get the full holy shit that's high experience.
The camera work is brilliant giving some amazing views of scenery and scale.