Free solo climbing
Free solo climbing is a form of rock climbing where the climber climbs on technical terrain without ropes or any form of protective equipment — they are allowed to use climbing shoes and climbing chalk. Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and, unlike bouldering, free soloists climb at heights where any fall can be fatal. Though many climbers have free soloed routes with technical grades that they are very comfortable on, only a small group free solo regularly, and at technical grades closer to the limit of their abilities.
The international profiles of some climbers have been significantly increased by their free soloing activities, such as Alex Honnold, Alex Huber, Alain Robert and John Bachar, but others question the ethics of this, and whether the risks that they are undertaking should be encouraged and commercially rewarded. While "free solo" was originally a term in climbing slang, after the popularity of the 2018 Oscar-winning film Free Solo, Merriam-Webster added the term to their English dictionary in September 2019.
In addition to free soloing on single-pitch and multi-pitch rock climbing routes — including the even longer big wall climbing that features in the Free Solo film — free soloing is also performed in a wide range of other climbing-types including for example in the discipline of ice climbing and of mixed climbing, as well as in setting speed-climbing records on alpine climbing routes.
Description
Free solo climbing, is where the climber uses no climbing aids, but in addition, uses no form of climbing protection whatsover. The free solo climber may only use their climbing shoes and climbing chalk as they ascend the climbing route.Free solo climbing is a special form of free climbing but is different from the main forms of free climbing — sport climbing and traditional climbing — that use climbing protection for safety. In theory, bouldering is also free solo climbing but is usually not referred to as such except in the case of highball bouldering, where falls can be serious. The most committing forms of free soloing are on multi-pitch — and the even longer big wall — routes, where any retreat is very difficult.
In alpine climbing the term solo climbing – as distinct from free solo climbing – is used where the climber carries a rope and some aid climbing equipment to overcome difficult sections. In addition, the term rope soloing is used for any solo climber who uses a rope and a form of self-locking device for continuous climbing protection on the route; this is also not considered as free solo climbing.
Many early 20th-century rock climbers who began to free climb, were often practicing free solo climbing, as the effectiveness of their climbing protection was minimal. In the history of rock climbing, the first ascent of Napes Needle by W. P. Haskett Smith in June 1886 – an act that is widely considered to be the start of the sport of rock climbing – was effectively a free solo. Early leaders of free climbing such as Paul Preuss, were also strongly interested in free solo climbing as being ethically purer. The 1958 ascent by Don Whillans of Goliath, one of the world's first E4 6a routes, was effectively a free solo. By the 1970s, when climbing protection was sufficiently developed to be effective, the discipline of free solo climbing began to stand apart.
Public view
Many climbers praise free soloing, while others have concerns regarding the danger and the message the ascents send to other climbers. Many companies have taken these views into account when working with free soloists. Clif Bar, the nutrition bar company with long ties to climbing, dropped the sponsorship of five climbers in 2014, citing the risks they take and stirring a debate about how much risk should be rewarded.However, The North Face and Red Bull have promoted free soloists and helped the free soloing community grow. In addition, Alex Honnold, a free soloist who was previously dropped by Clif Bar, was featured in the 2018 documentary Free Solo, which was met with critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The director of Free Solo, Jimmy Chin, talks in the film about the ethics of undertaking the documentary, and the effect that his film team and project could have had on the outcome.
Even in the climbing community, free soloing is controversial. In 2022, when Climbing did a feature on free soloing, they caveated all articles with: "This article is not an endorsement of the practice", and emphasized that in their research amongst climbers, it was only practiced by a very small minority, with many telling Climbing: "I have in the past but not anymore".
In 2022, climbing author and occasional free soloist Jeff Smoot wrote All and Nothing: Inside Free Soloing, which explored through interviews why some rock climbers free solo, including analyzing his own motivations. He described the feeling of self-control over one's fears as a form of addiction that had brought benefits to his life outside of climbing. He also found a wider range of motivations than he expected telling The Seattle Times, "Are free soloists crazy? They may be. Are they crazier than anybody else? I don’t think so, just in a different way".
Notable climbers
While many rock climbers have free soloed routes, at climbing grades well below their ability, a very small minority have practiced free soloing regularly, and at grades closer to their overall limits. The most prominent of this smaller group are those who have broken new grade milestones in free solo climbing and gained a significant profile from their soloing:- Alex Honnold – the most prolific and well-known free soloist of the 21st century, whose 2017 free solo of the route Freerider on El Capitan became the iconic film, Free Solo. He also successfully free solo climbed Taipei 101, becoming the highest urban free solo climber in history.
- Hansjörg Auer – the prolific big wall and high-altitude big wall free soloist, whose 2007 free solo of Fish Route on Marmolada was then the most daring in climbing history.
- Michael Reardon – prolific free soloist whose 2005 free solo of Romantic Warrior won him National Geographic's "Adventurer of the Year".
- Alexander Huber – one of the strongest rock climbers of the 1990s who set free solo grade milestones in single-pitch free soloing, and big wall free soloing.
- Alain Robert – the early 1990s and 2000s pioneer of buildering, but who also broke important new free solo grade milestones in the 1990s.
- Wolfgang Güllich – one of the strongest rock climbers of the late 1980s who set free solo milestones, and did the iconic solo of Separate Reality.
- Catherine Destivelle – a leading female climber of the late 1980s, who made iconic free solos in single-pitch, and big wall.
- Patrick Edlinger – a leading European free soloist of the 1980s, with iconic big wall free solos in the Verdon Gorge and Buoux, as featured in the 1982 climbing film, La Vie au bout des doigts.
- – prolific free soloist whose 1985 free solo of Revelations jumped several grade milestones in free solo climbing.
- Peter Croft – a prolific Canadian free soloist of the 1980s, who pioneered big wall free soloing with The Rostrum and Astroman.
- John Bachar – first free solo "superstar" and prolific American soloist of the late 1970s/early 1980s, who pioneered big wall soloing.
Free soloing is less common amongst female rock climbers, however, as well as Catherine Destivelle, the following female climbers are historically notable free solo practitioners: Steph Davis and Brette Harrington, both of whom have free soloed single-pitch and big wall routes.
Evolution of grade milestones
Single-pitch routes
- 2019 : Relatively unknown Italian climber Alfredo Webber, aged 52, free soloed Panem et Circenses in Arco, Italy, first-ever free solo of an.
- 2004 : Alexander Huber free soloed Kommunist in the Tyrol, Austria; the first-ever free solo at grade.
- 1993 : Alain Robert free soloed Compilation in Omblèze, France; the first-ever free solo of an graded route.
- 1987 : Jean-Christophe Lafaille free soloed Rêve de gosse, at La Roche-des-Arnauds, France; considered the first-ever free solo at the grade of.
- 1986 : Wolfgang Güllich free soloed Weed Killer, at Raven Tor, in the Peak District, first-ever free solo at ; that same year, Gullich also did the iconic solo of Separate Reality.
- 1985 : free soloed Revelations, at Raven Tor, Peak District, the first-ever free solo at ; considered a feat that was a decade ahead of its time.
- 1982 : John Bachar free soloed Baby Apes, at Joshua Tree National Park, probably the first-ever free solo at.
- 1961 : John Gill free soloed—onsight—the first ascent of Thimble, the first-ever redpoint, and thus the first-ever free solo, at.
Big wall, multi-pitch routes
- 2017 : Alex Honnold free soloed El Capitan via Freerider, first-ever big wall solo at ; becomes Oscar-winning film, Free Solo).
- 2007 : Hansjörg Auer free soloed Fish Route, on Marmolada, in the Dolomites, Italy, first-ever big wall solo at .
- 2005 : Michael Reardon free soloed, onsight, Romantic Warrior in the Sierra Nevada, USA, first-ever big wall solo at ; wins National Geographic "Adventurer of the Year".
- 2002 : Alexander Huber free soloed, the 1,500 ft Hasse-Brandler on the Cima Grande, Dolomites, first-ever big wall solo at.