Real-life Spider-Man Alex Honnold climbs California’s sheer 3,000ft El Capitan solo with no rope or harness in shocking film Free Solo
IT’S such a vertigo-inducing film that many of the audience watched it through their fingers at its UK premiere this week.
Safe to say, if you don’t like heights, you might want to avoid seeing Free Solo.
The documentary tells the story of pro climber Alex Honnold’s bid to scale a sheer 3,000ft granite slab called El Capitan, in California’s Yosemite National Park, with no rope, harness or safety equipment.
He managed it in just three hours and 56 minutes in June last year.
Speaking of the audience’s queasy reaction to the film, Alex said: “People are clutching each other for safety. I’m kind of honoured.”
On the face of it, 33-year-old Alex seems unlikely Spider-Man material. The college drop-out lived for nine years in a white Dodge van and completely stripped back his life so he could focus single-mindedly on climbing.
He eats straight from a frying pan, using a spatula instead of a fork, and according to those who know him, is incapable of showing emotion.
He has had only one serious relationship — girlfriend Sanni McCandless, 26, She plays a prominent part in the film as Alex finds it easier to tackle death- defying climbs than to utter the words “I love you” — much to her frustration.
In the film his mum Dierdre provides a clue to his apparent coldness when she says she thinks Alex has a hint of Asperger syndrome.
The condition can cause problems with social interaction, but can also spark an intense preoccupation with a narrow subject — perhaps such as Alex’s passion for “free soloing”, the sport that is so dangerous that one misplaced movement will result in death.
Not surprisingly there aren’t many veteran free soloists around. So does Alex have a death wish? Is he genuinely mad?
He told The Sun: “It doesn’t bother me that people think I’m crazy. If you see how hard I worked for it, it’s definitely not the actions of an insane person.
“I fear death, or I wouldn’t plan what I do. I’m motivated by things that people think are unusual.”
Alex spent 18 months preparing for his epic climb by familiarising himself with every nook and cranny of El Cap, with the help of harnesses and ropes.
He completed each “pitch” — as the different sections of the route are known — hundreds of times.
For some of the more difficult sections he has to let go with both hands or kick one leg across a big gap or jump upwards and grab. Some footholds and cracks are no bigger than the edge of a £1 coin.
Alex’s research had to be good. Nobody has ever free soloed to the top of El Cap — deemed the most challenging wall in the world, with “glass-like” sections — and he has chosen the most treacherous way up, known as Freerider.
At a special London screening last month, the movie’s director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi told how in climbing circles, the task was regarded as the equivalent of landing on the moon. It’s been deemed impossible by everyone but Alex.
Some of the camera crew — particularly those on the ground — couldn’t watch his ascent. Others who were perched at various points on El Cap’s rock face were scared to make any noise or sudden movement that could distract him.
The views as Alex scales the rock are awe-inspiring. Does he have the nerve to look down and appreciate the scene himself? He said: “You have to look down all the time to move your feet, because footwork is such an important part of climbing.
“And you also need to look down to appreciate the view. There’s no point doing a climb if you can’t enjoy the whole process.
“By the time I was able to free solo a wall like that, I’d spent so much time up there practising to feel pretty comfortable and pretty normal up there.”
Alex grew up in Sacramento, California with elder sister Stasia and mum Dierdre, a French teacher who only spoke to him in that language.
He recalled his dad Charles, who taught English as a second language, as being quite distant and emotionally cold.
But Charles did find time to support his son’s interest in climbing from the moment he got interested in it at the local gym aged ten.
His parents divorced when Alex left home to study civil engineering at Berkeley University and Charles died soon afterwards.
After his dad’s death, Alex quit college to concentrate on climbing full-time. This involved living in his van and travelling the world, taking on the most challenging climbs.
However, his determination to become the ultimate competitor in his field progressed into the super- risky world of free soloing.
During the movie, a number of free soloists killed during climbs were name-checked. They include fellow American John Bachar, who died at Dike Wall in California in 2009 and Swiss climber Ueli Steck, killed in an estimated 3,300ft fall while attempting to scale the Nuptse wall in the Himalayas last year.
But the high mortality rate did nothing to deter Alex from trying to conquer El Cap. He had long since made his mark when he completed two other massive rope-fee climbs in 2008 — Yosemite’s 4,700ft Half Dome and the 1,200ft Moonlight Buttress in Utah.
But El Capitan remained Alex’s dream — and seemingly held no fears for him.
Investigating why he barely registers danger, he agreed to an MRI scan, which showed that his amygdala — the part of the brain that deals with decision-making and emotional responses — does not respond to stimuli in the way it does for most people. Essentially, Alex requires more stimulation.
And not even getting a girlfriend lessened his enthusiasm for the challenge ahead.
Pretty Sanni, who works as a life coach, turned into the breakout star of Free Solo. She represents the audience’s concern over Alex’s free soloing obsession, pointedly asking him if she has started to mean more to him than his climbing.
She asks if he will give it up as their relationship gets more serious. He says no.
The couple met in Seattle during Alex’s promo tour for his 2015 autobiography Alone On The Wall. She was there with a pal and had never heard of Alex, but thought he was cute and funny and gave him her number. He called her back.
Despite his confession that he would “always put climbing before a lady” she joined him on one of his quests — but her presence brought bad luck.
Alex got injured for the first time in his career, which in no uncertain terms he linked to his new relationship. He badly injured his ankle during one of his many practice runs, putting his climb in doubt, though he managed to recover in time for his assault at the rock.
The movie’s tense final scenes see Alex’s utter jubilation at the summit — and finally his most enthusiastic display of emotion to Sanni, including a mention of the L word at last when he finally tells her he loves her.
So now he has achieved his ultimate goal, will Alex retire, safe in the knowledge that his achievement will never be repeated?
He said: “I doubt anyone will take it on. It’s so much work and it’s really difficult, and to do all that for a second ascent is less inspiring than doing it for the first time.
“I don’t think anyone is lining up for it right now but you never know what some kid is dreaming about.”
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