Free Solo Climbing

Free soloing is rock climbing without ropes, harnesses, or protective equipment — any fall above a modest height is fatal. Alex Honnold's 2017 free solo ascent of El Capitan's 900-metre Freerider route is widely considered the greatest athletic feat in the history of climbing; he spent years memorising 3,000 feet of granite before completing it in 3 hours 56 minutes. The death rate among elite free soloists is extraordinarily high: John Bachar, Michael Reardon, Dean Potter, and Marc-Andre Leclerc all died in climbing or BASE-related accidents.