UKC

From award-winning documentary filmmaker E. Chai Vasarhelyi and world-renowned photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin, comes FREE SOLO, a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world?€?s most famous rock... the 3,200ft El Capitan in Yosemite National Park?€? without a rope.

Watch the video: http://www.ukclimbing.com/videos/play.php?i=4374

In reply to UKC Videos:

I hope the film is better put together than that awful trailer. His girlfriend crying while they play Hans Zimmer style music over the top with all the quotes about how Honnold is basically Jesus 2.0 is just trash.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Come on now, it's clearly aimed at none climbing people so it's gotta have a bit of the Hollywood clichés. Love stories and all that shit. I gather there will be a car chase too. And whoops. Lots of f*ckin whoops. 

Footage looks incredible tho so I'll forgive them for that. 

In reply to UKC Videos:

Seeing as it's made by E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, who also made Meru (which I suggest you see if you haven't already) I think it's gonna be great!

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

I like to imagine it with John Philip Sousa played over the top, with a giant foot crushing El Cap at the end.

In reply to UKC Videos:

Footage looks amazing. I might watch it with the sound off and some of my own music playing 

In reply to UKC Videos:

Relationship footage is a cringe-fest.

Drone footage is sweaty-palms and what you came for.

His book suffers the same god complex.

In reply to Deadeye:

His book was terrible. Amazing climber, can't write for toffee.

 

In reply to Deadeye:

His book was absolutely awful. 

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant: I think I would be emotionally pretty fraught if my loved one was gunna free solo freerider... some sketchy ass bits of climbing on there.

Movie should be really good. They put a long time into it I think.

 

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

As others have picked up in other sites, the claim that all the soloists who have made it a major part of their climbing are dead is not true - Peter Croft, ffs! Plus Alain Robert etc...

 

In reply to Tom Last:

I agree. Possibly the most gash bit of writing about climbing ever. I really struggled through it. Drivel. David Roberts who is the co-author has written some really great stuff. I would thoroughly recommend Escape from Lucania. 

James

In reply to Damo:

Hans-Jörg Auer is also alive and well after soloing walls that are as high as El Cap in the Alps. 

His book isn't much better though. I'm done reading climber's bios.

It'd be a bit of a limited film if it didn't go into the personal/relationship aspects wouldn't it? Seems a bit naive to think that film makers are going to invest huge amounts of money and time to make a film that talks about crimps and grades when there's the potential to make a film that millions of people who've never been interested in climbing would want to watch.  I can't imagine many serious big wave surfers think that much of Riding Giants, but as a non-surfer I think it's brilliant.  As film makers, I'd imagine their aim was to portray one of the most phenomenal things accomplished in the sport to a wide audience.  Looks pretty promising in that regard to me.

I agree that his book wasn't great, but then I've not read that many autobiographies by great sporting heroes that were particularly good.  Can't imagine Christiano Ronaldo's book is much good either.  

In reply to james mann:

No I won't have you say this!

But only because I've read worse

Though I'm not going to name any names...

In reply to james mann:

Watched the trailer with the sound off, looks good, agree his book was terrible, on a par with some cyclists biographies i have tried to read.

In reply to james mann:

I think in the end we are all just holding out for Goucho's book. :')

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Tbh I found the Meru trailer hard watching also, but the film itself was good. The trailers just seem to take all American style hype and overstatements and edit them down into two minutes of it. I think British climbers typically understate stuff in comparison. 

In reply to GDes:

I agree entirely. One of the most common responses from climbers to film of Honnold's soloing (that Moonlight Buttress clip being a great example) is that they find it really uneasy and difficult viewing. And that's from people who don't know him, so it must be taken to a whole new level for people who are close to him. It would be absurd if the film did not examine this side of the story.

Anyway, I thought the trailer was great and I can't wait to see the full film.

I also liked the music (am I allowed to say that on here?)

 

In reply to Mr. Lee:

[Translated...]

Wife: "Go on lad, it'll be reet"

Tommy: "I've had a gander.. Rather you than me, son"

Alex (on walk in): "Ah nearly went arse over tit on't walk in but the climb'll be no bother. Ah should stop mitherin!"

Alex (whilst climbing): "They said it were free but it still ain't worth it! I think ah filled me kegs!"

Alex (on returning): "Aye it weren't so bad - I thought I were gonna miss me tea at one point though"

In reply to Damo:

And of course Jules Lines is still going strong.

 

In reply to planetmarshall:

And, I suspect, not going to be publishing a ghost-written autobio in the near future. 

In reply to Tricadam:

For those not aware, Mr. Lines has written his own autobiography, and what a fantastic read it is:

https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/publications/other_publications/tears_of_th...

In reply to rlrs:

Thank you! And not a ghost in sight!

Unfortunately, doing something well is not remotely a guarantee of being able either to speak or write about it, as Boris Becker proves for us at taxpayer's expense every summer. We're lucky to have more than our fair share of gifted writers in climbing and mountaineering. 

Edit: Have just managed to find a copy to buy. Not so easy as it's out of print. Luckily for me, Oxfam had a copy at 22 quid. All in a good cause, but shame it's not going to Jules and the publisher. 

In reply to Tricadam:

...opens book, picks a phrase:

"...I huddled, comfortable and pensive, contemplating the magnitude of this solo..."