Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of technical ice or

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically a ...

where the climbers (or ''free soloists'') climb alone without ropes, harnesses or other

protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, ele ...

, forcing them to rely entirely on their own individual preparation, strength, and skill. Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and unlike

bouldering Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help se ...

, free soloists climb above safe heights, where a fall can very likely be fatal. Though many climbers have attempted free soloing, it is considered "a niche of a niche" reserved for the sport's elite, which has led many practitioners to stardom within both the media and the sport of rock climbing. "Free solo" was originally a term of climber slang, but after the popularity of the Oscar-winning film ''

Free Solo Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of technical ice or rock climbing where the climbers (or ''free soloists'') climb alone without ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment, forcing them to rely entirely on their own individual ...

'',

Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster, Inc. is an American company that publishes reference books and is especially known for its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States. In 1831, George and Charles Merriam founded the company as ...

officially added the word to their English dictionary in September 2019.

Public view

Many climbing communities praise the ascents, while others have concerns regarding the danger involved and the message the ascents potentially send to other climbers. Many companies have taken these views into account when working with free soloists.

Clif Bar Clif Bar & Company is an American company that produces energy foods and drinks. The company's flagship product, CLIF Bar, was created by Gary Erickson and Lisa Thomas. The company is based in Emeryville, California and was privately held unti ...

, 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 The North Face is an American outdoor recreation products company. The North Face produces outdoor clothing, footwear, and related equipment. Founded in 1968 to supply climbers, the company's logo draws inspiration from Half Dome, in Yosemit ...

and

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwide, inclu ...

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 ''

'', which was met with critical acclaim and won the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosoph ...

Motivations

High-profile climbers have cited the simplicity and speed with which one can climb as reasons for free soloing, as well as the intense concentration required which brings a Zen-like state of being in the moment. The most successful free soloists also become well-known in the climbing community and in rare cases attain notoriety outside the small circle of rock climbers. The practice is mostly confined to routes familiar to the climber, whose difficulty lies well within the climber's abilities. However, inherent risks such as loose rocks or sudden change in weather are always present. Some high-profile climbers have died while free soloing, including John Bachar,

Derek Hersey Derek Geoffrey Hersey (26 October 1956 – 28 May 1993) (Gives Hersey's date of death incorrectly as 20 May 1993.) was a British rock climber and for many years an active participant in the Boulder, Colorado climbing scene. Climbing specializ ...

, Vik Hendrickson, Robert Steele, Dwight Bishop, Jimmy Ray Forester, Jimmy Jewell, Tony Wilmott, and John Taylor.

Practitioners

Organ Pipes, Mt Wellington - Battlements, Bryan Kennedy

The sport has produced a number of well-known practitioners, made famous by photos of them totally alone and unprotected on sheer cliffs. In June 2017, Alex Honnold made international news with the first free-solo ascent of

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about from base to summit along its tal ...

in Yosemite, on a route rated 5.13a in the Yosemite Decimal System. Some climbers who are known for their regular practice of free solo climbing include Hansjörg Auer, John Bachar, Patrick Berhault, Thomas Bubendorfer, Matt Bush, Sya Cao, Renaldo Clarke, Peter Croft,

Steph Davis Stephanie "Steph" Davis (born November 4, 1973) is an American rock climber, BASE jumper, and wingsuit flyer. She is one of the world's leading climbers, having completed some of the hardest routes in the world. She has free soloed up to , a ...

Bill Denz Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

, Tim Deroehn,

Catherine Destivelle Catherine Destivelle (born 24 July 1960) is a French rock climber and mountaineer who is considered one of the greatest and most important female climbers in the history of the sport. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s for sport climbing b ...

Patrick Edlinger Patrick Edlinger (15 June 1960 – 16 November 2012) was a professional French rock climber. Edlinger is considered a pioneer and a legend of sport climbing. He was the second-ever climber in history to ascend routes of grade with ''Nymphodal ...

, Jim Erickson, Eric Escoffier, Ron Fawcett, John Gill,

Brad Gobright Brad Gobright (June 16, 1988 November 27, 2019) was an American rock climber known for free solo climbing. Early life Gobright was born in Orange County, California, and began climbing when he was six. (This article was published in ''Rock and ...

, Dan Goodwin, Mike Graham, Wolfgang Güllich,

Colin Haley Colin Haley (born 2 September 1984) is an American alpinist known for fast ascents of technical routes on mountains around the world. Haley is perhaps best known for his traverse of The Torres (Cerro Torre, Torre Egger, Punta Herron, and Aguja ...

, Alex Honnold, Alexander Huber, Jimmy Jewell, Eric Jones,

Marc-André Leclerc Marc-André Leclerc (October 10, 1992 – March 5, 2018) was a Canadian rock climber and alpinist. Known for his solo ascents of numerous mountains in several parts of the world, he completed the first winter solo ascents of the Torre Egger in P ...

, Matt Lloyd, Dave MacLeod,

Dan Osman Daniel Eugene Osman (February 11, 1963 – November 23, 1998) was an American extreme sport practitioner, known for the dangerous sport of free-soloing, rock climbing without ropes or other safety gear. He participated in rope jumping, falling s ...

, Dean Potter, Paul Preuss, Andreas Proft, Herbert Ranggetiner, Michael Reardon, Jim Reynolds,

Alain Robert Alain Robert (born as Robert Alain Philippe on 7 August 1962) is a French rock climber and urban climber. Known as "the French Spider-Man" (after the comic character Spider-Man) or "the Human Spider", Robert is famous for his free solo climbi ...

Tobin Sorenson Tobin Sorenson (June 15, 1955 – October 5, 1980) was an American rock climber and alpinist famed for establishing bold first ascents on Yosemite big walls, in the Alps, Canadian Rockies, and New Zealand. Early life and education A Californi ...

, Will Stanhope, Ueli Steck, Slavko Svetičič, Miroslav Šmíd, Akihira Tawara, John Yablonski and Maurizio Zanolla. Some climbers who have occasionally or rarely free soloed, but have been influential to the practice, include

Pierre Allain Pierre Allain (7 January 1904 – 19 December 2000) was a French alpinist who began climbing in the 1920s. In the 1930s he was joined by several others at Fontainebleau, where his group of "'Bleausards" developed a love of bouldering that went be ...

, Henry Barber,

Lynn Hill Carolynn Marie Hill (born January 3, 1961) is an American rock climbing, rock climber. Widely regarded as one of the leading Climbing competition, competitive climbers, traditional climbing, traditional climbers (and particularly big wall climbi ...

Ron Kauk Ron Kauk (born 23 September 1957) is an American rock climber. Kauk is associated with Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley, where he lived for decades, now a resident of El Portal, California. In 1975, he made the first free ascent of the east face of Wa ...

Jean-Christophe Lafaille Jean-Christophe Lafaille (31 March 1965 – 27 January 2006 resumed was a French mountaineer noted for a number of difficult ascents in the Alps and Himalaya, and for what has been described as "perhaps the finest self-rescue ever performed in ...

, John Long and

Reinhold Messner Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian mountaineer, explorer, and author from South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental ...

Hardest free solos

There are few climbers who have free solo climbed in the 5.14 grade range. This list does not include "

highball A highball is a mixed alcoholic drink composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer, often a carbonated beverage. Examples include the Seven and Seven, Scotch and soda, gin and tonic, screwdriver (a.k.a ...

" boulder ascents because the climbers here did not use any padding or spotters. There is some debate on the blurred line between "highball" bouldering and short little free solo climbs. In December 2019, little known Italian non-professional climber Alfredo Webber, became the first person to free solo at grade , by ascending the , ''Panem et Circenses'', at Muro di Pizarra near

Arco ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...

in Italy; he was aged 52 at the time. Other notable free solos which pushed the technical grade of what could be achieved were Alexander Huber's 2004 ascent of ''Kommunist'', and Dave Macleod's 2008 ascent of ''Darwin Dixit'', both of which were at a grade of .

Free soloing buildings

Some free soloists scale buildings:

("The French Spider-Man"), and Dan Goodwin ("Skyscraperman"), have scaled dozens of

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

s around the world—a sport known as buildering—without any safety equipment.

Notable fatalities

Michael Reardon - free soloing in Joshua Tree

* Paul Preuss (3 October 1913; age 27) died in 300m fall from the attempted first ascent of the North Ridge of the Mandlkogel (in the

Gosaukamm The Gosaukamm is an Austrian mountain chain within the Dachstein range of the Northern Limestone Alps. Although relatively short in length, the chain forms an imposing backdrop to the valley and town of Gosau. Its highest point reaches an eleva ...

) as a free solo. * Jimmy Jewell fell to his death (31 October 1987; age 34) using the easy route ''Poor Man's Peuterey'' (graded Severe) at

Tremadog Tremadog (formerly Tremadoc) is a village in the community of Porthmadog, in Gwynedd, north west Wales; about north of Porthmadog town-centre. It was a planned settlement, founded by William Madocks, who bought the land in 1798. The centre ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

as a short-cut. *

died (28 May 1993; age 36) while free soloing the Steck-Salathé Route on

Sentinel Rock Sentinel Rock is a granitic peak in Yosemite National Park, California, United States. It towers over Yosemite Valley, opposite Yosemite Falls. Sentinel Rock lies northwest of Sentinel Dome. How it was formed Sentinel Rock formed when m ...

in Yosemite National Park. * Dwight Bishop fell (19 July 2004; age 49) while climbing alone and unroped along the Grand Traverse route on

Grand Teton Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Grand Teton National Park, in Northwest Wyoming, and a classic destination in American mountaineering. Geography Grand Teton, at , is the highest point of the Teton Range, and the second highest peak in ...

peak in Wyoming. * John Bachar died (5 July 2009; age 52) in a free solo accident at Dike Wall near Mammoth Lakes, California. * Michael J. Ybarra died (July 2012; age 45) climbing solo on The Matterhorn Peak in California's

Sierra Nevada Mountains The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

Alternatives

Different types of climbing include: *

Free climbing Free climbing is a form of rock climbing in which the climber may use climbing equipment such as ropes and other means of climbing protection, but only to protect against injury during falls and not to assist vertical or horizontal progress. T ...

with the use of ropes to catch a fall. *

Bouldering Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help se ...

: climbing at heights low enough that a fall would normally be safe, typically making use of a bouldering mat to cushion a potential fall. *

Deep-water soloing Deep-water soloing (DWS), also known as psicobloc, is a form of solo rock climbing that relies solely upon the presence of water at the base of a climb to protect against injury from falls from the generally high-difficulty routes. While typica ...

: climbing with a body of water at the base of the climb. * Free BASE: a combination of free solo climbing to ascend a structure, and BASE jumping with a parachute to descend. * Speed climbing: climbing discipline in which the goal is to complete an ascent in the shortest amount of time possible. *

Top rope climbing Top rope climbing (or top roping) is a style in climbing in which the climber is securely attached to a rope which then passes up, through an anchor system at the top of the climb, and down to a belayer at the foot of the climb. The belayer takes ...

: climbing with the use of ropes anchored to the top of the climb.

References

External links

*
Edge of Oblivion - Free-solo rock climbers feel spiritual lure
', Sheila Mulrooney Eldred. ''

Fresno Bee ''The Fresno Bee'' is a daily newspaper serving Fresno, California, and surrounding counties in that U.S. state's central San Joaquin Valley. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and ranks fourth in circulation among the company's newspaper ...

'', 8 April 2004 {{Extreme sports Types of climbing