Free Solo

The winner of the recent Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature was Free Solo, the story of one man's obsession--to climb the 3200 feet El Capitan without a rope. The downside--one mistake and he's likely dead. The upside--you get to go on stage and hug Jason Momoa.

Alex Honnold is a professional climber (he said he makes a living equivalent to semi-successful dentist) who has climbed many of the most dangerous cliff faces in the world, but no one has attempted to climb El Capitan solo. He is determined to do it, and has a film crew following him.

While the man vs. the mountain thing is interesting, what's more fascinating is Honnold himself. His father was, his mother says, probably an example of Asperger's, and Honnold may be, too, although that's never spoken. His amygdala, the part of the brain that processes fear, takes a lot to activate it. He's emotionally locked up--doesn't smile or cry much. And his girlfriend, who is cute as can be (she looks like Reese Witherspoon) has to realize that she will always come second to his climbing. When she asks if she's part of the equation at all in his decision to risk his life, he says, "Do you mean do I have an obligation to maximize by life span? No," he says.

The preparation is interesting to watch. El Capitan has several different trails, and the one he picks has several different "pitches," or stations along the way. One of the toughest is appropriately called the Boulder Problem. One of the ways to get past it is to literally jump off the face of the mountain an grab a rock, but he chooses the only slightly less method of kicking his leg out in a karate kick and then swinging across.

These climbs are not improvised--he knows every movement of every finger and toe. He practices several times using rope, and doesn't always make it. But without rope, he falls and game over.

The climbing community are all for him, and right before his climb another climber dies in a fall. It seems that rock climbing is more hazardous than race car driving--the mountain is going to get you sooner or later. I guess they can only hope that they get to arthritic to climb before that happens.

At one point Honnold seems to hesitate, as he has difficulty climbing while so many people are watching. Director Jason Chin (who co-directed along with his wife, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely, implores him to stop whenever he wants, even though Chin probably sees his film going down the drain if Honnold balks. But he doesn't.

The final climb is very suspenseful, although you know how it comes out or you would have read about it. One of the cameramen can't watch. Meanwhile the mountain just sits there, as if it doesn't even notice someone that small on it.

The film is probably about twenty minutes too long, as there is repetition. I would have also liked to have known how the Park Service feels about this--do you have to get a permit? Insurance always sticks its nose into these things.

Why Honnold needs to do this is the unanswerable question, even to him. But everyone takes their own kind of risks--I had unprotected sex with a well-known porn star in the back room of a strip club. And I'd do it again.