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IPFS News Link • Entertainment: Outdoor Recreation

The man who climbed 3,000ft up the sheer face of Yosemite's El Capitan with NO ROPE:

• https://www.dailymail.co, By DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC

'So delighted' might not be what many would utter if they were the first person ever to perform the death-defying feat of climbing the 3,000 foot, vertical El Capitan without a rope, but Alex Honnold isn't most people. It took eight years of dreaming, a year and a half of preparation, and one failed attempt for Honnold, a professional climber and now 33, to reach the top of the iconic and daunting rock formation that is Yosemite's El Cap.

'Free Solo' is a new documentary that chronicles Honnold scaling what he called the 'pinnacle of climbing' in three hours and 56 minutes on June 3, 2017. It also shows how Honnold – considered to be one of the best free solo climbers, which means climbing alone and without any equipment – overcame the challenging sections of the rock face as he meticulously went over and over his moves, which included a karate kick, as an actor rehearses lines for a play.

It delves into his childhood when he started climbing at around aged 10, his relationship with his family and his girlfriend and how they cope with the danger of his high-risk goal, and how Honnold's striving for excellence and perfection spurred him to make the climb without any safety gear – where one mistake meant death. The documentary is a feast for the eyes showcasing El Capitan and Yosemite National Park in California, and Honnold's climb: sometimes he is a man pulling himself up a crack in the rock face, other moments when it is hard to believe how his hands are gripping the rock wall at all.


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