The 2018 documentary about Alex Honnold’s free-solo ascent of El Capitan is Free Solo.
Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, the film follows Honnold as he prepares to climb the approximately 3,000-foot granite wall in Yosemite National Park without ropes, protective equipment, or a safety net. His chosen route, Freerider, had previously been climbed with protection but had never been completed free solo at that difficulty.
Honnold completed the ascent on June 3, 2017, after years of preparation, route memorization, and practice. The filmmaking itself created an unusual ethical problem: the crew had to document an attempt that could have ended in death while avoiding distractions that might affect the climb.
Free Solo premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2018 and became both a critical and commercial success. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It is often confused with The Dawn Wall or Valley Uprising, which also concern major climbing achievements but follow different climbers and expeditions.