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Free solo climbing (or free soloing) is a form of rock climbing where the climber (or free soloist) climbs Solo climbing (or alone) and without Climbing rope or any form of protective equipment — they are allowed to use climbing shoes and liquid chalk (or and if ice climbing). Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and, unlike bouldering, free soloists climb above safe heights, where a fall can be fatal. Though many climbers have free soloed routes with technical grades that they are very comfortable on, only a tiny group free solo regularly, and at technical grades closer to the limit of their abilities.
The international profiles of some climbers have been significantly increased by their free soloing activities, such as Alex Honnold, Alexander Huber, Alain Robert and John Bachar, but others question the ethics of this, and whether the risks that they are undertaking should be encouraged and commercially rewarded. While "free solo" was originally a term in climbing slang, after the popularity of the 2018 Academy Awards-winning film Free Solo, Merriam-Webster added the word to their English dictionary in September 2019.
In addition to free soloing on single-pitch and multi-pitch rock climbing routes — including the even longer big wall climbing that features in the Free Solo film — free soloing is also performed in a wide range of other climbing-types including for example in the discipline of ice climbing and of mixed climbing (which is featured in the 2021 climbing documentary film, The Alpinist), as well as in setting speed-climbing records on alpine climbing routes (which is featured in the 2023 climbing documentary film, Race to the Summit).
Free solo climbing is a special form of free climbing but is different from the main forms of free climbing — sport climbing and traditional climbing — that use climbing protection for safety. In theory, bouldering is also free solo climbing (i.e. it also uses no aid or protection) but is usually not referred to as such except in the case of highball bouldering, where falls can be serious. The most committing forms of free soloing are on multi-pitch — and the even longer big wall — routes, where any retreat is very difficult.
In alpine climbing the term solo climbing – as distinct from free solo climbing – is used where the climber carries a rope and some aid climbing equipment to overcome difficult sections. In addition, the term rope soloing is used for any solo climber who uses a rope and a form of self-locking device for continuous climbing protection on the route; this is also not considered as free solo climbing.
Many early 20th-century rock climbers who began to free climb (i.e., avoiding any form of aid), were often practicing free solo climbing (or rope soloing), as the effectiveness of their climbing protection (usually a rope around their waist) was minimal. In the history of rock climbing, the first ascent of Napes Needle by W. P. Haskett Smith in June 1886 – an act that is widely considered to be the start of the sport of rock climbing – was effectively a free solo. Early leaders of free climbing such as Paul Preuss, were also strongly interested in free solo climbing as being ethically purer. The 1958 ascent by Don Whillans of Goliath, one of the world's first E4 6a routes, was effectively a free solo (with a rope around his waist). By the 1970s, when climbing protection was sufficiently developed to be effective, the discipline of free solo climbing began to stand apart.
However, The North Face and Red Bull 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 Free Solo, which was met with critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The director of Free Solo, Jimmy Chin, talks in the film about the ethics of undertaking the documentary, and the effect that his film team and project could have had on the outcome.
Even in the climbing community, free soloing is controversial. In 2022, when Climbing did a feature on free soloing, they caveated all articles with: "This article is not an endorsement of the practice", and emphasized that in their research amongst climbers, it was only practiced by a very small minority, with many telling Climbing: "I have in the past but not anymore".
In 2022, climbing author and occasional free soloist Jeff Smoot wrote All and Nothing: Inside Free Soloing, which explored through interviews why some rock climbers free solo, including analyzing his own motivations. He described the feeling of self-control over one's fears as a form of addiction that had brought benefits to his life outside of climbing. He also found a wider range of motivations than he expected telling The Seattle Times, "Are free soloists crazy? They may be. Are they crazier than anybody else? I don’t think so, just in a different way".
Free soloing is less common amongst female rock climbers, however, as well as Catherine Destivelle, the following female climbers are historically notable free solo practitioners: Steph Davis and Brette Harrington, both of whom have free soloed single-pitch and big wall routes.
Climbing magazine reported that a number of prominent free solo practitioners died in related or other extreme sports, including: Dan Osman (died at age 35 while rope jumping at Yosemite), Michael Reardon (died age 42 while rock climbing sea cliffs when he was carried out to sea by a rogue wave), Dean Potter (died age 43 while wingsuit flying when he crashed at Yosemite), Brad Gobright (died age 31 while abseiling at Potrero Chico), and Hansjorg Auer (died age 35 in an avalanche at Howse Peak).
Public view
Many climbers praise free soloing, while others have concerns regarding the danger and the message the ascents send to other climbers. Many companies have taken these views into account when working with free soloists. Clif Bar, 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.
Notable climbers
While many rock climbers have free soloed routes (single-pitch or big wall/multi-pitch), at climbing grades well below their ability, a very small minority have practiced free soloing regularly, and at grades closer to their overall limits. The most prominent of this smaller group are those who have broken new grade milestones in free solo climbing and gained a significant profile from their soloing:
In addition, several other free solo practitioners are considered historically notable in free solo climbing and include the following: Ron Fawcett, , Brad Gobright, Dan Goodwin, Colin Haley, Derek Hersey, Jimmy Jewell, John Long, Dave MacLeod, Dan Osman, Dean Potter, Paul Preuss, and Tobin Sorenson.
Evolution of grade milestones
Single-pitch routes
Big wall, multi-pitch routes
Climber fatalities
A number of notable free solo practitioners have died while free soloing:
Related disciplines
In film
A number of notable films have been made focused on free solo climbing (both on rock and on ice) including:
See also
Notes
Further reading
(2025). 9780393353174, W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393353174
External links
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