Free Solo

Free climbing, the mountain climbing subculture which involves scaling sheer vertical walls without the use of ropes or harnesses, has one monolithic goal nobody has ever achieved: ascending the 3200-foot face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Sacramento native Alex Honnold wants to be the first, and so begins this hair-raising documentary as Alex trains methodically, analyzing every foot in a climb where death is always a fraction of an inch away. But what happens when, beset by injuries and relationship pressures, someone with such phenomenal focus starts to psych himself out? And how does a perfectionist find a semblance of normalcy in his life while still in the thrall of such a dangerous obsession? Using his support system of climber friends and a touch of gallows humor, Honnold must decide if he’s up to the challenge of accomplishing an unbelievable physical feat of mind-blowing intensity. What happens next, you’ll never forget.

Expected Guests: Filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, and subject Alex Honnold  (All Screenings)