Unless you were living in a cave through 2017 and 2018, you’re probably aware of the term free solo. Alex Honnold’s incredible climb of the Freerider route on El Capitan without protective aids or ...

Jeff Smoot begins his latest book by describing a moment in the mid-1980s when his life nearly came to an end. Back then Smoot was one of America's strongest climbers; he wasn't uber-elite like Lynn ...

Free soloing means climbing with no rope or gear, a historic genre that in the late 1970s, through the Yosemite-based John Bachar--at the time nicknamed Mr. Norelco, after a "cordless" electric razor- ...

Free soloing is rare and often deadly. Here’s why few climbers commit to it—and how Austin Howell, Martin Feistl, and Earl Prunty died.

Soloing in the Gunks was nothing new in the 1980s. Climbers had been at it for decades, usually on routes well within their capabilities and without true risk involved. Gunks rock is solid stuff and ...

On April 10, 2021, Josh Ourada, a 31-year-old climber from the San Francisco Bay Area, fell while free-soloing the Nutcracker, a straightforward, five-pitch route in Yosemite he had climbed—both on ...

If you’re a climber, you might be familiar with the threshold where your palms start sweating. I don’t mean when it happens while you’re climbing; it happens while you’re watching footage of climbing.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I cover Hollywood and entertainment. Free Solo climber Alex Honnold is discussing his hopes for people who watched Netflix’s ...

Sixty feet up an overhanging limestone face striped orange and blue on the edge of Spain’s pleasure isle of Mallorca, American climber Chris Sharma pumps once, pumps twice—then launches himself up the ...

Alex Honnold isn't just well-known in the climbing world. After the film about his adventures, Free Solo, hit theaters, everyone knew his name. The climber is best known for climbing without a rope, ...

Mental health problems collide with high-stakes rock climbing in this fresh take on a man facing his demons. “Hurt” is the brainchild of Vince Lapointe, a military veteran and climber in Squamish, ...

It was the morning of January 25, 2026, in Taipei, Taiwan—a day after the originally planned date of the event, delayed due to poor weather. For the average rock climber, a little rain wouldn’t be ...