‘The Alpinist’: Climbing without fearing death or without fearing life?

Trailer

Starring in the main role, Marc-André Leclerc teaches us a lot about the art of free solo, considered by many as climbing in its purest form. More importantly, his story is one about the simplicity of life and how it is possible to change ours.

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January is usually the month when long and cold winter nights increasingly become unbearable. Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the main excitements of the season, are over and entertaining oneself becomes cyclical: wake up, study, eat, Netflix, sleep, and repeat. Stuck in this ‘winter numbness’, I was saved by one man and one sport: Marc-André Leclerc and his free soloing prowess. When I went to the cinema to watch ‘The Alpinist’, not only was I suffering from a painful blocked left ear, the consequence of not wearing your hat when cycling in the damp, windy climate of Amsterdam in January, but I also did not have many expectations as to what I was going to see. I knew only one thing: it was about a guy who climbed peaks covered in snow without any rope nor protection, which meant falling was not an option. Welcome to the world of free soloing, where the rules are simple: a climber climbs alone, without any protective equipment and above a height that becomes fatal if an incident were ever to occur. Free solo is equivalent to bouldering, but on a cliff, where a rope would definitely be needed. Throughout the one-and-a-half-hour movie, I discovered a whole new world, in which death is just around the corner, or in this case, below the climber, as he makes his way up and delicately chooses on which part of the wall he should place his feet and hands.

The art of free solo

At the start of the film, the crew interviews Alex Honnold, another famous free solo climber who also played the main character in his own movie: ‘Free Solo’ (yes, very original title). Enlightened by this sporting discovery, I watched it a few days after coming back from the cinema. The film crew asks who impresses Alex the most and he answers ‘Marc-André’. This quote may not seem very relevant at first, but I advise you go watch for yourself the summit in Yosemite National Park Alex (attempted to?) climb(ed? I will not spoil it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnRoda7Ke2w&ab_channel=OneLife). The fact that Alex is impressed by Marc-André sheds light on how incredibly crazy you would have to be to climb a snowy peak without any protection. While Honnold climbs without any rope, using his own strength, Marc-André uses ice picks and cleats to make his way up. Although both climbers are taking part in extremely dangerous practices, Marc-André is trusting ice and rock-solid snow to get to the top of the summit, which is even more dangerous. Even experienced climbers secured to an anchor point would not dare replicate this practice. Some may claim that he is playing with death, while other argue free soloing is the pinnacle of climbing in its purest form.

Values first, free solo second

To be completely honest, I do agree with both stances now that I officially consider myself a free solo analyst. However, what I found even more fascinating was the main character himself, Marc-André, and how he viewed his passion for free soloing. When the crew wanted to get in touch with him and join him wherever he would be climbing, he would ghost them and disappear for months-straight without giving any news. This constant ‘quest for footage’ ended with a phone call, in which Marc-André casually explained to the filming crew that in order for them to film his prowess, he first had to achieve them completely on his own, otherwise would it even be called ‘free-solo’? This tells a lot about his life values and how he did not really care about showing his passion to the world, but prioritised how he was going to live them first. The reason why I enjoyed watching this documentary so much is because it reconnected a small part of myself to the concept of simplicity, in a world that is becoming more and more complex. Marc-André lived in a tent with his girlfriend, Brette Harrington, an experienced alpinist as well, hitchhiked to his next climb and did not ever look at how many people followed him on Instagram over the last week (his phone broke at some point, he decided not to replace it).

Evidently, it is possible to point out flaws in how Marc-André views life: he can live such a wild life because he is incredibly talented, committed and therefore sponsored. It automatically becomes trickier to live such a life without a form of income or such high levels of skills and concentration. Marc-André would be the first to tell you that he does not need any source of income, as long as he can climb, but on the other hand he still needs to pay for his flights to free solo the most impressive peaks in the world. Furthermore, this choice of life can be perceived as egoistical by his relatives. The documentary does not show whether Marc-André is at home on Christmas day, but I would not be surprised to watch him put his passion for free solo above all else. When his mother is interviewed, the film crew asks her if she would ever prevent her son from pursuing his passion, and she answers something along the lines of: no, how can you do something like this when you can see how much he lives for it?

Marc-André did all of this climbing without fearing death, which is impressive given the risks he exposed himself to. But more importantly, he did all of this without fearing life, which is becoming common nowadays, especially for younger generations. What made this documentary unforgettable is the fact that one can learn about a sport, but one mostly learns about a way of life, from which it is possible to inspire oneself. You should not start climbing a cliff without a rope, because that would most certainly not end well, nor should you throw your phone away and start living in a tent in the forest (even though it could be an interesting experience for a few days). However, I do suggest you go watch this documentary for two reasons: it may help you realise what you are passionate about, and it will help you discover a way to perceive the twists and turns of life in a completely different way.