The best climbing documentaries

We mark the release of Free Solo by looking at our selection of the best climbing documentaries around.

Free Solo

Join renowned free soloist Alex Honnold as he prepare to fulfil his lifelong dream of climbing El Capitan without a rope. Prepare to gasp, gawk and cover your eyes as co-director Jimmy Chin captures Alex as he scales 3,200 feet. An nail-biting edge-of-your-seat thriller.

Meru

After failing to summit the infamous Shark's Fin on Meru Peak in 2008, climbers Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Renan Ozturk return 4 years later to try and best the 4,000ft of granite in the Indian Himalayas. Filled with twists and turns, watch as Anker’s team overcome injury, avalanche and loss to document their incredible journey.

Dawn wall

Until Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson came along, no one ever had considered climbing Yosemite’s Dawn Wall but the duo set their sights on trying to achieve the impossible. After route planning and practising for 6 years, the Caldwell and Kevin spent 19 days on the rockface and successfully free climbed one of the hardest climbs in the world.

Touching the void

In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates became the first climbers to ascend 20,814 ft high Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. During the descent disaster strike. Joe suffers an accident, a snowstorm ensues and Simon must make a life-or-death decision whether to save his friend or leave him behind.

sherpa

Following an incident between European climbers and Sherpas in 2013, Jen Peedom set out to examine the 2014 Everest climbing season from the guides’ point of view. Shining a light on the devastating effects the climbing industry has on the Nepalese communities, Peedom tells the story of how the Sherpas rallied together to reclaim Mount Everest.