Without a partner: Pete Whittaker rope solos El Capitan in under 24 hours
In November 2016, British climber Pete Whittaker set out to do something almost nobody attempts: rope-solo and free climb El Capitan’s Freerider in a single push. Without a partner on the wall, every lead, every anchor changeover, and every metre of progress depends on one person managing the climbing and the entire system. This film follows Pete’s under-24-hour mission in Yosemite, culminating in a staggering 20 hours and 6 minutes on one of the world’s most iconic big walls. What makes it unmissable is how clearly it reveals the hidden difficulty of rope-solo free climbing—an intense blend of endurance, precision, problem-solving, and mental control where mistakes compound fast and success can look deceptively calm. With insight from long-time partner Tom Randall and big-wall solo veteran Andy Kirkpatrick, you get both the inside mechanics and the bigger significance: a glimpse of a new, faster, freer style of soloing on El Cap, and a rare look at what it takes to keep moving when there’s no one there to help you.
teamBMC · 26:43
In November 2016, Pete Whittaker became the first person to solo - all free - El Capitan in under 24 hours, finishing in 20 hours and 6 minutes. Rope Solo Free climbing is a sport that few people know about and even fewer people do. We hear from Pete Whittaker, his long time climbing partner Tom Randall and Big wall solo climbing expert Andy Kirkpatrick as they take us through the paces of what it really means to make a rope-solo-free ascent of El Cap. “The Problem is if Pete pulled it off, nobody would even get it, nobody would understand how hard it was"… "and to do it in a day, is totally insane” - Andy Kirkpatrick “The ascent made by Pete on Freerider to me is hopefully the dawn of a new style of big wall solo climbing, big wall solo climbing on El Capitan for many years was just aid climbing. Now Pete has proven that it's possible to do that free climbing, but relatively fast” - Tom Randall EpicTV Climbing Daily interviews Pete about his ascent: https://youtu.be/52tHkT-dri8 WATCH: More BMC TV climbing films https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fKKsqMPBZA&list=PLTodUXkQjZwzH-vFrkBftVSwRFDt1fJ9q A TWO MUPPETS production Directed and edited by Adam Bailes Produced by Pete Whittaker and Adam Bailes Camera and graphics by Dustin Moore Additional camera: Jen Randall, Pete Whittaker, Dustin Moore, Adam Bailes Thanks to Wild Country and Five Ten Music (in order of appearance) Chris Zabriskie - Oxygen Garden Chris Zabriskie - Divider Tours - Enthusiast Chris Zabriskie - Wonder Cycle Chris Zabriskie - Stories About the World That Once Was Chris Zabriskie - There's a Special Place for Some People #CLIMBING #YOSEMITE We're the BMC. Climb walls, rock, hills, ice or mountains? Join us. https://www.thebmc.co.uk/join