The Alpinist

Move over Alex Honnold, there is a crazy Canuck who is climbing, free soloing even bigger and more dangerous mountain faces than El Capitan and his name is Marc-André Leclerc. If you don't know who Alex Honnold is, then go watch Free Solo. I didn't think anyone in my lifetime would top Alex Honnold's climb of El Cap until I watched The Alpinist, the documentary about Marc-André Leclerc. Marc-André climbs rock faces like Alex but he also climbs ice walls and switching back and forth between ice and rock as he ascends a mountain. He does this without ropes or a safety net; just ice boots and two ice picks and up, up, up he goes. When I watched the Alpinist, my hands were literally perspiring - this is the most bananas thing I've ever seen. Every step up is potentially a deadly one; one slip and Marc-André is a goner. Marc-André seems like a kid hell bent on getting the next high, literally getting high by getting high. In drug terms they call that chasing the dragon, always trying to recreate the great first high by always having to go bigger. Mountain climbing, like drug use, never seems to end well for a lot of people. Those who are addicted, they just can't stop. Watch this one at your own risk. If you don't like heights, The Alpinist will have you gripping your chair.