The 10 Best Rock Climbing Films

Prepare to be transported to worlds where verticality defies gravity and where each climb is much more than a simple physical conquest. These 10 films about climbing are sure to make you want to climb rocks and surpass your limits...

1. Free Solo (2018)

Free Solo is an amazing, Oscar award-winning rock climbing documentary about rock climber Alex Honnold. After many years of contemplation, Honnold realizes he will, and he must climb a 900-meter vertical rock face in Yosemite National Park, California – without any ropes. Alone, on his own. What Honnold sets his sights on involves the risk of death so great that even the most hardcore rock climbers wouldn’t dare attempt this wall without being belayed. But let's face it, he is very brave, interesting, and awe-inspiring, but crazy!

The film provides an intimate look into Honnold’s mind- how he prepares, how he thinks, and even how he dates. It becomes clear Honnold eats, sleeps, breathes climbing, and he has no qualms about living in a shabby van if it means he can climb. The audience also watches as Honnold’s girlfriend (who frankly deserves an award) supports him along the way. The story of Alex Honnold’s free solo climb is a downright riveting must-watch rock-climbing movie, even those who aren’t rock climbers will find it evocative.

2. Age of Ondra (2018)

Age of Ondra is one of the best rock climbing films featuring the lesser-known Adam Ondra. But Ondra is widely recognized by the rock-climbing community as one of the strongest rock climbers of 2010 (if not the strongest!). Having successfully climbed a large number of the most difficult routes in the world, watch this 25-year-old Czech native as he prepares to push himself further than he ever has before.

If you thought Honnold was a bit strange, just watch this guy as he does all kinds of weird things to prepare for his epic climbs. For example, he is seen lying on the ground, imitating movements he would do as he climbs, and screaming a lot while he’s at it. But hey, judging him feels pretty stupid when you see the rock faces he scales afterward.

Nicknamed “the weirdo” by Alex Honnold, watch his outbursts as he sets out to climb Reel Rock 5.15 in a single attempt. This film is a must-see for true climbing fans, as Ondra barely touches anything below level 9 routes, the highest level of difficulty there is.

3. Africa Fusion (2016)

The next stunning rock-climbing movie to watch is Africa Fusion. This is another Alex Honnold fan club piece. It’s hard to escape the guy when it comes to rock climbing, but he’s so brilliant to watch, it’s much more enjoyable to stay captive.

Watch Alex Honnold and his climbing partner, Hazel Findlay from the United Kingdom jet off to South Africa for the climbing adventure of a lifetime. Chasing wall faces all over South Africa and Namibia, Alex Honnold continues to do what he does best, free rock climbing without ropes. Maybe that’s why films featuring Alex Honnold are such nail-biters- he’s always just on the brink of death.

Fully aware of the risks he takes, like a fish to the water watch Honnold climb stunning cliffs, tackle the SpitzKoppe in the desert, and explore the jungle of Waterval Boven.

4. The Dawn Wall (2017)

This epic rock-climbing film focuses on one particularly ominous section of El Capitan, which is brightly illuminated each day by the morning sun. Hence has been given the name, the Dawn Wall. But this section of rock is so steep, and so technical, not one climber had attempted it before the film’s stars, Tommy Caldwell, and Kevin Jorgeson. For starters, two of Yosemite’s most difficult pitches are located right in the middle of the Dawn Wall. The wall also lacks large vertical crack features, which climbers can easily use to stick their hands and feet into as they ascend up a wall.

In order to prepare to climb the Dawn Wall, Tommy Caldwell spent two years drilling bolts by hand into the rock at 45- minutes a bolt. He also had to spend that time remembering the sequence of the route to a tee in order to plan out how he would link up each and every move. The thing is, Caldwell is no ordinary dude. After a rock climbing trip in Kirghizstan, he and his group were taken hostage. Ultimately, Tommy Caldwell had to push his captor off the side of a mountain to escape. And that certainly didn’t leave him unscathed.

This film is an award-winning, must-see, riveting look at Caldwell, and his amateur climbing partner Kevin Jorgeson, as they ascend the stunning Dawn Wall.

5. Meru (2015)

Meru is an American rock-climbing and mountaineering film documenting the first-ever ascent of Shark‘s Way on the Meru peak, located in the Indian Himalayas. The film was produced by Veteran climber Jimmy Chan and his partner Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, and stars Conrad Anker. Meru also won Audience Award for Best American Documentary at the 2015 Sundance Film.

This section of the mountain is considered exceptionally difficult and involves incredibly technical rock climbing skills near the peak. Heavy climbing gear must also be carried to the summit. Often considered as the most coveted line in the entirety of the Himalayas, this film offers a raw look at the realities and dangers of climbing rock faces such as these.

One can’t help but wonder why on earth these people feel the need to do this. But passion has a way of taking humans to their limits and beyond, and this film accurately shows just how deep those passions run on Meru peak.

6. Assault on El Capitan (2013)

This rock-climbing documentary follows 42-year-old Ammon McNeely and his partner, 22-year-old Kait Barber as they make the second-ever attempted ascent on the Wings of Steel route on El Capitan. Wings of Steel is known to be the most controversial climb on El Capitan. This 305-meter section is basically a giant vertical slab, categorized as a grade VI big wall, on the Southwest Face, left of the Dihedral Wall. But much like great surf spots, local climbers are highly possessive of this route.

In 1983, the initial climb was made by Mark Smith and Richard Jensen. The two were harassed relentlessly. The climbers had never made any climbs this difficult, so their presence felt unappreciated and disrespectful to Yosemite Valley natives. The harassment was severe- they were attacked and cornered in parking lots and grocery stores. Threats were made to blow up their vehicle and implications made they would be murdered in the forest. Talk about territorial!

Assault on El Capitan follows the pair as they bravely take on this forbidden route. The documentary dives deep into the lives of the next generation as they attempt to climb this difficult wall, while simultaneously confronting the controversy within the climbing community 30 years in the making.

7. Azazel (2011)

Azazel is a 20-minute climbing documentary shot in Pakistan in 2010 by four French climbers: Yann Mimet, Sam Beaugey, Jean-Yves Fredriksen and Martial Dumas. This low-budget film is still a great piece of cinema to watch if you're a climbing fan. The film highlights the four climbers on their expedition to climb a route on the Trango Towers in Pakistan, the longest cliff in the world at 6,286 metres.

While Meru is a poignant and divisive documentary, not least because of the sometimes extreme personalities of the protagonists, Azazel doesn't pretend to make you pull out your tissues. There's not necessarily any suspense or drama, but the climb is still very difficult, lasting 20 days and leaving the characters clinging to the wall! The weather conditions don't help, but the friendship and good humour of the climbers make this a unique film! A magnificent high-altitude film and a superb story of friendship that gives you a thrill and a desire to go to the other side of the world with your friends. A favourite with all climbers who will find themselves in this group of friends, and also for the little surprise at the end of the climb!

8. Opéra Vertical (1982)

How could we end this selection of the best climbing films without mentioning Patrick Edlinger, the star climber of the 1980s, and the first to have made climbing films worthy of the name. Born in 1960, Patrick Edlinger was (along with Patrick Berhault) the figurehead for the development of climbing in Europe in the 1980s, at the same time as the first ascents were being made by American climbers in Yosemite. As one of the first climbers to 'walk around' in the 8th degree and to climb large solo routes, he acquired a strong reputation. He was even voted France's favourite climber by Paris Match in 1983. This reputation enabled him to finance real climbing films, directed by Jean-Paul Janssen. It was these films that brought climbing to the masses in the 80s.

Opéra Vertical is, along with "La Vie au bout des Doigts", one of the two main documentary films made about Patrick Edlinger. One of the first documentaries to be filmed directly on the crag (like Free Solo), it naturally gives Patrick the lead role in several routes on the Verdon, Europe's climbing Mecca. The sequence where Patrick takes on a difficult route in full solo over a 300m gap with the Verdon below, set to lyrical music, is a monument of the climbing film. A must-see (or see again).

9. Amazonian Vertigo (2006)

This one-hour television documentary is the work of Evrard Wendenbaum, a French film-maker, geologist and explorer. The film is about climbing in the heart of the Amazon in Venezuela, in the Salto Angel, over 800 metres high. Kerepakupai Vena, which means "waterfall of the deepest place" in the arekuna language, is the course of the Rio Kerep and is the biggest jump in the world!

You can follow the destiny of an international team of 6 climbers, including two world champions, as they set off to scale this majestic wall. The expedition is led by Arnaud Petit, through the thrilling Rio Carrao and the perilous crossing by pirogue to reach the famous spot. The climb was a fascinating one, with several factors making it difficult, including the wet climate, which makes the wall difficult, and the narrowness of the ledges.
Thanks to the exceptional technical levels of passionate climbers, we can see just how much mental strength is paramount in events of this kind! What's more, their humility, humour and patience make the characters touching and endearing. Thanks to this documentary, you'll realise just how far passion and determination can take you...

10. Pretty Strong (2020)

If you want to watch a film that combines girl power, travel and adrenaline, Pretty Strong is for you! This American film takes place in several parts of the world, so you'll be dreaming of traveling and wanting to climb walls after watching it! Directed by Julie Ellison, Leslie Hittmeier and Colette McInerney, the film lasts 1 hour and 13 minutes. The climbers featured include Nina Williams, Katie Lambert, Daila Ojeda, Hazel Findlay and more.

From big 5.13 walls in Yosemite to 5.14 sport climbs in Mexico, to V14 boulders in Colorado, Pretty Strong brings you the thrills and highlights the wild exploration of women climbers into new climbing zones in uncharted territory. You'll see women pushing the boundaries of the sport: crushing hard rock climbs. Created by the all-female production team "Never Not Collective", this climbing film is about women, by women, and for all audiences!

Feel like climbing some cliffs? If this selection of climbing films has inspired you to take the plunge, you can continue to be amazed by climbing with our selection of the best mountaineering films! Or if you want the live the experience in real life, go climbing all over the world! And if you don't feel ready to take on the rocks yet, learn more about the sport by reading our guide with all the top tips on climbing for beginners, so you can understand and become an expert at it!