how many people have free soloed el capitan

Only one person is widely recognized as having free soloed El Capitan: Alex Honnold.

What “free soloed El Capitan” means

• Free solo means climbing with no rope, no harness, and no protective gear, relying entirely on hands and feet on the rock.

• In 2017, Alex Honnold climbed the route Freerider on El Capitan in this style, becoming the first person ever to free solo the wall.

How many people have done it?

• As of the latest reliable coverage, Honnold is the only confirmed climber to have free soloed a full route on El Capitan from ground to top without a rope.

• Climbing media and record-keeping organizations (including Guinness World Records) describe his ascent as a singular achievement, with no additional verified full free-solo ascents reported.

Related but different feats

• Several climbers have soloed El Capitan with a rope , using rope-solo or “solo-free” styles where they still place or use protection; these are not considered true free solos.

• Many climbers have free climbed El Capitan (using a rope only for protection, not to pull on), which is also distinct from free soloing.

Safety note

• Free soloing is an extremely high-risk activity; a single mistake at El Capitan’s height is almost always fatal, and even elite climbers treat it as an outlier, not a normal objective.

TL;DR: In practical and documented terms, the answer to “how many people have free soloed El Capitan?” is one: Alex Honnold.