Let me make a frank and honest observation here: the majority of documentaries and docuseries out there do not make viewers wonder about how their subjects relieve their bladders and bowels. (There, I said it.) But one of the pioneers out there inspiring such thoughts in TV audiences’ heads is free solo climber Alex Honnold, whose death-defying ascents have made for nail-biting viewing in recent years, which will likely continue during the 2026 TV schedule. So how does he handle the need to pee and poop during climbs?
As Occam’s razor puts it, sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one, and that certainly applies in this case. Honnold appeared on the podcast Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know, where the comedian addressed “the question we were all wondering,” as he put it. The Skyscraper Live daredevil answered in no uncertain terms:
You just pee and poop.
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So that’s what “Free solo” really means: “Being out in the open and alone enough to blast a– without fear of judgment or shock or all the other reactions that seeing someone s–-tting off the side of a mountain can inspire.” Although maybe that’s more of a second definition. The #2 if you will.
To that end, even though Honnold confirms that climbers like himself aren’t able to just hit pause for instant bathroom teleportation, that doesn’t automatically mean they’re eager to soil the clothes they’ll still be wearing for the remainder of the climb. As he put it:
I've never actually s--t my pants, but I've had a lot of serious emergencies while rock climbing. You just, like, freaking go. But you're in nature so it doesn't matter. You just make sure you're not impacting other climbers.
To put it more plainly, Alex Honnold is heavily implying that rather than pooping in one’s clothes, the go-to option is to drop trou and make nature one’s toilet. As such, the phrase "impacting other climbers" being used here is just a politely worded euphemism for “dropping a deuce on someone else’s head,” and should absolutely be a priority for anyone facing such a difficult ordeal. “Don’t do unto others’ heads that which you wouldn’t want to be done unto your own head” is the golden-brown rule.
Honnold then talks to Hasan Minhaj about what may be the most surreal and non-ergonomic way to expunge one's waste, saying:
There've been some drastic... I mean like, one-handed, hanging off the side of a cliff taking a dump. [I've done that] a couple of times. I mean, when things go sideways, things go sideways.
It's interesting he uses the term "sideways" to speak of something that absolutely just goes straight the hell down and does not make any lateral movement in the slightest. Unless he's talking about trying to make his own body go sideways to potentially ease the situation.
So just in case anyone out there thought that bravery was only needed on these climbs as a way to conquer a fear of heights and dangerous circumstances, toilet-free pooping from high altitudes is, uh, also a factor.
Though you won't get the quasi-pleasure of seeing Alex Honnold submitting to the poop gods during the Skyscraper Live climb (streaming via Netflix subscription), he does address the topic during the docuseries Arctic Ascent (streaming via Disney+ subscription). You're welcome.
