Derek Hersey died soloing, and many notable (and not so notable) soloists have stories about falling soloing and surviving in situations where they could have e

Derek Hersey died soloing, and many notable (and not so notable) soloists have stories about falling soloing and surviving in situations where they could have easily died if they landed differently. Reardon was soloing when he was hit with a rogue wave so it's a bit fuzzy. But certainly free soloing isn't anywhere as statistically dangerous as base jumping or cutting-edge alpinism. It's just sexier and easier to understand, with very obvious danger, as opposed to the more esoteric dangers in alpinism like falling seracs, avalanches, failing rappel anchors, and so on.