Almost every free soloist dies? Literally? That would make it the most dangerous hobby in the world? Are there any references or discussions on that handy?
Dan Osman died from a roped fall (jumped with the intent of the rope system to slow his fall), not a free solo. Dean Potter died from a wingsuit accident, which "literally" is probably the most dangerous hobby.
One of my favorite climbers and free soloists, Dan Osman, also died in an accident but not while free soloing. He was doing a 1000 ft rope jump (jumping from a cliff while connected to a climbing rope and catching oneself while trying not to slam back into the cliff face) when his rope snapped.
Here's two videos of him doing a rope jump and of him free soloing:
The American Alpine Club gathers reports and publishes Accidents in North American Mountaineering [1] annually. That's probably the best source. I've been climbing for thirty odd years and recall very few deaths free soloing.
If you mean, "died while freesoloing", you've got,
* Derek Hersey * John Bachar
off the top of my head. There are others,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_solo_climbing#Notable_acc...
Dan Osman died from a roped fall (jumped with the intent of the rope system to slow his fall), not a free solo. Dean Potter died from a wingsuit accident, which "literally" is probably the most dangerous hobby.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatalities_due_to_wing...
"72 percent of fliers had witnessed death or serious injury, and 76 percent had experienced what they categorized as a “near miss.” http://www.newsweek.com/2014/09/12/thrilling-deadly-world-wi...
Dean Potter on Heaven, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRUkolahw58