#Honnold full#

#Honnold full#

Alex’s process to prepare for his dream of free soloing El Cap has been an incredible, and sometimes stressful, journey to witness and be a part of over the last two years while filming him for a feature documentary (co-directed by In some ways I expected (and prayed for) nothing less on his big day but it was still mind bending to see how relaxed he was in the final days leading up to the climb and of course during the climb – as seen here locked off reaching full extension with mere finger tips in contact to granite, feet smeared on nothing. For him, it’s logical and about composed and casual free soloing (sans cord) 2000ft above the deck on the Enduro Pitch of Freerider yesterday. He doesn’t experience emotional fear the same way other people do. “This climb is far, far below his limit physically and highlights Alex’s genius, which is thinking very simply and logically about things that others find extraordinary or complicated. “The impressiveness of this feat is far more mental than physical,” says Tommy Caldwell, all-around legend and frequent climbing partner of Honnold’s.

And for any mortal, the thought of doing so without a rope, where one less-than-precise crimp or smear would result in a deadly free fall, goes against every self-preserving impulse a human has. And, interestingly, each is about a generation apart.”įor most seasoned climbers, tackling 30 pitches of often-slippery climbing up to 5.12d (or 5.13a by the variation Honnold climbed) with protection, ropes, and a portaledge is the undertaking of a lifetime. Each of these feats pushed El Cap climbing into an entirely new realm. “I’d rank this climb in the same region as the 1958 first ascent of the Nose (Harding, et al) and the 1988 first free ascent of a full-length El Cap route (Salathé Wall, Skinner-Piana), perhaps even Lynn Hill’s one-day free ascent of the Nose in 1994. “I think there is no doubt this El Cap free solo will be remembered as one of the major climbing events of the 21st century,” says Dougald MacDonald, executive editor of the American Alpine Club. So stoked to realize a life dream today 🙂 photoĪ post shared by Alex Honnold on at 7:12pm PDT