Alex Honnold is a 29 year old free-climber from Sacramento, California, who has ascended some of the world’s tallest and most difficult rock walls completely rope- and harness-free. He seems to harbour a natural talent—climbing walls with a calm precision and breaking speed records for climbing despite meeting a majority of his summits without the reassurance of a safety line.
Honnold started climbing at 11 years old, and at age 19 dropped out of the University of California Berkeley, where he studied engineering. Devoting all of his time and effort towards climbing, Honnold has since transformed into one of the most recognizable names in climbing. He even earned the “Golden Piton” award in 2010.
A few years back, Honnold even climbed the 2,900 ft Nose route of El Capitan, without ropes, through the night. At about 1,000 feet up, he realized he had forgotten his climbing chalk, and borrowed some from a few climbers he met on the wall. The ascent took Honnold about 19 hours in total, reaching the summit just before 11a.m.
Honnold lives on less than a thousand dollars a month, living out of a van, chasing good weather and challenging walls. Yosemite is his favourite spot.
The North Face: Alex Honnold // Marmoset from marmoset on Vimeo.
