Alex Honnold is an and perhaps the most famous rock climber in history. He’s best known for his daring climbs on the of Yosemite and beyond. For the uninitiated, free soloing is a dangerous form of rock climbing where the climber ascends without protective gear or a rope.
For many, it's the purest form of climbing, though the consequences of a fall are often fatal. Honnold’s exceedingly bold 2017 free solo of the Freerider route on was a seismic moment in climbing’s history, while the resulting documentary film made Honnold a global superstar. However, Honnold’s achievements go way beyond his daring free solos.
He’s set many speed records and even achieved dazzling firsts in the world of , as well as being an environmental activist, doing important work in the fight against climate change. We asked one of our mountaineering experts to take a look at his incredible life and to attempt to put his achievements into some form of context that not just the world’s elite climbers and Spider-Man can understand. Honnold was born and raised in Sacramento, California and caught the climbing bug early, aged five, often attending the local gym.
He soon progressed and as a teenager he competed in indoor climbing competitions. He’d also often climb outdoors alone, expanding his comfort zone and giving him a first taste of free soloing. He was enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, studying Civil Engineering, when his parents divorced in 2003.
Then, his father died.
