June 6, 2017
Alex Honnold is considered a near mythic figure in the rock climbing world.
He is part of a tiny class of elite practitioners who will sometimes climb free solo, meaning with no rope.
But Mr. Honnold, a Sacramento native, is also known for climbing harder, longer and faster than anyone.
On Saturday, he pulled off what is being called his greatest feat yet, free-soloing nearly 3,000 feet up El Capitan, Yosemite’s iconic granite wall.
INTERACTIVE FEATURE
A Record-Setting Climb Up El Capitan, Without Ropes
On Saturday, the professional climber Alex Honnold became the first to climb the nearly 3,000-foot El Capitan, Yosemite’s iconic granite wall, without ropes, called free soloing.
Climbing professionals called it “incomprehensible” and “generation defining.”
“It’s hard to translate how groundbreaking this ascent is,” said Kevin Jorgeson, whose 2015 ascent of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall with Tommy Caldwell was seen as a milestone in the sport.
We caught up with Mr. Honnold, 31, by phone on Sunday. Some excerpts:
Q. What goes into preparing for a climb like this?
A. The physical side of it is quite a bit of work — going up on the wall day in and day out to memorize moves, to check different sequences and figure out the best way to use the holds that feels the most secure.
But the mental side is the bigger unknown. That’s the part where you just imagine the whole experience and process it for a long time and then wait until you’re ready.
Were there any doubts going into it?
Not so much. A couple years ago when I looked at the wall it was more fear than anything. I’d look at it and be like, “Oh my God that seems daunting.” But because of all the preparation and all the time I’ve spent visualizing and imagining, by yesterday I was like, “This is going to be awesome.”
Regular people see this as insane. Do you worry about dying young?
I do worry about dying young, which is why I spent a year or two preparing. I climbed El Cap without falling as early as 2008 or 2009. So physically I’ve been able to free solo this for eight or nine years. But it’s taken me a long time to feel safe enough on it that I want to do it.
What did your mother say?
She said “congratulations” of course. Then she said, “Thanks for not telling me ahead of time.”
She didn’t know?
No. You don’t want to tell a lot of people because then obviously they are worried and then they project that on to you and then you start to worry. It just complicates things.
Do you have a next big project in mind?
No. Not like this. This has been the all-consuming dream for years.
This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.