Alex Honnold
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Alexander J. Honnold |
| Born | August 17, 1985 |
| Education | UC Berkeley |
| Occupation | Professional rock climber |
| Climbing career | |
| Type of climber | |
| Known for |
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Alexander J. Honnold (born August 17, 1985) is an American rock climber best known for his free solo ascents of big walls. He has broken a number of speed records, most notably including the only known solo climb (mostly free climbing, but using some points of aid) of the Yosemite Triple crown, an 18 hour 50 minute link up of Mt. Watkins, The Nose, and the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome.[1] He and Hans Florine are the current record holders for the Nose with a time of 2:23:51.[2] Honnold says he likes tall, long routes and he tries to do them quickly.[3]
Honnold was born in Sacramento, California, and graduated from Mira Loma High School with a GPA of 4.7.[4][5] He started climbing when he was 11 years old. At the age of 19, he dropped out of UC Berkeley, where he was an engineering student, and devoted all his time to climbing. Between climbs, he runs or hikes to maintain fitness.[6] Honnold lives out of his van, spending less than a thousand dollars per month, enabling him to follow the weather and climb all the time.[7] Honnold prefers big walls and sport climbing, but enjoys any climb calling for extreme commitment, Yosemite being his favorite area because of its impressive walls and favorable weather.[6] Honnold is inspired by such noted climbers as Peter Croft, John Bachar and Tommy Caldwell, and even more so by the stark simplicity and beauty of El Capitan.[6]
In 2010, Honnold was awarded the "Golden Piton" for his climbing achievements.[8] Journalist Lara Logan interviewed Honnold as part of CBS 60 Minutes program airing on October 2, 2011.[7] In November 2011, Honnold and Hans Florine missed setting the record time on the Nose route on Yosemite's El Capitan by 45 seconds with a time of 2:37.[9] On June 17, 2012, the two set a new record of 2:23:46 on that same route.[2] Honnold is an avid reader, with interests in classic literature, environmentalism, and economics. When asked about his religious or spiritual views, he described himself as a "militant atheist." [10]
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Selected notable climbs [edit]
- Speed record on Nose of El Capitan with Hans Florine. Time: 2:23:51[2]
- Freerider in Yosemite Valley in one day in May 2007 when he was 21 years old.[11]
- Bushido and Hong Kong Phooey, in Utah, between 9 and 11 March 2008.[12]
- Solo of Yosemite Triple Crown — Mt. Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Dome - in 18 hours, 50 minutes ; free climbing 90% of the link-up.[13]
- Free solo of Heaven (5.12d) and Cosmic Debris (5.13b) in Yosemite National Park[14]
- Second ascent of Ambrosia ; repeat of Kevin Jorgeson's highball boulder problem Ambrosia (V11) in Bishop, California.[15]
- Free solo of The Phoenix, the USA's first 5.13a.[16]
- Free solo of Astroman and Rostrum in Yosemite Valley in one day in September 2007, becoming the second person after Peter Croft (1987) to do so.[17]
- Free solo of Zion's Moonlight Buttress on 1 April 2008.[18]
- Free solo of the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome on 6 September 2008.[19]
- Solo of Half Dome in 1 hour, 22 minutes. May 2012.[13]
- Repeats of Parthian Shot, New Statesman, Meshuga (solo), an on-sight of Gaia (and subsequently repeated it solo), and an on-sight solo of London Wall during a trip to England at the end of 2008.[20]
Notable Videos [edit]
- Alex Honnold 3.0 (video)
- The Ascent of Alex Honnold (video) by reporter Lara Logan on 60 Minutes
- Alone on the Wall (video) from National Geographic Adventures TV series First Ascent. Alex Honnold solos of Half Dome in Yosemite and the Moonlight Buttress in Zion
- Citibank ThankYou Card Commercial (video) from YouTube. Alex Honnold and Katie Brown climbing Fisher Towers near Moab, Utah
References [edit]
- ^ Honnold's Biggest, Baddest Solo Yet from climbing.com
- ^ a b c [1]
- ^ http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/climbersskiers/global/detail/username/alexhonnold
- ^ "JRE #319 - Alex Honnold, Brian Redban". Youtube.com. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
- ^ "MrQuale.com". Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ a b c "Alex Honnold - Athlete profile". 2011. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011.
- ^ a b The ascent of Alex Honnold from cbsnews.com
- ^ http://www.climbing.com/exclusive/features/2010_golden_piton_awards/
- ^ El Capitan record attempt likely has to wait from fresnobee.com
- ^ TE Exclusive: Alex Honnold Talks About Why He Does What He Does from trailsedge.com
- ^ Honnold'S Yosemite Year: A Free-Climbing Extravaganza from Alpinist.com
- ^ Honnold Rapid-Fires Two Desert-Crack Testpieces from Climbing.com
- ^ a b Honnold's Biggest, Baddest Solo Yet from climbing.com
- ^ More Solos in Yosemite by Alex Honnold from climbingnarc.com
- ^ Alex Honnold Gets the 2nd Ascent of Ambrosia from dpmclimbing.com
- ^ Free solo of Phoenix and CH from climbing.com
- ^ Alex Honnold free solos two big wall classics in a day from RockClimbing.com
- ^ Honnold Makes a High-Stakes Solo in Zion from Climbing.com
- ^ Updated: Honnold Free Solos Half Dome 5.12 from Alpinist.com
- ^ Alex Honnold climbing interview from PlanetMountain.com
External links [edit]
- Onsight of Gaia video from YouTube
- Free Soloing Yosemite (video) from National Geographic
- No Strings Attached article from Outside Magazine
- CNN article profile -retrieved 2 Aug 2012
