Alex Honnold
The only human to free solo Yosemite’s 3000 foot rock monolith, El Capitan. No rope, climbing alone. More people will walk on the moon than will do what Alex Honnold has done. His extremely rare skill and unmatched mental focus have helped make him climbing’s transcendent, breakout star, inspiring millions around the world.
Beyond his 2017 history-making ascent of El Cap, dramatically documented in the Oscar-winning film Free Solo, Alex is simply one of the hardest working, certainly most accomplished, and greatest climbers to ever live. His feats have blown the doors wide open on the sport of climbing, placing him at the front of mainstream media like 60 Minutes, The New York Times, and the cover of National Geographic. Alex continues to push himself, building on a singular resume highlighted by speed records on The Nose, the famous 24 hour “Triple Solo” of Mt. Watkins, Half Dome and El Capitan, and cutting-edge expeditions in Antarctica, South America, Greenland and elsewhere.
Humble and self-effacing, he is deeply appreciative of the position he holds in culture and uses it for the greater good. In 2012, Alex founded the Honnold Foundation, an environmental non-profit that provides grants to organizations advancing solar energy access all over the world. Their vision was simple: to improve lives and reduce environmental impact. In 2021 alone, Honnold Foundation supported 44 communities across 17 countries, all focused on community-centered innovation catalyzed by solar energy.
Alex is always looking for opportunities to share stories from the sport he loves. A host of the Climbing Gold Podcast, Alex explores the unique stories of climbing culture that originally drew him to the sport. Recently he’s led several environmentally-focused documentary and TV projects, putting his climbing skills to use by reaching hard to get to corners of the earth.
Alex lives in Las Vegas with wife Sanni and his daughters June and Alice.
Achievements
- First and only free-solo of “Freerider” El Capitan, Yosemite, CA – 5.13a.
- Speed record on "The Nose" of El Capitan with Tommy Caldwell – 1:58:07
- Yosemite’s first “Triple Solo”: Mt. Watkins, Half Dome and El Capitan alone, in under 24 hours
- First ascent of the Fitz Traverse, Patagonia, with Tommy Caldwell
- First and only free-solo of the Moonlight Buttress, Zion National Park, UT – 5.12d, 1,200 feet
- First and only free-solo of El Sendero Luminoso, El Potrero Chico, Mexico – 5.12d, 1,750 feet
- First and only free-solo of the Northwest Face of Half Dome, Yosemite, CA – 5.12a, 2,200 feet
- Star subject of the Oscar-winning documentary, Free Solo
- Author of the best selling book, Alone on the Wall
- Host of Climbing Gold Podcast
- Founder of the solar-focused environmental non-profit Honnold Foundation
Follow Alex’s Adventures
"The questions I get the most are 'Do you feel fear? Have you ever been afraid?'- They're boring."
WATCH Squarespace presents: Alex Honnold
"Putting yourself outside of your comfort zone can be a scary thing, but you’ll find through doing so that the reward is worth the effort."
Get to know Alex
