Alex Honnold: A Legend in the World of Adventure Climbing

And so a legend is born and a new name is added to the roster of those who make the world of fantasy the most exciting realm of all.

We all know how the rest of the story goes. But what if I were to tell you that there is also a real-life Spider-man who goes on embarking not on alien-fighting wars but extreme adventures even daredevils wouldn’t dare try. Alex Honnold, bitten by limitless wanderlust, climbs rocks god-forbiddingly steep and hikes paths that will give you sleepless nights just by looking.

“As a kid, I just loved climbing, and I’ve been climbing all the time ever since, so I’ve naturally gotten better at it, but I’ve never been gifted” – says Alex Honnold (with a straight face!) who treads path like this on a habitual basis like it’s a piece of cake.

If you’re picturing him with a rope, a carabiner and a belay device, you’re justly mistaken! Dude is in a sweatshirt and uses his bare hands to climb and no, don’t try to google potential conspiracy theories — the only truth is that Alex Honnold is incapable of feeling fear.

Alex Honnold was like any other ‘modest’ mountain climber until one day when he set off to climb the El Capitan summit in Calfornia solo WITHOUT ROPES!

While scaling the almost dent-less, blank and dizzyingly steep 3000ft El Capitan, missing one step didn’t mean he loses the game, but his life. While others prepared to watch this spectacle with half their eyes closed, filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin had other ideas. They decided to document his solo climb which would go on to win an academy award. Jimmy Chin was the director who filmed Alex solo climb for 10 years. When asked why they took up a rather life-demanding risk of filming this documentary, they had interesting insights.

Were they intrigued by the adventure too? No.

The idea inspired them as they’ve seen Alex Honnold at close and not just while he’s far above the ground, climbing the unknown.

Jimmy recalls. Beneath the incredibly fierce man there lied an intelligent yet scared kid who was afraid of basically anything and everything. Human interaction. People. Everything. Now is it not a story worth telling when he decides to fight his fears by trying not any adventure but the ultimate 4-hour climb above a 2,300 ft granite wall? When asked if climbing El Capitan is the Superbowl of soloing, Jimmy says—

“It’s beyond the Superbowl. It needs a sheer mental capacity that is unlike any athletic achievement I’ve seen, whether it’s extreme sports or professional sports of Olympics. You have to play perfect for four hours. You throw an interception in the Superbowl, compared to this, it’s not really a big deal.”

Catching an adventuring wizard at his most daring game is also an adventure don’t you think? Kudos to the directors and the cameramen for filming Alex’s work and inspiring the generations to come.

And not only did Alex conquested the summit, but also earned the documentary an oscar through his insanely iconic adventure.

Adventure isn’t about the adrenaline pump. It’s not about risking your life by trying something naive. It’s a reminder of how far you can push your limits if under certain circumstances. It’s about finding a higher sense of purpose in your life.

Here’s a picture of Alex Honnold looking back at the Freerider path after the climb. For no reason.

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Image credits: Alex Hannold.official