Alex Honnold facts for kids
Honnold in 2023
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Quick facts for kids Personal information |
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| Born | August 17, 1985 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley |
| Occupation | Rock climber |
| Spouse(s) |
Sanni McCandless
(m. 2020) |
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Alex Honnold (born August 17, 1985) is an American rock climber. He is famous for his amazing free solo climbs of huge rock faces. Free solo climbing means climbing without ropes or safety gear.
In June 2017, Alex became the first person to free solo a full route on El Capitan. This giant rock is in Yosemite National Park. He climbed the 2,900-foot route called Freerider. Many people called this climb "one of the greatest athletic feats ever."
Alex also holds a record for climbing the "Yosemite Triple Crown" very fast. This means climbing three big walls in Yosemite in just 18 hours and 50 minutes. In 2015, he won a special award called the Piolet d'Or. He won it with Tommy Caldwell for climbing a group of mountains in Patagonia.
Alex Honnold wrote a book called Alone on the Wall (2015). He is also the main person in the movie Free Solo (2018). This movie won a BAFTA and an Academy Award.
Contents
Early Life and How He Started Climbing
Alex Honnold was born in Sacramento, California. His mom was a college professor. He started climbing at a gym when he was 5 years old. By age 10, he was climbing many times a week. As a teenager, he joined many climbing competitions.
Alex says he was never the "best" climber as a kid. He just really loved climbing. He kept climbing all the time and naturally got better.
After high school in 2003, he went to the University of California, Berkeley. He planned to study civil engineering. During his first year, he faced personal challenges. This led him to focus more on bouldering by himself.
Alex Honnold's Climbing Adventures
Alex left college and spent time driving around California to climb. He lived in his mom's old minivan for a while. This let him travel to different climbing spots. Later, he bought a new van in 2007. Living in his van allowed him to chase good climbing weather.
People in the climbing world started to notice Alex around 2007. He free soloed two big routes in Yosemite in one day. These were Astroman and The Rostrum. This was a huge achievement. A year later, he free soloed Moonlight Buttress in Zion National Park. This climb is 1,200 feet tall. Many thought it was a joke at first because it was so daring.
Five months later, he free soloed the 2,000-foot Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome. Another famous climber called this the most amazing ropeless climb ever.
His free solo of Half Dome in 2008 made him widely known. It was shown in the film Alone on the Wall. He was also interviewed on the TV show 60 Minutes.
In 2011, Alex and Hans Florine tried to break a speed record. They wanted to climb The Nose on El Capitan very fast. They missed the record by only 45 seconds! But on June 17, 2012, they set a new record. They climbed The Nose in 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 46 seconds.
In 2014, a company that sponsored him decided to stop. They felt his climbing was too risky.
Scientists have studied Alex's brain. They wanted to understand how he handles fear. He says he does feel fear sometimes. But he uses his imagination and practice to get used to scary situations.
El Capitan Free Solo
On June 3, 2017, Alex made history. He completed the first-ever free solo climb of El Capitan. He climbed the Freerider route in just 3 hours and 56 minutes. This amazing climb was filmed for the documentary Free Solo. The movie won an Academy Award.
Breaking More Records
On June 6, 2018, Alex teamed up with Tommy Caldwell. They broke the speed record for The Nose on El Capitan. They climbed the 3,000-foot route in an incredible 1 hour, 58 minutes, and 7 seconds. They were the first climbers to do it in under two hours!
In 2021, National Geographic signed Alex for a TV series. It's about his goal to climb peaks in Greenland. Also in 2021, Alex started a podcast called "Climbing Gold."
On October 12, 2022, Alex completed a huge challenge. He finished the "Honnold Ultimate Red Rock Traverse" (HURT). This involved running, scrambling, and climbing for over 32 hours. He covered 35 miles and climbed 18 peaks.
Alex Honnold's Life Off the Wall
For over ten years, Alex lived in a van. He says he didn't love living in a car itself. But he loved being able to travel to amazing places like Yosemite. The van allowed him to follow good climbing weather. He also liked having everything close by.
In 2017, Alex bought a house in Las Vegas. But he still lives and travels in his van for most of the year.
Alex met Sanni McCandless at a book signing in 2015. Their relationship is a big part of the Free Solo movie. They got engaged in 2019 and married in 2020. Their first daughter, June, was born in 2022. Their second daughter, Alice, was born in 2024.
Alex's mom, Dierdre Wolownick, started climbing at age 60. She is the oldest woman to climb El Capitan. She first did it at 66 and then again at 70!
Helping Others
In 2012, Alex started giving away money to solar energy projects. These projects help bring electricity to people around the world. This idea grew into the Honnold Foundation. The foundation works to "promote solar energy for a more equal world."
Books by Alex Honnold
- Alone on the Wall: Alex Honnold and the Ultimate Limits of Adventure. London: Pan, 2015. Written with David Roberts. ISBN: 978-1447282730.
Movies and TV Shows
Alex is most famous for Free Solo. But he has been in other films and TV shows too:
- The Sharp End (2007)
- Alone on the Wall (2008)
- Honnold 3.0 (2012)
- Valley Uprising (2014)
- A Line Across the Sky (2015)
- Africa Fusion (2016)
- Free Solo (2018)
- The Nose Speed Record (reel rock 14) (2019)
- Duncanville (2020) (TV)
- The Alpinist (2021)
- Explorer: The Last Tepui (2022)
- Edge of the Unknown with Jimmy Chin (2022)
- Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold (2024)
Awards Alex Honnold Has Won
- 2010: Golden Piton Award from Climbing magazine, for his amazing endurance.
- 2015: Piolets d'Or with Tommy Caldwell, for climbing the Fitz Roy Range in Patagonia.
- 2018: Robert and Miriam Underhill Award from American Alpine Club, for being excellent in climbing.
- 2018: Special mention from Piolets d'Or for his great climbing in 2017 (the El Capitan free solo).
Some of Alex Honnold's Famous Climbs
Big Wall Climbs
- 2007, Astroman and The Rostrum, Yosemite – First time someone free soloed both in one day since 1987.
- 2008, Moonlight Buttress, Zion, Utah – First free solo of this 1200-foot wall.
- 2008, Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome, Yosemite – First free solo.
- 2012, The Nose, Yosemite, El Capitan – Set a speed record with Hans Florine.
- 2014, El Sendero Luminoso, Mexico – First free solo of this 1,750-foot route.
- 2017, Freerider, Yosemite, El Capitan – First-ever free solo of a big wall at this difficulty level.
- 2018, The Nose, Yosemite, El Capitan – Set a new speed record with Tommy Caldwell (under 2 hours!).
- 2022, Ingmikortilaq, Greenland – First free ascent of this huge sea cliff.
Bouldering Achievements
- 2011, The Mandala 8A+ (V12), Bishop, California.
- 2012, Too Big to Flail 7C+ (V10) or 8b (5.13d), Bishop, California – First time anyone climbed this route.
Alpine Climbs (Mountains)
- 2014, The Fitz Roy Traverse, Patagonia – Completed over five days with Tommy Caldwell.
- 2016, Torre Traverse, Patagonia – Second time this group of peaks was climbed in under 21 hours.
See Also
In Spanish: Alex Honnold para niños
- History of rock climbing
- List of grade milestones in rock climbing
