Alex Honnold on Closest Call When Free Soloing

About The Guest:

Alex Honnold is on the podcast! Who? The guy that free handed Yellowstone? Close enough.

Seriously though, this was such a great interview. We talked about his two most epic solos that nobody heard about, near misses, lessons from other climbing legends like Tommy Caldwell, Jonathan Siegrist, and Peter Croft, pooping while free soloing stories, how the film Free Solo exceeded his hopes and dreams, the commitment to excellence, and much more!

Support The Podcast By Joining Our Patreon

•Exclusive Follow-Up Episodes With Previous Guests
•Ability To Ask Future Guests Questions
•Sneak Peek At Upcoming Guests
•Discounts on Merch
•Ad-Free Episodes

[somerandomdudefes]

Every time I see one of these I'm pleasantly surprised Alex is still alive.

[Euterpeize]

He's trying to convince me that losing your grip 1000 feet up a wall is the same as tripping over when hiking... come on, Alex...

[purplemonkeydishwasher]

Alex has come a way since I saw him in 2010. He really seems comfortable talking to people now.

[justinobrien]

"The jugs were so big, I kinda just decided to pull on bro, same.

[jonathanperkins]

He is the guy you want with you in a high stress environment. Watch and listen to him free soloing with his friend in Vegas. He is next level.

[brahmburgers]

I'm 72 and started free soloing 25 yrs ago. I've done original routes in northern Thailand, and some messing around in Namibia and SW USA. Like most climbers, I've got stories enough to fill books. Examples: Once in northern CA, coming up to two baby rattlesnakes, open mouthed, centimeters from my face. In Thailand, a large nest of giant hornets - got stung twice on a hand. I've been pooped on by owls, and attacked by leaf-weaver ants. Once, a fire came up a steep hill, and had to duck behind the a small boulder to avoid being rotisserated. Hundreds of stories, ...I don't regret a moment.

[SH-dljk]

the potential for a spasm in the muscle, fainting, unexpected twitch, sneeze, or anything like that PLUS the peril of possible things that can go wrong with the rock PLUS the lapse in technique.. its a true wonder how this man is still alive

[scottmc]

It's weird that he mentions bee's. That's actually the first thing I think of when I think of free soloing. When I was younger I used to replace siding. I was up on scaffolding about 20 feet up with another guy and we ripped off this piece of siding and suddenly all hell breaks lose. Inside the wall is a MASSIVE yellow jacket nest and they are PISSED. We have two options. Jump 20 feet.... or climb down the ladder. The other guy doesn't hesitate. He was on the ground after the initial stings. I never saw him jump. I climbed down the ladder. In the end, I had got stung about 30 times. I looked like sloth from The Goonies for a bit with all the swelling. The other guy broke his hip and was laid up for a months. When I saw Free Solo, that experience was the first thing I thought about. By the time I got to the bottom of that ladder I felt like my body was on fire. I can't imagine being in that situation on a wall.

[robertm]

"And it was like a 15-foot drop."

"Yeah. Totally."

[williamharwood]

I'm glad Alex is still alive. As an ultra trail runner -- one whose bits of teeth remain just a bit south of Harper's Ferry on the AT -- I can testify that tripping and face planting on rock does indeed suck. However, had I been 1, 000 feet up free soloing when the fall happened....

[grant]

I have so much time and respect for Alex Honnold. I know it’s crazy what he does but he’s so logical and smart. I think it’s great we have Alex on the planet - his mindset is so powerful. Huge respect.

[Yaimdan]

Been loving this series man. Such casual conversations about relatable questions we all might want to ask.

[basehead]

Love hearing Alex talk comfortably about climbing not being afraid to use jargon etc, a lot better than a general interview..

[DanDavisHistory]

Those cobbles did look like they could lever right out. Crazy.

[davidzambito]

I think this was supposed to be titled “reasons I should not free solo”. I never even thought of the uncertainty of things like birds and insects…very cool perspective and stories to hear though, epic athlete!

[noiseforthealgorithm]

he's so casual about some of the craziest stuff

[ppgedez]

I understand exactly what Alex means as i did misstep walking up the stairs while carrying a mug of hot chocolate and it splashed on my foot. 😂

[jvillebil]

I've watched a lot videos of Alex. The one thing that struck me is that he said, "there have been a lot of near misses." My prayer is that he just happens to be the guy that retires one day and never has to experience a horrible free fall death, but my gut tells me that one day it will happen.

[AngusMurray]

That is true! I've had lots of "close calls" but you can't see the alternative so you never know what was close and what wasn't. There's probably far more actual close calls in life that we couldn't see

[funkyjunky-yt]

The room setup is my favorite part of this video