Alex Honnold capped off a productive spring season in Yosemite over the weekend when he teamed up with Hans Florine for their well publicized run at the speed record on El Cap’s The Nose. After nearly breaking Dean Potter and Sean Leary’s record of 2:36:45 on a “practice” run the other day, it wasn’t too surprising to see the news yesterday that the 26-year-old Honnold and the 47-year-old1 Florine shattered the record with a time of 2:23:46. For an excellent photo recap of the day be sure to check out Tom Evans’ El Cap Report from yesterday.
All you need to speed climb on The Nose
Photo: Hans Florine on Facebook
On a related note, Alex Honnold’s exlpoits of late have gotten the attention of the mainstream press as evidenced by this piece on him that ran in the Saturday edition of The New York Times:
The encounter with the silverfish was the latest twist for Honnold, whose feats over the past few years have made him the country’s most renowned rock climber. He has been featured on 60 Minutes, pictured on the cover of National Geographic magazine, and now earns six figures a year from speaking engagements and sponsors like The North Face, La Sportiva and Black Diamond. Honnold has become the closest thing to a celebrity that American rock climbing offers, with fawning fans who rush in to take pictures and get autographs.
- Now 48 as of today ↩
six figures a year!?
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Is that really surprising?
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A few weeks ago Honnold teamed up with older legend Tommy Caldwell and did something badass. Then Honnold did it again faster by himself.
Now he’s teamed up with old legend Hans Florine for something badass, is he going to do it faster by himself next week? Crazy, but it IS Alex Honnold
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Well, the reason he and Tommy were “slow” was because they were actually free climbing. It seems pretty improbable that he could aid/free the nose any faster by himself than he would with a partner.
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All hail the new kings! I’m just glad they got up and are safe. Dangerous stuff.
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Older legend Tommy Caldwell? Ha!
Older than what?
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i guess he’s not OLD old. Just half-generation older than Honnold.
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Alex Honnold is a beast. He is constantly doing headline worthy climbs. I think someone should dare him to break Dan Osman’s free speed record on Lover’s Leap.
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Why so he can die trying to re-create that dangerously stupid dyno on a 5.7?
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you have to admit, that dyno was pretty sick.
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It might be better if someone dared him to give up soloing
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Is the idea that he should quit while he’s ahead (i.e., alive, with awesome solos already under his belt) or that he really should not have taken such extreme risks in the first place? I’d like to hear some justification for either position . . .
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I think the reason why it sits uncomfortably with many is because of the publicity that he is receiving for pushing grades in free-soloing. Don’t get me wrong—he has done some sick stuff, all of which I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about.
In order to maintain a six-figure income for doing nothing but climbing tall shit, traveling, then talking to people about it (god that sounds like the life, doesn’t it?), he is required to push the limits of the sport, as well as his personal capabilities, further and further. Which, we should all agree, is a pretty amazing thing to do with one’s life.
The unfortunate realization is that if he continues to push himself too close to his personal limits, he has an increased likelihood to fall victim to factors beyond his control, such as unexpected fatigue, polished foot hold, a bad-night’s sleep etc. And if he falls without a rope, HE DIES! Which, of course, is the definition of free-soloing. God forbid it happen on a live ABC coverage over Niagara Falls (maybe they will make him wear a tether-line too?)
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Who can even say where his limit is but himself. As outsiders of his head, it’s almost impossible to understand what decisions he makes in terms of risk management before deciding to free solo something more bold than has ever been done before. I love watching him reinvent what we think is possible without a rope, and I would love for him to keep doing it, but I also want him to live through it. It is all that I can do but think that he alone knows what his limits are and how far to push them. In interviews he seems to have a lot of personal insight about his abilities and risks he takes. In the end I can only trust his decisions.
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All things you mentioned are within his control. Quit or die. When it happens it cannot be called an accident. I just hope he gets to enjoy his final seconds. When he goes he might as well go big. Donny Osman did.
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Incredible accomplishment. It is somewhat unfortunate that the big news maker in the sport is making news by pushing the limits soloing. Not the most healthy direction for the sport. With Chris Sharma and Tommy Caldwell… It seemed to put the sport in a better light…. In any case, to each their own.
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The world is over populated so as cruel as it seems extreme sports joins war, famine, disease, car accidents, religion, weather, geology, murder, and suicide as a means of direct population control. Had all of these never existed the geometric increase in world population today would have put us over the brink. Come on Dean Potter give it another go and don;t jam your ascender this time.
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