Alex Honnold

At the latest since today, Alex Honnold knows what is the opposite of free solo: The “Press Walk” of the International Mountain Summit. The 32-year-old can neither move freely nor is he alone. On the Plose, the home mountain of Bressanone in South Tyrol, about sixty reporters, camera men and photographers are bustling around the American top climber. “Crazy,” says the 32-year-old with a smile in his face. Since 3 June, his name resounds not only throughout insiders of the climbing scene but worldwide. On that day he pushed into a new dimension. Alex succeeded the first free solo – means climbing alone and without any rope – through the legendary 900-meter-high granite wall of El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley. He climbed via the route “Freerider”, which had been opened by Alexander Huber in 1995 and had been free climbed for the first time by Alexander and his brother Thomas in 1998. For comparison, the ascent with ropes for belaying had taken the Huber brothers more than 15 hours.

Modern nomad

Up for every fun

Alex Honnold does not correspond to the stereotype of an extreme climber. He wears his hair short, does not drink alcohol, does not smoke and is a vegetarian. For many years he has been living as a modern nomad, quite modest in a mobile home which he uses to drive from rock wall to rock wall. For five years, he has been supporting with his foundation environmental projects around the world. Despite his coup on the El Capitan, he does not show any airs and graces.

Already during the ascent to the mountain restaurant Rossalm, where the organizers of the IMS have scheduled a press conference with Honnold, I manage to ask Alex some questions – according to the motto “walk and talk”.

Alexander and Thomas Huber as well as Tommy Caldwell compared your free solo on El Capitan with the first moon landing. How did you personally feel after having completed your project?

I found it similar. As a younger person I dreamt that would be the craziest thing I’ve ever done. But then, as I actually did it, I felt relatively normal because I spent so much time preparing that it felt like reasonable. I mean it was really special to me, but did feel like relatively normal. Anyway it’s complicated. I wouldn’t have been able to do something like that if I didn’t make it feel normal. But at the same time climbing El Cap without rope feels pretty crazy.

Alex Honnold: Pretty crazy

Was there any moment of doubt during your climb?

No, I was just 100 percent climbing. I wouldn’t have started without being totally committed. I spent a lot of time working on it. I spent nine years actually dreaming about it.

Many people wonder whether free solo climbs are responsible, especially this one in a 900-meter-high, extremely steep wall. What do yo answer them?

I thought it was responsible. I was going to make good decisions, doing my best. I think I’m pretty intentional about the risks that I’m going to take.

Alex Honnold: Intentional about the risks

Was it for you a kind of life project?

For me, it was very much like a life dream, definitely the biggest inspiration in my whole life.

Climbers on El Capitan

After having fulfilled this long dream, did you have to go through a mental valley?

I don’t know. If so, I am in the valley right now, because it was only a couple of months ago and I am still a sort of processing and looking for my next inspiration, what my next project is. There is a film about it coming next year. I am still talking about El Cap all the time. It doesn’t feel like the past.

You did a lot of amazing climbs before this free solo, for example the Fitz Traverse along with Tommy Caldwell. For this climb in Patagonia in February 2014, you were later awarded the Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar of the climbers”. How do you value the free solo on El Capitan if you compare it with the Fitz Traverse.

I mean, the Fitz Traverse was an amazing climbing experience, because it was with Tommy. He is a great friend, a great partner. The Fitz Traverse has never been like my big lifetime dream whereas freerider was something I was thinking about for years and years. Freerider was my personal private dream, the Fitz Traverse was more Tommy’s idea, because I had never been in Patagonia so I didn’t have any special agenda. Tommy said, we should do this. Then we did and it was an amazing experience, but I hadn’t built it up ahead that time.

What exactly did you to prepare for your free solo on El Capitan?

For many years beforehand it was more the mental, the imagining, the dreaming, the thinking about whether it was possible. And the last year beforehand, it was more the physical preparation, memorizing the moves, the rehearsal, and the actual training to get fit.

So you had every step of this climb in your mind before you started into the wall?

I had definitely every step that matters. Not the easy stuff, but the hard stuff I had fully memorized.

What was mentally the most difficult part of the climb?

Probably the biggest step was just believing that it’s possible. Because for years I thought how amazing it would be to do it but never really thought that I could. So I think the biggest mental step was like believing that I actually could and then starting the actual work.

Alex Honnold: The biggest step

And when you set off into the wall, you left everything behind?

I wouldn’t have started unless I was ready. By the time I got into the wall everything was in order.

“Compared with El Cap, the Dolomites look like pieces of garbage”, says Alex

Why did you choose “Freerider” and not another route?

It’s the easiest route on El Cap. (laughs) It’s not that easy but the other ones would have been harder.

Thomas Huber told me, he hoped that you would now stop free soloing because you probably die if you continue to push your limits.

I agree, if you constantly push, it gets more and more dangerous. But Alex (Huber), for example, was constantly pushing himself in different ways but staying safe. I think it’s possible to continue the challenge yourself without going to far.

Alex Honnold: Not going too far

So it was not your last free solo?

No, I did some in the Dolomites a couple of days ago, (laughs) but very easy ones. I think in my mind the free solo on El Cap was the hardest thing ever, because I can’t really think about anything more inspiring. But in the past, like in the last ten years, when I thought of things that were hard and I was proud of, I always had six months or a year between things that I was excited on. So we’ll see.

Tommy Caldwell in Chamonix

Tommy Caldwell is on a roll. The 36-year-old American and his compatriot Alex Honnold won this year’s Piolet d’Or, the “Oscar for climbers”, for their success in completing the so called “Fitz Traverse” in Patagonia, a more than five kilometers long climbing route over seven summits and some razor sharp ridges. And Tommy is a prime candidate for next year’s award too. Last January he and Kevin Jorgeson free-climbed for the first time the extremely difficult about 900-meter-high route Dawn Wall on El Capitan in Yosemite – a real milestone in big wall climbing. I talked to Tommy about both climbs.

Tommy, you and Alex Honnold were awarded the Piolet d’Or for succeeding the Fitz Traverse in Patagonia. How did you experience this outstanding climb?

It was definitely a hard climb for me. It was so outside of everyday life. So if you look back at it, it doesn’t seem real. It wasn’t something I had planned. We went to Patagonia not knowing what we were going to climb. That was one idea, but I thought it was too big, I never thought we could do it. But then there was a big weather window and we decided to just go big.

For Alex, it was the first time that he was on expedition in Patagonia. What was it like for you to climb with him the Fitz Traverse?

It was amazing. He is the ultimate climbing partner. I knew that his skills would transfer from Yosemite to Patagonia really well. He doesn’t like being cold, I was a little worried about that. But since the experience was so intense and amazing, he was okay dealing with the cold a few days.  Sometimes we were going a mile and not even seeing each other because we were on opposite sides of the rope. Our systems are so dialed that we don’t have to say a word to each other.

Tommy and Alex on the Fitz Traverse

Is it possible to compare the Fitz Traverse in Patagonia and the Dawn Wall in Yosemite that you free-climbed in team with Kevin Jorgeson at the turn of the year?

They are so different in style. I trained very hard for the Dawn Wall. For seven years it was on the top of my mind the whole time. That training prepared me for Patagonia well, but the style of climbing was so different. The Fitz Traverse just happened, it wasn’t really a plan. The Dawn Wall was very planned, I focused all my energy into that. There we had people bringing us food and tons of gear when we were up there for all this time. The Fitz Traverse was completely the opposite. We had one 25 liter and one 335 liter backpack, just barely enough food, only one sleeping bag.

Caldwell: So different in style

What does it mean to you to have succeeded free-climbing the Dawn Wall?

It means that this relationship that I have had for seven years is ending. It’s hard actually. A lot of people would think that the end of this goal is a great moment. For me it was good because I reached my goal, but this life driving force that I had for so long is no longer there.

So, are you now going through a valley?

(He laughs) Yeah, probably. I’m working on writing a book now. So I have something to focus my energy into. That’s how I am, I always find a goal and I very intensely pursue that. So right now I have to write a book, but I’m expecting at some point to go through a bit of a valley. I’m sure.

Tommy Caldwell (l.) in the Dawn Wall

You were 19 days in the wall. What was the hardest during this climb?

The hardest part of the Dawn Wall for me was actually the preparation before the climb: trying to figure out ways to better climbing, sometimes feeling like it wasn’t working. Once we got on the wall for that 19-day-push, things went really well for me. My partner on the other hand struggled; he wasn’t nearly as prepared as I was. He struggled pretty hard, so I waited around. I had to become very good support for him, which was fun for me too. I wouldn’t say it was a hard experience, but there were moments where we worried about whether we were going to make it together.

Caldwell: The hardest part was the preparation

When Kevin had problems, did you think for a moment that you would have to do it alone?

Luckily I never had to come to that. I didn’t want to top out without Kevin. I don’t know honestly whether I would have done it if he had given up completely. He might have told me that I have to continue.

If two climbers have done such an amazing thing together, does it change the attitude between them? Are you now another kind of friends?

Every climbing relationship is different. Alex Honnold is the kind of person I would call if I was having a hard time in life. He is like a really close friend. Kevin is also a close friend but in a very different way. We pretty much only talk when we are climbing together. But when we are climbing together, it works so well and it’s so amazing.  I admire Kevin so much, but it’s almost more like a business relationship whereas most of my other climbing partners, it’s like deep friendship, almost like family.

Caldwell about climbing relationships

There was a little bit of criticism about the great media coverage of your climb. Cameramen were hanging in the wall. There was a video live stream during the last days. What would you answer to these critics?

I would say that this media coverage was not something that we sought out at all, it just happened. We were open to it, we allowed it to happen, but it was not by design at all. It was purely because so many people were interested. There was a point when they said: There are going to be a lot of reporters on top when you get up there. And I said: I don’t really want that. But you can’t control it. Yosemite is a public place. People can come if they want.

They did it: Caldwell (l.) and Jorgeson

What do you answer people who say: This man is crazy doing such things?

Nobody says that. (He laughs) The whole process of climbing the Dawn Wall was such a life driving force for me that I think, if you were in my head the whole time you would totally understand it. But most people won’t, so I don’t expect them to understand it.

Did you close the chapter Yosemite after having finished your Dawn Wall project?

Yosemite always has been and will be part of my life. I don’t know if I pursue giant projects like the Dawn Wall anymore, but I am going to continue to go to Yosemite. I live in Colorado physically, but my heart is in Yosemite.

You lost one finger in an accident with a table saw in 2001. How is it possible to do such extreme climbs with only nine fingers?

When I chopped off my finger, I was already a quite serious climber. I didn’t want to lose professionally climbing as my way to live, and so I became very focused and dedicated at a kind of overcoming that injury. It made me mentally stronger. The biggest growth in my climbing I think was right after chopping off my finger. I was a sport climber and a boulderer before and I started to gravitate more towards big wall and mountains, because I knew that I could never be the best competition climber with nine fingers. Big wall climbing is a bit less finger strength intense.

You have also been on expedition to high mountains. In 2000, in Kirghizstan you were kidnapped. Was this an experience that made you avoid expeditions to high mountains?

No. What happened in Kirghizstan had nothing to do with the fact that we were even in the mountains. We got into the middle of a political struggle.

Tommy with his wife Rebecca and son Fitz

But it was very narrow for you.

Yes, but I am still going to save high mountains in the world. I think I don’t go to very high mountains because of avalanche danger. I have 25 friends in my life that have died in high mountains. I am a dad. I want to live a long time. So I pick climbs that I feel that the danger is more controllable.

So, no 8000 meter peaks?

I don’t have it in my plans. But if I find a beautiful route on a 8000 meter peak that I felt like was not in danger of rock fall, big avalanches, big crevasse danger, I would climb it.

You are a husband and father. Has this made you more cautious?

I think I view my life through a lens of having people who rely on me. I feel a lot of responsibility to be there for them. So, as I said, I pick climbs where I feel like the objective hazards are manageable. I don’t want to die in the mountains.

Caldwell:I don’t want to die in the mountains

P.S. I made this interview with Tommy already in April, at the Piolet d’Or celebrations in Chamonix. But when I actually wanted to publish it, the strong earthquake hit Nepal and I had to cover this tragedy…

“Who wants to be a madman?”

Hansjoerg Auer

Like Honnold, the Austrian top climber Hansjoerg Auer has already made headlines with free solo projects. For instance in 2007, when he climbed – solo and without ropes – the difficult “Fish Route” via the Marmolada South Face in the Dolomites. Regarding this, he had never problems with his sponsors, the 30-year-old wrote to me: “However, I have never pushed the theme ‘free solo’ in the media. I did not want to be fully identified with this topic. In Europe, things are different. In America heroes are created by doing high-risk sports. As a free solo climber in Austria you are seen more as a madman than a hero. And who wants to be a madman?“ Auer takes the view that Clif Bar certainly has the right to decide not to support free solo climbers, base jumpers or high-liners. “But I don’t understand that it happened so suddenly“, says Hansjoerg. “The protagonists have been known for being engaged in risky sports for many years.“ The Austrian pleads that top climbers should not always be asked about the sense of their actions: “There is basically no justification for free solo climbing, and it is also not necessary to search for it. Those who do not understand why climbers do that, should be interested in something else.“

Reinhold Messner

This man seems to be ageless. How on earth does Reinhold Messner do it? The first man who climbed all 14 eight-thousanders, responds with his motto from Tibetan: “Kalipé” – with steady feet.  Ahead of his 70th birthday on Wednesday, I called him at home in South Tyrolia.

Reinhold Messner, how will you celebrate your birthday?

It will be a private birthday party, in no way a public one. There is a time and a place. I can tell you that I have invited my friends to bivouac. For the last time, at the age of 70, I will spend the night after the party outdoor, under the stars, in the sleeping bag. Most of my friends will do the same, all the others will drive to the hotel in the valley.

So, you are about to turn 70-years-old, it’s quite a milestone. How are you faring? Are you happy with life?

We don’t carry happiness around with us all the time, sometimes it just happens inside of us or around us. I have it easier these days, because I have nothing more to prove. I’m not in a rush anymore, either, but I am still active. I am very lucky that my knees still work and my joints are all okay. I have had to sacrifice a bit: like a damaged heel bone, missing toes, but otherwise, for my age, I am not going too badly. I have a lot of ideas to fill the next years, to have a worthwhile life and to be happy.

Does it happen, that you are sitting in the sun at Juval castle just day-dreaming?

Yes, sometimes, with my wife and children in the evening sun, but not as a habit. I am someone who is active, who is creating ideas and is completely absorbed in doing this. It’s perhaps one of my best models of success that I can internalize an idea so that it is growing in day and night dream, up to maturity. However, an idea in your head is only a castle in the air, but still not an adventure. But if it has turned into reality, there is something that I call a flow. Then I’m fully myself, everything is flowing. And that makes me happy.

Which goals would you like to pursue in the next decade of your life?

In the next few years I definitely want to apply myself to my mountain museum and make sure that it survives. I want that to be a lasting legacy. My farms are very important to me too. And I’d like to work as a film maker too, like an author. I want to go out with an idea, into the wild and collect pictures which then tell a strong story on the screen.

Messner (l.) with Peter Habeler (in 1975)

The Spaniard Carlos Soria is in the Himalayas at the moment. He wants to climb Shishapangma. It will be the 12th of the 14 mountains over 8000 meters that he has managed. The man is 75-years-old. Are you happy that you managed to do all that by your early 40s?

I am especially pleased that I managed to get it all done before anyone else was on these mountains. Back then you just had to get a permit for your expedition and your group, whether you were alone, a pair, or whether there were five of you, just worked their way up by themselves. I am lucky to have been born early enough, that I could still experience mountains in their purest form.  These days 20,000 people try to climb the Matterhorn each year, and Mont Blanc is even worse. The mountains are now designed for mass tourism.

Earlier this year 500 Sherpas were preparing Mountain Everest so that thousands of clients could pay a lot of money to climb the mountain. Then there was an accident and 16 Sherpas died in an avalanche. It was like a type of industrial accident, I suppose you could say. There was a strike and the tourists went home. But next year they will come again. I hope that everyone can have the chance to climb these mountains, but what is going on here has little to do with real mountaineering. It is tourism – sure it’s hard work and it’s a bit dangerous – but the responsibility for the safety of the climb is being pushed onto the locals. This is all about showing off what you have done, and nothing to do with your experience of nature.

Do you think that last spring’s avalanche will change climbing on Everest?

So far there have been travel agencies from New Zealand, the United States, Switzerland or Germany which have been bringing their clients to the Himalayas and paying the Sherpas who prepare the route. This happens not only on Everest but on all 14 eight-thousanders. Because the clients believe that these 14 mountains have a particular prestige.

The young Sherpas have done the dirty work – the dangerous that caused the death of 16 Sherpas in the Khumbu Icefall. They say: If we lead the way and prepare the route at great risk, we also want to get the deal and don’t want to leave the profit to the Western agencies.

Do you expect that many Everest candidates will stay at home due to the events during the last spring season ?

Quite the contrary! There will be even more candidates because the Sherpas will prepare the piste in a better way again. It was clear for three or four years that such a disaster would happen sooner or later. I’m sorry to say that there is a joint guilt of the Sherpas. They prepared the route at the weakest point of the Icefall where the difficulties are at their lowest levels but the risk is greatest. That’s not really clever.

Messner at his Mountain Museum near Bolzano

If you were giving advice to a young, adventure-seeking mountain climber these days, what would you tell him or her?

The young people have to find their own way. I wouldn’t be able to account for all that I did, when I was a 20-year-old. But I see some young climbers, who are traditional climbers achieving great things: Such as Hansjoerg Auer who climbed a 7500-meter-high peak in the Karakoram via a terribly difficult route. Or David Lama who climbed Cerro Torre free, without the bolts of Cesare Maestri. Or Alex Honnold who traversed the whole Fitz Roy group with dozens of peaks.
There are tens of thousands of peaks on the planet that haven’t been climbed. There are hundreds of thousands of different routes up the mountains that can be explored in the next years. The young climbers have learned that they don’t need to go to the famous mountains. The key, if you want to experience an adventure, is to go where the others haven’t been, so that you can decide things for yourself and you are responsible for yourself.

How high can you climb these days?

I haven’t tested it out. But in the last few years I climbed above 6000 meters a few times. I feel better up there than I do at normal altitude. I don’t know why. Perhaps in the next ten years I will regularly start going to Nepal or to the Himalayas, just for the health benefits. There was a case of a very sick man – I won’t say who it was – who had done some amazing 8000 meter climbs with his wife in his lifetime. The doctors had given up on him. He went to the Himalayas, to see his mountains for the last time and perhaps to die there. He then climbed an 8000 meter peak and he came down healthy. This medical wonder should be an incentive to researchers to not just think about the mountains as somewhere where adventurers like to play, but also as a place to potentially heal sick people.

Nowadays, I certainly wouldn’t climb Everest without bottled oxygen. At my age I don’t want to die in the mountains, after working for 65 years to do everything I can to not die there.  To head up Everest with two oxygen bottles and two Sherpas, one at the front and one at the back, is not my idea of fun.