Rock Climber Alex Honnold’s 10 Most Impressive, Death-Defying Climbs

The Nose of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park

Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell made history together at El Capitan on the Nose. After setting two speed records on the peak—finishing in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 51 seconds, and then 2 hours, 1 minute, 50 seconds—the duo finished the climb in under two hours. Honnold’s climb set another speed record with a time of 1 hour, 58 minutes, 7 seconds.  

El Niño Route, Yosemite National Park

Record-breaking and record-setting climbs for Alex Honnold at Yosemite National Park are becoming routine for the climber. After his incredible climb documented in Free Solo, Honnold was back at the park, this time going for the El Niño route on El Capitan and doing a free ascent with his climbing partner Brad Gobright, making them just the second pair to ever do it.

Read more about Honnold’s climb here.

 

 

 

 

 

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@alexhonnold and I just sent El Niño on El Cap last night! We started at 4pm soon after the wall got into the shade and topped out in the beautiful sunrise of this morning. It was a brutal 14.5 hour ascent with six pitches of 5.13, five pitches of 5.12 and plenty of 5.10 and 5.11 pitches. We took the Pineapple Express variation put up by Alex and @sonnietrotter which allows all of El Niño to go free. The ascent was full of grunting, groaning and the occasional scream. Alex has done almost no outside climbing this year but still crushed it with only a few falls on the soaking wet 13a pitch at the very top. I had a bit more trouble but still managed to send route. Alex ended up leading most of the hardest pitches but I’m still really psyched for how things turned out. I was almost certain I’d have to save this climb for the colder and drier conditions of next Fall. Even in the night this route was pretty warm. Today my body is super wrecked and I think I’ll be feeling this way for a while longer. I’ll probably just be napping, eating and basking in the send glory for the next couple days. @gramicci_climb @evolv_worldwide @frictionlabs

A post shared by Brad Gobright (@bradgobright) on Jun 11, 2019 at 12:37pm PDT

Moonlight Buttress, Zion National Park

One of Honnold’s early achievements was a free solo ascent of the Moonlight Buttress, a 1,200-foot climb in Zion National Park. Honnold finished off the climb in just 83 minutes. 

“For me, the entire [Moonlight] is pure fingers…awesome, glorious fingers,” Honnold said to Climbing.com in an interview. “In a lot of ways it was less heady than stuff in the Valley, because it’s straight finger crack—it’s more secure. There is some face climbing, but it feels crisp—it feels secure.”

Fitz Roy Traverse, Monte Fitz Roy, Los Glaciares National Park, Patagonia, Argentina-Chile border

In 2014, along with climber Tommy Caldwell, Honnold completed the first-ever ascent of the Fitz Roy Traverse. The complicated route includes climbing on seven peaks, including Aguja Guillaumet, Aguja Mermoz, Cerro Fitz Roy, Aguja Poincenot, Aguja Rafael Juárez, Aguja Saint-Exupery, and Aguja S, according to Gripped.com.

University Wall, Stawamus Chief Mountain, Canada

In 2014, Honnold made the first-ever free solo ascent of the University Wall on Stawamus Chief Mountain, known as “The Chief.” Honnold finished the climb in less than two hours.

“I climbed the U Wall on my first trip to Squamish something like eight years ago,” Honnold told Alpinist.com. “It’s always represented that burly crack climbing style to me. It’s like the hardman version of Astroman. I’d wanted to solo it [during] other seasons in Squamish, but it’s often wet so I’d never had the opportunity. This year I had good conditions and actually felt up to it.”

Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

Honnold once made a free solo climb in 2 hours and 50 minutes for this route at Half Dome in 2008, and then in 2012, he smashed that record by doing it in 1 hour and 50 minutes, according to Climbing.com.

'Yosemite Triple’ - El Capitan, Half Dome, and Mount Watkins, Yosemite National Park

In June of 2012, Honnold pulled off the “triple” at Yosemite by climbing 7,000-total vertical feet across a route that links through Mount Watkins, El Capitan, and Half Dome. Honnold pulled it off in just 18 hours, 50 minutes, free climbing for all of it except for 500 feet, according to the Matador Network. 

Torre Traverse, Patagonia, Argentina-Chile border

Honnold set a speed record for the Torre Traverse with climber Colin Haley. The climb includes the peaks of Cerro Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger, and Cerro Torre. The duo finished the route in 20 hours, 40 minutes, and they became just the second team of climbers to ever complete the route, according to Climbing.com. 

El Sendero Luminoso, El Potrero Chico, Mexico

Considered one of the more difficult climbs an athlete can tackle, Honnold scaled this 2,500-foot peak in 2014. The North Face described it as what “could be the most difficult ropeless climb in history.” Honnold finished it in just over three hours.  

“It is the most technically demanding and involved big wall I have climbed,” Honnold told Alpinist in an interview.