Alex Honnold Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

Alex Honnold          

"Free Solo" Professional Rock Climber, Environmental Advocate & Host of the "Climbing Gold" Podcast

The only human to free solo Yosemite’s 3000 foot rock monolith, El Capitan. No rope, climbing alone. More people will walk on the moon than will do what Alex Honnold has done. His extremely rare skill and unmatched mental focus have helped make him climbing’s transcendent, breakout star, inspiring millions around the world.

Beyond his 2017 history-making ascent of El Cap, dramatically documented in the Oscar-winning film "Free Solo," Honnold is simply one of the hardest working, certainly most accomplished, and greatest climbers to ever live. His feats have blown the doors wide open on the sport of climbing, placing him at the front of mainstream media like 60 Minutes, The New York Times, and the cover of National Geographic. Honnold continues to push himself, building on a singular resume highlighted by speed records on The Nose, the famous 24 hour “Triple Solo” of Mt. Watkins, Half Dome and El Capitan, and cutting-edge expeditions in Antarctica, South America, Greenland and elsewhere.

Humble and self-effacing, he is deeply appreciative of the position he holds in culture and uses it for the greater good. In 2012, Honnold founded the Honnold Foundation, an environmental non-profit that provides grants to organizations advancing solar energy access all over the world. Their vision was simple: to improve lives and reduce environmental impact. In 2021 alone, Honnold Foundation supported 44 communities across 17 countries, all focused on community-centered innovation catalyzed by solar energy.

Honnold is always looking for opportunities to share stories from the sport he loves. A host of the Climbing Gold Podcast, Honnold explores the unique stories of climbing culture that originally drew him to the sport. Recently he’s led several environmentally-focused documentary and TV projects, putting his climbing skills to use by reaching hard to get to corners of the earth.

Honnold lives in Las Vegas with wife Sanni and his daughters June and Alice.

Speech Topics


Mastering Your Craft

Preparation

Risk Management

Books


News


Learning to Live With Fear
If you defy death — and gravity — enough, everyday life stops being so scary.
Alex Honnold Isn’t Fearless—He Just Accepts Death
Every time he does one of his heart-stopping climbs, Alex Honnold defies gravity – and death. Like Spider Man, he can climb almost vertical surfaces, using only his hands and feet. Widely regarded as the world’s best free solo climber, he holds numerous speed records, notably for El Capitan, in Yosemite. In recent years, he has lost close friends to fatal accidents. He insists that he is no adrenaline junkie. Yet, as he explains in his new book, Alone On The Wall: Alex Honnold And The Ultimate Limits Of Adventure, he is determined to keep pushing the envelope of the sport he loves, despite the dangers...
Exclusive: Climber Completes the Most Dangerous Rope-Free Ascent Ever
Renowned rock climber Alex Honnold on Saturday became the first person to scale the iconic nearly 3,000-foot granite wall known as El Capitan without using ropes or other safety gear, completing what may be the greatest feat of pure rock climbing in the history of the sport...
Alex Honnold Scales El Capitan Without Ropes, And The Climbing World Reels
Alex Honnold has shocked the sport of climbing by reaching the peak of El Capitan without using ropes, climbing one of the world's largest monoliths in less than four hours with little gear other than a bag of chalk...

Related Speakers View all


More like Alex