Alexander Honnold (born August 17, 1985) is an American rock climber best known for his free solo ascents of big walls. His 2017 accomplishment of free soloing El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park, is regarded as one of the greatest athletic achievements of all time.[2][3]
Honnold is the only person to free solo El Capitan,[4] and holds the fastest ascent of the Yosemite triple crown, an 18-hour, 50-minute link-up of Mount Watkins, The Nose, and the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome.[5] Honnold says he likes tall, long routes and that he tries to do them quickly.[1] He is the author (with David Roberts) of the memoir Alone on the Wall (2017) and the subject of the 2018 biographical documentary Free Solo, which won a BAFTA and an Academy Award.
Honnold says he is inspired by such climbers as Peter Croft, John Bachar and Tommy Caldwell, and even more by beautiful sites like El Capitan.[1]