In December, I聽wrote about聽Alex Honnold for the cover of 国产吃瓜黑料, ahead of his planned ropeless climb of Taiwan鈥檚 1,667-foot Taipei 101 tower, now the world鈥檚 fifth tallest building. Sender Films had recently sold the project to the National Geographic Channel as a live television special. It was going to be the biggest thing yet for the 28-year-old nomadic climber, who鈥檇 already been featured on聽聽for his life-or-death free-solo climbs in Yosemite. It would also arguably be the most significant media events in rock-climbing history.
Then the whole thing kinda fell apart. The building climb was postponed indefinitely after the adults at National Geographic began to worry about things like safety and liability. There had been talk of putting mattress-like crash pads on the balconies among the thousand other details that needed to be sorted out if this was to be as big as Discovery鈥檚 Nik Wallenda live high-wire acts or Red Bull鈥檚 Stratos stunt.
Lost in all of the hype鈥攁nd聽one really awkward photo鈥攚as the fact that Honnold remains a remarkable climber who鈥檚 doing more than anyone to push the boundaries of his sport. For those of you interested in following his career, the time to get excited isn鈥檛 when the dog-and-pony show鈥攁s professional climbers call it鈥攊s in full effect, but when Honhold disappears. This is how he鈥檚 done most of his amazing free-solo climbs in Zion and Yosemite national parks. So it went on聽January 15, when Honnold made the first free-solo ascent of Mexico鈥檚 1,500-foot 5.12+ Sendero Luminoso. With him was a minimal crew of friends and cameramen. The climb was among the most difficult and committing routes that anybody has ever dared to climb without a rope. It also provided the material for a very successful North Face viral video.
Honnold鈥檚 next feat鈥攖he Fitz Roy Traverse, in Patagonia, with Tommy Caldwell鈥攈ad almost no commercial application (or advertisement). That climb took five days, between February 12 and 16, and was聽听产测 Alpinist magazine. (The late Chad Kellogg聽was on Fitz Roy at the same time.) It was just one of those pure climbing feats that reminds everyone what a guy like Alex is really about: Knocking off some of the most difficult routes on earth, in the most outrageous style, and making enough money doing it to avoid washing dishes or guiding clients.