I had long followed Honnold on Facebook and noticed that unlike many pro athletes I follow, he posted not simply stunning photos of himself doing awesome stuff, but lengthy, pithy, musings on the outdoors, environmentalism, and related topics.

This was a good follow up to The New Jim Crow and posed more questions about the United States justice system. What we want is 'Free Solo', 2018, the Oscar winning documentary by directors and cameras Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. I enjoy reading books on mountaineering and climbing even though I would never be able to do the incredible things these athletes do. One of the selling points of this book is that Synnott has known Honnold as a friend for a few years, so he knows him pretty well, but Honnold isn’t exactly elusive, he’s written an autobiography and speaks extensively about his motivations in the movie Free Solo.The author's note at the end explained why the book seemed so disjointed; the chapters are taken from the author's pieces he wrote over the years for different publications.

In 2015, he won a Piolet d'Or in alpine climbing with Tommy Caldwell for their completion of the enchainment (known as the Fitz Traverse) of the Cerro Chaltén Group (or Fitzroy Group) in Patagonia over 5 days. Upon completion there is both the sense of accomplishment, but also the heightened senses from the "fight or flight" response triggered by fear and the gravity of what you are attempting.Honnold is often described in the media as being “humble”—I’ve used that word already in this piece several times and it’s hard to avoid in any profile on Honnold—but more than anything, he is likable.

Despite its outstanding (if slightly silly) cover picture – despite having fine author David Roberts helping him along – it's a book that, for me, doesn't quite do it. If you’ve seen the films where he climbs ropeless thousands of feet above the ground they tell the stories better than this book does. What I attempted was much less challenging by far than even the more mundane of Honnold’s efforts, but I found the same state of mind he describes: the experience is one of concentration, of effort, of exerting oneself’s in a deeply physical, tangible, manner. Oh, and it's also a detailed account of one of the greatest feats in climbing history, by a complex and compelling character, Alex Honnold, so there's that too! You'll come away questioning his sanity for choosing this controversial sport…but it's also impossible not to feel awe.Mark Synnott lives in my community, and it was a pleasure to hear him speak about his life as a climber, an adventurer, and his friendship with Alex Honnold, the subject of the award winning documentary Free Solo. But this book is primarily about the rise and rise of Alex Honnold, who took the discipline of free solo climbing to another level literally. This book was multilayered as it looked into the history of rock climbing, but also the psychological aspects of climbing, risk, and what it means to really live. I just loved climbing, and I've been climbing all the time ever since, so I've naturally gotten better at it, but I've never been gifted. I did not find Alex at all arrogant as many would suggest, I would expect any genius in any field to be confident and in fact I find him quite genuine.

If you know of a book that Alex Honnold has talked about but is not featured on our list, feel free to contact us with the source of the mention, and our editorial team will review it for potential inclusion. Big wall climber and alpinist Mark Synnott, a self-described old silverback to his young alpha climbing friend of ten years, has enriched this story immeasurably by expanding the scope of the book beyond Honnold to include climbing history, personal memoir, and a cast of colorful characters that includes Alex Lowe, Jimmy Chin, Warren Harding, John Bachar and Dean Potter, as well as stories of climbs and expeditions around the world. Why do something where beyond much question, any wrong move or simple mishap could lead to certain death? I ended up not finishing and skipping around since overall, I ended up with an actual dislike for Alex, the main subject.

A very interesting book on the world of climbing, with a focus on Alex Honnold and his successful free solo of El Capitan in Yosemite. the first-ever at that grade), [3] a climb described in the New York Times as "one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever. In 2016, he was subjected to functional magnetic resonance imaging scans that revealed that, unlike other high sensation seekers, [24] his amygdala barely activates when watching disturbing images.