Alex Honnold: World-renowned free-solo rock climber, subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, who scaled El Capitan ropeless. He recently climbed Taipei 101 live on Netflix and runs the Honnold Foundation for community solar projects.
What this episode covers
Steven Bartlett interviews climber Alex Honnold about his unglamorous early years living in a van on a few hundred dollars a month, and how two decades of relentless practice, not a special fearless brain, made him the world's greatest climber. They dig into fear as something you manage rather than eliminate, exposure therapy, and Honnold's philosophy of taking intentional, calculated risks instead of the unchosen risks most people accept. The conversation covers his recent live Taipei 101 climb, the role of breaking big goals into small pieces, compounding effort over time, and why value creation precedes money. It closes on his marriage, his wife Sanni's letter about how he loves through attention and acts of service, and the Honnold Foundation's solar work.
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Free Solo
Jimmy Chin & Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
“Which is where the film Free Solo comes in. And then eventually you do this thing.”— Steven Bartlett
Big reveals from this episode
- His father died suddenly of a heart attack at 55, which sharpened Honnold's sense of mortality and shaped his whole approach to risk.
- Says the famous Free Solo brain scan is misunderstood: his amygdala just responded less to black-and-white photos in an fMRI after 20 years of being scared while climbing, not a structural difference.
- Addresses the press furor over his Taipei 101 pay; says he found the amount embarrassingly large for the climbing world and would have done it for free.
- Recounts a recent argument with his wife about love languages, she needs verbal affection while he shows love through acts of service.
- Asked his dream final climb, names free-soloing the Yosemite 'triple' (El Capitan, Half Dome, Mount Watkins) in a day, never done, a 'next generation achievement'.
- Reveals his scariest moments were mostly with a rope on, including a 2017 Antarctica expedition where he spent rest days 'totally traumatized,' spooning Nutella in the tent.
- In a live grip-strength test he scored about 50 kg, lower than Bartlett's 62, proving climbing strength is task-specific, not raw grip.
Worth remembering
- Honnold lived in a van for 10 years (roughly ages 20-30), buying a $10k van and doing three progressively nicer interior buildouts.
- His first North Face sponsorship paid about $10k a year, and earnings stayed in the $10k-$100k range for years before Free Solo.
- He climbed El Capitan around 60 times over years before free-soloing it; the documentary only shows the final two years of an eight-plus-year process.
- His 2008 Half Dome free solo, done with minimal preparation, nearly unraveled near the top when he panicked on a ledge above a ~1,800-foot drop.
- On Taipei 101 a bolted-on security camera served as a crucial handhold, sparing him an extreme jump move.
- His wife Sanni's letter describes him moving 'like a hawk,' arguing that his unusual ability to truly see the world is itself a form of love.
- He notes humans have explored only 0.001% of the deep sea, which makes up two-thirds of the planet.
- The Honnold Foundation has given over $13M to 130+ community solar projects in 30 countries, impacting 650,000 people and protecting 15 million acres of forest.
- He has donated roughly a third of his annual income since 2012, covering the foundation's overhead so all outside donations go straight to projects.