Free Solo Climber: My Scariest Moment & How To Conquer Your Fears

[@HighPerformancePodcast]

Huel 👉 Claim your FREE t-shirt HERE: my.huel.com/hpblack

[@andrethompson2034]

I just climbed into bed to watch this because I'm a fan of Alex. I did free solo the route and made it safely to my pillow.

[@NPC-fl3gq]

Did you onsight it!?

[@tristvnn]

V2 in my gym

[@tuftofflowers]

Thank you so much for having Alex in your podcast. Listening to him is always a joy! And oh boy do I appreciate his sense of humor

[@erkkamykkanen]

Finally! Just a sh*tload of spesific questions for Alex Honnold about climbing El Cap. Thanks.

[@OM6_1UKE]

Glad he’s finally decided to talk about it

[@formfeelfn]

this was a brilliant conversation. I love how straight forward and honest Alex is. such a genuine and immensely talented guy. Free Solo got me into climbing and so all I can do is thank him for the inspiration.

[@darringrey4329]

Talent?? As in God given talent ? He mentioned 5days a week for 20years talent sells his story short as though sum strawman gave him climbing skills

[@bradwade5331]

Alex is the best ,every interview he does is great he is straightforward no bullshit and has a very dry sense of humour,i have never been interested in climbing myself but love watching his videos .

[@stevenandrade9144]

I love their very deep probing questions that Alex almost perfectly never fully answers for them and you can kind of sense their let down but also their understanding that Alex wasn’t going to give it to them. Love Alex. Interview was still great. Thanks guys.

[@GordonMacRae-d7d]

Congratulations Gents, superb interview. Alex is always a wonderful erudite interviewee and always gives great honest feedback on climbing. You, if you don't mind me saying as non-climbers, asked some excellent pyscholigical and alternative questions that elicited some really interesting answers. He and Dave Macleod, I humbly think, are the foremost climbers that really provide analytical, clear and incredibly informative answers to the many questions we all have. Great work. 👍

[@markjt193]

Beautiful interview. He's a refreshingly open and intelligent guy. The insight that fear is normal even for Alex Honnold was inspiring.

[@user-zv6vu8so8x]

I'm a big sports fan, football in particular but Alex is got to be up there pound for pound. What he does is nothing but miraculous! Unbelievable physicality meets unchallenged and unmatched mental focus and strength. Not sure if I can find the words to do him justice!

[@speakeasy_radio]

My palms were sweating whilst listening to the stories. Incredible.

[@InvertedFreeSolo]

My hands are literally sweating just hearing him talk about free soloing El Cap. Love hearing his stories. Also his book is fantastic, highly recommend.

[@glassharmonica]

Alex has become a fantastic speaker, and these two gentlemen offer a wonderful interview.

[@joseflemire4284]

Alex is incredibly honest

[@theDunc_1]

That is what I noticed!

[@martinlawrence8427]

Free soloing El Capitan was mind blowing! Love Alex!

[@stephenmccollum1391]

The title of this does the interview a disservice. This is a high level mental discussion. Great detail and information.

[@landonmurray3814]

Didnt hesitate at all saying climbing was number 1 still on his list. Pure soul

[@martinhares3163]

You did a phenomenal job! Very sincere and appropriately introspective!

[@ayyjayy5018]

No matter how rad you want to be, are you that rad? 🐐

[@gregg9216]

Such a metaphor for life. Nothing else puts you in the here and now like climbing (or combat, I reckon). Pushing your physical and mental limits to overcome fear for that reward. Alex is The Master of the game at his level. His insights tell us he is, in fact, still human. Just really, really good at it. Practice, practice, eh... Still, so unbelievable and inspiring. If he can do that, trust me, you can climb your own mountains too... or at least get motivated. Get over some humps, anyway.

[@tomknight217]

Alex soloing El Cap is probably the greatest ‘sporting’ achievement of all time.

[@cm2485]

I love how he just very casually totally annihilated Johnny Wilkinson 😂 Alex is a human treasure

[@KuzinaElizabeth]

Brilliant guest!!! Thanks for the interview, guys! You did a great job!👏👏👏

[@ralphdale3919]

Great interview guys, loved it and fantastic explanations by Alex for non-climbers

[@bonvogayesiri]

"oh, that's a lot of air" was a very funny one mister honnold i appreciate it 😂😂

[@thetotaldepravity]

Good interview. Alex is very articulate and helps us to know what this might feel like.

[@theDunc_1]

Alex is one of my climbing inspirations! One of the coolest things in the world!

[@AGuyCalledHenry]

Epic guest.

[@michaelwood5897]

This is the difference between actual journalistic content rather than podcasters probing for soundbites.

[@Msqump]

Honnold is the one - he's beginning to see the world without time

[@blindgeorged6386]

Autism is one hell of a drug 😂

[@stephenmccollum1391]

Alex is extraordinary

[@souredrum]

for me "the Boulder Problem" is where you see Alex go into autopilot for the " FLOW "

[@annakhable]

In Morocco the locals told me in one day he climbed (with a rope but fuck they are scary) Babel (800m 7c+/8a, with run outs soooooo far apparently sketchy as hell), l'axe du mal (500m 7c+, not as bad as babel butt still hard and scary) and rivieres pourpres (7b+ 500m, climbing opposite it just is sooo imoressive and scary like my friends climbing it seemed like ants, so exposed, pretty much no rests). And a couple of days later he soloed rivieres pourpres. WILD

[@thecollageman3290]

Thank you guys , this was great. Thanks Alex for your honesty

[@franciscobizzaro]

Dude Alex is a shaman warrior. God knows what he did in his past lives to reach this state.

[@Bluth53]

Great guest and interview!

[@MatthewWright-y9t]

Remember seeing him as an awkward introvert he’s come along way

[@YungNitrous]

I just tried rock climbing yesterday. What a cool coincidence. I would like to ask hannold why he prefers climbing without a rope.

[@Melanie-Shea]

It feels like cheating not having to drag around all the stuff and it lets you go faster because you don’t need to stop and deal with gear.

[@Triple_J.1]

Climbing is dangerous even with gear. Lots of people perished with a harness. Free-Solo is for the experts, for a challenge, once they reach a point they can climb all day and not get tired. But they will eventually die doing this. It is a statistical probability based on skill, conditioning, ego, and imperfect human action.

[@WhySoSquid]

Apologies for the uninvited recommendation, but if you're getting into climbing _The Alpinist_ (not sure if it's streaming anywhere right now, but well worth four bucks to rent 🤷) features Honnold and a handful of other known, respected climbers discussing free climbs..and offers some pretty fantastic footage of Marc-André LeClerc free soloing rock, ice, and mixed climbing 💌

[@danielparsons2859]

The great thing about the sport of Free Soloing must be that it is real. Unlike other sports like football, golf, tennis and basketball etc. The pressure on taking a penalty in a world cup penalty shootout or playing a match point in a Grand Slam isn't actually that real when you compare the consequences.

[@gee6940]

Arguably the pressure of taking a penalty in a World Cup final in front of a crowd of 100k people is way way higher than free soloing a comfortable climbing route where you have 0 audience and just the bliss of the birds swooping by and the air whistling through your hair

[@eey8909]

Yeah being uncomfortable in public and feeling anxious or stressed is the same thing as making one wrong move and falling to your death....... Cmon man 🤦

[@gee6940]

@@eey8909 it’s a different kind of pressure tho, being in a flow state and relaxed with the risk of dying is a different kind of pressure to 100k people and 10million people watching you on tv perform one very specific task. I’m not saying kicking a ball is more risky and stressful than free soloing but it’s definitely a different pressure. Almost all free solo climbers climb without anyone watching them, if they fall to their death nobody will know until it hits the news. Different kind of pressures.

[@eey8909]

@@gee6940 Yes we know it's different kind of pressure but the comment above stated realness in free solo where the guys doing it wont get millions or rich and the consequences can't even match the consequences from missing a field goal in front of a bunch of people. And the people who do free solo don't do it for fame, money or for an audience. And they don't do it in front of people most of the times just out of respect and if they fall so the audience/friends/family wont get scarred. That is what the comment above tried to say that the truthfulness and realness about this climbing genre is one of a kind and cant really be compared with any sport. Even comparing climbing with a rope and free solo can't be compared. As Alex Honnold said, "this is a way of life, because you can't train for a year and become a free solo climber ". He has done it all his life just because he loves it both psychologically and physically. Not to become a star or make money. He mastered the craft that no human being has touched that bar/limit until now.

[@nxzstudio8495]

@@gee6940moron

[@silvanonovalis-kj2dx]

Alex is a climbing goat, a very likable person who should devote more time to his daughter. He has nothing else to prove -- he is a superhuman in the Nietzschean sense of the word -- at another level but still human and humble.

[@RiverPaisley]

Great interview.

[@j.o.2359]

6:12-6:14 - “There’s like a flip that switches”.

[@maryesther6513]

This was the most complete interview with Honnold and it was great to hear about specific sections of the route.

[@NPC-fl3gq]

What a humble beast 💪

[@muzorewi]

If you did more research about climbing prior to conducting this interview, you would know to ask about more things than just fear, risk, free soloing etc.

[@silverliningart2183]

33:35 '''when there is a camera crew watching I dont want to be embarrassed by falling to my death

[@isaacharrellmusic]

He’s still alive thank God 🙏🏼

[@mistermxyzptlk7841]

Excellent.

[@ericchild3363]

Excellent, thank you

[@Hopeful_Wanderer]

Too many embedded adverts. I turned it off. I'm paying premium to not have adverts.

[@ericchild3363]

just skip ahead

[@Trev794]

Yh I hate that they seem to think getting paid twice and more adverts than TV is a great way to grown a following . You can go watch 30 pods with this guy as the guest .

[@pinggoestheslacks]

Buy it from the website, not the app 👍🏼

[@And-rc9yy]

Years ago I read a comment just like yours, someone had replied saying "use Brave browser" I checked it out and have used it ever since. I just watched the entire video without any adverts.

[@Digglerdirk79-l4y]

Aww you poor thing.go tell mom boy

[@questionableabsanity]

32:00 the actual feeling of topping out seemed to wipe any memory of his visualisation from the hard drive

[@xJacquelineBx]

'is this quick fire?' lol

[@Bethune_Groundstaff]

4:50 damn right it is let us have it

[@user-kb5fi1hm3u]

Most people only see alex cĺimbing. What they don't look at is his meticulous preparation.

[@Weekend-Raver]

Flip that switchs

[@Panda_SMM]

a flip that switches haha

[@HighPerformancePodcast]

Which climbing story from Alex shocked you the most? 🤯

[@cm2485]

All of them and yet we only know about maybe 1% of the epic adventures he’s had.. he has a climbing journal with everything he’s ever climbed written down which I hope he publishes one day.. or it gets turned into a movie ..

[@WhySoSquid]

​@@cm2485 oof, climbers' journals are like gold! Cool to read whether it's emotional reflections on the experience, challenges encountered during the ascent/descent, or detailed routes, notes on technique, gear preferences, &c. 😍

[@jordangourley3955]

That shit was transcended. Religion, politics everything. Alex was literally high above it all.

[@88liamfisher]

Black jeans, white sock/brown boot combo is wild and distracting

[@claralang3223]

omg these interviewwers have 0 charm and didnt tap into alex goofyness and warm personality at all......

[@ehlava]

"50% of us believe that we are above average drivers." 😶

[@sheilacollins9384]

I admire Alex immensely. But this assertion about overcoming your fears doesn't allow a contradiction; those who didn't overcome are dead.

[@nineteen.ninety.four.]

10:25 ‘And then you fall and die. Anyway… 😂’

[@stuartandrew9091]

Too serious and boring. The interviewers think they can tap into what makes Alex tick, not a chance. Watch the documentary instead.

[@atom_smasher]

Are you really that rad?? Great question to ask yourself 😊

[@chewgokugin]

Wow these interviers have no idea. Good on alex "honlove" for tolerating these gumbies.

[@myka788]

Did they really say "Honlove"? Regardless, these guys are dopey the whole time. Like the did literally 0 research at all into who he is or what he does.

[@PBeetheFox]

One of the best climbers of all time. One of the worst haircuts of all time.

[@cm2485]

Says the literal yeti

[@gwdyon]

Probably not washing your hair is part of the free solo training. Oily hairs stuck to the head, while clean hairs flow with the wind and can make you lose balance. A true solo climber never forgets that, even for podcast interviews.

[@John-d9e4x]

The real risk is not in your ability, it's relying on ridiculously small bits of granite which can break off under pressure/weight. There is no way to forsee or corect in that situation. When i was once climbing in Yosemite, roped, i was climbing this block of granite, as i surmounted it, it peeled off the face with me under it, i had to climb this block as it wae falling in mid air ornthe rope would go toute, skapping the rope as a well as crushing me. Literally like the roadrunner cat oone, climbing a huge block as it dropping ng in thin air. Well my belayer was a hundred feet above me and around a blind corner, he was a very tight lipped Swiss, My cloths were ripped on n tatters and i was covered in blood, we continued the route and he never said a word,

[@raeechil]

5:12 do you guys know anything about climbing? "Minimal" From there on im trying to filter everything through a minimal understanding of climbing and everything sounds like a different language 😂

[@IshanShah]

why tf would you not lead with the fact that you got alex on an interview

[@davesanders9203]

A few minutes in and the 2 British interviers admit they know NOTHING about FREE rock climbing! I'm done with them! As an "outdoorsman" I've watched a lot of Alex's "Free Solo Climbs" Scares the "bejeebers" out of me everytime! A personnal "memory note" - - - I watched him do Half Dome. There was a part - in my memory - where he "forgot" where the next "grip" was because he couldn't actually "SEE" it ! ! ! ! Simple solution: He left his body - floated up - and took a "peek" at where the grip IS! Then continued on to the top!

[@cm2485]

His half dome solo wasn’t filmed.. he just went up and did it after practising the day before with his friend.. the reel rock team took him back and they “recreated” sections of it (which admittedly means he was free soloing small sections for footage, but only easy sections)

[@WhySoSquid]

...y'ever read a comment and suddenly feel like you're in a Turing test? 👀🧐

[@wadds774]

Can anyone explain his eyes?

[@darksoul479]

I wonder if Alex has a normal brain? Just watching the movie Free Solo almost gave me heart failure.

[@Muz86]

Family 2nd 😂

[@cm2485]

Well Sonny does say in the film “and he’s brutally honest, and I’m really draw to that”

[@mrq127]

Alex's chair is too low. It looks like he's a kid being lectured by his parents.

[@valito168]

Why does Alex look like a child? Couldn't you bring him a real sized chair?

[@lisasnotes]

Totally

[@JackRyder-lh4ek]

That guy on the right keeps pushing Alex because he isn't getting the answer (the PC) that he wants. Alex is a bit on the spectrum. You judgemental limey

[@-xirx-]

What do you mean by "(the PC)"?

[@JackRyder-lh4ek]

@@-xirx- politically correct

[@-xirx-]

@JackRyder-lh4ek thank you for explaining

[@ccjjjjccghh]

tf is that vocal fry

[@oxcart4172]

Imo, people like him don't have any fear, so there's nothing to conquer

[@michaeljones3337]

he literally says he is scared in situations multiple times during the interview, the fact he overcomes it and doesnt allow it to get in his way is insane

[@cm2485]

You should perhaps be more fearful of sharing your opinion, imo

[@LEE_MASON_]

Free Solo is the best documentary I've ever seen. Most of the time saying 'how the fuck can he do that' 🫣

[@KuzinaElizabeth]

Brilliant guest!!! Thanks for the interview, guys! You did a great job!👏👏👏