Athletes

The North Face® /Black Diamond Athlete: Alex Honnold

Alex Honnold burst onto the climbing scene with a splash of headlines, first in Fall 2007, with his one-day free solo link-up of The Rostrum followed by Astroman ¡ª two demanding multi-pitch Yosemite 5.11+ free routes ¡ª and then again in spring 2008, with a first-ever ropeless free ascent of the long Moonlight Buttress, 5.12, in Zion National Park. He was just 21.

But now, looking back on those impressive feats, he eschews the attention those climbs have gotten him. He'd rather tout the less-headlined free ascent he made of El Capitan's Salathe Wall, a seldom-free-climbed 5.13 testpiece requiring 3,000 feet of climbing. He and his partner did it in three days. To Alex, that's more noteworthy.

The Rostrum and Astroman were "leisurely," he says in his sincere and understated tone. "I climbed the Rostrum, then came down and ate lunch. Then I went over and soloed Astroman. Each one took an hour."

As for the tougher Moonlight Buttress, with its soaring finger-width cracks and dizzying 2,000 feet of relief, he modestly passes that off by explaining that he'd rehearsed the moves on prior ascents.

Alex Honnold sending in Indian Creek, Utah from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

"Exposure doesn't bother me," he says when addressing the reality that on a free solo ascent, if you fall you die. "It's easy not to be scared if you know you won't fall." The Sacramento, California born climber took to the sport at age eleven, when his parents introduced him to a local climbing gym. "They figured that since I was always climbing trees, I would like the gym," he recalls. "Soon I was going there five days a week, and riding my bike seven miles to get there. I would traverse back and forth across the walls for two hours at a time, never stepping down."

On a student field trip to Yosemite, one look at El Capitan firmly planted the climbing bug in his head, though he'd be diverted by a year of engineering at UC Berkeley before committing himself to full-time climbing. Now, with 2009 before him, he's a professional climber and a The North Face® /Black Diamond athlete. Alex was profiled in Climbing Magazine. At 23 he's already accomplished a lifetime's worth of vertical feats, but with an appetite for rock and raw talent like his, he's certain to push the frontiers of adventure even further.

Click HERE to read the media reports about Alex Honnold.

Black Diamond Athlete Abond climbing in Yangshuo, China from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

Abond is originally from Yunnan Province and now lives in Yangshuo. Though he has only been climbing for 5 years, he is one of the few Chinese climbers to readpoint 5.14. Most of his climbing has been in Yangshuo, but he has also visited Tonsai, Thailand for sport climbing and deep water soloing.

This is how Abang described his first climbing experience:"I was introduced to climbing by my cousin 'Tommy', and later on I got to climb with Neil Gresham, who I learnt a lot from. When I started climbing I would walk by the local bouldering wall, and would see this guy climbing (Rocky). He was very strong and I asked him if I could climb with him. He told me I wasn't strong enough to climb with him. So I went away and trained and climbed as much as I could. I would complete all the circuits at the China Climb wall, and climb as much I could outside. Rocky saw I got much stronger, then one day he came to my climbing wall and asked to climb with me. Since then we have been very good friends. He inspired me to climb and push myself, and I've kept pushing myself to improve and climb harder."

When Abang is not climbing he loves to search for new lines and crags to develop as there is so much potential in Yangshuo. There is also much more potential in other areas of China. He established China's first 5.14b¨DChina Climb, and has many second ascents. His most memorable are Lightning 5.14a, and Thunder 5.14a. At the moment he is training to climb harder and finish his new projects in Yangshuo. He is hoping to eventually climb 'Angry Monkey 5.14d', 'Spicy Noodle 5.14c' , and 'Unnecessary Dumpling 5.15a'.

In the future Abang would like to have the opportunity to travel around Europe and America, and to continue developing his climbing by experiencing different types of rock and styles of climbing.

Click HERE to read a Q & A with Abang

Click HERE to read an Outdoor Exploration report about Abang