October 2, 2011 7:38 PM

The ascent of Alex Honnold

 

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Mountain climber Alex Honnold seems to defy gravity, scaling sheer, steep rock faces with no rope and apparently no fear. Lara Logan reports.

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(CBS News) 

If scaling a 1,600-foot rock face seems terrifying, imagine scaling it without ropes or a harness. That's what Alex Honnold recently attempted in Yosemite National Park, using nothing more than his hands and feet. "60 Minutes" cameras were strategically placed along the climb, capturing every harrowing move. Correspondent Lara Logan interviews the man now being hailed as the best climber alive.

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Documenting Alex Honnold's climb

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The following script is from "Alone on the Wall" which aired on Oct. 2, 2011.

From time to time, we come across someone who can do something so remarkable that it defies belief, and in this case, seems to defy gravity. It's the story of Alex Honnold.

He's a 26-year-old rock climber from Sacramento, California, but not just any rock climber. He scales walls higher than the Empire State building, and he does it without any ropes or protection.

Filming mountain climber Alex Honnold
Fourteen cameras were rolling the day Alex tackled the sheer mountain face of Sentinel in Yosemite

It's a kind of climbing called free-soloing and the penalty for error is certain death.

We first heard about him in a movie called "Alone on the Wall," a harrowing account of one of his most extraordinary feats: the first free-solo climb up the northwest face of Half Dome, a towering 2,000-ft. wall in Yosemite National Park.

This past summer we met up with Alex at Yosemite to watch what he does first hand.

What you're about to see is someone holding onto a wall, thousands of feet above the ground, with nothing to stop him if he falls.

Dude: The quirky world of Alex Honnold
"60 Minutes Overtime" takes a fun look at Alex-speak - from the "heinous" to the "mellow."

Here, Alex Honnold is 2,600 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor, trying to haul himself up the slippery granite wall of Sentinel.

He's so high, he disappears into the mountain.

Alex moves seamlessly across a section of flaky, unstable rock, pausing to dry a sweaty hand in his bag of chalk.

There's nothing but him, the wall and the wind.

He is up here without ropes or a safety harness. All he has is a pair of rubber climbing shoes.

This is what climbers call free-soloing, and it's so dangerous, that less than 1 percent of people who climb attempt it.

Lara Logan: Do you feel the adrenaline at all?

Alex Honnold: There is no adrenaline rush, you know? Like if I get a rush, it means that something has gone horribly wrong, you know? Because the whole thing should be pretty slow and controlled and like-- I mean, it's mellow.

Logan: Does the challenge appeal to you?

Honnold: Yeah, for sure. Or like, always being able to push yourself. Like always having something bigger to do or harder to do. Anytime you finish a climb there's always the next thing you can try.

This is Alex in the film "Alone on the Wall." He's done more than a thousand free-solo climbs, but none were tougher than this one:

Here he is, just a speck on the northwest face of Half Dome.

You can barely make out the Yosemite Valley Floor below, as he pauses to rest.

He's the only person known to have free-soloed the northwest face of Half Dome.

Logan: What do you consider Alex's greatest achievements to date?

John Long: That he's still alive. If you look at the past, people who have made a real habit of soloing, you know, at least half of them are dead.

In the 70s, John Long was one of the best rock climbers in the world. Today, he's an elder statesman in the climbing community.

Long: It's indescribable what it's like to be up real high, because you know. But, you can get some kind of idea about it just by walking to the edge of a cliff or edge of a building. You look over and your body has, you have a visceral sort of effect. You know you can dial it off with a lot of experience, not all the way off--

Logan: Well, you just lose your stomach.

Long: Yeah. And the, the real challenge about climbing without rope is the fact is that feeling can come up full bore in a split second.

Logan: And you have to control that?

Produced by Jeff Newton.



© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
Add a Comment See all 29 Comments
by Jamey88 October 19, 2011 4:06 PM EDT
My hat is off to John Long for his stature as a climber, but he misses something important here as a climbing historian, and CBS deserves some blame for poor fact-checking in the editing process.

Commentator: "How difficult is this climb?"

JL: "Very. Nobody has ever soloed Sentinel before. Nobody has ever thought about doing it before."

Yet, the north face of Sentinel rock was the site of the tragic death of one of Yosemite free-soloing's great pioneers, Derek Hersey in May, 1993. Someone should correct the record here.

See LA Times article about Hersey's death: http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-31/news/mn-41958_1_sentinel-rock

See a signature video of Derek climbing, and how he smiles, relaxed despite a dangerous surprise (50-sec mark): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3dTIePeRWc
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by foo8259 October 3, 2011 4:52 PM EDT
It must feel amazing to climb at that high a level. I have rock climbed (including some solo routes), and been a spelunker most of my adult life, but I just couldn't bear to watch all of that segment on Sunday. Just too stressful at the time -- I was able to tape it, so I can watch all of it when I think I am ready. One thing he has going for him is he is very strong, and more importantly he's lightweight -- that guy is a human Gecko!
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by islander511 October 3, 2011 4:09 PM EDT
Reading some of the comments below is a reminder that for some, things that they can't comprehend, that scare them, or don't fit into their personal frame of reference, can trigger an anger response. For others, they are simply awed by what they see -- and wonder how it can be. No judgement, no attacks, just accepting that what they are witnessing is mastery.

I am 54 years old. I started climbing when I was sixteen, and it has been a part of my life ever since. Many of you may not be able to understand how something like climbing rock and ice could be so compelling. Truth is, it's not something easily explained to non-climbers. Again, I think some of the comments below reflect that difficulty.

Climbers -- particularly of the hardcore variety -- are a distinct tribe, with our own culture and history. We have long since accepted that the mainstream media will never get a story about any significant aspect of our world "right," but in this instance, Lara Logan and crew nailed it. That she included one of our most distinguished members, John Long, to add commentary, was essential to the story. Congratulations for a job well done.

Finally, the physical aspect of the climbing Alex is recorded doing in this segment is impressive, but to put it in perspective, that is not what stuns us as climbers. There are literally thousands of climbers who can and have done routes of the grade represented in the shots we saw in the segment. But what is truly extraordinary, almost mind-numbingly so -- to climbers that are capable of climbs of that caliber and know first-hand just how thin the margin of adherence actually is -- is the absolute mind control that Alex exhibits. Think of it: a single thought, allowed to enter your conscious thinking at the wrong moment, may spell your doom. Alex never has those moments; his brain seems to turn off that switch, so that his body performs exactly as it is capable of doing. This is what happens for many experienced climbers when they climb a difficult route with a rope. They learn to shut off a noisy mind and let the body do what it is trained to do. That Alex can effortlessly go to that same "space" when climbing solo is remarkable and probably, in some cosmic way, connected to others who share a similar makeup. I imagine guys like Buzz and Neal, bouncing around on the lunar surface, were pretty cool customers too.
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by SourceEnergy October 18, 2011 2:16 PM EDT
Very well written.
When you said "his brain seems to turn off that switch,"
Alex has the ability to bring calmness and stability of mind to the "present moment".

It's focus. Focus is a cornerstone of mindfulness.
It resembles a state from withdrawal from the world.

His characteristic energy is closed rather than open, absorbed rather than available.
What is missing is the energy of curiosity, openness, availability, and engagement with the full range of experiences by human beings.

Alex gives himself permission to allow this moment to exactly as it is, and allow himself to be exactly as he is.
by endrepubs October 3, 2011 3:52 PM EDT
This extremely dangerous endeavor will catch up to him if he keeps it up........unless he is the real Spiderman(TM)
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by borgetc October 3, 2011 3:15 PM EDT
I used to do my fair share of technical rock climbing and was living in Colorado when Derek Hersey died free climbing in Yosemite. That was back in the mid 90's. At the time, he was the best free soloist in the world right? (It was a freak storm that took him off a route he reportedly could climb in his sleep - an acuaintance of mine was with him on that trip.) Like others have said, none of the great ones stay alive very long. What bothers me about this story is not the free climbing. It's the fact that young and impressionable climbers are coming out of gyms all the time with little or no technical climbing experience. As others have said, there are innumberable variables that are NOT in the control of the climber no matter how good he is! I'm not sure I want my boys thinking this is the guy that they should be idolizing. I think 60 Minutes failed to show the history of the free climbers (dead) that have preceded him (Hersey, Osman etc.) and talked just about the same way this kid does. We are all invincible at some age - but we are all humans and subject to external forces beyond our control. If he wants to do it great - but don't paint him out like a unique "freak" or "exception." All the climbers pushing the limit were him at one time. I thought that Long's commentary was the best part of the show and his history with the sport should have been juxtaposed in the story.
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by formerlyformerlymaynard October 3, 2011 1:38 PM EDT
"Remarkable"????? More like stupid. This guy deserves the latest Darwin award. When he falls, who is gonna pay for all the rescue and treatment????? Gawd people are sooooooo stupid.
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by Danrald October 3, 2011 11:36 AM EDT
Great segment! I love it when you guys do a segment on some one that no one knows anything about, and who is also doing something great. It's sad that most of the comments made here are not in sync with what you guys were really reporting.
Reply to this comment
by oldman67 October 3, 2011 11:23 AM EDT
Since i have rock climbed in Colorado, New York State and New hampshire i have wittnessed a few accidents. Things happen such as a peice of rock flaking off or a peice not properly placed. he will continue to dowhat he loves best until that fatal moment. However, it is what he loves and his choice. If i had listened to some critics i would have never skydived, bungee jumped kayaked, whitewater rafted or backpacked across the Ozarks solo.I call his actions ,like most to be foolish but at the same time it takes courage to face death at any moment.Most of us would like to know what we would do in a dangerous situtation but are afraid to take the challange. I just wish i hadn't waited until i was 64 to start enjoying life.
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by canislupus16 October 3, 2011 10:02 AM EDT
"Correspondent Lara Logan interviews the man now being hailed as the best climber alive."

At some point before his time he will be the best climber dead. Sooner or later, something will happen - his own error, a bad ledge or piece of rock, a gust of wind strong enough to blow him off a mountain, or even the remote possibility of an earthquake temblor strong enough to shake him off.

This guy has a death wish, or at least has very little regard for his life. There is something psychologically wrong with him.

And I agree with other commenters - he should be prohibited from climbing in national or state parks, and certainly be required to post bond for recovery of his remains.
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by vsmit October 3, 2011 7:53 AM EDT
There are no old free-climbers. Just internet articles on their death.
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