ALEX HONNOLD

He gained world renown for the rescue of COHOF Class of 2021 member Emily Harrington on El Capitan and the featured climber and starring role in the Oscar-winning documentary feature “Free Solo.” In the world of big wall climbing at Yosemite Valley and elsewhere, Honnold has long been held as one of the world’s best for free solo ascents (without ropes).

He is the only person to free solo El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. In 2012, Honnold and Hans Florine (COHOF Class of 2016) set the record time on the Nose route on Yosemite‘s El Capitan, which he later broke in 2018 with Tommy Caldwell. Honnold’s first free solo ascent of El Capitan in 2017 has been described as “one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever,” and became the foundation for “Free Solo.”

He has appeared in many other films and television shows, including “60 Minutes,” and broke the barrier to bring the world of climbing into the homes of millions. His achievements include all the big walls of Yosemite, at Zion National Park in Utah, the Horseshoe Wall in Arkansas, and far beyond in Patagonia and the Czech Republic.