The life and death-defying feats of Alex Honnold, a visionary climber of the sort that comes along only once in a generation.Free solo climbing is a high-stakes sport: if you fall, you die. Expert free soloist Alex Honnold isn't afraid to push the limit; one of the most famous adventure athletes in the world, he has pioneered new routes, won awards, and shattered records. Alone on the Wall recounts the seven most astonishing achievements of Honnold's extraordinary life and career, brimming with lessons on living fearlessly, taking risks, and maintaining focus even in the face of extreme danger.
Josh Dean - Men's Health
Alex is really the first climber to rise from the margins of this lonely fringe sport to become a kind of celebrity.
Grayson Schaffer - Outside
Honnold is the biggest name in a group of adventure athletes engaging in high-risk live action-sports spectacles that seem to be pulled from the Evel Knievel playbook.
Daniel Duane - New York Times Magazine
Honnold has free-soloed the longest, most challenging climbs ever. Most peculiar of all, even to elite rock climbers, Honnold does this without apparent fear, as if falling were not possible.
People
Honnold here recounts his ascents on some of the world's most dangerous rock walls. You'll come away questioning his sanity for choosing this controversial sport…But it's also impossible not to feel awe.
Wall Street Journal
[Honnold] is the foremost practitioner of the dark art of free solo rock climbing—ascending extremely difficult cliffs hundreds, sometimes thousands, of feet tall without ropes or protection hardware of any kind. That is every bit as stupefying as it sounds.
Barbara J. King - NPR
Honnold blows wide open any conventional understanding of the term ‘comfort zone.’…He engagingly conveys his love of climbing.
Barbara J. King - NPR Books
Honnold blows wide open any conventional understanding of the term ‘comfort zone.’ In Alone on the Wall . . . he engagingly conveys his love of climbing.”
Jon Krakauer
Alex Honnold's climbing feats are astonishing. They are also absolutely horrifying. Reading about some of his ascents made me physically ill. As this riveting book makes clear, however, Honnold is neither crazy nor reckless. Alone on the Wall reveals him to be an utterly unique and extremely appealing young man.”
Library Journal
09/01/2015
Rock climber Honnold is known for his groundbreaking climbs on some of the world's most difficult rock walls and is a master of the free solo climbing technique, which involves climbing alone without any ropes and with perilously little margin for error. His gravity-defying talent has rightly made him a celebrated star of the climbing world. This unfortunately awkward combination of autobiography and biography alternates between sections by Honnold about his life and climbs and segments by alpinist and writer Roberts providing context and commentary on Honnold's feats. While the author's extraordinary climbing accomplishments and dedication to his unencumbered lifestyle are worthy of chronicling, this uneven and ultimately unsatisfying work fails to provide enough insight into Honnold's often opaque motivations, offering only a muddy and sometimes contradictory view of his personality. At times, Honnold comes across as overly reckless and somewhat arrogant, whereas in other parts of the book his humility and admirable humanitarian work are highlighted. Candid descriptions of major climbs struggle to convey the unusual combination of mental strength and physical endurance that make his rare achievements possible. VERDICT Suited only to dedicated rock climbing aficionados who may also enjoy Alexander Huber's The Mountain Within.—Ingrid Levin, Salve Regina Univ. Lib., Newport, RI
Kirkus Reviews
2015-09-01
A much-honored climber's exciting story of the death-defying feats that led to rock-climbing superstardom. Honnold showed a predilection for climbing when he was still a small child. At age 5, he managed to scramble 30 feet off the ground at a climbing gym within just a few minutes. Later, he entered climbing competitions all over his home state of California. After his father died, Honnold dropped out of college and chose to live out of his mother's minivan while climbing mountains. This book—which alternates between narratives by Honnold and writer/climber Roberts (Lost World of the Old Ones: Discoveries in the Ancient Southwest, 2015, etc.)—focuses on that remarkable and unconventional life and how Honnold, a quiet man who climbed purely for the joy of adventure, became "the most famous climber in the world" in the span of seven years. In his early days as a vagabond climber, he learned how to free solo, a form of climbing that relies on strength and skill alone. Not long after that, Honnold began attempting climbs—such as Half Dome in Yosemite and Sendero Luminoso in Mexico—that veterans of the sport believed were too difficult to do without gear or a partner. His notoriety spread quickly among rock climbers. Rapidly, Honnold became the subject of several documentaries and was receiving sponsorships that allowed him to travel the world and push the boundaries of his sport to extreme new heights. His dedication to the sport of rock climbing had its costs, however, including the painful end of a long-term relationship. Yet celebrity status also reinforced his belief in the importance of living simply. In 2012, he established the Honnold Foundation, which sought "sustainable ways to improve lives worldwide." The humility, pioneering spirit, and courage that are the author's personal hallmarks are both refreshing and invigorating. His account ultimately reminds readers how genuine fulfillment comes only when engaging in life fully and without fear. An inspiringly intense memoir for readers of adventure lit.
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