Alex Honnold stuns the world again by free soloing Taipei 101, blending extreme skill, preparation and global spectacle.
Alex Honnold climbs Taipei 101 without ropes as crowds watch below and cameras stream the historic ascent worldwide (Photo: File)
Alex Honnold has made a reputation on undertaking climbs that most others are not brave enough to even think about. The American climber achieved one of the most impressive feats on January 26 by attempting the famous Taipei 101 without any back-ups, even though there are no victims harmed by this feat. The Taipei 101 with a height of 508 meters, towers above the city, a feat both literal and abstract, taking Alex a whopping 91 minutes as his feat was officially endorsed, with the world watching through a live broadcast as Alex emphasized his focus and concentration.
Alex Honnold is a professional rock climber known for his free solo ascents, where one mistake often results in death. He gained international recognition after he solved El Capitan in Yosemite without any safety gear, an accomplishment previously thought unattainable. His calm and fearless approach to the most intense dangers has made him not only an inspiration but also heavily under scrutiny by many.
Honnold was born on August 17, 1985, which makes him 40 years old, even in a sport where younger athletes almost always dominate, he keeps on pursuing challenges that would be rare even for climbers in their prime.
Alex Honnold attended Mira Loma High School in Sacramento before entering the University of California Berkeley and he dropped out of school to pursue the sport of climbing full time, choosing the nomadic, on-the-road route rather than the traditional route to success in academia.
He was born to Dierdre Wolownick and Charles Honnold, who were both community college professors and growing up in a home that emphasized study and investigation, Honnold claims that his upbringing was one in which his parents encouraged independence and inquiry, not necessarily conventional success.
Alex Honnold is married to Honnold’s wife, Sanni McCandless, whom he met as part of the van life culture and lives with her in an environment around the general location of Las Vegas, while they bring up their two daughters together. Henceforth, Alex’s wife has always demonstrated her presence in Alex’s life, as far as Alex’s lifetime endeavors are concerned.
Taipei 101 is more than just one of the world’s many skyscrapers, it is a tower known for being until very recently, the world’s tallest, an iconic representation of the modern spirit of a country as a whole, Taipei being the capital of the country of Taiwan. Getting this assignment, an attempt to scale the tower, with the government’s permission, gave the tower, to a degree, worldwide attention, as the country, through its leaders, saw this as a chance to present a different face of the country, the cultural, the optimistic, the open-faced spirit of the citizens of the country, even the people involved in the documentary admitting to the uniqueness of a structure of this stature showing this degree of faith in a climber.
2010: Golden Piton Award from Climbing magazine for exceptional endurance climbing
2010: Alone on the Wall featured at the European Outdoor Film Tour, highlighting elite solo climbing
2015: Piolets d’Or with Tommy Caldwell for the first complete traverse of the Fitz Roy Range in Patagonia
2018: Robert and Miriam Underhill Award from the American Alpine Club for excellence across climbing disciplines
2018: Special Mention at the Piolets d’Or for outstanding contributions to climbing during 2017
Honnold’s estimated net worth ranges between $2 million and $3 million where he earns roughly $200,000 annually from sponsorships, speaking engagements,and media projects, with additional income from documentaries and partnerships. Despite this, he is known for a minimalist lifestyle and reinvesting heavily into his non-profit work.
