Alex Honnold Answers Rock Climbing Questions

I'm Alex Honnold.

Today, I will be answering your questions from the internet.

This is Climbing Support.

[upbeat music]

@KittyWillow12 asks, At the risk of sounding stupid,

what's the difference

between rock climbing and bouldering?

And that's not stupid, don't worry, KittyWillow.

Basically, bouldering is just a type of rock climbing.

Rock climbing is kind of the more inclusive term

for all things climbing.

Bouldering is the more specific version,

where you're not using rope, you're not using equipment,

and you're climbing kind of smaller things, like boulders.

@K_Trel35 asks, Why don't free climbers wear parachutes?

Most cliffs are actually less than vertical,

so if you were wearing a parachute,

it wouldn't help you anyway,

'cause you'd bounce down the cliff.

A few people have climbed things with parachutes

and you can fall off of very specific cliffs in the world

with a parachute and it could conceivably be safer.

But for the most part, if you fall off a cliff,

you're gonna bounce down the wall.

All right, here's a question from @laurajwilkinson.

Do rock climbers still follow the, quote,

maintain three points of contact end quote, rule?

So what she's referencing is three points of contact

is how you stay controlled on the wall

in situations that are dangerous.

Yeah, you should probably maintain three points of contact.

Now we're kind of all about no points of contact,

like people jumping from hold to hold and swinging

and doing all kinds of athletic gymnastic movement.

And that's cool and that's super fun.

But if you're climbing in the mountains

and you're looking at serious consequences

if you fall off, yeah, you should probably maintain

three points of contact and move

very deliberately and carefully.

The ReeferBrigade asks,

What's the biggest climbing mistake

you or your partner has made?

What did you learn from it?

It's like there's so many mistakes.

Like, what comes to mind is like a friend

and I were once climbing El Cap wall style,

like, so camping on the wall,

and he flipped over the haul bag to look at something.

He thought it was closed but it wasn't.

So basically, he like poured our food and our stove,

just dumped 'em off the wall.

We still had a couple days to go and we're sort of like,

Now we have no food and no stove.

We're sort of like, That sucks.

That just came to mind 'cause I was just on a wall

the other day and I was joking about that story,

because it's like, let's make sure

we don't drop the food off the wall.

The lesson from that was that you have to clearly

communicate with your partners.

Big Time Maca asks, What slang do rock climbers use?

I bet it's like, 'Okay, lads, let's dust up our fingies

and grip some cliff.'

I've never said that. Well, now I have.

But no, there's tons of jargon.

All the holds have specific ways to referring, like,

what you grab like underclings, side pulls, Gastons,

like different types of things, the way you grip them.

It's a whole vocabulary, which I won't go into,

'cause it's extensive.

But I think that's true for any activity.

If you get really deep into a thing,

there's all kinds of specific words

to relate to the thing that you're doing.

@PlunkR19 asks, Do rock climbers spray shit

on their hands for better grip?

That is probably the key.

I thought he meant actual poop and I was like, No.

Climbers use chalk on their hands all the time.

That helps dry your skin so you get a better grip.

Lick your fingers to like moisten a little,

and then chalk and then grab.

I mean, there's a whole thing around moisture

and dryness and whatever.

Basically, people just use chalk,

like dry powder chalk, the same as a gymnast.

Dr. Pablo Pistola asks, Got a pesky cut on my thumb.

Guitar teacher suggested I use super glue.

What do rock climbers use?

Yeah, rock climbers use super glue a fair amount.

I mean, if you're climbing and you cut yourself,

depending if you're on a rope, you can just hang there,

and if you have tape with you,

you can tape it up, you can deal with it.

Often you don't have anything with you,

so then you just finish the climb with one finger bleeding.

I climbed something last year that was really sharp,

and my partner and I, it was done with a rope,

it was all safe, but we didn't have any tape with us.

And so I split one tip, which is like when you cut

your fingertip, and then I split another one.

And then, so then I was trying to climb

on my back three fingers because my first fingers

were bleeding, and then I split both my middle fingers,

and then I was trying to climb on my back two,

and then I basically decided to call it and give up,

and we cheated our way past and carried on to the top.

But I basically had my front four fingertips bleeding,

and it's kind of like, I definitely should've brought tape.

I was like, What an idiot.

But you know, live and learn.

Desperate-Craft_8656 asks, Any advice on how to stop

being as nervous before or during a climb outdoors?

I like that their user image thing

is this really muscular, looks like Sylvester Stallone

or something, it's like, well,

it's like flexed extra hard.

Well, I think the best way to overcome that kind of fear

is to just slowly build up so that you feel comfortable.

If you're scared climbing outside

because you think your rope's gonna break or something,

just climb a couple feet off the ground

and then sit on the rope and bounce on the rope

and like basically learn to trust the equipment,

and then systematically take on bigger challenges.

'Cause your first time climbing outside,

you might be scared just a few feet off the ground.

That's fine, just get comfortable there

and then go a couple feet higher.

I think the only way to really overcome that sort of fear

is to slowly build up and establish a solid foundation.

@Beatofficer asks, How many of you climb

in a state of, quote, unquote, flow?

They were reading this article and they have a link.

How often are you able to reach this state?

For me, flow is why rock climbing is perfection.

How about others?

I basically climb, you know,

five days a week for the last 30 years.

So I climb all the freaking time.

And I would say I climb in a state of,

quote, unquote, flow, every once in a while.

To tap into something special to me requires

climbing that has consequences,

climbing that matters a lot to me,

climbing that's, you know, challenging in the right way,

climbing that's different.

I suspect that actually not that many people

climb in a state of flow that often.

But I agree though that that is the beauty of climbing

is that it does allow you to access

those kind of states from time to time.

@throwaway_and_ting, As we all know,

climbing is a mental strength test as well as physical.

How do you improve the mental side of climbing?

So when they're climbing a hard problem,

they have a tendency to give up or not commit

or not push themselves to their complete limit.

I really wanna be able to push myself as hard as possible.

Any tips?

A lot of people sort of lie to themselves like,

No, I tried my hardest.

But when you're watching you're like,

No, obviously you didn't try your hardest.

You could've tried much harder, you just gave up

because you got scared or whatever else.

At least if you know that you're giving up prematurely,

that's the important first step.

And I think training the mental side

is really just like training the physical side.

It's something you have to practice

trying your very hardest.

It's like, I'm gonna give 100% max effort.

Just like, ba, ba, you know?

You kind of have to identify what's holding you back

and then work on it.

@UnityFollowHub asks, Real talk, climbers.

What's the scariest moment you've had while climbing?

Maybe it was a sketchy hold, a surprise storm,

or a wild swing on lead.

Share your story. Who's got the most epic tale?

How many stories do we want about that time

I thought I was gonna die?

I've like broken holds while soloing,

and had both footholds break off this thing,

and I wound up just dangling by my hands

like while down soloing this tower in Africa.

I was like, Whoa.

It was like, felt like Mission Impossible, you know?

It was insane.

I've been in a lot of scary situations with a rope

where you're like, Oh, I can't find good protection.

This seems kind of scary, like the rock quality seems bad,

whatever, but you keep pushing

because you have a rope on, you have gear,

you're like, Surely the protection

will get better eventually, or like,

Surely if I get higher,

I'll be able to find an anchor eventually.

And you keep pushing and you keep pushing

for sometimes, you know, an hour, like into the unknown.

It's like getting scarier and scarier and you're like,

But it can't get worse than this.

And then you keep going and you're like,

But now it's started to rain.

You're like, It's getting worse!

All right, here's a question from McDreads.

I'm just gonna summarize this question,

but it says that they're basically looking

for extra exercises to do in addition to climbing.

Currently they're hangboarding once a week,

pinching weights, doing all...

Wow, he lists an extensive workout routine.

I mean, I think the main thing is that he probably

just needs to climb more.

All the other workout stuff is all supplemental

or sort of in addition, like if you have the time.

But if you wanna be good at climbing, you have to climb.

May the Lord Oh Pen 26. Oh, May the Lord Open. [chuckles]

Maythelordopen_26 asks, What's in your climbing bag?

Do you even use a bag, if not?

I see some people come in with just shoes and a chalk bag.

For my climbing bag, which is like to go climb outside,

I always think shoes, harness, chalk bag.

It's basically like, do I have my three things,

my shoes, harness, chalk bag, and then you check

and make sure you have your rope and your gear

and whatever else you need for that specific day,

like food and water.

If I'm going into the climbing gym,

I often just carry my shoes and my chalk bag in my hand

and just walk in and take off my street shoes,

put my phone in my shoe, and then just, you know, climb.

But a lot of people bring a little skin kit,

they bring water bottle and a snack and things like that.

Conscious_Pause_964 asks,

Why are climbing shoes so weirdly shaped?

Climbing shoes in general are asymmetrical

and downturned, so they're hooked like a talon,

and they focus all of your weight onto your big toe.

So it does feel like weird shape.

'Cause the whole thing is to force your foot

into a little hook shaped.

'Cause you're trying to stand on things

sometimes that are the width of a quarter

with just the tip of your big toe.

And you're like, it's pretty small, you know,

it's like you really wanna focus as much as possible

onto one little point.

@Dino_smore asks, What was your climbing progression,

slash timeline like?

How quickly did you progress from V1 to 2, and then 2 to 3?

At what grades did you start to plateau?

When did you start seriously training?

If you're starting as an adult,

expect to progress more slowly in a way.

Partially just 'cause your connective tissue,

your tendons and ligaments in your hands and fingers

just won't be strong enough for your mass.

Whereas like if you're a kid,

it's just easier to grow into it quickly.

But I just think you shouldn't be caught up

on your climbing progression.

It's like, you're not gonna get a medal

for getting to a certain grade.

Do your best, have fun, have a good time

with your friends, and see where you get.

@LarryHandy007 asks, @AlexHonnold,

do you carry your cell phone when you climb?

Yes, I mostly do.

I mean, typically I just have my phone in my pocket.

And if I'm out soloing by myself in the middle of nowhere,

I mean, I often listen to music on my phone

while I cruise around.

Then if something's really serious climbing,

then often I'll take it out of my pocket

so it doesn't restrict mobility.

And so you're not distracted and whatever else.

Indekkusu asks, WTF is a carabiner?

Here is a carabiner.

It has a little gate, you open it, it clicks. It's amazing.

It allows you to connect things together.

It's a piece of metal that you can secure

to protection in the rock,

and then you can clip your rope into it.

Okay, here's a question from thebrainj.

Assuming there are no bolts or preset anchors

on the mountain, how would a climber rappel down?

Do they set an anchor, rappel down,

and leave the anchor there?

Is there a way to set a retrievable rappel anchor?

Basically they're asking if there isn't already an anchor

in place, what do you do to rappel off of something?

Climbers almost always leave a fixed rappel anchor behind.

So if there isn't something there before

because you've, say, done a first descent,

no one's ever been there before, then you build something

and you leave it behind, and then other climbers

will use that in the future.

If your anchor is built such that you can flick the rope

and it'll fall back down, you're kind of like,

Does that sound that secure?

You know, it's like basically retrievable anchors

are just not that secure.

And so climbers in general prefer to build solid anchors

and just leave them behind for other people to use.

Somebody on Quora asks, Why in the years

since Alex Honnold free soloed El Cap

has nobody else even attempted to do so?

I think 'cause it's hard.

I mean, it took me a very long time personally

to build up to free soloing El Cap,

and I had to do a bunch of other things to kinda get there.

And so far nobody else has even really

taken any of those first steps.

Like, nobody's tried any of those other routes

or sort of started the process of learning how to do it.

That's not to say that somebody won't at some point.

And I have started to hear some rumors of like certain kids

and certain people that probably have the talent

and the disposition and, you know,

maybe will be able to at some point.

There are a lot of people who might have the potential

to go down that path, but then they might have

one really scary experience where they're like,

You know what, this isn't for me,

and they just focus on other aspects of climbing.

Or they might die in the mountains in an avalanche,

which has happened to a lot of up-and-coming soloists

and things like that.

This is a question from Exotic-Eyes1536.

They asked, How helpful drones can be for route finding,

especially in more vertical terrain?

Does anyone have any experience using their drone?

If so, what are their thoughts?

I've been on a bunch of trips actually

where people have used drones to help navigate.

So navigating glaciers let's say,

or navigating through really dense jungle.

Occasionally you can punch a drone up through canopy

and kind of get a sense of where you are in a landscape.

In general, I don't think people ever use drones

for specific rock climbing objectives,

like choosing where your holds are,

basically because the resolution isn't that fine.

I think drones can be incredibly helpful

for navigating crevasse fields and things on glaciers.

I mean, I actually don't know how to fly a drone,

but teams that I've been with have used drones.

All right, so here's a question from a deleted user.

I'm new to climbing.

I don't understand how the grading system works.

Could someone explain it to me?

Climbing grading is basically a subjective scale

determined by just how hard it is to climb something.

And it might have to do with how tiring it is,

how small the holds are, how physically demanding,

like how much it requires of your muscles to get up a climb.

And then the other thing is that rock changes all the time.

Holds break, sometimes that makes things easier,

sometimes that makes things harder.

A climbing grade is always

kind of an open-ended conversation.

Like if enough people do it and say that it's harder

than that or easier than that, then the grade changes.

And that's why climbing grades can feel

almost silly sometimes, because if you're particularly good

at one style and particularly bad at another style,

the grades can feel all over the place.

And there aren't that many people

who are well-rounded enough at everything

to make the grades feel correct.

It's taken me a long time, but I actually do feel

like I'm now kind of good enough at most styles

that I'm kinda like, You know,

like it does actually feel like the appropriate grade,

but it took fricking years together.

Vanilladr asks, Anyone here 35-plus?

What are your thoughts, observations,

and advice in regards to climbing/training as you age?

I hate to think that 35-plus

is considered aged as a climber.

I am now 40, and so the only real thing is as you age,

you just need to take more rest days from time to time.

You know, as a 20-year-old, you can climb 30 days on

and just recover overnight.

As a 40-year-old, you need to rest a little bit more.

It hasn't been that crazy yet,

but I'm sure by 50 you have to rest quite a bit more.

@just2025jim asks, How important is your weight?

Do you not gain a few pounds now and then?

Would you postpone a climb

if your weight increased by say five pounds?

Yeah, and that's a fair question.

I mean, strength to weight is obviously

a very important part of climbing.

It's not just weight that matters, it's strength to weight.

And so if you gain some weight but you feel much stronger,

that's probably weight that you want to carry.

I've been sort of grappling personally with like,

do I want to be this heavy?

But I'm also like, but I like being this strong.

And so you're kinda like, ah.

Ultimately just comes down

to your own performance as a climber.

Like, do you feel strong doing the thing?

@kowanmcgarry asks, Would you ever

consider mountain climbing?

I was like, do I not mountain climb? Come on.

Do you think that that would be too hard

or just not enjoyable, and do you want to stay

with rock climbing?

I think that @Kowanmcgarry is maybe drawing

too much of a distinction

between rock climbing and mountain climbing.

I would say I do a lot of mountain climbing.

I mean, honestly in the last week I've climbed

two big snowy mountains like in storms.

You know, just hiking up a peak.

Maybe he means like high altitude mountaineering,

like climbing Mount Everest and things like that.

And that I probably will never do in my life

just because it's I think too big of a trade off.

Like too much time to go on trips like that.

Too much time away from family,

too much time not rock climbing.

But no, I definitely climb mountains all the time.

I mean, that's part of rock climbing

is going to the mountains and climbing things.

@jaazatra asks, do I ever listen to music when I climb?

If you do, what's your favorite music to listen to?

Back in the day, I used to climb

with the overhead headphones, like little earbud things,

and I would do one ear in and one ear out,

because if you're soloing, like you need to be able to hear

if like the rock is moving or if something shifts,

or if you hear sand and things like falling in a crack.

Now I just play the speaker off my phone,

'cause that way I can hear everything around me

but still listen to music, which is basically all rock.

Which is fitting, 'cause I'm rock climbing.

@RyLauenroth, I have a question.

How do rock climbers get that rope all the way to the top?

Wouldn't that mean they already climbed the rock?

I think they're maybe missing some of the fundamentals

of climbing, which is that typically you get the rope

to the top by climbing to the top.

You tie into your rope at the bottom, you climb up the wall,

and as you climb, you put protection into the rock,

you clip your rope into it.

And then once you get to the top with the rope,

then you bring up your partner.

Or vice versa, your partner takes the rope up

and brings you up.

But somebody has to actually climb the rock.

And that is the essence of climbing.

@pkperformance asks, Who's your climbing role model?

For me, I've always looked up to Tommy Caldwell,

who's now a good friend of mine as well.

There's people like Peter Croft, also a hero of mine

growing up, and then now a friend as an adult.

I really like climbers who are lifers, basically.

People who have devoted their whole life to the craft

and who are still doing it, still good at it, still love it.

I'll certainly be climbing my whole life.

I mean, I just love climbing. I love easy climbing.

I love rambling around in the mountains.

Like, I'll for sure do that my whole life.

And Newtothisredditbiz asks,

What are some bucket list rock climbing destinations

that you're familiar with and would recommend?

Well, first and foremost, Yosemite Valley,

the most beautiful place on Earth.

I mean, it's so incredible. I love Yosemite, it's so great.

But I mean, I'd say most climbing destinations

are quite scenic.

So many climbing areas are in national parks

or in other beautiful public lands.

I mean, for international places, Patagonia comes to mind.

You know, there's a reason that it's a famous

tourist destination, it is very, very beautiful.

I mean, some of the best rock climbing in the world

are on islands in Greece and things.

Like, basically they're all in these places

that are incredibly beautiful to visit.

So you're kinda like, you know,

it's not the worst sport to get into.

@vermillionorange asks, Best place in the U.S.

to live for access to great climbing?

Just curious, looking to hear different opinions.

Once they graduate college,

they wanna move out West, unsure which state/city.

Let me know your perspective.

So I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, which I think

is the best four-season climbing in the country by far.

I freaking love Las Vegas. The climbing is insane.

I think it has the best access to hard climbing anywhere.

I mean, there are a lot of other towns around the West

that have good access to climbing.

It really comes down to what your particular tastes are,

what type of climbing you're looking for.

But I prefer to rock climb all year,

and so Vegas is way better for that.

@Negan0, a bunch of numbers,

Do you have any other free solo projects

that you're working on?

Yeah, I'm always working on a few things.

But you know, just keep your cards close to your chest

and see how things play out.

I always have at least a couple things

sort of on the back burner in my home around Las Vegas,

like in Red Rock and various places.

But maybe this winter I might

get into a couple little ideas.

@MisterJimson asks, Bouldering apps, question.

what are the best bouldering apps?

Do they serve different purposes?

Curious what people use and why.

I actually don't know any bouldering apps.

Unless they mean bouldering apps

as in board climbing apps, like the Kilter app,

the Tension app, the Moonboard, all those types of things.

Those are all incredibly useful, but they're terrible apps.

I would say there's no good app for climbing right now.

@JoeLane33 says, Mount Rainier is a place

where very many Sasquatch encounters happen on the reg.

Question, Alex, serious question.

Have you ever experienced or heard of any strangeness

in the middle of nowhere while out on a climbing trip

or any trip in general?

I free soloed this wall in Zion in the winter,

and most of the climbs in Zion,

you climb about a thousand feet,

and then you rappel back down.

But I was climbing without a rope,

so I climbed a thousand feet,

and then I was gonna scramble up to the rim of the canyon,

which is about 2,000 feet higher,

and then hike down the hiking trail.

And because it was winter,

there was snow all over the upper canyons,

and nobody ever goes up there

because climbers typically rappel.

And so I basically just had to sort of piece my way

up this 2,000-foot journey to the rim,

and I didn't expect it to be that snowy.

And I was sort of like, Oh, wow.

And so I suddenly got into sort of,

I don't wanna say a survival experience,

but it all felt kind of extreme.

I was like trudging around in the snow

trying to find my way up to the rim,

and I stumbled upon these bighorn tracks.

And then I wound up following bighorn tracks

all the way up to the rim.

And I was like, this is how, you know,

indigenous people have spirit animals and things like that.

Because I was like, in a different world,

this would be me saying like,

Oh, and then this spirit guided me to safety.

The natural explanation is just that, you know,

obviously bighorns are up there doing their thing as well.

And some lonely bighorn was also

trying to find his way up to the rim,

and I was just lucky enough that I found his tracks.

He or she was very good at finding the correct way

to the rim, and it all worked out perfectly for me.

Anyway. Yeah, so now I have a spirit animal.

Okay, here's a question from stoked_elephant.

They're just getting into outdoor rock climbing

and they're amazed by one thing in particular

they were not expecting from the gym.

The fear.

Holy crap, it's scary, knowing that within moments

of climbing up a boulder you might fall

and really hurt yourself.

It got me thinking about those climbers

who have multi-day climbs up El Cap or other big climbs

who sleep on the side of rock faces.

Was it hard to fall asleep?

I literally slept on a wall two nights ago.

I was so psyched.

Basically like climbing a cliff is really hard.

And by the time you set up your little camp

and sit down in your sleeping bag and cook some food,

you're like, it feels so chill

compared to actually climbing the cliff.

And so typically the camping part is incredibly peaceful

and, you know, beautiful.

I mean you're in this incredible place

and you're finally relaxed after a hard day of effort,

and you know, you're eating warm food.

It's like, no, I sleep like a baby, and it's amazing.

All right, citrus1330 asks,

How much does natural grip strength

affect climbing potential?

That's an interesting question,

'cause actually people who are insanely strong natural grip,

I mean, yeah, obviously you have greater climbing potential.

Sadly, I don't, but, you know,

I've like worked hard at finger stuff my whole life.

It's like hanging from a small edge,

it's kinda like weightlifting basically,

where you just hang from an edge with your fingers

and you can add weight to your body

and you know, load your fingers more and more.

But the most useful thing is probably

to climb as much as possible.

Xiaoxiao12 asks...

I'll try to sit up straighter while I read this one.

What causes climber posture? How can it be cured?

It's suggested that antagonist exercises like pushups

and bench press provide healthy balance,

but don't the pushups and bench press

cause forward shoulders, making the problem worse?

A lot of climbers wind up sort of hunchbacked

and sort of like leaned, and it basically stems

from imbalances in muscles,

between pulling and pushing muscles.

And it's kind of complicated which muscles and why,

and it's probably different for individuals.

Big picture is that if you try to, well, one,

think about your posture, and then two,

try to keep your muscles relatively balanced

by evenly pushing and pulling,

then you shouldn't get any crazy imbalances.

Okay, that's it. Those are all the questions.

Until next time.

And you can check out my podcast, Planet Visionaries.

[upbeat music]