On June 3, 2017, Alex Honnold cemented himself as the best free soloist climber to ever do it. In a little under four hours, he climbed Yosemite’s famed El Capitan with no ropes or protection in what National Geographic called “the greatest feat of pure rock climbing in the history of the sport.”
Since, Honnold’s achievement has been turned into the Academy Award-nominated film Free Solo, directed by Honnold’s pal Jimmy Chin. So good is the film that it led The Inertia contributor Will Taylor to call it “the most compelling rock climbing documentary of all time.”
In a roundabout way, Honnold’s feat and the real-life drama surrounding it (not to mention the stunning imagery captured by the inimitable Jimmy Chin) all coalesced to make Honnold a movie star, and arguably the world’s most famous climber. It’s only fitting then that a movie star climb with other movie stars, which is precisely what went down recently at Sender One in Los Angeles when Honnold and Jared Leto teamed up to belay one another on a few routes.
And if you weren’t aware that Jared Leto is an avid climber, maybe it’s time to revisit this little interview with Conan:
