“A lot of people are afraid of falling off the mountain, they’re afraid of falling off of things, they’re afraid of danger. I mean, I’m afraid of danger too. If I think I might die, then I feel danger just like anybody else, but I don’t’ feel like I’m in danger in these situations.” – Alex Honnold
Nice interview with one of the best climbers on the planet. And what a lovable weirdo he is.
After establishing that interviewee Alex Honnold does not feel “terror” when climbing, interviewer Mike Walter goes on to ask the expected next question: then WHERE is the excitement in climbing?
Our vice-gripped dirtbagger states (to him) two obvious truths. He loves climbing. And he loves the outdoors.
But that isn’t why we’re writing about the interview. The better moment happened right after this exchange when Honnold identified that Walter was focusing on the soloing — and for good purpose — but the reason Honnold climbs is for the rest of the year, when he is surrounded by friends and family in the most beautiful places in the world. And he says it with such a childlike honesty. Look at his face as he expounds on the aforementioned truths. Then he goes on to talk about his charity, and speaks about it with such straight forward humility that he himself embodies the Honnold Foundation’s simple motto: “Do more, better.”
