Three thousand feet up, and not a nylon rope in sight.
Yosemite National Park offers a host of iconic images: vivacious waterfalls, snow-capped peaks, and dense blankets of evergreens and redwoods. But, arguably, no swath of Yosemite is quite so recognizable (or foreboding) as El Capitan, the park's infamous 3,000-foot vertical granite wall, known for both its bouldering difficulty and awe-inspiring views.
El Capitan is popular among hardcore climbers who make headlines for tackling it; but until this past weekend, none have yet attempted it without the use of recommended climbing gear. But on Saturday, 31-year-old Alex Honnold's ascent was, shall we say, lacking: Hannold used no ropes, no clips, and no harnesses; there was literally nothing but a prayer keeping him from certain death had he lost his grip on the ninety-degree vertical.
But Hannold made history, and survived to tell the tale.
"I was pretty much elated," he said, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, just moments after he hurled himself, adrenaline pumping, over the summit's coarse granite lip. "I was probably the happiest I've ever been. It's something that I thought about for so long and dreamed about and worked so hard for. I mean, it's pretty satisfying."
The Sacramento native is a well seasoned rock climber, no stranger to seemingly insurmountable bouldering obstacles. Aside from his well-documented solo ascent up Yosemite's Triple Crown—a climbing route through the finger-tensing stretch weaving together Mount Watkins, The Nose, and the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome—Honnold also currently holds numerous records for speed. He managed to scale El Capitan in a mind-bending three hours and 56 minutes.
"I could see how for a non-climber it might seem completely insane," he confessed. "But I've devoted 20 years to climbing, and probably six or seven to this particular project so, it's not like I'm just some crazy kid who in the spur of the moment decided to do this crazy thing. It took years of effort."
Still, it's hella crazy thing to do on a Saturday afternoon.
For a more cinematic lens into Honnold's historic climb, keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming National Geographic documentary.
Feel like testing your own climbing chops? Check out some of our favorite climbing gyms in the Bay Area.
