Who Is Alex Honnold?
Alex Honnold is a rock climber who has a net worth of $2 million and famous for his free solo ascents of huge walls. His achievement in 2017 in free soloing El Capitan is considered as one of the best athletic accomplishments of all time.
He is the only person to successfully free solo El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. He also possesses the fastest ascent of the Yosemite Triple Crown, a link-up of the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome, The Nose, and Mount Watkins.
Apart from being a famous rock climber, Honnold is also an author. He and David Roberts wrote a 2017 memoir titled Alone on the Wall. He is also the subject of Free Solo, a 2018 biography that won an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award.
Personal Details
Celebrity Name: Alex Honnold
Full Name: Alexander Honnold
Gender: Male
Birth Date: August 17, 1985
Birth Place: Sacramento, California, US
Age: 34
Height: 1.8m
Weight: 73 kilos
Nationality: American
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Status: In a Relationship
Girlfriend: Sanni McCandless
Children: None
Profession: American rock climber
Net Worth: $2 million
Early Life
Alexander Honnold was born on August 17, 1985, in Sacramento, California, to parents Charles Forrest and Dierdre Wolownick. His father is of German descent while his mother is from a Polish ancestry. Both of his parents are college professors.
He already started to climb when he was only five and when he was 10, he was already climbing numerous times per week. When he was a teenager, he joined both local and international youth climbing championships.
He graduated high school in Mira Loma High School and went to college at the University of California and took up civil engineering. During his first year in college, his grandfather passed away and his parents got a divorce. He missed a lot of his classes and according to him, his memories of these years were “heinous.”
Eventually, he dropped out of college and spent most of his time at home and driving to climb. In 2007, he purchased a van so he can focus more on climbing and following the weather.
Personal Life
For more than ten years, Honnold lived in his van. According to him, living in a vehicle is not appealing but he really likes it when he can go to different places easily. He can go where the weather is great and be comfortable during the travel.
In 2017, he finally bought a home of his own in Las Vegas. His house remained unfurnished for a few weeks so he stayed in his van during those times. Simultaneously, he bought himself a new vehicle with the 2016 Ram ProMaster, which he continues to live most of the time.
Honnold does not use any drugs and stays away from alcohol. He is also a vegetarian. Furthermore, he loves to read, particularly economics, environmentalism, and classic literature. He considers himself a feminist, militant, atheist, and anti-religion.
In 2015, he met Sanni McCandless and the two quickly became a couple. In December 2019, he announced through his social media account that he and Sanni are already engaged.
Fun Fact: Honnold’s mother, Dierdre Wolownick, is the oldest woman to climb El Capitan at the age of 66.
Alex Honnold Career
In 2012, he became popular after his solo of the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome, which was featured in Alone on the Wall. A year before that in November, he and Hans Florine failed to set the record time on the Nose Route of El Capitan by 45 seconds. However, in June 2012, the two of them were finally able to set a record of 2:23:51 on the Nose Route.
In November 2014, it was announced that Honnold, along with other four climbers, will no longer be sponsored. Most of them were free soloists. In June 2017, he made his first free solo climb to the El Capitan with a duration of three hours and 56 minutes. This was considered as one of the greatest achievements of any sport. In June 2018, Honnold and Tommy Caldwell teamed up to surpass the record for the Nose Route on El Capitan. They finished the route at 1:58:07, making them the first climbers to finish the route in less than two hours.
Films
Aside from rock climbing, Honnold also appeared in several films. He was the main cast of Free Solo, an Oscar-winning documentary film. Other films he appeared include The Sharp End (2009), Alone on the Wall (2008), Progression (2009), Honnold 3.0 (2012), Valley Uprising (2014), A Line Across the Sky (2015), Showdown at the Horseshoe Shell (2015), Africa Fusion (2016), Queen Maud Land (2018), and The Nose Speed Record (2019).
Alex Honnold Awards and Achievements
Here are the awards that Alex Honnold won during his career:
- 2018 Special mention of Piolets d’Or
- 2018 Robert and Miriam Underhill Award
- 2015: Piolets d’Or Award (shared with Tommy Caldwell)
- 2010: Golden Piton Award
Alex Honnold Total Net Worth
To date, Alex Honnold has a net worth of $2 million. He has earned a lot of money from rock climbing, acting in various films, and from being an author. He is one of the greatest athletes in this world and surely, we will still see a lot of great things from him.