Alex Honnold | Fatherhood, Legacy, & Giving Back

The Freetrail Podcast with Dylan Bowman

Dylan Bowman

Ultrarunning, Training, Wellness, Endurance, Health, Running, Commentary, Trailrunning, Sports, Run

5 • 773 Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Alex Honnold is among the most accomplished climbers in history. Bursting into the mainstream consciousness in 2008, Alex has personally changed what people have viewed to be possible in the vertical world. In 2017, Alex did the first ever free solo of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, a feat that many consider to be the greatest athletic accomplishment in history, and that was documented in the Oscar winning film, Free Solo. We're honored to host him on the podcast.

Learn more about The Honnold Foundation: https://www.honnoldfoundation.org/#mission

Topics:

Where Alex is the arc of his career
His feelings recollecting to the times before he was famous
The inspiration Alex took from climbing legend Peter Croft
The state of climbing as a sport and the impact of the Olympics
Training and the similarities between running and climbing
How becoming a parent has impacted goal setting
The physical and psychological toll of being a pro athlete for two decades
Staying motivated over time
Alex's relationship with competition
The aftermath of Free Solo and what Alex called his "deployment to Hollywood"
His home in Las Vegas and why it's a great place to live
The Honnold Foundation
A lot more!

Sponsors:

Use code freetrail10 for 10% off Speedland Footwear
Grab a trail running pack from Osprey
Use code FREETRAIL25 for 25% off your first order of NEVERSECOND nutrition at never2.com
Go to ketone.com/freetrail30 for 30% off a subscription of Ketone IQ

Dylan Links: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Strava

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the free trial podcast. Of course, I am your loving host, Dylan Bowman. And today we're joined by Alex
0:21.0	Honnold, one of the most accomplished athletes in history. Alex has single-handedly
0:26.6	changed the sport of rock climbing, redefining what's viewed as possible in the vertical world.
0:32.8	Among many other things, of course, Alex made history when he did the first ever free solo ascent of
0:39.1	L-Cap in Yosemite Valley, a feat that many consider to be the greatest athletic accomplishment
0:45.1	in history and that was documented in the Oscar-winning film Free Solo. It goes without saying it was an
0:52.4	honor to chat with Alex for an hour. We recorded this in
0:55.8	person at his house in Las Vegas. And then afterwards, he joined myself, Ryan, and Harmony for a trail
1:02.5	run. What could possibly be cooler? Some topics we discuss where Alex is at in the arc of his
1:09.2	career. We talk about his feelings recollecting to the times
1:12.2	before he was world famous. We talk about the inspiration Alex took from climbing legend Peter
1:17.2	Croft, the state of climbing as a sport and the impact of the Olympics. We talk about training
1:22.6	and the similarities between running and climbing, how becoming a parent has impacted. Alex's goal setting. We talk
1:30.1	about the physical and psychological toll of being a pro athlete for two decades. We talk about
1:35.3	staying motivated over time. Alex's relationship with competition, the aftermath of free solo
1:41.8	in what Alex called his deployment to Hollywood. We talk about his home
1:46.6	in Las Vegas and why it's a great place to live. We talk about the Honnold Foundation and a lot more.
1:52.7	We squeezed a bunch into this 60 minute conversation. We are of course very grateful to Alex and his
1:59.1	wife, Sonnyny for the hospitality.
2:03.5	And we hope you enjoy the conversation.
2:06.5	Before we get to it, a big thanks to our sponsors who make the show possible.
2:11.5	Speedland, never second nutrition, osprey and keep tone IQ.
	...

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