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Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold - book out now

© Macmillan Publishers

A twelve-year-old kid in the audience raised his hand and asked, 'Aren't you afraid you're gonna die?'

Without missing a beat, Alex shot back, 'We've all gotta die sometimes. You might as well go big.'

Alex Honnold is 30 years old, and perhaps the world's best 'free solo' climber, scaling impossible rock faces without ropes, pitons or support of any kind. There is a purity to Alex's climbs that is easy to comprehend, but impossible to fathom; in the last forty years, only a handful of climbers have pushed 'free soloing' to the razor edge of risk. Half of them are dead.

From Yosemite's famous Half Dome to the frighteningly difficult El Sendero Luminoso in Mexico, Alone on the Wall is structured around Alex's seven most extraordinary climbing achievements so far. These are tales to make your palms sweat and your feet curl with vertigo. Together, they get to the heart of how - and why - Alex does what he does. Exciting, uplifting and truly awe-inspiring, Alone on the Wall is a book about the essential truths of risk and reward, and the ability to maintain a singular focus, even in the face of extreme danger.

‘Alex Honnold's climbing feats are astonishing. They are also absolutely horrifying. Reading about some of his ascents made me physically ill. As this riveting book makes clear, however, Honnold is neither crazy nor reckless. Alone on the Wall reveals him to be an utterly unique and extremely appealing young man.’ Jon Krakauer

For more information Pan Macmillan



6 Nov, 2015
Just ordered it - £5.99 on Amazon!
8 Nov, 2015
We've all gotta die sometimes. You might as well go big.' Not exactly sound advice to a 12 year old..and trite with it
8 Nov, 2015
I guess one persons trite is another's essential truth. Very few of us will ever take things to Honnold's level, but we can all seize the day in our own way. To me, that's pretty good advice to anyone, including a 12 year old.
9 Nov, 2015
Some irony of Honnold's book being in the 'gear' section of the forum...
9 Nov, 2015
I've just published a review of this book on the site here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=7869 Cheers, Jack

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