Alex Honnold Breaks Down Extreme Climbing In Movies & TV | GQ Sports 

this is gold

Top comment award!

I find it funny that the only times he hurt his hand was either as a kid or in a climbing gym and not out on the rocks. I guess that tells you where you really are in trouble and it is while practicing or just being a kid.

When?

@@justinkern3533 Climbing Gold?

Lol

LOL! Sounds like Hollywood; TC has "little man syndrome" like Napoleon and Putin, so those people take risks to show off, but Hollywood has ways of protecting them that you can't see so, well, that's Hollywood, which is a pretend world! They can be crawling on glass 5' off the ground stretched between two sturdy prop projections with the cameras under them shooting up and the cameras can make it look like they're climbing up! They use reflection techniques, all kinds of special effects to make something look real and YOU BUY IT when it gets on the big screen! But Alex Honnold is the REAL THING!

I commend you for your bravery!

this comment lol

That's why you're not in movies bro

did they turn off comments for you like dang 1.1k likes and nothing!!

​@@enoch4392 YOu ruinEd iT bro wtf

@@shrekjunior6144 im sorry it had to be done

Humor

He probably has. Many places use explosives to trigger avalanche, before it gets too big. Even I have seen that.

He's like "yea I've done with without the magical gloves".

So many cool things were said in the video, yet all you smooth brains only care about the Tom Cruise part.

Sure, Tom climbs a horizontal "building" lying 4 feet off the set floor, with cameras above and beside him, LOL!

@@mjleger4555 Except Tom was actually climbing Burj Khalifa, but okay.

@@maxkho00 he wasnt. #1 no magic glove. #2 without magic glove mr tiny has not the wingspan to climb it. he did rope down in some scenes and thats it

😂😂😂

lol

I had to rewind it I thought he was joking

@@billchubbler4584 when they started the clip I was just waiting for him to point out the absurdity and he was just like "...other than the gloves".

"He doesn't get tired tho, because he's Tom Cruise"

I don't climb either, find him endlessly engaging.

His expert knowledge is fascinating to listen to. Easily the best one of these breakdowns.

It's a strange slippery slope. I always told myself I would never do lead. Then I started doing lead. At that point I was like "okay... but I'll never do any trad or crack climbing" and then eventually found myself doing that. At this rate, I'll be free soloing within a decade.

I was with you until the soloing part. I've got friends that have been climbing for decades. I was kinda embarrassed when I went to Joshua Tree with one of them, none of them solo @@chickenspy1854

Easily one of my favorite people to listen to

Wow glad I know that now, that's incredible. To think I thought it was impressive in the UK doing Snowden / Ben Nevis / Scarfell pike in 24 hours!

There probably wasn't a huge financial backer or sporting outlet sponsoring them. This world is all about money. Have you not noticed?

why they stopped at 14th thou? is the 15th and so on not worth climbing? im sorry i have no idea about highest peaks

@@ghostgurl17 I think the 14 highest are "8000ers" i.e the only mountains above 8000m. Presumably the 15th highest mountain in the world is less than 8000m tall.

@@Fyr35555 oh ok.. thats really cool.. so the mountaineers already rated the highest mountains but i cant stop thinking is the 14 highest mountains are also the 14 most difficult to climb, like it cant be right? theres gotta be smaller ones that are much steeper.

I can't even imagine

V4 is not that hard

@@SumriseHD 112 times in a row absolutely is lmao

I really want to see the video of him climbing the burj

and he broke it down to a series of V4 boulder problems. Just amazing.

@@howdareyou41 naw he was on wires he didnt literally climb it lol

@@ploopy8780 technically yes cuz that wires doesn’t pull him it’s just for safety

Technically so did Tom Cruise. He actually was out there for that stunt. Obviously on ropes and wires, but so was Alex.

i wish that Alex did the balance of the video to focus on the part of The Eiger Sanction climb of the Eiger itself---for realism: as i think they filmed the climbing scenes of the dramatic ascent on the deadly mountain face, (w/ 1 climber David Knowles killed, and another, Mike Hoover badly hurt).

Alex is the real deal and probably on the top scale of my respect for what he does. I hear he has a child now, so I wonder if he'll continue climbing or just settle for being a professional advisor now! There is no doubt he is the best free-climber in the world, but it's time to stop taking chances; climb, but don't free-climb anymore, I don't want to read about him falling -- PLEASE use equipment when you climb now, Alex! (Terrific scenes in the above video, I don't care if they are real or not, as an acrophobic, they make me queasy just watching them! I have to break away and look around the room to be sure I'm not up there somewhere -- yikes!) Years ago, I was an avid hiker because my dad was, and I could climb UP almost anything, but NOT DOWN and it was my physician father who realized I had acrophobia when I was about age 5. On our hikes, my Dad loved to go out to the edge of a cliff and look out at the view, I had to crawl out to him and climb up his leg, hanging on for dear life, and I didn't want to look down! We climbed Mt. Lassen and signed the book but there was a good safe trail and not near the edge of the mountain, and my Dad was with me so I felt safe! Later, as an adult, I skied in the Swiss Alps but I wouldn't ski near the edge (and I can hardly, today, watch those skiers ski off cliffs for Red Bull shoots)! I could ride chairlifts, I guess I trusted them but I didn't look down a lot. Strangely, if there was a rail at some lookout (like at the Grand Canyon), I was fairly good hanging on to something, but no rail or barrier, and I wouldn't get near the edge (I had the feeling I was being pulled out and down by the air at the edge of a cliff!) I wonder if Alex ever looks down past his feet when climbing; I hope not!

"The way I climbed Burj..." what a statement

@@magics902 "This is like a V4" Climbing the windows of the Burj. Ok, Alex.

Adaptive like a rock climber

Loved this film, but had no idea he executed so many of his own stunts. Sorry to hear they lost a climber. RIP

What movie is that

@@jerrysellier6693 "The Eiger Sanction" - 1975 👍

Clint Eastwood is very hardcore.

absolutely. There was a big deal about it at the time too. Most everyone just wanted to stop production after the climber's death. Of course Clint would have none of it and Knowles family basically said if you stop filming, then what did he die for?

Yea in his first interviews he looked soooo uncomfortable

I thought the exact same thing. Been a while since I watched Free Solo, but I don't remember him being this eloquent and comfortable.

He’s almost too comfortable lol. He’s talking our heads off. His last Joe Rogan interview was like this too

He looked just as comfortable in part one which was in 2019

He has a surprising sense of humor!

He is very generous.

I Love this comment lol

That's like the most polite mockery ever.

"I used to have a red helmet when I was a kid. A lot of people like red helmets. I could see someone wearing a red helmet in a situation like this, but I preffer blue, personaly."

Clint Eastwood. Not CG. He’s Hollywood so that is impressive. I realize some of the scenes was not him. Others were.

"Jackets are for sissies." That drill sergeant father potty-trained his kids at gunpoint.

There's what you think, and then there's what your amigdala thinks

@@peterlansdale1793 If you watch Free Solo, they scan Alex’s amygdala and it doesn’t respond the way a normal humans would. His fear threshold is significantly higher than the average human.

Honestly, when you climb, you build a certain confidence in your feet and fingers that makes things seem trivial. Where before you started climbing, a cliff edge would seem scary, after climbing it would feel completely illogical to be scared knowing you have the skills to stay on the wall. If I were to compare it to something else, it's like being afraid to mess up the first level of Super Mario Bros the first time you play it, but after the 100th time you literally run through the level because you know exactly what to expect. The thing is even at the 100th time, you can still screw up. That should always be at the back of your mind. There's no room for complacency when your life is on the line.

You can find videos of him soloing up things, not liking a move, and down climbing back the way he came. He definitely isn't doing things he feels unsure about.

When he climbed El Cap in the free solo movie, he knew exactly where to climb and what crevices to avoid and take advantage of so well that he didn't have to think at all. He just climbed. That's years of preparation and having the balls to do it or else he'll die trying.

when you start analysing movies in depth you basically have to do this for every single thing. It's about the story, the implementation is often terrible

lol you have a reddit pfp for RU-vid

Agreed, that's part of his "down to earth" charm! Funny saying that about someone who has been higher than I ever have except in an aircraft!

@Train 2noplace I'm not a lawyer yet, but I'm in law school, and legal dramas are still some of my favorite movies and TV shows. Inaccuracy doesn't spoil the fun, for me.

He doesn't do -descending 💯

Smart man.

Apparently pratchett was a pedantic idiot then. "oh you're not afraid of guns honey. You're afraid of empty spaces in your body causing blood loss because a high velocity piece of lead displaced flesh."

You mean the unknown stuntman, that makes Eastwood look so fine ? There's _literally_ a song about them (but I know what you mean :).

@@anonymes2884 well, I meant more within the plot of the movie. Maybe they should start to throw away a line like "Oh, I am glad that Bob set everything up for us. Thanks Bob!" and you see the protagonist waving at somebody above but you never see him. Kind of like how all superhero movies now always have to make clear that the city has been evacuated before they proceed to destroy it fighting the villain, lol.

@@TheDaredevil816 please look up Vaush and Destiny streamers yourself

@Cindy Tartt if u believe him and r with truth u should look at and heavily consider Vaush and Destiny streamers too

@Cindy Tartt also lol

Especially with his casual delivery! Guy's a badass.

@@beckerqueiroz “I broke my nose haha” and then keeps going like nothing happened

I used the same priorities when I was skating. Take a slam and get up and if you can still walk you're good, if you can still skate there's nothing much wrong with you lol. If you can't walk, or you can't get up, then you might have an injury. Best to sit there for a couple of minutes and then try again. I don't think there was ever a time I couldn't get up and walk under my own stream after a few minutes had passed. As for cuts and bruises and minor breaks, fractures and dislocations, if you could still skate it was no biggy really. And it's pretty rare to get more hurt in a fight or other sport than you can inflict on yourself every week with a plank with wheels on ;)

And then continue to the peak🤐

Now that you say it I agree.

Same. When i saw this i was like 😅 phew

U should check out his podcasts, they not bad

I remember him mentioning that the guys who do sorta similar stuff to what he does usually die doing relatively regular climbing. And it makes sense

@@ijaazparker3855 I think Climbing Gold might be fairly uninteresting for people completely outside the realm of rock climbing.

Wait so Eatswood actually climbed it?

@@francoisthomas4930 - I think on the Totem Pole he just did the summit shot, but he did most of the other climbing stunts himself.

Navajo Nation to the pitons: Get off my totem pole.

@@johnnycucumber you can see it's him even when not seeing his face.

@@francoisthomas4930 of course not. They lowered him down via helicopter for the summit shot

Same that got me

😂

That's the coolest username I'd ever seen, just gotta say that

@@nimm1135 thx

Agree. Just so zen and chill about it all, he can point out when it's not realistic but still find something cool to point out about it.

Alex is THE Climbing Guy!

that's Alex Honnold for you. I'm not sure I've ever seen a more chill human being, even in fiction

that is right. RIP all the slaves that build that building. Never forget.

I saw a video where he calmly freaked out for a couple minutes free soloing I think El Capitan. Climbing is one thing, free solo climbing is another. That's his thing though.

Didn't he take an mr or something in that movie wich showed he had less fear reaction than average?

@@mskjaer496 he basically had no fear reaction as shown in Free Solo. His amygdala didn’t fire at all.

@@NickRoman it was half dome

@HiveRobot His brain is wired differently or something.

The pedantry.....really

5 stars? What is this, a hotel?

Natural born entertainer and public speaker, to add to the long list of his other talents. cool dude

Yep. His on the spectrum big time. Watch his doco.

5 stars? This isn’t 2009 RU-vid

Oh, yeah, the most unbelievable feat I've ever seen! He's a beast!

The Ron Burgundy read, where he says it and immediately lights a cigarette

"all that many" means he's just seen a few!😅

Omg I did not expect to see Garrett in a comment section of a climbing video 😂

They did another video of him breaking down movies before a year or two ago, if you want to find that.

Hey??

Hi Garrett!

Alex has done one of these before

Considering he looks like one, he's not wrong.

Underrated comment

@@scenepointjudge I think he looks normal? He just has large eyes 🤷‍♀️

@@janedoll3237 and MASSIVE HANDS

@@MilkT0ast all the better for climbing, my dear 🐺

Dont forget about the huge set of balls he carries with him.

Not forgetting the fact that he said he was a little bit slow and could have done better

@@Lokairn speedrunning El Cap, gearless category.

@@LeoStaley Frame perfect ?

@@Lokairn Zero damage run!

think about the hands though. there are no muscles in the fingers at all , just connecting tissue and ligaments. for his hands to have grown to that size means his applicable force per finger is insane. He is a one of a kind, down to earth , super human beast.

@@howdareyou41 do you ever think about what you are saying or maybe come back and read it afterwards and think man I sound like a complete douchebag maybe I'll delete this or better yet not make the comment in the first place?

Soon enough he'll have a pancake everything

@@OneMouseGaming I think he just has freakishly insane hand genetics- he's said himself he doesn't have the greatest finger strength

@@pilotflux8005 "Okay yeah so the guy di Solo Ell Cap Its Super Cool Hes even on sited 13 + and hes climbed solid 514 but have you seen him crimp? He crimps like a kitten... " I love this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-618eR-1zdoYc.html

Pavolvian response to what has to be one of the most stressful movie viewing experiences of my entire life. It's SO GOOD.

bro i swear mine started sweating too??

*while making an award winning film

@@fetralburns3466 I'm definitely not hating on him or questioning how impressive it is...it's just very ironic

You wouldn't be brave if you weren't also scared.

He spent years training with gear before he even attempted to climb it solo. He even did an attempt before and quit because he wasn't feeling it.

I mean, he explains it when he says " the key is to make sure you don't fall" So he's spent years practicing every section there is on that climb. Not saying that it still isn't insane, but he was probably really confident doing Yosemite by that point.

An inch and a half is actually quite a bit! You could get most of your toe box on that

Yea, he brings up lots of interesting things that I wouldn't have known or thought about. Like the updraft on the Burj Khalifa as an example. A lot of the other interviews in this format whether on GQ or other channels seem like they feature someone with unique credentials but they don't actually bring any unique or interesting perspective to their breakdowns. This one was really well done. Probably a credit to Alex as he's always interesting to listen to.

@@chrestophir The WTF of the multiple routes was great ripping it to bits.

Almost everyone points out what’s wrong and explains why…

Totally. And get Oscar for that movie would be something even crazier

Then, Alex goes on and become one helluva free soloist.

Alex "... except me"

I like this comment except for “probably a lot of mental strength”. Have you seen Free Solo?😂

@@v.demonaco3718 🤣🤣

and he also got huge balls

@@cinkhangin balls of pure gold

"probably a huge mental strength"? My guy have zero fear of anything, i bet his heart rate is like 40 in very very stressful situations. As a highstakes pokerplayer i admire this mans calm and presence in life, he is one of my idols.

he said he was scrambling so it probably wasn't that scary, especially for him

Or.... get mercilessly trashed by Alex in a breakdown for how silly your climbing scene is, that’s for sure! 😜😂

I think they make it like they do because a 2 hour movie watching someone really climb a mountain would not be appealing to a broad audience.

@@bighoser ahhh, have you not seen the feature film of Alex climbing El Cap? 😂. Point taken of course, but any opportunity to share that film I'll take because it's amazing.

@@purklefluff Yes, I loved it and I am not a climber. Watching Tom Cruise bumble his way up an unremarkable clifside for hours not so much.

@@bighoser Funny comment. You should watch Alex's Free Solo documentary which is all him climbing a mountain for 2 hours and it's one of the most gripping documentaries I've ever seen.

A couple times!

@@sergiosaunier Never under estimate how nuts Alex can be.

@@JL-yo1du -nuts- awesome*

You sound stupid like absolutely idiotic. He gets recognition, you act like you made it happen or like you’ve been telling people that he deserves it. You are just a person in the giant number of billions on earth, chances are your opinion doesn’t need to be heard and is probably wrong

I agree

Yeah no wonder his mantle didn't involve legs.. no way those jeans would have stretched that far haha

Maybe they were jeggings.

@@allantaylor6046 actually a lot of climbers prefer denim because it doesn’t tear easy and CAN be stretchy (breaking in, etc)... no one’s out there in brand new Levi 511’s trying to van damme split, but my buddy is always in his jeans when we climb

I'm more concerned by the boots!! Haha

@@hellfish2309 came here to say this homie

@@howdareyou41 it’s entirely up to you

It's ok. Not the best but just ok

Get sweaty palms everytime I watch it even though I know exactually what happens

He deserves a new award created for the highest feats accomplished in sport

@@herbalty754 single greatest solo athletic accomplishment EVER

Tom Cruise just shrinked himself for the sake of the stakes!

Was thinking the same thing. Cruise is short

I agree

Had my hands and feet sweating like crazy watching it

Wonder why...🤔

@@emilioguzmanalvarez420 lol

Scariest film I've ever seen, beats The Shining or any other horror movie all day long.

I absolutely love that he said this, we've all wondered how hard this would actually be haha

@@jamesmoakes6187 112 floors of V4, jesus christ my arms would fall off

@@Thrusthamster Outdoor V4 and the sandbagged Honnold grade... I would say I'd be dead before 20 floors.

I'm like V4ish indoor...VB outdoor. 120 floors of something I can't do to begin with 🥴

@@chickenspy1854 when he was doing that thing for tv on the burj, he had wires/cables holding him as well. so is it possible to do without it? like, its not sheer fully due to the metal rungs, etc he mentions but that seems like it may not realistically be doable? not sure (i dont climb)

absolutely

This

I have to pause vids like these when it gets to the climbing part and the abyss below cuz it really gets to me sometimes.