Alex Honnold, one of the world’s most daring climbers, has his sights set on free climbing The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.
The iconic 5.14 big wall route is usually climbed with aids, such as haulers, pitons and a rope pendulum, at various tricky pitches.
But Honnold has been working on a project to scale the 3,000ft tall, precipitously steep route with no such aids. He will face long, smooth and sometimes polished cracks, as well as intimidating and highly exposed traverses.
Fewer than a dozen people have free climbed The Nose since its first ascent in 1993 by Lynn Hill. The following year, Hill, also American, set a sub-24-hour record free climbing the route.
Honnold, 39, took to social media this week to announce to fans that he is currently in Yosemite to work on the project, which incudes practising a number of crux moves on the 31-pitch route, with fellow climber Brett Harrington.
There are a number of points on the route where most climbers rely on aids. Hill explains that, for example, at the Great Roof pitch, a free climber needs to "surf sideways on smooth, featureless rock with his or her fingers jammed into the crack above". Another major challenge comes higher up at 'Changing Corners'.
However, Honnold, who has two young children, was quick to point out that it is not a free solo attempt, which would mean using no ropes or aids. The climber has famously free soloed other iconic routes, such as Freerider on El Capitan.
Honnold is also no stranger to The Nose, having climbed it several times with aids. He also holds the team speed record of the route with Tommy Caldwell. The climbing pair scaled it in just under two hours.
You can find out how Honnold trained for an audacious climb on the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska and his epic home climbing gym.
What is free climbing?
Free climbing is the umbrella term given to any style of climbing where you’re not reliant on gear to get you up the wall. So, although you could be gear-free, you’ll almost definitely be wearing climbing shoes and you may well even be on a harness and top roped or placing pieces of protective gear like cams in case you fall.
Free climbing is in contrast to another style of climbing called Aid Climbing, in which you use ladders and other devices to pull yourself up. Aid climbing is used in scenarios where free climbing would be impossible, for example a sheer rock face with zero holds. In free climbing, you're using your own arms and legs to power yourself up a rock face. In many kinds of free climbing, you are indeed using gear, but this gear doesn’t actually propel you up the wall – it prevents you from getting injured in case you fall.
