Alone on the Wall

'Riveting...Honnoldisneithercrazynorreckless.AloneontheWallrevealshimtobeanutterlyuniqueandextremelyappealingyoungman.'JonKrakauerAtwelve-year-oldkidintheaudienceraisedhishandandasked,'Aren'tyouafraidyou'regonnadie?'Withoutmissingabeat,Alexshotback,'We'veallgottadiesometimes.Youmightaswellgobig.'AlexHonnoldis28yearsold,andperhapstheworld'sbest'freesolo'climber.WhenAlexperformsoneofhislongfreesolos,theseverityofwhichnooneelsehasyetdaredtoattempt,hedoesawayaltogetherwithropes,withapartnertocatchhisfall,withsupportofanykind(neitherbolts,pitons,nutsorcams).ThereisapuritytoAlex'sclimbsthatiseasytocomprehend,butimpossibletofathom;inthelastfortyyears,onlyahandfulofclimbershavepushed'freesoloing'totherazoredgeofrisk.Halfofthemaredead.FromthenorthwestfaceofYosemite'sfamousHalfDome,tothefrighteninglydifficultElSenderoLuminosoinMexico,AloneontheWallisstructuredaroundAlex'ssevenmostextraordinaryclimbingachievementssofar.Thesearetalestomakeyourpalmssweatandyourfeetcurlwithvertigo,toldbyasmart,likeableclimbingvisionarywho,asJonKrakauersays,is'utterlygenuine.There'snobullshitthere.'Butthesestoriesalsogettotheheartofhow-andwhy-Alexdoeswhathedoes.Exciting,upliftingandtrulyawe-inspiring,AloneontheWallisabookabouttheessentialtruthsofriskandreward,andtheabilitytomaintainasingularfocus,eveninthefaceofextremedanger.