The North Face

Sep 26 | Reel Rock 7 :: Alex Honnold 3.0

By The North Face

Alex Honnold has become known as the boldest soloist of his generation. In this dangerous game, how does he balance pure ambition with self-preservation? From highball boulder first ascents to 5.13 free solos, from far-flung trad climbing adventures, to speed records on The Nose, Honnold wrestles with this question in preparation for his biggest adventure yet - the Yosemite Triple. In under 19 hours he climbs Mt. Watkins, El Cap, and Half Dome, 95% of it free solo.

Check out a preview of Honnold in action here:

 

To see the full film and three others in this year's Reel Rock 7 Film Tour check out the schedule here: www.reelrocktour.com/calendar/

Find our more about Reel Rock 7 here: www.reelrocktour.com/home/

 

Sep 12 | Reel Rock 7 Launches September 13th

By The North Face

Our friends at Reel Rock Film Tour kick off Reel Rock 7 on September 13th with shows in Orem Utah, Minneapolis Minnesota, Banner Elk North Carolina, and the official premier in Boulder Colorado.  

Reel Rock 7 rolls out a fresh batch of the best new climbing films from Sender Films, Big Up, Camp 4 Collective, Hot Aches, Alstrin Films and more...

 

Find a show near you here: www.reelrocktour.com/calendar/

The Dura Dura

Chris Sharma has been the "king" of sport climbing for 15 years, and has created a mecca for hard routes near his home in Catalunya, Spain. Now, the Czech wunderkind, 19 year old Adam Ondra, has come to Sharma's home turf to take the torch. Sharma and Ondra battle to establish the world's first 5.15c, while Sasha DiGiulian and Daila Ojeda shred women's standards with strong ascents of their own.

The Shark's Fin

Legendary alpinist Conrad Anker nurtured a 20 year obsession with The Shark's Fin, a spectacular unclimbed granite buttress on the 6,310 meter Mt. Meru, in India. In 2008 Anker, with Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk, endured a grueling 18 day push to get within hundreds of feet of the summit, only to be turned back. Three years later, the trio makes tough decision to return, despite Anker's deep family ties, and Ozturk's ski accident just six months before the trip, which resulted in a fractured skull, a broken neck, and serious doubts about going back.

Wide Boys

American offwidth climbing has spawned a counter-culture of rough and tumble characters who aren't afraid to bleed their way up a route. So when two proper British lads, Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker, crossed the pond to eat up the gnarliest wide cracks in the West -- including the first ascent of the world's hardest offwidth known as Century Crack -- it came as quite a shock.

Honnold 3.0

Alex Honnold has become known as the boldest soloist of his generation. In this dangerous game, how does he balance pure ambition with self-preservation? From highball boulder first ascents to 5.13 free solos, from far-flung trad climbing adventures, to speed records on The Nose, Honnold wrestles with this question in preparation for his biggest adventure yet - the Yosemite Triple. In under 19 hours he climbs Mt. Watkins, El Cap, and Half Dome, 95% of it free solo.

Find a show near you here: www.reelrocktour.com/calendar/

Jun 26 | Speed Climbing the Nose!

By Alex Honnold

Alex and Hans climb the nose. (Photo courtesy of Tom Evans at ElCap Reports)

Two weekends ago Hans Florine and I climbed the Nose of El Capitan in 2:23:46, setting a new speed record in front of a very supportive crowd gathered in El Cap Meadows.

The thing about speed climbing is that it's not really about climbing fast.

Smooth efficiency takes the place of actual fast movement, especially on a route as long as the Nose. It's more about having all your systems dialed and not making mistakes than running as fast as you can and dynoing for holds. And that's what makes the whole speed climbing game so rewarding - when you do it well you climb smoothly and perfectly, which is one of the best feelings in climbing.

We did have a lot of slack out in places and occasionally took each other off belay, but at all the hard parts the leader would be on a real belay. Whenever we were aid climbing or trusting fixed gear we would be on a normal belay.

And most importantly, we always had at least two pieces of gear between us, meaning that under no circumstances, even worst-case scenario type situations, could we actually fall completely off the face. We might be looking at potentially long falls in places, but something would always have caught us, and on a cliff as steep and clean as El Cap sometimes falls like that work out ok.

As Hans always says, "Safety first, fun second, speed third."

In all our attempts on the Nose we always followed these rules, which is part of what made the whole experience so fun. 

 

A big thanks to Tom Evans at ElCap Reports for allowing us to use his photography.

 

Jun 17 | Honnold Breaks Nose Speed Ascent Record

By The North Face

Alex Honnold hit another big one Sunday, setting a new record for speed, along with climbing partner Hans Florine, on the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite.

Honnold and Florine’s time was 2:23:51, besting the previous record of 2:36:45 set by Sean Leary and Dean Potter in November 2010.

According to Honnold, he’s looking forward to more climbing this summer.

 

Jun 06 | Q&A: Alex Honnold on his Solo Triple

By The North Face

Everyone knew it was on the horizon after he accomplished the feat with Tommy Caldwell on May 18, but it’s now official: Alex Honnold just wrapped up his solo triple of Yosemite’s El Capitan, Half Dome and Mount Watkins in under 24 hours.

Alex just atop the sumit of Half Dome on Wednesday after finishing his solo triple. (Photo: Reel Rock Film Tour)

We (TNF) chatted with Alex (AH) as he made his way from topping out back to a car that would hopefully be taking him to eat. Finally.

 

TNF: Hey Alex. What’s up?

AH: Hi. I’m just walking down. I have interviews still to do.

TNF: So you’re basically just squeezing me in while you walk to the car?

 AH: Yeah, basically, while everyone walks to the car.

TNF: Ok, so, how would you explain soloing a Triple Crown to someone to let them know what it is and what it takes?

AH: I have got to say, I don’t really like the term Triple Crown. I’ve always just called it the triple.

TNF: So, you would just call it the triple instead?

AH: Yeah. When you do two it’s just a double, so three should be a triple.

TNF: I guess that makes sense for continuity’s sake. So, back to the original question?

AH: You’re basically just climbing three walls by any means you have and anything goes. You just have to seamlessly switch back and forth between different styles and you have to keep moving forever.

TNF: What time did you start at?

AH: We started hiking at 1:30 yesterday and then climbing at 4 p.m. so… I dunno, what time is it right now?

TNF: It is… 2:24.

AH: It’s 2:24? Oh that’s pretty cool, so it’s only 25 hours including everything. I finished at 11.

TNF: At 11 this morning?

AH: Oh yeah, and I just got down and I’m so pooped. My body hurts. It was kind of hardcore. It was probably more hardcore than the other one.

TNF: What would you say is more hardcore about it?

AH: Well, just the fact that if you fall off most of it, you will die. It makes it more exciting. I free soloed about like 95 percent of it.

TNF: You did?

AH: Yeah. That’s how I solo things. I just use gear on the hardest parts. So I free soloed probably 6,500 5-10 and 5-11 and I did other things for the other 500 feet or so. You get more and more fatigued free soloing. The thing is, I could rope solo them, but it’s just so laboriously slow that it’s not very practical. You just can’t climb that much.

TNF: Well, now I understand why this one was more intense.

AH: Also, just being by yourself through the night can get kind of scary and kind of lonely when you’re on this big old wall, and also it dumped rain a day or so ago. This whole climb was scheduled but it was sunny yesterday morning, so I thought it would be ok. Then some different routes were wet. So everything about it was a little more hardcore.

TNF: Tell me about the scary parts

AH: Not scary, just lonely. Climbing through the night you’re always more tired than you should be because of the time and being by yourself, it’s weird. I was climbing in a hybrid style where I had to keep switching back and forth between using a rope and not. Hang on one sec… (Yelling to people) Sorry, everyone is coming down right now and it’s a total gong show with all our cars all over the valley.

TNF: So, it’s lonely?

AH: It’s boring and you lose track of time. You’re adrift on a wall in the dark and it’s weird. A lot of the time when you’re climbing with a partner through the night, you climb all night and think, “oh it must be midnight, we’re getting near the top” and then you top out and the sun comes out and you think, “Oh my god, where did the whole night go?” Climbing through the night alone isn’t that cool.

TNF: Interesting, because people commenting on the photo of you atop Half Dome that’s on Facebook seem to think it’s pretty cool.

AH: What picture? Did something get posted to Facebook already?

TNF: Yeah! They posted it on the Reel Rock Tour page and we posted it on The North Face.

AH: That’s funny. They didn’t think anything was going through so we didn’t know anything was up.

TNF: So, you accomplished it. Huge deal? Chance to feel?

AH: To get stoked? I haven’t even gone to eat yet. I’m hungry.

TNF: So the hunger is keeping you from feeling the accomplishment?

AH: It’s cool, but I’ll be way more psyched after I eat something.

TNF: Well then, what are you going to eat?

AH: I think we’re going to a pizza place. That’s just where everyone goes after a big mission… but we only have an hour and a half. Ahhhhhhhhhh. And I’m totally going to fall asleep as soon as I stop moving.

TNF: Maybe you’ll feel better after you eat?

AH: I don’t know… We have to drive to Fresno in a couple hours.

TNF: You seem really rushed, like you have a lot on your plate even though you just finished up what was arguably already having a lot on your plate.

AH: Yeah. Yeah… I want to chill for five days.

TNF: So, you chill for five days and then what?

AH: Well, what I’m really looking forward to is going to climb anything I want with my friends. Just climb the normal way where you wake up and say, “Oh, it’s kind of warm today. Maybe let’s climb something in the shade.”

TNF: So, all in all you would say this is both a mental and physical challenge.

AH: A logistical challenge, yeah. It’s just hard.

TNF: Anything else?

AH: Um… (inaudible.)

TNF: Alex, you’re cutting out.

AH: That’s ok because I want to go eat.

 

That’s where things cut out, but here’s hoping Alex got that slice.

 

May 22 | Q&A: Alex Honnold on the Triple Crown

By The North Face

While some reserve the term “Triple Crown” for the world of horse racing, its meaning can transcend sports, much as it does with climbing.

Friday, May 18, Alex Honnold, along with Tommy Caldwell, completed a triple link-up, better known as the Triple Crown, of Yosemite’s El Capitan, Half Dome and Mount Watkins, becoming the first to do so free in under 24 hours.

Alex Honnold and Hazel Findlay, Canada. Photo: Tim Kemple.

We (TNF) caught up with Alex (AH) today to get his take on the feat, and as luck would have it, caught him hiking down from a climb, which he told us he’d been on for around nine miles. And he was starting to get hungry.

TNF: Hi, can you hear me?

AH: I can kind of hear you. I’m sitting on some rocks now…

TNF: I don’t want you to have to stop, you have to make it back.

AH: I made it to the trailhead, now I just have to hitch back into the valley.

TNF: Hitch?... As in, Hitchhike?

AH: Yeah. I hiked out to the highway. But whatever. It’s just a roundabout way down. It should be easy enough in a minute, but I’ll wait till we’re done.

TNF: Ok, well, tell me about completing the Triple Crown. You were the first to do it free?

AH: Yeah, it’s totally cool. The thing is, in a week or two I was planning on doing the solo triple, rope soloing the three of them – not free soloing, but climbing each of the big faces by myself and the Sender guys are supposed to film it for part of a Reel Rock piece that they are doing. So for me it’s super cool to have done this, but it’s also just warming up for the season.

TNF: What do you take away as the most memorable part of that 21 hours?

AH: Probably the most memorable part was in the middle of the night climbing Freerider, which is the route up El Cap, when Tommy climbed one of the harder corners. It’s just a technical corner and he said, “I’m too tired to lieback* it, I’m just going to stem** it,” and then he proceeded to just totally bust it out in this unconventional style. I was just like, I didn’t even think you could do that! It’s the middle of the night and it’s really hard to see the feet because it’s dark and he has a head lamp, and he’s standing on tiny dimes, and he just stemmed it. Later when we were climbing Half Dome, the final route, I got into this little corner where I was like, “I’m tired, I’m just going to stem it” and I did kind of the same thing and it worked. 

TNF: So you enjoyed climbing it with Tommy?

AH: Tommy’s like a technical wizard on that stuff. He’s really, really good on granite and so it was cool seeing just how good he is on some things.

TNF: You said it’s preparation for you for this season, but it had to feel better than just preparation, right?

AH: Today I just soloed the west face of El Cap, which is not a real El Cap route, but it’s still kind of exciting for me. They’re all little things that you do that you’re psyched on, but that aren’t necessarily that big of a deal.

TNF: You mentioned wanting to do this last year. Now that you have done it is there something else you are looking forward to?

AH: This is the culmination of endurance linkups, so I don’t think that… I really doubt that I’ll ever do anything bigger. Just because, one there isn’t anything obvious that comes to mind because there aren’t any faces that make sense to add in. We did what there is to do.

TNF: People would be shocked to hear you say you won’t do anything bigger.

AH: Well, I mean bigger in Yosemite. There just aren’t any bigger faces to climb. But there are certainly harder things to do and there are other things that could be done in a day that would be a bigger challenge. But just in chaining a bunch of faces, climbing multiple routes in a row, there just aren’t more routes to climb.

TNF: I’m sure there’s a giant sigh of relief. People like guessing what’s next with Alex.

AH: Well, there will be something next, but it can’t really get that much bigger than the triple.

TNF: How do you come up with the thought to do these things?

AH: You do one route and you have a lot of time left in the day and you think, “Oh maybe we should have done two.” And eventually you do two with time left over and you say, “maybe we could do three…” and we did three and we didn’t have any time left over so we said, “we’re over it.”

TNF: So you’re challenging yourself?

AH: Yeah, exactly. My first year in Yosemite, just climbing El Cap in a day was a big thing. Now that it isn’t a huge challenge anymore, you just have to come up with bigger ones.

TNF: What was the most challenging part of the climb?

AH: Just doing stuff for 20 hours.

TNF: So the obvious. There was no moment, it was just the endurance involved?

AH: Each of the routes have specific cruxes to them. Each time we got to them we would know it was the hard part and get all stoked, but they were all reasonable. The real thing was it overall – your feet hurt more and more and you get tired. Which in some ways is why I won’t do bigger linkups. They aren’t super fun. Once you hit hour 12 or 14 you aren’t really thinking, “Oh! Great times!” That’s how it is every time. You think it will be cool till it isn’t fun anymore.

TNF: I have a sneaky suspicion you’ll get yourself into another one of those situations.

AH: Yeah, for sure. That’s the beauty of the game. After a couple months you forget about how bad your feet hurt and you think, “Man it sure would be cool to do four in a day!” But I’m going to need a while.

For more on Alex's and Tommy's Triple Crown record, check out Outside Magazine's article at OutsideOnline.com.

 

*lieback: The practice of pulling on the hands while pushing on the feet.

**stem: Using two widely spaced footholds, or using two faces that are less than 180 degrees from each other.

Dec 13 | 2011 TNF Athlete Summit, Sayulita Mexico

By Cedar Wright

The North Face's Global Athlete Team is one of the most unique and cutting edge Professional Athlete Teams in the world, with some of the best climbers, skiers, and ultra-runners in the universe all working together. The team spans the globe representing Europe, Asia, South America, and us here in North America.

The North Face supports a classic cast of characters in their dreams to push and live within the sport. Each year TNF hosts an "Athlete Summit," which is essentially a team meeting, that brings all of these talented global athletes to one place, to talk about expeditions, product, and most importantly to bond as a team. I have attended all of the Athlete Summits since their inception eight years ago, and have become good friends with skiers and runners who I would never have otherwise met.

This year the Summit was in Sayulita Mexico, a beautiful little surf town near Puerto Vallarta. Call it a work meeting or a paid vacation... I can say that at times like the Summit I feel very fortunate to have climbed for The North Face for the last eight years. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and ask, "is this really my job?" 

It feels more like a family then a team really! On our third day, in Mexico with all our meetings done, we had an activity day, and I opted to go snorkeling instead of surfing, which turned out to be a great decision, as our crew of runners, skiers, and climbers saw Dolphins, Whales, and a host of beautiful sea birds. It was one of those magical playful moments when you really appreciate and feel a part of the natural world. Inspired by Sage Cattabriga Alosa one of TNF's top skiers who had showed me his workflow for shooting and editing short films on his IPhone, I was psyched to give it a whirl, so here it is a short film about our adventure, shot, edited and uploaded, using only my iphone! Technology has come a long way!!!

 

Jul 24 | TNF Newfoundland Expedition Dispatch #3

By Mark Synnott

Rain, rain, go away come back another day

After the beautiful day Mark and I had to climb Leviathan and James and Alex finished an incomplete route just to the left, we naively thought that the rest of the blue skies of the day might be the mark of the trip.  How wrong we were. Rain followed for several days and then several more days... Our saving grace was a big dome tent, a substanstial food supply and lots of hiking, all of which served to keep insanity at bay.

Every morning I would peel back the door of my tent, hoping for a least some semblance of clear skies and dry rock, but after the one morning, Devil's bay only greeted me with either full rain or fog so thick that I couldn't see anyone else's tent.  We managed to climb two more days in between rain but since the majority of the wall was either wet or seeping, we were quite limited with what we could do.

Impressivly James and Alex managed to climb Lucifer's Lighthouse (a 12c that Chris Weidner and Justin Sjong  put up) which they dubbed the best route on the wall.  Since Mark and I though Leviathan was amazing, we were curious to see how they compared.

After more days sitting in the rain, we realized we would be robbed of our chance to try Lucifer's Lighthouse and fulful our initial ambition of adding some new routes to the wall.  One memorable evening we were almost robbed of our tents as well.  A vicious storm boasting 70mph wings ripped through our camp.  Having been rather blasé about securing my tent to the ground I woke up in the middle of the night alarmed to find that it had detached itself from its anchoring and was by the most part held down by me alone.  With nothing else to do but venture out to try to repair it, I struggled with one hand to prevent the tent from taking flight and with the other I managed to attach the guide-lines to some bigger boulders.  I woke up to find the rest of the team bleary eyed, telling stories of similair experiences.  Well, apart from Honnold who managed to sleep like a baby throughout the whole storm.

The final few days of our stay at Devil's Bay were particulary wet and when George's boat finally appeared through the fog, we were certainly ready to leave.  All in all our mission to Devil's Bay has been a fun adventure- Blow Me Down is a cool wall with some really good routes and loads of potential for more, the people are really interesting and friendly and the area has stunning natural beauty...it's just a shame about the rain!

--Hazel Findlay 

 

Jul 14 | TNF Newfoundland Expedition Dispatch #2

By Mark Synnott

I'm sitting in basecamp just above the rocky shoreline of Devil's Bay on the south coast of Newfoundland.  A few hundred yards to the east rises Blow Me Down, which may well be the most beautiful sea cliff in the world: 1300 feet of weathered granite rising striaght from the sea.  It's raining hard and the stream running next to our cook tent has turned into a raging torrent, drowning out all other sounds.  Past the mouth of the bay the sky is worse before it gets better.  Everything is soaked, including me, but I'm filled with a deep sense of contentment as I think back on the climb I completed yesterday with Hazel Findlay, the newest member of The North Face Climbing Team.  Unlike today, the weather was perfect: a deep blue cloudless sky, light winds, the gentle swell of the Atlantic rolling into the bay as a thousand pinpoints of light shimmered magically on the surface of the ocean.  Climbing with nothing more than t-shirts, a rack of gear and a light pack, we spent the day working our way up perfect hand and finger cracks, thin faces, stemming corners and aretes.
After ten beautiful pitches we pulled over the lip onto the summit.  "Very Nice," said Hazel, with a perfet Borat accent, as we shared a high five and took a few moments to survey the magnificent country that stretched out below us.  To the south the rock lined the fjord of Devil's Bay led straight out to the mighty Atlantic, with nothing but 2,000 miles of cold ocean between us and the coast of Europe.  To the north, miles of endless rolling granite moonscape, punctuated by rivers, lakes and lush strips of greenery, stretched into a mysterious, uninhabited no man's land.  To our east and west lay more fjords, where we could just discern the tops of other unkown cliffs, which begged for further exploration.  More adventures beckoned, but we turned our attention back toward camp, where the cold beers we'd stashed in the river awaited.

Now we sit sipping coffee, waiting for another break in the weather, content with the knowledge that eventually the sun will shine again, the rock will dry, and then we'll be off on another grand Newfie adventure. 

Mark Synnott

(sent via patchy cell service on the summit of Blow Me Down by Tim Kemple)

Jul 11 | TNF Newfoundland Expedition Underway!

By Renan Ozturk

Early this Monday morning I received a surprise update via a patch of cell service from the TNF team starting thier expedition to Newfoundland. The team includes Mark Synnott, James Pearson, Hazel Findlay and Alex Honnold. Also from Camp 4 Collective Tim Kemple, Matt Irving and Jimmy Surrette are there to document the adventure!  See below for the first fresh tidbits of thier journey.  Cheers,  ~renan

From Tim Kemple: 50mph winds today. Smashing rain last night. We are miles and miles from any people. So random to find out we get cell service on this one pointy summit.

From James Pearson:  Its 4am, light is starting to come, and I am staring out a tiny hole of my sleeping bag at the swarm of mosquitoes attacking my face-net.  I'm shattered but I can't sleep; the noise alone is too much, not to mention the pain in my arms from the crippling position required to hold my origami fortress in place and keep out the blood-thirsty hordes.  I would have been common sense to call in advance and book a hotel, especially as I knew I would be arriving very late, and have to spend the first night alone.  For some reason I didn't, and now I'm suffering the consequence of an unexpected forest bivi.  I stare hypnotised at the swirling mosquitoes and wish the time would pass.

Several hours later and I am a little further along my journey.  Two shuttle busses have brought me to Burgeo, the end of the road (literally) and the place I scheduled to meet Mark and the rest of the team to begin the next phase.  Tomorrow we have a five hour ferry to Francois- a small fishing village of 100 people on the east coast of Newfoundland, and the next will bring a ride aboard a fishing boat and the first view of our reason to be here- Blow Me Down.

Over 1,000 ft of pristine granite rising directly out of the ocean sounds almost too good to be true, but on the account of several trusted friends, that is what we will find.  I'm so very excited to see this place and get on the rock, but a little intimidated by the logistics of landing- transferring several very heavy bags from a tiny boat to a rocky shore.  There are all the ingredients in place for an EPIC, but on one level, epics are something that keeps life interesting.