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Some brands run from risk. This one leaned into it.

How Alex Honnold went from living out of a van to free-climbing in front of the entire world

8/5/20263 min read

Born in Sacramento in 1985, he got hooked on the climbing gym at five years old. At 19 he lost his father to a heart attack, dropped out of engineering at Berkeley, and his mom let him keep her old van so he could climb full-time.

He lived like that for years, no steady income, just stringing together routes across California. In September 2007, at 23 and basically a nobody in the sport, he linked Astroman and Rostrum North Face in Yosemite in a single day, matching a feat Peter Croft had pulled off twenty years earlier. That's the moment that got him noticed, and it's what landed him his first real sponsorships, The North Face included, finally letting him make a living off climbing instead of just surviving in the van.

He started out making barely enough to get by

His first deal with The North Face paid under $20,000 a year, just enough to cover van life and climbing trips. Over time that relationship grew into a six-figure annual contract. And today, more than twenty years in, he's still one of the brand's most beloved athletes: Bracken Darrell, CEO of VF Corp (The North Face's parent company), regularly brings him up with real warmth and pride when he talks to investors, holding him up as one of the team's standout names.

Not every brand made the same bet. In 2014, Clif Bar dropped Honnold specifically over concerns about the risks of free soloing. While one brand backed away from that risk, the other built a chunk of its identity around it.

The project that skipped the usual process entirely

Honnold's 2017 attempt to free solo El Capitan was never announced or prepped as an official company project. Only about five people at The North Face even knew it was happening. It wasn't about money, it came down to psychological pressure: if the brand had made it an official goal, Honnold would've carried the weight of feeling like he had to finish it, once everyone already knew, which is the exact opposite of what he needed going into an attempt where one mistake means death.

On June 3, 2017, at 5:32 a.m., he started up the Freerider route. Nearly 3,000 feet of rock face, no rope, no protection of any kind, relying purely on months of practice memorizing every single move on rope beforehand. He topped out just under four hours later. When The North Face was finally able to make it public, they put out a message that mixed real pride with a bit of humor: "Last week Alex Honnold became the first person to free solo Yosemite's El Capitan. No ropes, no harness. Just unmatched physical and mental strength and an unwavering commitment to the impossible. Alex, we love you and wish you a lifetime of exploration. But next time, please use a rope."

From van life to a skyscraper broadcast live to the entire world

After El Capitan, everything jumped to a different scale. Deals with Rivian, a TV commercial with Apple, and he started needing an agent just to manage his schedule. Today he also works with Range Rover, Squarespace, Citigroup, and Black Diamond. His biggest and most recent deal is with Netflix, for live events. The most extreme one yet, free soloing Taipei 101, the world's second-tallest skyscraper, broadcast live around the globe to tens of millions of viewers watching in real time.

In 2012 he founded the Honnold Foundation, focused on bringing solar energy to communities around the world, with zero connection to any of his sponsors. And these days he also gives corporate talks on risk management and focus, essentially selling as consulting the exact same skill that keeps him alive hanging off a wall with nothing holding him up.

The kid who lived in his mom's van because he had no other option is now the same guy the entire world watches live, knowing that any single move could be his last.