Roger Kisby
NEED TO KNOW
A reported 6 million people watched Netflix's live broadcast of famed climber Alex Honnold's ropeless ascent of Taiwan's nearly 1,700-foot Taipei 101 tower on Jan. 25
Now home in the Las Vegas area with his wife, Sanni, Honnold says he's pumped to be tackling another adventure in his adrenaline-packed life: fatherhood
"I joke that one way or another, my kids are gonna know how to rappel and belay," he says of raising two daughters: Alice, 2, and 4-year-old June
A few nights after a reported 6 million people tuned in to a live broadcast on Netflix ofAlex Honnold climbingTaiwan's nearly 1,700-ft. Taipei 101 tower without any ropes or safety nets, he found himself back home in Nevada looking on as his 2-year-old daughter Alice pulled off the biggest ascent of her young life.
"She just learned how to get out of the crib [last night]," Honnold tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, "so we have to redefine our sleep situation — I woke up, like, every 45 minutes. I watched through a tiny crack in the door after I put her to bed, and I just watched her. It looked effortless."
Sure, he may be a bit sleep-deprived, butthe 40-year-old professional rock climber— widely considered to be the world's greatest free soloist (meaning he works without any protective gear) — is fine with it.
In fact, the man who became famous for scaling the 3,000-ft. vertical rock face of Yosemite's El Capitan in 2017 sans ropes is pumped to be tackling theadventures of fatherhood.
"I'm way more tired, but family life is great," says the married dadof two girls(Alice and older sister June, 4), who's launching the travel seriesGet a Little Out There With Alex Honnoldon Outside TV, out Feb. 26. "It's freaking awesome."
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Roger Kisby
All of this domestic bliss is somewhat unexpected for the self-described "dirtbag climber" who was introduced to the sport by parents Charles and Dierdre at age 11 at a rock gym in the Sacramento, Calif., area where he grew up.
Honnold later dropped out of the University of California at Berkeley at 19 and spent years living in his 2002 Ford Econoline van as he traveled from one climbing spot to the next while perfecting his craft and slowly gaining a reputation for his hopeless ascents on notoriously challenging routes.
"I didn't really have a tremendous vision [for my future]," admits Honnold, who at some points was living on no more than $1,000 a month. "I was just going with it. At the time, professional climbing wasn't really a thing. I kind of thought I'd end up being a mountain guide or something like that."
Along the way he became obsessed with free-soloing El Capitan, spending years climbing the sheer wall with ropes as he pushed his body and his mind to prepare for the epic, potentially deadly undertaking of doing it with no protection.
Not only did he succeed, but the documentary of his odyssey — aptly titledFree Solo—won an Oscar,and he bought a home in the Las Vegas area near some of the planet's preeminent crags.
Roger Kisby
Most importantly, says Honnold, who puts a third of his income into aneponymous foundation funding solar energyaround the world, success let him "make a living climbing."
Exactly how Honnold remains calm while clinging to a rock face — or a glass building — a thousand feet or more above the ground (which he's called "high consequence" environments) has nothing to do with being unafraid of heights, he says:
"I love heights, but I also have a respect of falling to my death. I love being up high, but if I think I'm going to fall off, then I'm just as scared as anybody else."
Risk and reward
Honnold met his future wife,Sanni McCandless, who was then working for a Seattle tech startup, in 2015 at a talk he was giving about his memoir,Alone on the Wall.
They wed five years later, and he credits her with bringing a calming sense of balance.
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"When your life has stability, it's easier to do that thing that you really do well," he says. Askedhow she copeswith her husband's profession, McCandless, a 33-year-old climber andlife coach, strikes a note of serenity even as she admits, "I definitely worry."
But "this is his life path," she continues. "It's an ongoing conversation, and a big part of it involves letting go and knowing that Alex has to do what he wants to do."
Not surprisingly, her husband considered his 91-minute ascent up the glass, steel and concrete skyscraper — which ranks as the highest "urban free solo" ever — as just another day at the office.
"My strategy was to just have a good time and that made it more fun," he says. (He climbed with headphones and the rock band Tool blasting in his ears.)
"Although," he adds, "it was a little stressful having all those people in their offices watching me through the windows."
Preparation is everything, he and his wife say. Honnold insists he is no daredevil: His climbs are meticulously planned out and rehearsed.
The Jan. 25 trek in Taiwan, which was live streamed with a 10-second delay in case Honnold fell into the abyss, tested McCandless's mettle, though.
"There was a part of me that was like, 'I wish I could do this for you,' " she says, "but then part of me was like, 'Good thing it's not me, because I wouldn't be able to do the first move.' "
Their daughters didn't make the trip to watch him in person. "We want to protect them from the craziness," says McCandless, adding with a laugh: "Right now I think we just want them to feel like this is normal life — Daddy's at work."
Corey Rich for Netflix
In their downtime the family of four is often outdoors or on the road: hiking, climbing, biking. There's no TV at home.
"We live in the van with them a couple weeks a year," says Honnold.
His wife notes that it's "the early days of parenting" — "We are in a low-sleep era" — and they're happy enough to spend it together "being rambunctious in the playroom."
Honnold isn't sure how his children will affect his appetite for adventure. "I think my capacity to take risks probably hasn't changed that much yet," he says.
Whatever happens, he's convinced his years spent learning to push the limits of no-room-for-error climbing made him a better dad. After all, what is parenting but balancing risk and reward?
"I kind of pride myself on letting my kids do their thing," he says. "I think if you spend your whole life climbing like I have, the one thing you learn is how to make sure your kids stay safe."
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