Have you ever wondered what the net worth of Alex Honnold is? One of the best in the world, Alex Honnold, is a very successful American professional rock climber.
To date, he’s the only person to successfully free-solo climb El Capitan. He also holds multiple records for the fastest ascent of promotions such as The Nose and the Yosemite triple crown.
As of May 2023, Alex Honnold has a net worth of $2 million. In today’s article, we’ll walk you through the journey to success of Alex Honnold and how he built his fortune.
Table of Contents
Early Life
Alex Honnold was born in Sacramento, California, on August 17th of, 1985.
His parents were community college professors. They gave him Polish ancestry from his mother’s side and German from his father’s.
As a 5-year-old, the couple noticed their son’s love for climbing and encouraged it. Honnold was already going to the gym to improve his build by the time he was ten years old, and during his teenage phase, Alex participated in youth rock climbing competitions and won most of them.
Education
Alex Honnold graduated from Mira Loma High School in 2003 and studied civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
The first year of college was particularly tough for Alex as he went through his maternal grandfather’s death and his parent’s divorce. He also had trouble making friends because he stayed in a rented apartment instead of the dorms.
His coping led him to skip many classes to boulder at Indian Rock by himself. He took a semester off in preparation for the National Climbing Championships in Scotland and never went back to school.
Career
After dropping out of college, Alex spent some time driving around California to climb various sites. He used his mother’s minivan but it soon broke down and he replaced it with a bike and tent for about a year.
In 2007, Honnold bought a 2002 Ford E150 van, allowing him to travel following the weather and focus on climbing. This was the same year he managed to free solo Rostrum and Astroman of Yosemite Valley in one day, which was only done before in 1987 by Peter Croft.
Honnold’s popularity rose, but it skyrocketed in 2008 when he free-soloed Zion’s Moonlight Buttress’ 1,200-foot-high finger crack.
2008 also witnessed his free solo climb of Half Dome’s 2,000-foot-high Regular Northwest Face in Yosemite Park. In 2012, Honnold repeated this same climb but set the record for the fastest ascent at 1 hour and 22 minutes.
During 2009 and 2010, Alex won the Gold Piton Award for endurance rock climbing and was becoming famous in the climbing community but was short of known to the general public.
This started to change in 2011 when he was on the cover of National Geographic and attempted to beat the fastest climbing record of El Capitan.
In 2012, he was on 60 Minutes talking about his free solo of Half Dome’s Regular Northwest and was also in the “Alone on the Wall” documentary.
In June 2012, he and Hans Florine successfully set a new record on El Capitan’s Nose route at 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 46 seconds.
Alex Honnold completed the first and only free solo climb of El Capitan on the 3rd of June in 2017.
His time was 3 hours and 56 minutes via the 2,900-foot Freerider route. Documented by Jimmy Chin and E. Chai Vasarhelyi, this monumental achievement was the topic of the documentary Free Solo, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2018.
Also in 2018, Honnold and Tommy Caldwell became the first climbers to complete El Capitan’s Nose route in Yosemite in less than 2 hours.
In 2021, Alex started a climbing podcast and made a deal with National Geographic to make a docu-series about his upcoming goal of climbing peaks in Greenland.
Alex Honnold Net Worth 2023
As of May 2023, Alex Honnold’s net worth is just over $2 million. For an athlete in the rock climbing sport, this is very impressive.
In 2012, Honnold started giving away 1/3 of his income to solar projects aiming to increase worldwide energy availability. He also founded the nonprofit Honnold Foundation, which supports the same mission.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does Alex Honnold Still Climb?
He climbs five days a week.
Does Alex Honnold Have A Baby?
He has a daughter named June.
How Much Alex Honnold Make A Year?
Alex Honnold makes about $200k per year. The income mostly comes from winning prizes from professional competitions, sponsorships, and appearances in documentaries.
Key Takeaways
Always Look for Motivation
It would be best if you always looked for motivation to be the best you can be in any career path. This type of dedication is how Alex Honnold became a world-class climber.
His motivation to keep up a daily routine of early mornings and hard exercise is simply inspiring.
Face Your Fear
Alex Honnold needed to overcome the fear of free climbing to achieve his goals.
You also should find a way to embrace your fears and use them to your advantage. Fear will only hold you back from success.
Give Back
An integral part of Honnold’s mentality is to give back to the world. We can see this clearly in his efforts to provide global access to solar energy.