The Impossible Climb: Alex Honnold, El Capitan, and the Climbing Life

I have never, and I shall never climb a cliff of any height, but devouring Mark Synnott's brilliant and riveting book The Impossible Climb gave me enormous joy. If, as a reader, you crave context, and there is context galore, this book is for you. If you wonder how these elite climbers, both male and female, balance the hunger for risk with the recognition that staying alive is essential to providing the very opportunities for that risk taking, this book will move you and challenge your assumptions about the sport. If you harbor a fascination for the history of great climbers and their historic expeditions, this book provides a rare, even profound education. Yes, the book culminates with Alex Honnold's epic free solo of El Capitan, but this book is about so much more. There are so many impossible climbs described in this book, not just the final one. It is about the ethos of climbing, the passion that possesses every climber. Synnott invites you into this universe, on every level, and what every reader will be able to see and understand and feel is the absolute honesty, the fierce authenticity that such a life requires. This book is, of course, about the human condition. It is no accident that Synnott and Honnold bonded over the sharing of literature and ideas during the early expeditions together. Brothers Karamazov, The Things They Carried, Walden, religion, philosophy all provided that connection in this remarkable friendship, a friendship that grows and evolves and ultimately becomes an essential part of the final drama. I learned so much from this book, and I found that the meticulous detail about the climbing techniques became important to me. Even the jargon charmed, and the excesses of how one survives for days on the side of a mountain or deep in a slot canyon left me breathless. The writing is powerful, the perspective universal, yet intimate. Free soloing will never be on my dance card, but I rejoice that Mark Synnott made climbing accessible to me and enriched my understanding of the human spirit.

I'm afraid of heights so rock climbing is not a sport that would be something that I spend my time doing. However, I'm in awe of those pushing the limits of what is humanly possible, why they choose to and how the accomplish such feats. "The Impossible Climb" is an account of the first free solo (no ropes) of El Capitan in Yosemite by renowned climber Alex Honnold.I've read some of the criticisms that that the book devotes very little to the actual historic ascent of El Cap. While I don't think that is an unfair assessment, I think that all the context and history of climbing in Yosemite as well as Honnold's other climbs in the Middle East, Morocco, etc. added invaluably to this story --- particularly for non-climbers. There was a lot of technical talk that went right over me (although it did prompt me to read more on climbing outside of this book) , but I'm not critical of that as I expect even the most casual rock climbers were interested in the particular techniques and challenges these athletes face.Ultimately, I found this book to be a fascinating peek into the world of these athletes and someone like Honnold who is pushing boundaries. I'll admit that before reading this book, I often lumped all extreme athletes together, shaking my head at the risks they took in their pursuits as nothing more than recklessness. After reading "The Impossible Climb" and watching "Free Solo", I came away with a more nuanced view. Yes, there are some reckless thrill seekers, but Alex Honnold is not one of them. Yes, there are inherent risks in what he does, but his preparation, physically and mentally, are peerless and the ability to minimize risks as much as possible in order to push these boundaries played a large part in his ability to be the first person to successfully free solo El Capitan. This story left me with even more profound respect for him and what he has done.

There was a lot of discussion and analysis of Alex’s and others mental approaches to difficult sections of climbs. I also liked descriptions of the climbers’ younger antics.

I’ve seen the film but it was great to read Mark’s description of the climb as it happened. Also loved reading Mark’s background and Alex’s history and how he came to doing this amazing climb.

First off, I made a playlist of videos which provide a look at many of the expeditions mentioned in the book. The playlist is available on youtube under the title "The Impossible Climb (Supplementary Videos)". In addition to the playlist, it's also worth checking out the movies tangential to the book, Meru (Jimmy Chin), The Dawn Wall (Tommy Caldwell), Free Solo (Alex Honnold obviously), and maybe even Valley Uprising if you want to dig deeper into the history of Yosemite).Actual Review:I'm sure many people will pick up this book mainly for the insight into Honnold's legendary free solo of El Capitan. While this part of the book is great, I think this book offers so much more in exploring the interpersonal relationships climbers have while going on these expeditions. We just see the finely editing videos of these trips, but so much more happens behind the scenes. In a way, much of this book could be seen as an "expose" of professional rock climbing, which isn't something you see much. Throughout the book, one gets to explore some of the character flaws of other professional climbers as well as Mark Synnott himself (both through his introspection and the way he tells the story). The writing itself is also excellent, and the book is a joy to read.

Superb read

Dachte erst, es könnte etwas langweilig werden, da ich Free Solo (Honnold@El Capitan) und Meru von Jimmy Chin schon kannte, aber Synnott bringt noch so viel mehr Hintergrundwissen und Episoden mit rein, dass es echt Spaß macht. Wem die Barbarian Days, Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell oder One Breath gefallen, für den könnte auch das was sein.

I've read a couple of books on this subject, including Alex's own autobiography (co-written) but found this book to be much easier to follow, especially during the technicial explanations of climbing terms. Although the story followed Alex's life story so far, it was made even more interesting by numerous interjections of the history of rock climbing and the climbing masters over the ages, (including the author's personal story). Alex is a big of an enigma both his fellow climbers and to the world at large, so I felt the author really got a good handle on who this guy is and what makes him tick - and how he manages to free solo the scariest rocks in the world.

Great account of possibly the greatest sporting feat ever

Good story telling which even a non rock climber can appreciate and relate to, to a certain extent due to the technicalities of so many different climb moves and tools. I will certainly feel more nervous about the El Cap free solo climb by Alex had I not watched the movie “Free Solo” before hand. Overall an enjoyable read.