RISK: How Alex Honnold Climbed a 3000 Foot Wall Without a Rope

Alex Honnold, a humble, analytical and detailed risk mitigator chooses to unpack the panic and explains how-to climb a 3000 foot wall without a rope.

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One morning when I was ten, my father said two words that identified me. I was about to compete in my first springboard diving competition. He stood with his friend at the pool edge watching me practice my best dive, the Inward. Toes on the edge of the board, heals over the water, facing backward, press down one, press down two, deep knee bend on three, let the board launch me up, hips up up up over my tucked head, lift and straighten my legs, point the toes, hands together, point to the water, enter straight and clean like a knife. I did it! The inward is a hard dive for parents to watch. On the way down the diver's head and body miss the board by inches. I hopped out of the pool to try it again and heard my father say to his friend, "She's fearless."

I wasn't fearless that day, but I liked the idea. I was full of butterflies. I'm still full of butterflies and still work daily to focus and tame the fear tiger. I've never heard anyone break down the process of neutering fear the way Alex Honnold does in his Ted Talk. On June 3rd, 2017, Honnold climbed El Capitan in Yosemite unroped. He's not crazy. Just focused. We'll let him explain...

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RISK: How Alex Honnold Climbed a 3000 Foot Wall Without a Rope

Risk, fear and pending disaster. What to do?

a. Ignore and venture blindly forward

b. Lunge for certainty

c. Unpack the panic

Alex Honnold, a humble, analytical and detailed risk mitigator chooses "c" and explains how-to climb a 3000 foot wall without a rope.