Renowned Free Solo climber Alex Honnold just made history by completing the highest free solo climb of an urban structure ever. And he did the whole record-breaking stunt while listening to a bunch of Tool songs.
Speaking to Variety, Honnold offered some insight into his massive feat, revealing that the soundtrack to his climb was very “rock” themed. “It was mostly Tool,” he replied when asked about what was pumping through his headphones. “It’s just like a random playlist that I made, that I shared with production. I made it months ago while I was driving.”
“I’ve been training to it a bunch,” he continued. “Basically, rock music that I’ve liked my whole life. Part of the appeal of music is that actually it helps me with pacing. Each bamboo box had been taking me about five to six and a half minutes.”
“I just know how long the songs are,” Honnold added. “So it gives you a sense of if you’re going fast or slow. But in this case, it all kept cutting out anyway, and I couldn’t really hear, and I was kind of like, ‘Whatever. I’m just doing my thing.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Honnold opened up about how his life had changed in the making of his award-winning documentary, Free Solo. “I’ve basically structured my whole life around trying to find a way to be able to rock climb for a living,” he said. “I love rock climbing. How do I get to live my life doing that as much as possible, while still supporting my family?”
This was Honnold’s first-ever live climbing event
“Miraculously, it’s working,” Honnold went on to say. “I’m able to climb full-time, and I’m able to support my family. That’s freaking perfect. I can’t ask for more. This whole project is part of that. I get to climb something that I’m proud of that’s this inspiring. I couldn’t ask for better.”
Finally, regarding his live climb of the Taipei 101 skyscraper, Honnold was candid about the experience. “This was my first live thing I’ve ever done,” he confessed. “I think it’s in many ways a better experience than shooting a documentary. Because I do the climb, and then I’m done.”
“Normally, you do the climb, and then you spend the next week up on the wall, shooting close-ups, shooting tights, shooting different angles, shooting different conditions. That’s a lot of work,” he added. “Doing a live event, you just do the climb, be done, and go home.”
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