56 | AG Outdoor
“It’s true in all aspects of life. You have your
comfort zone and you slowly do something outside
your comfort zone, and you keep probing the edg-
es of your comfort zone in different directions.
With climbing I am constantly trying to push my
climbing in new directions.
“I have pushed myself enough to feel a lot more
conformable with everything now... well, not ev-
erything, I am still socially awkward,” he chuckles.
“Like I would never dance... singing in public is
out of the question.”
As the whirring blades of the helicopter start up
we grab a quick opportunity to touch base on his
recent project ‘The Fitz Traverse’ with climbing
legend Tommy Caldwell. It is Honnold’s fi rst big
alpine climbing experience and the documentary
A Line Across The Sky, following their achievement,
is entered into this year’s festival.
“What was so satisfying about the Fitz Traverse
was it was wildly outside my comfort zone,” he
says. “When we fi nished I said to myself, ‘Wow,
that is such a step forward for me, and a step in a
whole new direction.’ I have never been an Alpin-
ist. I am not super attracted to climbing the big
mountains, but two years ago Tommy asked me
to come to Patagonia with him and try the Fitz
Traverse, which we were lucky enough to do. We
got an amazing weather window and we managed
to climb all seven summits along the skyline and
it was probably the biggest adventure of my life,
and probably the most meaningful climb I have
ever done.”
We walk to the chopper where Tommy Caldwell
just happens to be patiently waiting for us. Tom-
my is not only one of Alex Honnold’s childhood
heroes, but also one of the most accomplished sport
and trad climbers in the world. He has records in
both big wall speed climbing and free climbing,
and in 2015 his free climb of The Dawn Wall of
Yosemite’s El Capitan with Kevin Jorgensen was
televised live to the world.
As we lift off over the Rockies Tommy begins coaxing our pilot to
vary his fl ight path to allow a view of the big walls he had seen on the
contour maps back at base. Caldwell admits he convinced Honnold to
join him on the Fitz Traverse, but only after Honnold had fi rst convinced
him to team up on some of the big walls in Yosemite in 2012.
Caldwell reveals: “We fi rst climbed together when Alex talked me
into doing the ‘triple crown’, climbing the three biggest walls in Yo-
semite Valley in a single day. It was a totally mind blowing experience
and Alex is so freakin’ good, I mean I had never climbed with anybody
like that and all of a sudden the mountains felt half the size.
“I had [already] spent some time in Patagonia and after the triple
crown I felt Alex and I worked so well as a team on big walls that I
wondered whether we could take that to the bigger mountains. Our fi st
experience was attempting the Fitzroy Traverse and it worked. It worked
out so well. I knew he was bold, I knew he was tough and I knew he
loved adventure and I knew he could climb fast, and so our fi rst outing
in these bigger mountains went bigger and better than I could have even
imagined.”
Together Caldwell and Honnold became the fi rst
team to ever summit all seven of the Fitzroy peaks
in a single push, and they returned to hero status
amongst many of their peers. Then the following
year Caldwell fulfi lled the much-hyped free climb
of The Dawn Wall, and so the obvious question
remains: where to now?
Caldwell ponders a moment before answering. “I
think I pushed it from a safety aspect on that proj-
ect,” he admits. “A part of me now wants to go the
Himalaya and search out objectives like the Fitz
Traverse and see where we could take it, but an-
other part of me just doesn’t want to die, and so
there’s a bit of a confl ict there... I’m not sure.”
Our helicopter whizzes by glaciers and steep
snow-capped peaks in the late afternoon sun and
as the Rockies glow it is easy to see why so many
are attracted to these summits. We then bank over
a ridge and a huge limestone face comes in to view.
Instantaneously, both Caldwell and Honnold’s cam-
eras come to the window, and it’s obvious their
subconscious is already drawing imaginary lines
up the limestone cliff.
The question as to what is next remains unan-
swered, but it is clear we are only seeing the begin-
ning of a partnership here with two of the world’s
best big-wall athletes.
Banking away from the sheer bluff, we have to
ca l l it a day, for back i n tow n the fi lms are beginning
to roll and somewhere along the lines I promised
dinner with another photographer friend.
I just make it back in time to grab a bite, followed
by a screening of Xavier De Le Rue’s latest paraglide/
snowboard adventure in the 54-min Degrees North
followed by the incredible story of Rueben Krabbe’s
attempt to photograph a Ski Eclipse photo in the
31-minute fi lm Eclipse.
After the movies I walk down to the Banff Cen-
tre bar for a nightcap with new friends, feeling
inspired to ‘get out there’ and enjoy the wilds our
planet has to offer.
At the bar I run into Alex and Tommy again, and Szanto has dropped
in after recovering from our wine-fuelled Aurora adventure... and the
Anthill fellas are back again. It feels like a reunion, but I have only just
met these people. At least this time we keep it mellow... but then Krys-
tle turns up with her tequila eyes.
As the lounge beats raise in tempo and the crowd begins to thicken
once again, I choose to make a dash for my room only a few hundred
metres away within the Banff Centre.
A near full moon rises over the distant Rockies and the music echoes
behind me. Startled deer dash away only metres from my front door.
I’m fi nally realising the Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival doesn’t
slow down for anybody... not unless you force it on yourself.The ultimate rush
By the end of my fourth day at the festival I am exhausted. I have been
‘going with the fl ow’ but have since realised ‘the fl ow’ is no meander-
ing brook, but rather a raging river... albeit an inspirational one.
Yesterday at breakfast I ran into Calgary alpinist Andrew Brash. WeBANFF MOUNTAIN FILM & BOOK FESTIVAL | 40TH ANNIVERSARY
2015 Banff Mountain Film
Competition Awards
Grand Prize: The Great AloneCreative Excellence Award:
CailleachBest Film: Exploration and
Adventure: The Great AloneBest Film: Mountain Culture:
SherpaBest Film: Climbing: A Line
Across The SkyBest Film: Mountain Sports:
Chasing NiagaraBest Film: Snow Sports: EclipseBest Film: Mountain
Environment & Natural History:
Hadwin’s Judgement
Best Short Mountain Film:
The Important PlacesBest Feature-Length Mountain
Film: K2: Touching the SkyPeople’s Choice Award:
UnbrandedRadical Reels People’s Choice
Award: Showdown at
Horseshoe HellSpecial Jury Mention:
Operation Moff attSpecial Jury Mention:
Overburden