Outdoor Retailer PostShow 2019 - 36

FEATURE 1

W

ith its bright
lights and colorful
booths showcasing the latest
trends in the outdoor space, the
Snow Show floor is about as far
away from Alex Honnold and David Lama's natural environment as
you can get. Honnold's happy place
is high on a rock face, chalk bag
around his waist, a tight pair of
rock shoes on his feet. Lama feels
at home with ice tools in hand,
sharp crampons on his boots, and
the immense Himalayas falling
away below.
By now, most everyone is familiar with the Oscar-nominated film
Free Solo, which gives audiences an
up-close and personal (and sometimes dizzying) look at Honnold's
gasp-inducing ascent of the 3,000foot, 5.13-rated Freerider route on
El Capitan. Lesser known-and in
some ways equally impressive-is
the film Lunag Ri, which documents Lama's historic climb of
Nepal's 22,621-foot Lunag Ri, a
technically difficult alpine route
and first ascent of the peak. The
climb required several attempts
over several years, and on an attempt in 2016, his partner, Conrad
Anker, suffered a heart attack midroute, forcing them to abort and
for Anker to undergo emergency
surgery. With Anker's blessing,
Lama returned to the mountain
alone to complete what is one of
the greatest accomplishments in
mountaineering history.
During the Show, The North
Face hosted "Going Solo with Alex
Honnold and David Lama," a panel
moderated by James Edward Mills
of The Joy Trip Project. Honnold
and Lama shared their thoughts
on what can only be described as
the most committing and dangerous form of climbing-rope
free-where any misstep equals
death. Though the potential consequences are severe, almost morbid,
Honnold and Lama's personalities
are anything but-they're jovial,
always smiling, and happy to share
what drives them.
The Daily caught up with the
two climbers at the Pulse Booth
after the event. We sat down with

36

/ SNOW SHOW 2019

Honnold first. "Let's do it," he said,
as the interview began.

Alpine soloist
David Lama found
a sense of community at the Show.

You just got off the stage.
What were you two talking
about up there?
HONNOLD: I was talking about
our respective paths of soloing
and some of the things that we've
been climbing recently.
You're more of a rock climbing soloist and David's more
of an alpine soloist. What's
the difference?
HONNOLD: He's more inspired
by big mountains and snow and
ice, and I'm more inspired by pure
rock. He's an extremely gifted
rock climber as well, so he's able to
do anything. I'm drawn to sunny
cliffs. California rock climbing,
that's what I'm all about [though
he resides in Las Vegas].
How's the film tour? And how
has Free Solo affected the
growth of climbing?
HONNOLD: The film tour has
definitely been blowing up my
world. It's been crazy-traveling nonstop for five months. I'm
definitely seeing a change in gyms,
with more people taking up the
sport because they saw the film or
saw something I was in. The film
has gone so much more mainstream than any climbing film has,
and that's really encouraged people
to try out the sport.
Tell me about the Academy
Award nomination.
HONNOLD: Being nominated
for an Oscar is obviously very
gratifying-a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity-though I think it
means less to me than it does to
the filmmakers, Jimmy Chin and
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi; they
worked super hard to create this
great film. I did not. I just went
climbing. To me, the goal was
always to free solo El Cap, and
the reward was that I was able
to free solo El Cap. My goal was
already satisfied. I think that now
their goal is satisfied by going to
the Oscars, which is incredible.
I'm really psyched for them.

[Honnold was then whisked off to
his next appointment and David
Lama sat down.]
Do you and Alex have any
plans to climb together?
LAMA: I'd love to climb with him
at some point, but his focus is on
solo climbing and I have other
partners that I have projects with
already. Maybe someday we'll go
for a climb, either in Yosemite or
the Himalayas.
Do you think viewers understand your accomplishment
on Lunag Ri as much as they
understand Honnold's ropeless ascent of El Capitan?
LAMA: I think everyone understands that it's Honnold all by
himself on El Capitan and me all
by myself on Lunag Ri.
What's next?
LAMA: Most likely, I'll head to the
Canadian Rockies in the spring.
Until then, I'll be around Europe
training and skiing and having a
good time in the mountains.
What would you say to someone who wants to be an elite
mountain athlete?
LAMA: One of the most import-

ant things for me in my climbing
career is that I make mistakes
myself. Ultimately, it's really
important to make mistakes, because you learn a lot more from
mistakes than from success. I
think you can learn from everyone if you're really open-minded.
Maybe you can even learn what
not to do from a guy sitting in
prison. I think there are so many
great aspects in each and everyone of us, and we just have to
respect the way that people are.
Is the Outdoor Retailer Snow
Show a positive experience?
Are you enjoying yourself?
LAMA: It's a great experience.
It's a mixture of business with
the big companies around as
well as the community. What's
unique about this experience
here compared to other trade
shows is how it brings together
this community. It has also been
very productive.
After 16 years with Mammut,
how does it feel to be part of
The North Face team?
LAMA: It certainly feels great. It
feels like I've been with them for
much longer. It has a family feel
that is really nice to experience.
Outdoor Retailer PostShow 2019

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