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"Alone on the Wall" By Alex Honnold on Monday's Access Utah

W. W. Norton & Company

Alex Honnold exploded onto the climbing scene in 2008 after a free solo of Moonlight Buttress in Zion National Park. Now one of the most famous adventurers in the world, he climbs without a rope, without a partner, and without any gear to attach himself to the wall. 

If he falls, he dies. In his new book Alone on the Wall, Honnold recounts his  seven most astonishing achievements thus far, including free-soloing Sendero Luminoso in Mexico and climbing the Fitz Traverse in Patagonia. Honnold says "...if I have a certain gift, it's the ability to keep myself together in places that allow no room for error. I somehow know, in such a fix [...] how to breathe deeply, calm myself down and get on with it." 

Alex Honnold will be signing his book and speaking at REI, in Salt Lake City, on Dec. 2nd from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Tom Williams worked as a part-time UPR announcer for a few years and joined Utah Public Radio full-time in 1996. He is a proud graduate of Uintah High School in Vernal and Utah State University (B. A. in Liberal Arts and Master of Business Administration.) He grew up in a family that regularly discussed everything from opera to religion to politics. He is interested in just about everything and loves to engage people in conversation, so you could say he has found the perfect job as host “Access Utah.” He and his wife Becky, live in Logan.