American concludes 457-meter-high climb without any equipment

Can you see a man in the picture above? His name is Alexander Honnold and he is a professional climber born in California, United States. In the picture, Honnold appears midway through his climb on the “El Sendero Luminoso” seawall in Mexico on January 15, 2014.

Known for facing deadly challenges, the American climber was the first to tackle the 457 meters of rock on free ground, a practice in which he is most recognized. He completed the climb in three hours, with other climbers using equipment usually taking two days. The accuracy of the movements, the body strength and the professional's concentration are factors that are visible in this short recording that was released this week in partnership with The North Face.

Honnold's practice is called free solo because it is done individually and without the help of any safety gear. That's right! Practitioners of this type of climbing climb without gloves, helmets, ropes or carabiners that can guarantee some help if something unexpected happens. In Honnold's case, he faces the walls only with special shoes (which have rubber tips and rubber soles for better grip) and chalk dust (to decrease hand perspiration and increase grip).

But this is not Honnold's greatest achievement. In addition to climbing big cliffs in a few hours, his speed record is the rock climbing “The Nose” located in the Yosemite Valley, which reached 880 meters in 2 hours and 23 minutes.

Of course, Honnold did not become an expert in this mode overnight. The climber says that he began training his first climbs with only 10 years and from then on did not stop. To gain all the experience and concentration needed to meet this kind of challenge, he spent seven years training three hours a day on artificial climbing walls until he lost his fear and learned all the techniques.

His achievements are so admirable that an American television show produced a mini-documentary in 2011 - which has already been seen by over 1.5 million people - that tells the story of Alex Honnold, brings an interview with the professional, shows some of his achieves and closely follows his climb on Sentinel Rock, a 182-meter-high challenge that he completes with the life-threatening experience and professionalism, but shows love for what he does in each of his steps.