The Abridged version:
- Corey Rich, a climber and photographer based in South Lake Tahoe, first met Alex Honnold 20 years ago in Yosemite Valley — years before his rise to “Free Solo” fame.
- In an exclusive interview with Abridged, Rich recounted their early connection, and how he later helped him scout the historic Taipei 101 climb.
- Rich said the climb balanced spectacle with planning, as Honnold prioritized safety for a live Netflix broadcast of the ascent last week.
- The Taipei 101 climb combined extreme climbing — usually seen in real-time only by a few brave athletes — with a global live audience.
Corey Rich first met Alex Honnold about 20 years ago on the “Pizza Deck” in Yosemite Valley, where rock climbers relax after a day scaling the big walls of El Capitan. Rich was an experienced climber who had already established himself as an accomplished adventure photographer. Honnold was a 20-year-old upstart from Sacramento who was just beginning to impress Yosemite veterans with his passion for climbing some of the park’s tougher routes without a rope or protective gear — a technique known as “free solo.”
As Rich recalls, he asked Honnold what he’d done that day. Honnold’s response: he’d been bored “dragging” his climbing partner up Astroman, a roughly 1,000-foot climbing route that nearly anyone else would have considered a serious accomplishment.
“I remember thinking man, this guy’s either completely full of it, or he is the future of climbing,” Rich said this week. “And it turned out, you know, he was gonna become something in the climbing world.”
Rich’s understatement was deliberate. Our conversation took place this week shortly after Honnold, already famous for his 2017 free solo climb of El Capitan’s Freerider route, drew the world’s attention again with his solo climb up a 1,700-foot Taipei skyscraper that is the 11th tallest building in the world.
Scouting Taipei 101 climb
Since their first encounter in Yosemite Valley, Rich, of South Lake Tahoe, and Honnold, who is from Carmicheal but now lives in Las Vegas, have become close friends and collaborators. For the Taipei 101 project, Rich shot the photos Netflix used to promote the event. He was also part of a team who traveled to the site last fall to help Honnold match his ambitions with the needs of the filmmakers preparing to document the climb.
Rich did not climb the building with Honnold during the scouting trip but hung from rigging to observe as Honnold plotted his route.
“We were all over the building and various floors, and the coolest part was going to the actual summit,” Rich said. Was he scared? Not really. “It’s a funny thing, as a climber, it all feels the same, whether you’re hanging 100 feet off the ground, or you’re 3,000 feet off the ground.” At least when you are on a rope.
As Rich tells it, Honnold was originally planning to mostly climb the angled building’s inner corners — the dihedrals. But the visuals team suggested that the more exposed outer corners — the arrets — would make more compelling video.
“Alex knew he was going to climb the building, but there was a conversation about aesthetically, ‘What is going to look good on camera?’,” Rich explained. “And then it’s like, can he climb that? Does it feel safe? Does it feel within his means? And there’s a dialogue around what works on camera and what works for the athlete.”
Rich said he knew from his past work with Honnold that the climber would never be guilty of what Rich calls “Kodak Courage” — compromising safety for the good of the shot.
“At the end of the day, Alex makes the final decision,” Rich said. “Even if it looks better on camera, he is willing to say ‘Wait, I can’t do that.’ That’s one thing I really admire about Alex. He’s an incredible athlete, a physical specimen, but he is also highly intelligent, and he never puts pressure on himself to do things for the camera. He knows his capabilities and he is willing to speak up.”
Watching the historic free solo from South Lake Tahoe
Rich wasn’t in Taiwan to watch the climb in person. Instead, he gathered with a group of Honnold’s close friends at the South Lake Tahoe home of Tommy Caldwell, perhaps the second most famous climber in the world. Caldwell was the focus of “Dawn Wall,” a Yosemite climbing film that preceded the “Free Solo” documentary that made Honnold famous. Caldwell and Honnold also set the record together for the fastest climb up El Capitan.
Rich said the group stood around Caldwell’s television screen, watching intently but remarkably calm, not gripped. Rich said being on the building last September, even with ropes, was nerve-wracking as he imagined Honnold climbing it. But watching the actual climb live on the screen was easier because he could see how comfortable Honnold was.
“There’s always that part that you’re watching your friend, and you’re thinking, you don’t want to see him fall off that building. On the other hand, he sure did look confident and it looked like what he was doing was totally within his means, from the beginning until the very end.”
Difficulty of Taipei 101 climb for Alex Honnold
Despite the hype, Rich said he does not believe that the Taipei climb was as dangerous or as difficult as other climbs Honnold has done.
“I think it is safe to say that when he free soloed El Capitan, that was maybe one of the greatest athletic achievements of all time, of any human being. It’s hard for me to think of anything as remarkable as that.”
And as for Taipei 101?
“I can’t speak for Alex, but I don’t think this was one of the hardest things he’s done. But it’s pretty darn cool, and pretty novel. What was really cool about this is that Alex is in a position in life where he can have unique opportunities. This was an opportunity to climb a building and not get arrested, and instead to be celebrated. It’s kind of a reward for all of the accomplishments he’s achieved in the sport.”
Daniel Weintraub is a regular contributor, writing Tahoe Loco for Abridged.