'When you are climbing well, the fear is not there': Meet the young rock star hailed as the best of his generation

Dubbed the rock star of the climbing world, Alex Honnold travels the world fearlessly scaling cliff faces no man has ever climbed before - without even using a rope.

With his superhuman agility and impressive upper body strength, the 26-year-old has already been hailed the best climber of his generation.

His achievements include climbing the iconic north-west face of the Half Dome in America's Yosemite National Park and tackling the 2,500ft cliffs near to Borneo's Kota Kinabalu peak.

No fear: Free climber Alex Honnold re-enacts his ropeless ascent of the 2,500ft north-west face of the Half Done in Yosemite National Park

Mr Honnold made his name at the age of 23, when he free climbed Yosemite's Half Dome in just two hours and fifty minutes, an ascent which usually takes between one or two days.

'There is a famous image of me standing on a ledge around 1700 feet up on the Northwest Face of Half Dome,' explained Mr Honnold.

'My back is to the cliff wall and below is a sheer drop.

'It is part of the route to the top and has to be traversed by all climbers of Half Dome, with or without rope.

'Some climbers wade down and edge themselves across with their arms along the ledge.

'Some climbers sit on their backsides and edge themselves across that way.

'I felt though, that walking across it was cooler.

'It is around a foot wide at the start, but narrows to six inches by the end.

'By the end, the cliff wall bows out and pushes your back forwards so that you are literally peering over the sheer drop.'

Dwarfed: Mr Honnold made his ascent of the Half Dome in just two hours and fifty minutes - a climb which usually takes a day or more

Despite having already made solo free climbs of 10 cliffs during his career, Mr Honnold is modest about the reputation he has earned as a fearless mountain man.

I would not call myself a rock star or feel that my fame is any more deserved that any other climber,' he said.

'People feel more of a gut reaction when they see me without a rope on the side of a cliff.

'They put themselves in my position and they imagine how they could or more likely couldn't do what I am doing.'

After graduating from the climbing walls of his late teens in California to the nomadic lifestyle of an international climber, Mr Honnold claims fear has become irrelevant to him.

'When you are climbing well the fear is not there,' he explained.

'It is something that you know you can do, something that should pose you no apparent difficulties.

'Yes, there are moments when you question yourself, moments when you have to pull yourself together.

'Doubts can creep in anywhere, but with climbing you can just stop and pause and recover yourself, it is a normal part of climbing.

'Climbing is a process that requires you to constantly make the move, to travel upwards'



Alex Honnold, free climber



'Climbing is different to other gravity assisted sports like snow boarding or skydiving.

'With those the impulse to stop is removed by the speed of your descent.

'With climbing it is a process that requires you to constantly make the move, to travel upwards.

'Climbing is a deeper commitment.'

Contrary to popular belief, there is not really a point of no return, Mr Honnold explains.

'Most ascents can be descended.

'There isn't a point when you have to keep on going no matter what, you can re-trace your steps.

'It is just that downwards climbing is not something that I usually do.'

Modest: Mr Honnold is photographed with the Half Dome in the background. He is aruguably the best solo free climber in the world right now

Mr Honnold's career has taken him from the U.S. to Canada, from the deserts of Chad to the fog covered peaks of Borneo, but he is dedicated to his home.

'My heart lies in Yosemite,' he said.

'Climbing round the world is a cultural experience, it is an exploration.

'Some of the faces we climbed in Chad in the Ennedi desert have never been attempted before.