One of the sensations that I love about soloing is the feeling of being really big and really small at the same time. Being on a 3,000ft wall makes you feel like this tiny insignificant speck, and if you fell off, you’d be dead, and nothing would actually change – nature doesn’t care. It really puts you in your place; you’re just nothing in the grand scheme of the world. But at the same time, you feel amazing because you’re doing the thing that you do best: you’re at the very limit of your capabilities; you’re the best version of yourself. It’s like – ‘I’m the man, and also I’m nothing’ – concurrently while you’re climbing.

Alex Honnold