Alex Honnold linked up with another weekend warrior, Connor Herson. Herson is a full-time electrical engineering student at Stanford and had just finished his semester final exams.
Although Honnold and Herson had to adhere to a “normal” weekend schedule, both are far from normal rock climbers. Honnold needs no introduction, but Herson also has serious rock-climbing roots. Herson was born into a rock-climbing family and is no stranger to Yosemite Valley’s hardest trad and big-wall climbs.
Herson famously made the youngest free ascent of The Nose on El Capitan at 15 years old. He also nabbed the first on-gear ascent of Lake Tahoe’s Empath (5.14d).
Watch as Honnold and Herson act very much like you or I would in Yosemite on a weekend: bantering away, reveling in the incredible outdoor scenery, and obviously enjoying each other’s company.
But unlike you or me, they eventually make quick work of New Leaf (5.13d), resulting in the second ascent of the Valley’s newest trad testpiece.
