Alex Honnold is staying busy.

When he’s not announcing a Netflix special or completing a route on El Capitan, Honnold, 40, is hosting a conservation podcast, producing television shows, and still finding time to take his two kids into the great outdoors.

Outside recently caught up with Honnold to discuss his various media projects. His podcast, Planet Visionaries, launched its fifth season on October 28. We also chatted about his strategy for getting his kids outdoors, why he’s choosing to climb a skyscraper on Netflix, and how Hollywood can learn to do climbing right.

An excerpt of our interview is below.

5 Questions with Alex Honnold

OUTSIDE: The last time we spoke was before your 2024 show Arctic Ascent. We discussed the elements you look at when choosing a media project—from the climbing, to the storytelling, to parts of the TV show or film that resonate with a mainstream audience. How did you assess this equation when deciding to pursue the Netflix event Skyscraper Live?

Alex Honnold: For me, Skyscraper Live is less about the storytelling and audience. Basically, it’s a really fun thing to climb, and it’s really hard to get permission, so if someone gives you permission, you have to say yes. It’s something that I scouted maybe 12 years ago for a different TV thing that fell apart, so I never got the opportunity to actually climb it. But I knew I was capable, and the climbing is really fun. If you see the actual show, you’ll see that it is insane. So in some ways it’s not like Arctic Ascent where I’m asking what the climate story is. This is basically pure fun for me and the audience. There’s really no bigger angle to it. It’s just sheer entertainment, for me and for the masses. The building is beautiful, and it sticks out of the landscape. I think that anybody who is watching Skyscraper Live will be struck by how it dominates the landscape.

The other thing, when we talk about picking media projects, is that the whole Skyscraper Live project is only going to take two weeks of my life, between the scout trip and then the actual trip. A project like Arctic Ascent is a six-week expedition in remote Greenland, and it takes a much bigger toll in terms of family and personal fitness and those kinds of things. So, the opportunity cost involved for something like Skyscraper Live is almost zero. It’s super fun with no downside. Whereas some of these big expeditions to remote parts of the world have a big downside, in that I have to be away from my family.

We’re living in an era when topics like conservation, battling climate change, and the preservation of public lands are under attack. It can feel daunting to pursue these movements. What are your tips for staying engaged and energized with these movements?

One of the things I love about hosting the Planet Visionaries podcast is that I get to hear a lot of very affirming personal stories around conservation. When you think of global environmental issues, it is very sobering. Plastic in the ocean, for example, is a very daunting and overwhelming issue that humanity is struggling with. I got to interview Dr. Sylvia Earle, who is a renowned ocean conservationist, and she is working with Mission Blue. I spoke to her about the restoration of these clam and oyster beds in the Hudson River, and how it has cleaned up a section of the river over the course of a few years. I love talking to guests about marine conservation because the ocean, if given the slightest opportunity, regenerates quite quickly. Life comes back. The water can clean up. It’s amazing. So, when you look at conservation locally, or on a small scale, and you hear about these specific projects, it’s actually quite inspiring because you can see that yes, you can have a real impact on a specific place.

Hollywood loves rock climbing in 2025. We had The Sound earlier this year, and another film called Apex is coming. If you could advise Hollywood on how to make a climbing film where the actual climbing seems legit, what wisdom would you pass along?

It’s funny because I just did a cameo for a different Hollywood movie that was actually inspired by The Dawn Wall. Basically it’s a buddy film where two buddies from high school go up on a wall together and discuss some of their old problems while on a portaledge. But basically, I think if Hollywood wants to do climbing right, they should involve a real climber in the process. Unfortunately, the person writing the film rarely knows anything about climbing. Cliffhanger, at least, is so over the top that it’s entertaining. The Eiger Sanction is probably the best example of climbing done right in a film. It actually looks legit. They are actually climbing on a wall. That works.

It’s the end of 2025. What are the feats of outdoor recreation or climbing that stand out in your mind?

Off the top of my head, within rock climbing, Brooke Raboutou climbing 15c is an obvious milestone. She’s America’s darling, and she climbed 15c; that was in the spring. Hamish McArthur climbing V17 in a session is the hardest bouldering session. That is incredible. Even last week, Jim Morrison skiing a 12,000-foot line on the North Face of Everest. I know that he personally spent three seasons going over there and waiting for the weather. I have a lot of respect for people who can see through a project like that. To wait for conditions and to make it happen. The obvious thing is Kilian Jornet climbing every big mountain in the U.S. in 31 days. It’s insane. He was averaging 16 hours a day for 31 days. Can you imagine doing cardio for 16 hours a day every day for a month?

Would you ever want to bite off something like that?

I love doing big climbing link-ups like that, but not at that scale. Yesterday, I climbed a thing in Yosemite. I’ve been thinking of a cool idea to connect a few climbs in Yosemite, and have been beginning to piece together parts of it. But after doing just that segment yesterday, that felt like a lot. So we will see how it shakes up.

This interview was edited for clarity and length.