As one of the premiere rock climbers on the planet, Alex Honnold spends a lot of time on the road, living out of his van, while working on a project. That means that his adventure wagon needs to be an efficient living space that he can travel and work out of for weeks at a time. Recently, Outside magazine took an inside look at the custom built van that Alex calls Base Camp, sharing some excellent photos of a surprisingly comfortable looking mobile apartment.
From the outside, the van looks like just about any other nondescript vehicle that you might pass on the highway. But inside, it is equipped with a stove, a large bed, and hidden storage compartments filled with climbing gear. A five-gallon jug of water and a small cooler round out the kitchen, with a hidden propane tank providing the fuel necessary to cook his meals.
Alex’s van isn’t without its luxuries. Two solar panels, courtesy of Goal Zero, are mounted on the top, feeding power to a Yeti 400 generator. This ensures that Honnold has enough electricity to recharge his various gadgets, including a cell phone and his laptop. Other than that, the climber appears to live a fairly spartan existence, not requiring much more than what is in the van to continue the lifestyle that he enjoys.
Living out of a van while climbing is part of the dirtbag tradition that stretches back for decades. It was most definitely a part of the Yosemite culture in the 60’s and 70’s. That’s a climbing destination that Alex knows very well, although to the climbers that started that tradition five decades ago, Honnold’s mobile living space would probably seem like a luxury palace.
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