Jared Leto Is (Still Very) Obsessed With Rock Climbing

Rich and famous people often have very different hobbies than the rest of us: collecting luxury cars, jetting the globe in private planes, dating other rich and famous people. But Jared Leto is just like us — if we were world-class rock climbers, that is. In recent years, the actor and rocker has expanded his repertoire to include scaling some of the most impressive natural formations on earth, and he doesn’t seem inclined to stop anytime soon.

On Tuesday, July 20, the Suicide Squad star shared a breathtaking pic on Instagram from his recent trek to Yosemite National Park. In the photo, he can be seen working his way up a near-vertical rock (artfully positioned sideways), with a blanket of trees far below. Leto playfully sticks out his tongue as he mugs for the camera. As you do.

“Started with the classic OZ (ounce) on Drug Dome and finished up on the very fun Hobbit,” he explained. “Epic day with @renan_ozturk and co in #Tuolumne @yosemite #findyourpark ps. Great Wide Open is coming #soon.”

In case you’re wondering, Renan Ozturk is a climber and National Geographic contributor — and it seems that the two are kindred spirits. Ozturk posted his own photo of the actor reaching the summit, which showed just how high they truly were. “Not much beats the feeling of covering ground over impeccable alpine granite,” he wrote. “Here, @jaredleto tops out the formation in Tuolumne Meadows @yosemitenps after a long ‘simul’ climbing session racing the setting sun.”

On Monday, Leto also shared an up-close-and-personal shot alongside his friend that looked like it belonged on the side of a Wheaties box. “Summit – Tuolumne/Yosemite,” he wrote next to it.

But the 30 Seconds to Mars frontman had been out in the great wide open for longer than that. A week ago, he shared a gorgeous shot of himself perched high on a jagged rock with crystal-clear blue skies in the background. “#yosemite,” he explained with a smattering of emoji ranging from a heart to a thumbs-up to a pine tree.

This wasn’t his first trip to the national park. In May, Leto chatted with Ellen DeGeneres about a recent trip to Yosemite. “I was climbing something called the East Buttress of El Cap,” he said to a wide-eyed DeGeneres. (In case you’re not up to speed on famous rock formations, El Cap is an impressive 1,500-foot ascent that takes half a day to complete.)

“It’s true! It’s not a joke!” He went on to describe the trip with “a couple of guys who are some of the best climbers in the world,” though the host was more infatuated with the tie-dye onesie that he’d sported on other adventures. “It’s a really incredible thing to do.” (He was referring to the climbing, not the onesie.)

“If I do wear that, I make sure it’s at least 1,000 miles from anyone to make sure that I don’t offend anyone’s sensibility,” he said before adding that the outfit was in honor of “a very special day in the desert.” Ellen didn’t pry further, but she flashed a knowing smile.

And as his rock-climbing abilities have grown, so has his roster of rock-climbing compatriots. Earlier this spring, he met up with premier climbers Alex Honnold and Jimmy Chin to practice his favorite pastime.

When Men’s Journal asked his BFFs about his abilities earlier this year, they didn’t mince words. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Jared climbs the Nose at some point,” predicted Honnold. (The Nose measures 3,000 feet, to be exact.) “He’s a legitimately good climber; for sure the best A-list climber in the world.”

That’s probably nice for Leto to hear, considering he called rock climbing one of his “real passions.” (The other was raw food, of course.) “I’m a closet rock climber. I love being on the edge,” he told People at the My Coke Fest in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2008. “I hiked up Cape Town’s Table Mountain yesterday,” he added. “It was magic. Close to heaven.”

We’re not sure the term “closet” really applies to this hobby anymore, considering the plethora of social media posts on his accounts about the sport, but we’re happy he’s found something to be passionate about — you know, in case that whole actor-slash-rock-star thing doesn’t work out.