Alex Honnold started off 2014 with one of his most ambitious and difficult free-solo ascents to date: a sustained 2,500-foot limestone big-wall route called El Sendero Luminoso in El Potrero Chico, Mexico.聽
The demanding route entails many pitches of technical 5.12 climbing. Parties often take two days to climb this impressive monolith, but Honnold鈥檚 ascent took only three hours.聽
Last week, fellow climber and North Face team member 聽traveled to Mexico to help Honnold clean and prepare the route, and also to pioneer the final thousand feet of terrain to the true summit.聽
鈥淚 climbed the route four times with Alex, and each time I was struck by how complex and tenuous the climbing is,鈥 Wright says. 鈥淭here are hundreds of hand and foot moves to remember, and at times it鈥檚 just a few millimeters of your fingers and toes that are keeping you connected to the wall. Mostly I just tried not to think about him soloing the route while I was up there because it was so terrifying.鈥
Honnold says the ascent went as well as he鈥檇 anticipated. 鈥淚t felt pretty straight forward,鈥 he says. 鈥淥nce I started up, I was like this is awesome. I didn鈥檛 blow a single foot鈥攍ike a ballerina.鈥
The achievement was documented by for the North Face.
鈥淎lex will downplay the achievement, but I can assure you this is one of the most cutting-edge big-wall solos of all time,鈥 Wright says.
For more, read 鈥Alex Honnold Isn鈥檛 Afraid of Skyskrapers鈥 from the December 2013 issue of 国产吃瓜黑料.
