Rock climber Alex Honnold is once again pushing the boundaries of rock climbing in Yosemite National Park, a place that has become his own personal playground over the past few years. According to Climbing.com, Honnold made a solo, ropeless ascent of The Phoenix, knocking off a route that is rated as a 5.13a. He reportedly went on to free climb Chouinard-Herbert a 5.11+ route the next day as well. Both climbs were captured on film.
According to the Climbing.com story, The Phoenix took just eight minutes to complete, while Chouinard-Herbert required two hours on a surface that was reportedly wet at the time. Honnold says that it wasn't two hours of climbing however, as he had to stop at times and wait for the film crew to move into proper position. That climb was being recorded by 60 Minutes, presumably for an upcoming profile of some kind.
Last summer, Honnold did back-to-back climbs on the Northwest Face route on Half Dome and the Nose on El Capitan, completing both routes in just eight hours. That feat established him as one of the top rock climbers in the world, and he has since gone on to tackle other impressive routes, including some spectacular towers in the country of Chad. He has also been climbing a lot of tough routes in California's Jailhouse Rock and is preparing to travel to Newfoundland on a major trip later this summer as well.
I never cease to be amazed at the things that Alex is up to. It seems that we're hearing about him tackling some incredibly tough new routes, usually solo, every few months. At this point, I think he practically owns everything in Yosemite!
