Alex Honnold Solos El Sendero Luminoso (7b+) Potrero Chico, Mexico | EpicTV Climbing Daily, Ep. 209

Hi, welcome to Climbing Daily. Coming up on today's show, the latest news from the teams trying to make the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, and Alex Honnold completes yet another amazing solo. But first, we're going over to Pakistan, where the various teams attempting to make the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat haven't so far had much luck with the weather. It sounds like things might be improving soon. However, it's all come a bit late for one of the Polish team, Marek Klonowski. He's returned home after his wife gave birth to their first child. Meanwhile, the North Face team, led by Simone Moro, have reported that conditions have improved on the mountain, and soloist Daniel Nardi is anticipated to arrive in base camp any day now. This is a pretty cool project, so we'll be keeping you informed as we get news. Next up, we've got news of yet another desperate solo from Alex Honnold. We've not heard much from Alex recently, but news has come through that he's soloed the 500m El Sendero Luminoso at Potrero Chico, Mexico. It's not a true on-site because he'd already climbed it a few times with Cedar Wright, but with 11 out of the 15 pitches being between 7a plus and 7c, this is an incredible achievement. We're used to hearing of impressive ascents from Alex, but this really is amazing stuff. If you want to see a bit more of him in action, check out the series Sufferfest on Epic TV. Heading up to the Mithril Dihedral up there, the obvious, very obvious dihedral. Mithril Dihedral, yeah! Alex implicitly trusting me, not to flip soloing on him. My hand's shaking. Soloing is the ultimate freedom as a climber, and to be up there on the Mithril Dihedral just plugged into these incredible jams on this vertical face of Russell was an unforgettable experience, especially with all the ground that we covered behind us. That looks pretty aptly named. That's it for today on Climbing Daily. Check back tomorrow when we've got ice climbing news and part three of our interview with Leo Holding.