Alex Honnold Invented A New Climbing Route. It's As Ridiculous As You Think

When it comes to exceptional athletes, Alex Honnold belongs at the top of the list. He’s been smashing through climbing world records left and right, and just when we think there’s no way he can outdo himself, he does. Honnold’s latest history-making move deserves all the attention because what he just accomplished is not only ridiculous and over the top — but also seems like it was fun.

Having conquered all the world’s most impressive summits and then some, Honnold has established his own climbing route and set a new record. He calls the new traverse Honnold’s Ultimate Red Rock Traverse, or HURT, Outside reports.

The traverse is a feat that spans roughly 35 miles and includes 14 Red Rock multi-pitch routes and over 24,000 feet of vertical hiking and scrambling. And he did it in a 32-hour push.

Honnold, who had been working on finding a new challenge for a few years, conquered HURT in the Nevada canyon and celebrated his accomplishment on Instagram.

“Last week I completed a long time goal of mine: a rock climbing centered traverse of the Red Rock canyons,” he wrote on October 19.

“I combined as many classic climbing routes and as many summits as I could in as uncontrived a way as I could find. I have a complete route list and a good GPS track which I’ll publish at some point in case anyone wants to take a crack at it, just not sure where the best place is to post it all,” Honnold added.

According to Outside, Honnold pushed the mark in this new traverse, again accomplishing something that once seemed impossible.

“Alex’s effort on the HURT is inspiring,” Maury Birdwell writes, who joined Honnold on parts of his latest journey. “He went huge and yet again racked up a lifetime [ticket] in a single push, redefining our concept of what’s possible; but all those are just numbers and statistics.”

Birdwell shared that at one point in the traverse, Honnold wasn’t sure he could continue, saying, “The only time I’ve ever seen him this ground down was during a likely malaria infection in Angola.” Yet, he kept going, saying, “There’s a value to picking a goal and doing what you said you would do, not just quitting when it’s hard.”

Honnold has repeatedly proven that he can do hard things, and he’s set so many records along the way. Given all that, it’s hard to predict what he will do next — but we will be watching!