Alex Honnold has long been the talk of the climbing world and has the astounding feats to justify that, but the rock climber truly hit the mainstream with the 2018 Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo. And the star of Free Solo will now attempt to scale a very serious problem: climate change.
Deadline reported this week that Honnold will star in a Disney+ series called On The Edge, which mixes his journey through Greenland climbing while discussing some very real manmade problems impacting the natural world rock climbers cherish.
On the Edge with Alex Honnold, produced by Plimsoll Productions, sees the professional adventure rock climber embark on a lifelong dream – an epic climbing quest across the remotest and toughest walls and peaks of Greenland, a country that has become the crucible of the climate crisis. In 2020, 300 billion tons of Greenland ice disappeared, the biggest annual melt in recorded history.
Honnold is passionate about conservation and man’s impact on nature, so the show is a perfect fit for one of the most recognizable extreme sports stars in the world. So the series, which is sure to combine some of the daring visuals that made Free Solo so compelling with a very real exploration of the climate crisis, seems like a perfect fit. Part informational journey, part docuseries about a climber taking on some massive challenges, On The Edge seems poised to attempt a daring balance of its own.
With an overabundance of virgin climbs and impossible walls, Greenland is considered the world’s last great climbing frontier. As he attempts a once-in-a-lifetime climbing challenge that will push his physical limits, Honnold will meet the scientists working on the frontline of climate change and witness the impacts of the rapid melting for himself.
We’ll see how it shakes out, but judging by Discovery’s involvement here you should expect to like a lot of what you see here if you enjoyed Free Solo.
[via Deadline]