Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold: Mega Episode

Expedition television made for people who want the whole approach, and at ninety-four minutes it gives you exactly that. National Geographic's three-part Greenland series is cut into one run: Alex Honnold leads a six-week expedition toward one of the highest unclimbed rock faces in the world, and glaciologist Heidi Sevestre studies what climate change is doing to the ice around them.

This is for viewers who want the science and the climbing to stop feeling like separate errands, which is what happens when you watch it in one sitting. The arc is three stages: a 1,500-foot free climb early on, a first traverse of the Renland Ice Cap after ice fall hits the team, and finally the 4,000-foot sea wall Ingmikortilaq, which Honnold and Hazel Findlay climbed on August 16, 2022. Skip it if you want climbing footage per minute. Television pacing means a lot of walking and talking.

What works is the wall itself. Ingmikortilaq's lower third is loose, scree-covered rock, the climbing reaches 5.11 with long runouts, and the film makes the danger of that terrain visible in a way the shorter cuts do not. What it gets wrong is Findlay. She made the first ascent with Honnold and the title does not mention her.

Alex Honnold Climbs a 4,000 Foot Sea Wall is the final episode on its own. If you only want the climb, watch that. If you want to understand why the climb was there at all, watch this.