About halfway through National Geographic’s new documentary series Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold, the show’s eponymous climbing star is struck in the face by a mean-looking shard of falling glacial ice. The bridge of his nose begins to bleed, and he takes a selfie to capture the moment, smiling into the camera with a set of newly blood-stained gnashers. Minutes later, Honnold is back on all fours to continue his journey towards Greenland’s Ingmikortilaq sea cliff – one of the highest unclimbed rock faces on the planet.
“It’s definitely way better to get hit by ice than rock,” Honnold says with the wry smile of someone who’s clearly seen worse. “If that had been a rock, it for sure would’ve broken my nose – if not put a hole straight through my face.”
