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‘Free Solo’ Star Alex Honnold Climbs Unexplored Arctic Mountains to Track Climate Change

His new National Geographic miniseries, Arctic Ascent, follows Honnold and his team tracking ice formation in Greenland’s frigid fjords.

Alex Honnold ascended to fame making one of the most daring no-rope climbs of a rock face in history, as documented in the award-winning film Free Solo. Then he turned to climbing for causes — the latest of which took him to the Arctic Circle, where he traveled with a team to measure the impact of climate change on some of the most remote parts of planet Earth.

Honnold’s expedition to check on Greenland’s ice, performed in 2022, was documented for a National Geographic three-episode miniseries that will arrive on Disney Plus on Feb. 5, titled Arctic Ascent. 

Much like Honnold’s prior journey to track down undiscovered frogs up the sides of yet-to-be-climbed jungle mesas in South America, his venture in Greenland’s frigid fjords is filled with firsts. He and the team ascended a rock wall that hadn’t previously been climbed to reach an iced-over plateau that nobody had crossed on foot before, made a boat trip across uncharted waters, and finally ascended Ingmikortilaq, a 3,750-foot previously unclimbed mountain that’s nearly a thousand feet taller than Yosemite’s El Capitan cliff face, which Honnold summited in Free Solo. 

«When we were sailing up the fjord in boats to go up to Ingmikortilaq, we did actually literally cross a point where there was no more information on the depth chart,» Honnold said. «We crossed a line and it was just blank after that. Nowadays, it’s relatively rare to go somewhere where you’re kind of off the edge of the map.»

As remote as Honnold’s trek was, what they were investigating has implications for the whole world. Emissions from burning fossil fuels are causing our climate to change, warming up the planet and leading to more extreme weather. As scientists expand their study of climate change’s impact, they’re also looking farther afield to understand how it can upset natural processes — and in Greenland, the melting of vast ice sheets could lead to a rise in global water levels, which could put coastal settlements around the world underwater. 

The expedition took the team nearly 100 miles through subzero temperatures and even colder winds, which is difficult enough to endure in the open ice plain but extra torturous when climbing. As Honnold pointed out, you can’t climb with gloves as your fingers need to be free to grip holes and cracks in the sheer rock wall, so they must be exposed to the elements. And unlike Honnold’s previous trips to Antarctica, which had been cold but largely sunny, Greenland’s rain and snow meant many grim overcast days for his adventuring team. 

Instead of finding frogs, the pro-environmental angle for this trip was to forge a path across ice fields and up mountain faces for Heïdi Sevestre, a glaciologist with the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, who came to measure how climate change is affecting the formations of ice layers in arctic Greenland. Over the course of the journey, Sevestre took readings and collected samples in areas humans have never walked or climbed — a rare opportunity to collect data that could better our understanding of our warming world. 

To Honnold, that’s a worthy cause for adventure. His post-Free Solo fame led to work that he funneled into a new foundation that has hooked up disadvantaged communities to solar power around the world. The Arctic Ascent expedition fed the same urge for Honnold to tend to the planet.

«I think a project like this is just a way to help talk about the environment to a mainstream audience, in talking about the importance of climate change, basically,» Honnold said.

Sevestre and Honnold make up a third of the six-person crew that went on the expedition, which also included Hazel Findlay and Mikey Schafer, two other climbers well-known for their skill in so-called «first ascents» up rock faces; as well as safety specialist adventurer Aldo Kane and Greenland guide Adam Kjeldsen. The challenging conditions and pioneering opportunities in adventure and science attracted them all to help crucial research at the edge of the world.

A man, Alex Honnold, rappels down a blue-white glacier hole carved by water.

Forging through the arctic with research tech and iPhones

The three-episode miniseries documents the team’s arduous journey, which is peppered with interludes wherein Sevestre deploys scientific equipment to measure conditions and estimate their normalcy — or how much climate change has made them abnormal. 

But the climbers sometimes need to court danger to get those instruments into the right position. One incident early in the series’ first episode has Honnold and others rappelling down a gaping hole carved by water rushing down to a glacier’s base, and dropping a piezometer into the flood to measure how much is flowing. Another data point to bring back to the scientific community from places it’s never accessed before. 

Sevestre took a range of measurements over the course of the trip, including rock samples from the initial rock wall that could provide historical data to compare to modern climate progression. She took sonar measurements of the plateau to estimate how much water might flow into the world’s oceans if the ice sheets melt. And when they got past the ice field to the lake, she dropped a knee-high cylinder into the water — an actual aquatic probe for NASA (one of many in its Oceans Melting Greenland, or OMG, network of probes). 

Honnold brought his iPhone. 

While most of the miniseries is shot by National Geographic videographers with conventional cameras and drones for jaw-dropping ultrawide shots of gorgeous landscapes and sheer rock walls, it can be tough to get filmmakers into position in more extreme moments. So Honnold recorded a small portion of the footage himself in the fleeting triumph when he and his fellow climbers reached the top of an arctic wall that had never been climbed before. And he did it with an off-the-shelf iPhone.

«You’re almost required to do little video diaries [with phones] all the time because you just can’t capture it otherwise, those kinds of interactions where it’s just you and your partner at the anchor being like, ‘Here we are, we’re doing a thing, isn’t this exciting?'» said Honnold. He used either an iPhone 12 Mini or iPhone 13 Mini, he recalled.

Viewers won’t notice when the show seamlessly switches to his iPhone point-of-view, which is stunning proof that the smartphones in our pockets can produce documentary-quality footage, even at the edge of the world. Honnold kept the phone in an inner jacket pocket close to his warm chest for the most part so it wouldn’t die when exposed to Greenland’s subzero temperatures, but it still let him take part in contributing his own moments, from jokey chitchats with his team to euphoric cheers atop mountains, to the documentary.

Honnold has carried smartphones on climbs before, which he used to listen to music and take photos to send to family and friends. But phones have come a long way, and production companies now outfit him with the latest phones. His next trip, another National Geographic-recorded expedition to Alaska, has him using an iPhone 14 Pro Max so he can use its ProRes high-quality video format.

«The quality of phones now is good enough that you can put on a big screen,» Honnold said.

A woman smiles while wearing a black safety helmet and orange winter coat in front of a background of ice and glaciers.

An expedition of science and adventure, the National Geographic way

The actual Arctic Ascent expedition happened in 2022, and Sevestre bundled her research into the trip to execute experiments for multiple universities. These myriad readings and measurements are, as Honnold described them, pieces of data that institutions around the world will use for different projects. 

«Nothing we did is groundbreaking in and of itself, but that’s kind of the nature of science is that no individual piece of data determines any outcome. It’s always just part of this broader web of human knowledge,» Honnold said. «We’re hoping to fill in a gap in the map, for sure.»

That said, expeditions can be productive long after they’ve finished. The science expert from Honnold’s previous trip up the South American jungle mesas is still publishing research on the frogs discovered during the expedition, which occurred years ago. We won’t know the full impact of the Arctic Ascent expedition for some time, but there are other benefits to documenting such a tough adventure in some of the most wildly beautiful and unexplored parts of the world.

«I think showing the landscape is important, just showing people the wild beauty of Eastern Greenland. And I think that people can be inspired by nature in that way,» Honnold said. «But I think it’s nice to have an educational component, to have [Sevestre] along, to help people understand what’s at stake in Eastern Greenland.»

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Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Aug. 21

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 21.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

There are a lot of Qs in today’s Mini Crossword. 1-Across threw me for a while, but eventually it dawned on me. Need answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Common queries, informally
Answer: FAQS

5A clue: Only four-letter country with a «Q» in its name
Answer: IRAQ

6A clue: TV’s «The White ___»
Answer: LOTUS

8A clue: Something you might «Mark as read»
Answer: EMAIL

9A clue: Late
Answer: TARDY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: ___ mignon
Answer: FILET

2D clue: Burnt toast has a strong one
Answer: AROMA

3D clue: Only five-letter country with a «Q» in its name
Answer: QATAR

4D clue: Likely inspiration for the mythical kraken
Answer: SQUID

7D clue: Sneaky
Answer: SLY

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Technologies

Everything from Made by Google 2025: Pixel 10, Pixel Watch 4, Pixel 10 Pro Fold Announced

Here’s what you missed at Google’s big event that included new phones, watches, earbuds, Gemini AI features and numerous celebrity cameos.

Even though the Pixel 10 leaks and rumors felt as if they arrived in a steady firehose before today’s Made by Google event — compelling the company to release a teaser video pre-announcing the new phone’s existence a month ago — Google still delivered details it somehow managed to keep private until it was ready to share.

And that delivery was refreshingly fun for a tech event. The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon led the proceedings in a very late-night talk show format, bringing on several special guests from media, sports and yes, Google’s own experts to show off the products and features they’ve been working on for today’s announcements.

Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL are real

Surprise, Google announced new phones! OK, this was the least surprising part of the event, but it still feels good to finally know what exists and when it’s coming. Preorders for the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL begin today and will be in stores and shipping starting August 28.

  • I’m Stoked That Google Made the Pixel 10 a $799 Value-Packed Feature Monster

  • I Tested Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL in Paris, and I’m Impressed

  • Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL First Look: Familiar Design, New AI Tricks

  • Google Launches the Full Pixel 10 Line, Including the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL

Pixel 10 Pro Fold opens the next chapter of foldables

Folding phones so far have shared an Achilles Hinge: small particulates like sand can get inside the case and really mess things up. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is one of the first to have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, meaning you can take it to the beach.

  • Pixel 10 Pro Fold Is Tougher, Smarter and Totally Dust Resistant

  • Forget the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Foldables Should Look Like the Microsoft Surface Duo

  • Google’ Pixel 10 Pro Fold Is Here

Pixel Watch 4 talks to Gemini and is your new health coach

The Pixel Watch 4 includes new fitness options like real-time guidance while exercising. And if you forgot to start a workout, the watch (with AI help) can detect the activity in the background and remind you of it later, giving you credit for the effort you made. It’s also the only smartwatch that can detect a loss of pulse and call emergency services automatically.

  • Well Played, Google: The Pixel Watch 4 May Give Apple Watch Loyalists a Wandering Eye

  • Pixel Watch 4 First Look: Google Just Raised the Bar

  • The Pixel Watch 4 Is Here. Can It Finally Beat Apple?

Pixel Buds 2a are more affordable earbuds

Joining the Pixel Buds 2 Pro in the market are Pixel Buds 2a, an affordable ($130) pair of wireless earbuds that feature active noise cancellation, a smaller and lighter for all, and a twist-to-adjust stabilizer feature for setting a comfortable fit.

  • Google’s New Pixel Buds 2A Look a Lot Like the Pro 2, but Cost Way Less

  • Meet the Pixel Buds 2A: Google’s Budget Answer for ANC Buds

Pixel Buds Pro 2 owners will see new features

Coming in a software update next month, Pixel Buds Pro 2 owners will be able to answer calls or send them to voicemail with a nod or shake of the head. You’ll be able to talk to Gemini live in noisy locations, and benefit from adaptive audio that applies noise cancellation while letting important sounds come through. At the other end, a new feature will protect your hearing from very loud sounds.

Magic Cue is a Gemini assistant that pulls data from your correspondence

In the rollout of all the various AI technologies in the industry, the current stretch goal is «agentic» interactions with software: Having an AI that knows all sorts of details about you and can act to get the important stuff in front of you when needed. (And do it in a privacy-first way, one would hope.)

Magic Cue is Google’s implementation. It’s a new Gemini-based feature that can look through your earlier messages, emails and photos to pull details about things like restaurant reservations and flight times. Magic Cue runs on the Pixel device itself, so sensitive data stays private and not shared to the cloud.

A lot of Gemini AI intelligence is still coming soon

At the start of the event, Fallon sat down in typical talk-show format with Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of platforms and devices, to chat about Gemini and the marvels of AI. Aside from Magic Cue, which will be shipping on the Pixel 10 phones, a lot of the features and products we’ve been hearing about are still on the horizon.

«For instance, Gemini could do something like plan a team celebration dinner for 12 people tonight,» he said. «It might go find a restaurant that’ll accommodate that group…. Look for a karoake place nearby and maybe even order custom T-shirts for the celebration.»

And when will that be possible? Fallon asked. «A lot sooner than people think,» Osterloh replied. «This kind of thing is coming this year.»

The Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL can zoom to 100x with AI help

Pro Res Zoom on the Pixel 10 Pro phones pushes zooming far beyond what would seem to be possible with typical small cameras. Usually when you zoom beyond the optical limits of the cameras, details get fuzzy as the software upscales the image. With Pro Res Zoom, when you go beyond 30x zoom, it uses generative AI to build a sharper version. CNET’s Andrew Lanxon got both impressive and head-scratching results while making photos in Paris using the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

Camera Coach uses AI to encourage better photos

Smartphone cameras have employed AI for several years, such as identifying subjects in order to blur the background for Portrait modes or quickly snapping several shots at multiple exposures and blending them together to create well-balanced lighting throughout. Now Google is using AI to help you take better photos.

Camera Coach is a new feature in the Pixel Camera app that looks at the scene in front of the lens and generates multiple suggestions for how to improve the photo before it’s captured. To show this off, podcaster Alex Cooper brought Fallon out to be her model and sat him down on a couch. When she activated the feature, Camera Coach suggested that she move the camera closer to the subject, position his head in the upper portion of the frame, lower the camera to eye level and turn on Portrait mode.

«To all the girls that are watching, I personally know how hard it is to train your boyfriend or your husband to get that perfect shot,» said Cooper. «And now Camera Coach can just train all the boys for us.»

Pixel 10 supports Qi2 magnetic charging

The Qi2 spec includes not just faster charging but also an array of magnets on the back for connecting to accessories. Sound familiar? The presenters mentioned Apple’s MagSafe system, then paused with the realization that they probably shouldn’t have name-checked it during the Google event. On the Pixel 10 phones, it’s called Pixelsnap and should work with accessories made for Apple’s ecosystem too.

Pixel 10 will be available in Mexico

In an impressive segment demonstrating Gemini live translation during a phone call, musician Karen Polinesia, who speaks Spanish, announced that for the first time, the Pixel 10 will be available for sale in Mexico.

This article is being updated; stay tuned for more.

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Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Aug. 21, #332

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Aug. 21, No. 332.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

To solve today’s Connections: Sports Edition, focus on the endings of some of the words. That should help you see how they connect. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta after making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: What you want to do.

Green group hint: Football abbreviations.

Blue group hint: Home to hoops.

Purple group hint: Hidden hockey team names.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Objective.

Green group: NFL teams, on scoreboards.

Blue group: NBA arenas ending with «Center.»

Purple group: Ends with an NHL team.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is objective. The four answers are aim, goal, mark and target.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is NFL teams, on scoreboards. The four answers are CHI, MIA, MIN and NO. (Chicago, Miami, Minnesota and New Orleans.)

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is NBA arenas ending with «Center.» The four answers are Barclays, Chase, Delta and Kia.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends with an NHL team. The four answers are geoducks, spoilers, superstars and Vikings. (Ducks, Oilers, Stars and Kings.)

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