Elite dirtbag and very scrappy climber. These are the introductions that Sufferfest 2 starts out with. The dirtbag, professional climber Alex Honnold, and the scrapster, professional climber Cedar Wright. Sufferfest 2 follows the duo through yet another physically trying bike tour coupled with massive amounts of climbing. The two might be a little crazy in a good way, but it’s sure fun to watch.

Sufferfest 1 was released earlier this year, and had the two biking through California to climb all of the 14ers in the state. They didn’t quite get enough suffering though, and decided to make Sufferfest 2: Desert Alpine AKA 34 Pieces of Choss, and 5 Horrendous Life Experiences.

“We swore that we would never do another Sufferfest,” said Cedar Wright, who also directed and produced the films. “But time went by and all the heinous parts drifted away and we thought maybe we should do another one.”

They decided on desert towers as the scene for the next adventure, and continued on bike. “It’s a better film than the first, if you liked 1 you’ll like 2,” said Wright. Possibly the biggest and best differences between the first and the second movie? “It’s got a puppy and Alex Honnold’s bare ass,” said Wright.

Their trip began in Southwest Colorado at Independence Monument, and then strayed west to Utah where the duo hit Moab, and climbed in Arches National Park, among other places. They then headed back east to Colorado, south to New Mexico for a quick jaunt, and finished in the Navajo Nation, in Arizona. The trip took three weeks, and the they biked almost 800 miles.

“The desert towers are super iconic, but that’s been done already,” explained Wright. “Then we got stoked about doing alternative energy nonprofit stuff then thought it might be a cool way to combine nonprofit and climbing stuff together.”

The alternative energy projects were a part of The Honnold Foundation, a public charity that improves lives, sustainably and simply. In this case, Wright and Honnold were focusing on installing clean solar energy for homes in the Navajo Nation that don’t have access to energy, or are getting it in dirty and unhealthy ways. At the end of their trip they’re shown on roofs, clambering away to install solar power into the homes of the people who live in area. They worked with Elephant Energy, a solar venture that helps to provide clean energy and air to those living off the grid, like the communities in the Navajo Nation. The guys aren’t all dirt and grit, they’ve got a bit of a soft side.

The only other soft part of the movie was the puppy. The rest of the 26 minutes were filled with better landscape shots than Wild, it didn’t hurt that they climbed to the tops of the most scenic features of the deserts. The massive towers, sculpted rock faces and desert expanse made it seem like maybe the suffering was worth it after all.

For Wright and Honnold, suffering is a fact of life, but something that they consciously choose. “I think it basically comes down to we live in a very suffer-free world,” Wright explained. “Life is easy and safe nowadays, it’s nice to push outside your comfort zone and I found that on these long immersive suffer style trips, you really live.”

Wright went onto explain the time warp that comes with packing so many things into such a small amount of time. You live a life time in three weeks he said, “You’ll be like, ‘god remember that crazy tower, the one with the loose blocks? Oh that was yesterday.’”

Packing 800 miles of riding, and 45 climbs can surely wear down more than just your bike tires. There was no short of suffering for this trip, but quitting was never an option.

“I’m an artist masochist,” Wright coined himself. He’s the type of person that sees things to the finish, although he thought about quitting everyday, he never really entertained the idea. He did think about throwing his bike, and Honnold, off a tower a couple times though.

“He’s a relentless rock destroying robot of gnar,” said Wright, about Honnold. The two know each other through climbing, Wright was on The North Face’s climbing team when Honnold got signed to it. Through climbing together, they became friends and comrades in suffering. “We like to joke around, there’s not a lot of people I’d want to do that trip with,” said Wright.

Some of the most relentless work was editing the film. It took three months to compile together film from the three weeks the guys were on the road. “The real sufferfest is in the editing cave,” said Wright.

The short film does a good job of showing why Honnold and Wright think suffering is worth it, and are pretty convincing to anyone else that might be considering a similar trip that it is indeed, worth it. It helps to have a sense of humor, though. The movie is flecked with tidbits of outdoor-person weirdness and jokes, a necessity for any activity-driven film. Even though climbing massive towers might be a serious game, they know how to have fun while doing it, which makes the movie enjoyable for anyone who might not even be interested in climbing.

The film isn’t weighed down by technical lingo or elitist climbing conversation, it can appeal to anyone. It’s a 26-minute birds eye view of the Southwest, lightly narrated by two climbers that seem to be pulling as much out of the human experience as they can.

As for a Sufferfest 3, there’s been talk of incorporating another mode of transportation into the next trip, possibly sea kayaking. Both of the climbers are going to be slowing down a bit, but still climbing. If (and let’s face it, when) Sufferfest 3 emerges, Wright wants one thing, “If nothing else I hope I can destroy Honnold and bring him to his knees,” he laughed.

Images by Samuel Crossley