Climbing Gold

Kai Lightner is on a tear. When we last spoke with Kai, his path in professional climbing was unclear. He’d struggled with disordered eating, injuries, and growing into his adult body after a decade of success in competition and his path back to the upper limits of climbing seemed uncertain. Last year, Kai turned his attention to climbing outside and took the emphasis off results. An incredible string of sends followed, and once again Kai has found himself at the forefront.  

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A decade ago, climbing’s most controversial figure wasn’t someone who’d lied, chopped routes, or chipped holds. It was a young woman who’d savvily harnessed the internet and social media to power her competitive career. Unintentionally, Sierra Blair became a lightning rod. Today, Sierra’s approach might simply be considered best practice for an athlete on social media, but a decade ago it sparked conversations about who gets to call themselves an athlete or a “real” climber, and it exposed a vein of misogyny flowing through our sport. With that period firmly in the rearview mirror and climbing harder than ever, Sierra shares her journey through climbing, professionalism, and the Internet. 

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Sometimes we all need healthy competition. Last summer Alex, Tommy Caldwell, and Sonnie Trotter hatched a plan – each would attempt to climb 9a in the coming year. Climbing at your limit demands attention and accountability, something each was struggling with on their own. Together, the goal seemed a little more probable.

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When Kris Hampton launched the Power Company, training for climbing was in an awkward adolescence. Research and tactics were woefully behind adjacent sports like gymnastics. Gym sessions were a stop gap for time outside and training programs were the realm of competitive youth teams and a few hardened professionals. We dive into the evolution of training, the difference between a coach and a trainer, and how close we are to the limits of human possibility. 

Written in Stone Kris' podcast

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News flash: having kids changes things. Paige Claassen and Emily Harrington join Alex to discuss the new normal, reaching limits while sleep deprived and the calculus of risk as they move into parenthood.

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For the last decade, no climber has moved our sport closer to the future than Adam Ondra. While he’s known for his visionary sport routes, he’s excelled in every aspect of rock climbing from competition to big walls. Adam sat down for a wide ranging interview to talk about the limits of what’s humanly possible, the Olympics and shiver bivying on El Cap with his father.

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We will be back later this spring with all new episodes of Climbing Gold, but in the meantime we wanted to rerun an episode from our first season: “This Place Will Change Climbing”. We dive into what makes Memphis Rox a unique climbing gym. And right now, Memphis Rox needs the climbing community to step up and help them through a tough financial moment. Good ideas need champions. 

Support Memphis Rox  

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In Part 2 of Adapted, Mo Beck and Jim Ewing head to the Lotus Flower Tower. Hugh Herr embarks on life after climbing and tackles one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Denny Kowska seeks to build an adaptive community from the ground up. 

Resources

Hugh Herr's Ted Talk

Jim Ewing's Film Adaptive

ParaCliffHangers

Paradox Sports

Adaptive Climbing Group

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Climbing’s first phenom survives a near death experience and life altering accident on Mount Washington. In rural Maine, a young girl born without a hand discovers climbing. In the aftermath of an accident, an engineer resolves to complete a lifelong dream. Hugh Herr, Mo Beck and Jim Ewing take us on a journey in a two part series about human potential, generational friendships and the power of climbing.

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Style vs substance-- they are one and the same in climbing. It governs how we aspire to do routes. It inspires us. Done right, it will stand the test of time. Today, we sit down with climber Katie Lambert and photographer Ben Ditto. 

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When protests erupted in Iran in fall of 2022, human rights activist and professional climber Nasim Eshqi was climbing in France. As she watched the uprising back home unfold, Nasim knew that returning home at that moment would mean arrest and imprisonment at the hands of the government. She doubled down on her criticism of Iran’s repressive regime and used her climbing to bring the struggle to the international climbing community.

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Underground legend and editor of Accidents in North American Climbing, Pete Takeda joins us to talk safety. We can learn from mistakes, but sometimes it’s worth speaking up before they happen. 

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After successfully establishing the first fair means ascent of Cerro Torre’s SE Ridge and chopping Maestri’s bolt ladder, Hayden Kennedy and Jason Kruk smash into reality. In the mountains, a rescue for their friend is under way. In El Chaltén, frustration boils over and the police get involved. Meanwhile, David Lama heads back up the mountain. Years later, the community reflects on the Cerro Torre. 

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In the 2000’s, a new, global generation of alpinists armed with a broad toolkit of skills and advancements in weather forecasting led a climbing golden age in Patagonia. While popular, Maestri’s Compressor Route becomes the target of climbers looking to leave a lasting impression on the sport. 

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How big of a problem is lying in climbing? Jonathan Siegrist returns to the show to talk about dishonesty in our sport. 

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With doubts circling in the press, Cesare Maestri returns to Cerro Torre with hundreds of bolts, a compressor engine and gallons of gasoline intent on conquering the mountain. What ensues borders on madness leaving the next generation to untangle Maestri’s lies and correct an abomination.

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In 1959, Cesare Maestri, an outsider and rebel drawn to the siren song of the world’s fiercest mountain, Cerro Torre, ripped a hole in climbing’s only true rule – a climber is only as good as their word.

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In May 2022, The Full Circle Everest team made history when seven of the members reached the world’s highest point. They were the first all black expedition team to do so. Today, we talk with Phil Henderson, Adina Scott and Eddie Taylor about their experiences on Chomolungma and the power of summits. 

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Is reaching a summit the true measure of success or is there something deeper? In 1978 a dream team of alpinists – Jim Donini, Jeff Lowe, George Lowe, and Michael Kennedy – spent 26 days tackling the North Ridge of Latok 1 in the Karakoram range and came up just short of the summit after illness struck. Their attempt became legend and a testament to the power of friendship. The North Ridge suddenly became the most coveted alpine climb on the planet, rebuffing new generations of climbers for the next 40 years. 

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A route’s history is important, but does it make it sacred? As our sport grows, people are considering whether adding bolts to existing routes to make it safer or more accessible might be a valid idea. Prolific first ascensionist, student of the sport and arguably America’s best sport climber Jonathan Siegrist joins the Climbing Gold team to discuss.

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We journey through the world of Moonboarding with the world’s best – Ravioli Biceps. And Ben Moon walks us through the underground climbing trend that started in the cellars of Sheffield, England and has now spread across the globe. Everybody can play. Everybody can contribute. Everybody can connect.  

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Could a route change you? Kareemah Batts joins Alex, Fitz, Lauren and Leici to talk about the routes that changed what they thought was possible. 

Adaptive Climbing Group

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In April of 2022, Anna Pfaff set out to tick an Alaska classic – the Harvard Route on Mount Huntington. With her partner Priti Wright, Anna romped up the 3,000 foot face of ice, rock and snow, but the climb would prove to be a life changing experience. Frostbite would force doctors to amputate most of her toes. As a professional athlete, Anna would have to come to terms with her new best.

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The next generation needs its inspiration. The Mellow crew provides it. Between sends of the world's hardest boulders, Daniel Woods, Shawn Raboutou, Giuliano Cameroni and Jimmy Webb took climbing media into their own hands, authoring YouTube ready videos of climbing’s cutting edge with an aesthetic more akin to skate films than National Geographic. 

Shawn on Spectre (V13)

Elijah Kiser on Levity (V14)

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Philosophy professor and member of the exclusive 5.14 after 60 club, Bill Ramsey has a bone to pick with those who value strength over technique. In this roundtable discussion, we dive into our bias towards power and Bill’s concept of the pain box. Nothing’s worse than the pain of sucking.

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Quiet and humble, Lucho Rivera was the antithesis to the wild, loud and over the top antics of the Stone Monkey generation. Yet in that band of misfits, he found a home. Now, after three decades of climbing in Yosemite, Lucho may have made the greatest contribution of his generation to the Valley’s history.

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In the 1970’s, no flame burned brighter than Hot Henry Barber. Often heralded as the first traveling climber, Henry redefined standards for free climbing and free soloing not just the US, but every country he visited. Along the way, he shattered egos before learning to check his own.

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After Jack Dorn’s death, conspiracies begin to fly in the Valley. Camp 4’s dirtbags figure out what to do with their spoils. And the plane crash becomes the stuff of Hollywood, literally. Our final installment of the Dope Lake series.

By early April, the rumors of Dope Lake began to spread far beyond the Valley. What was once an under-the-radar get rich mission had spiraled out of control. When the rangers get a tip, they decide it’s time to take back the lake, but not before one of the legendary Stonemasters escapes with a kilo of cocaine and the black book. The party has to end.

Yosemite, 1970’s – it was the heart of the climbing revolution. You’ve heard a lot of voices and names in the Dope Lake series – John Long, Jim Bridwell, John Bachar, Dale Bard, Vern Clevenger, John Yablonski. Big names with big personalities that helped write the history of Yosemite Valley across all the disciplines – big wall, free climbing and bouldering. When the decade started, the hardest route in Yosemite checked in at 5.10. By the end of the decade, that standard would climb to 5.13.

The gold rush begins. When two skiers reported a possible plane crash, Yosemite Ranger Tim Setnicka started making calls. Pretty soon he realized the Park Service had a serious investigation on their hands. When federal agents landed in El Cap Meadow, the Camp 4 climbers knew something was up, but had no idea their lives were about to change.  

In 1976, a plane carrying four million dollars in marijuana crashed into a small alpine lake in the Yosemite high country. Broke and living off discarded scraps of tourist meals in the valley below, America’s best climbers smelled opportunity. The events at Dope Lake became climbing’s most potent myth and inspired a Hollywood blockbuster, but the real story and the lives it changed is stranger than fiction.

What happens when you unexpectedly find yourself in the global spotlight? Tommy Caldwell offers a candid perspective into the personal impacts that the Dawn Wall media coverage had on his life. Almost overnight, the ascent arguably made Tommy the first household name in climbing and inspired an influx of new climbers to the sport.

In 2015, climbing became a cultural avalanche. The Dawn Wall was its tipping point. In part one, we talk with the Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times reporter John Branch. We hear about Sandy Russell’s novel project to put The Nose on Google Street View and Tommy Caldwell helps us make sense of the year climbing finally hit the mainstream. 

This month, Alex completed his multi-year project to traverse Red Rock’s iconic skyline. In 32 hours, Alex ticked off 35 miles, 23k feet of climbing up to 5.11- and 20 named summits to complete the HURT – Honnold's Ultimate Red Rock Traverse. Fitz and Alex’s conversation digs into what went into this cutting edge effort.   

For many of us, social media is the portal into the lives of outdoor photographers and filmmakers. We see the images and the films they create, but it can be a bit of a mystery for how it all works behind the lens. Today we talk to climbers Colette McInerney and Austin Siadak, both photographers and filmmakers who have worked on many different outdoor film projects, to get a glimpse of what it takes to create incredible outdoor stories. 

Films and photographers mentioned in this episode:

Pretty Strong by Never Not Collective

The Alpinist with Marc-Andre Leclerc

Mikey Schaefer

Meru by Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk

How can you turn your fear into excitement? Today, we’re sharing an episode of Re:Thinking with Adam Grant, a podcast from the TED Audio Collective. In this episode, Alex sits down with Adam to talk about regulating emotions when you’re hanging off the edge of a cliff, what still scares him, and how he stays motivated to pursue ambitious goals.

If you’d like to hear more from leading thinkers and creators, follow ReThinking wherever you get your podcasts. Each week, Adam dives into the minds of interesting people to learn the unique ways they think and find practices we can all apply in our daily lives to live a little better. This season, the show features guests like bestselling author Celeste Ng, entrepreneur Mark Cuban, and Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon. 

Does climbing have inherent value? We kick off season 4 of Climbing Gold by talking about finding meaning in our lives, whether through climbing or other pursuits. Nik Berry, an ER nurse and rock climber, reflects on his pursuit of climbing hard routes and how that shifted and guided him during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How do you decide to take on risk? Alex and Fitz discuss their five takeaways from talking to climbers, alpinists and experts for this season on risk.  

We’ve spent this season trying to better understand the risks climbers take, but we had one last question. How do you walk away? Steve House gave his entire attention and focus to alpinism. He was an iconic figure who seemed poised to finish out a career as a sponsored athlete. Then in April of 2021, Steve announced that he was done with elite climbing, embarking on a new chapter of life.

Learn more about Steve's work at Uphill Athlete.

Big, audacious dreams come with real risks. The dreamers are presented with a labyrinth of physical hazards, possible outcomes, hurdles, and dead ends. Often, we are told that success comes down to positive thinking, but maybe there’s a flip side to that coin. Few people have thought about risk more than Will Gadd, pioneer of modern mixed and ice climbing. And he’s got a lot to say. We also get some insight from Brette Harrington.

Sometimes you don’t get to choose the risks you take. It’s a matter of survival. Alex talks with climber and photographer Nikki Smith about what she gained when she took one of the biggest risks of her life, how her passion for climbing has evolved as she’s forged her path to live authentically, and the importance of standing up for others. We ask some hard questions and get honest answers.

To manage risk, you first have to see the threat. Best-selling author Michele Wucker and Alex talk about how he evaluates risk, creating safety nets and his greatest fear. 

In early 1980’s Yosemite, big wall climbing was tedious, difficult and often terrifying. Enter Lydia Bradey, a 19-year-old New Zealander. She’s not good at free climbing, but she has this overwhelming desire to experience the feeling of being on one the steepest bits of El Capitan thousands of feet above the ground. There are people who dream of doing things and there are the people that go do them. Today, we talk with Lydia about the dark art of aid climbing, Mount Everest and the power of big nature. Lauren Delaunay Miller, author of Valley of Giants, joins us to help tell her story.

As humans, we sometimes prefer to ignore big risks that are lurking within our view. See climate change or storm clouds building over a ridge. Best-selling author Michele Wucker has dedicated her career to understanding how humans interact with risk in big and small systems. Her hypothesis: the risks we take create a unique fingerprint. Colin Haley, aka Captain Safety, has shaped his fingerprint through two decades of elite alpinism, soloing and identifying risk factors.

Hazel Findlay and Alex dive deeper into the intricacies of British trad climbing. Just don’t hit the ground.

Far away from Yosemite’s spotlight on a crumbly backwater cliff, an unknown climber was about to change a sport by breaking some of its most sacred rules. Today, we are all very grateful he did. We talk with Alan Watts, pioneer of sport climbing in America, about the highs and lows of breaking the status quo. There’s an upside and a downside to every risk we take. 

British trad climbing might be the most unique flavor of all. Is it an audacious game of risk or merely a fast track to a Darwin award? In 2000, while following in the footsteps of his heroes, a young James McHaffie booted up in front of the famed Masters Wall and launched upwards. What followed was a four hour fight for survival. Hazel Findlay helps supply perspective on the strange craft of British trad. 

This year's Olympic climbers weren’t the original USA climbing team. That honor actually goes to a rag-tag group of adventurous dirtbags including Beth Wald, Russ Clune and Todd Skinner, who managed to travel to the USSR at the tail end of the Cold War to compete in a one of a kind climbing competition.

Were the Olympics more a bust than a boom? If you had $20 million to grow the sport of climbing how would you spend it? Are we at the end of the era where we climb alongside the pros? The Climbing Gold Team takes a look back at the learnings from season 2 and looks into the future of our sport.