Today we once again have the honor of sitting down with The Quad Fathers—Michael Vaill and Tanner Wanish. The last time I spoke with them, they had just wrapped up their legendary Yosemite Quad. But little did we know, on the descent from Half Dome they were already scheming their next big objective: The Goliath Traverse. 

To give you a sense of scale, let’s break this thing down. The Goliath Traverse is a south-to-north, ridge link-up of two of the biggest traverses in the Sierra Nevada.

The first is The Full Monty—a notoriously difficult 16-mile traverse of technical rock and mountaineering terrain. It involves 5.10 climbing, horrendous rock quality, immense exposure, and extreme endurance. It extends the already burly Full Palisade Traverse and by itself is a career-defining objective.

The second half is The Full Evolution Crest, running from Bishop Pass to Piute Pass it involves miles of alpine rock, climbing up to 5.10, countless peaks over 13,000 feet, endless elevation gain and loss, and complex route-finding. First completed over eight days in 2008 by Scott McCook and Kyle Sox.

Now imagine linking both of those together; that’s The Goliath Traverse. At 32 miles of climbing, more than 60 summits, nearly 50,000 feet of vertical gain, it is considered the longest technical ridge traverse in the Western Hemisphere. It was first completed in 2021 by Vitaliy Musiyenko in a solo, unsupported, alpine-style push over just eight days—no caches, no partners, no support. Just Vitaliy, his mind, and the mountains.

In today’s conversation, we begin with a harrowing story from Tanner and Michael’s preparation trip to the Alps—a reminder of just how dangerous and unpredictable the mountains can be. When I say these two are lucky to be alive, it’s no exaggeration. At moments, it felt like I was talking to ghosts of fallen mountain athletes.

We then dive into their successful second ascent of The Goliath, and how the experience has reshaped the way they’re setting goals in the mountains—at least for now.

After his first ascent in 2021, Vitaliy reflected, “It didn’t feel like I had conquered Goliath…I had merely survived him.” As you’ll hear, Tanner and Michael would come to understand just how accurate that statement really was.

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Resources

Tanner's IG

Michael's IG

Vitaly's FA Goliath Write Up

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