Aaron Mulkey is a climber and kayaker, likely best known for the hundreds of first ascents he has made in Wyoming and Montana, so we talk about climbing and the exploration required to discover new drainages where ice might form. But before that we speak about kayaking and whitewater and the dynamism of the medium compared to the relative calm nature of the climbing environment.

Early in the conversation I describe an encounter between Michael Dimitri, Steve Mascioli and a malnourished black bear (which I mistakenly refer to as a grizzly) on the Tokositna Glacier in Alaska. Following up with Michael recently, I learned some more details which we have posted in the NonProphet Journal as companion read for this conversation.

In a fascinating departure from the norm, which has people scouring the internet to learn about a route or its current condition, Aaron prefers to explore, to seek ephemeral routes that may not exist or be "in" rather than wanting all of the available knowledge the internet may provide before even leaving the car. "Most people don't chase the unknown because it seems scary but I'm going to choose that every single time. I mean, if you don't know anything about it so what is there to fear?" Knowing about something implies you have some control over it but that simply isn't true. He also prefers to climb new routes because, "repetition is in opposition with creativity."

Of course, we do speak about fitness, and how cardio is king because approaches in the South Fork of the Shoshone can involve hiking 5-6 miles with all of the gear, etc., "and I need to be 100% on the route after finally reaching it." Maintaining a year-round level of fitness is required to take advantage of ephemeral conditions — when routes can form and disappear in a matter of days one must always be ready. We also discuss the application of "artificial" training (in the gym) to sport-specific activity, avoiding overuse injuries, and diverse types of training (power and endurance and the combination of them), developing a good relationship with recovery, and mass gain vs. power-to-weight ratio.

We wrap up by addressing the concept of the psychological habit of injury that remains after the physical injury has been healed, the psychological habit of being injured and changing behavior, risk-tolerance, etc., and having to back off a bit to slowly recover confidence and the belief in one's ability to return to the highest level ... because continued negative reinforcement is not the answer.

And if you stick around until 3hrs 20min you'll hear Aaron describe doing a 2km Ski ERG TT at 8500' of altitude.

Aaron's website: https://coldfear.com