By BLISTER
4.7
4444 ratings
The podcast currently has 23 episodes available.
We talk to Tommy Caldwell and Access Fund Policy Director, Erik Murdock, to discuss a massive public lands bill that’s moving through congress called the Natural Resources Management Act. We dive into what makes it so important, hear about Tommy’s involvement with the Access Fund, then Erik helps us unpack the Natural Resources Management Act — what it is, how it was created, and why it matters to climbers.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What’s the biggest environmental impact we have as climbers? It’s easy to be distracted by the obvious stuff: chalk marks, cat holes, bolts. But, as journalist J.B. MacKinnon points out, the reality is much more complicated.
Longtime climber J.B. Mackinnon is a contributor to The New Yorker on ecology and consumer issues. He has written several award-winning nonfiction books including The 100 Mile Diet and The Once and Future World, and he is now working on a book on consumerism in the outdoor industry. In this conversation, we talk about the places climbing has the greatest environmental impact, how this has changed over the decades, and how we as a community can reduce our footprint.
(MacKinnon's website and work)
TOPICS & TIMES
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Erick Davidson makes the best cams that you’ve never heard of — they aren’t sold in stores or online, and Davidson’s company, Merlin Rock Gear, doesn’t even have a website.
Erick, a mechanical engineer by day, designs and fabricates large-format cams that are much larger than Black Diamond’s number 6 Camalot, and that cover sizes way beyond what is protectable with more common commercial cams. And because of some clever engineering and expert construction, they’re also much lighter than the Valley Giant cams that span similar sizes.
Beyond the engineering elements of it all, making your own cams and selling them to people for use in very consequential settings is a much more serious undertaking than making chalk bags, packs, or bouldering pads. So we talk to Erick about the innovations in design he brought to Merlin cams, how he convinced himself that they were safe to use and sell, and where you can pick one up before you find yourself at the base of an unprotectable squeeze chimney.
TOPICS & TIMES
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Are we headed for a future where The Nose (or other well-traveled walls) are headed for a permit system? We started debating this “what if” scenario almost a year ago, prompted by a conversation about the recently established permit system governing the cables route on Half Dome (the standard “hiking” route to the summit). If crowds grow or rescues become frequent, could certain technical routes, such as The Nose, find themselves governed by a system similar to the one used on Half Dome?
Over the past few months we also put this question to several of our guests to bring in some expert perspectives. So for today’s episode, we’ve got American Alpine Club CEO Phil Powers explaining why he thinks a permit system is likely, and Alex Honnold and Maury Birdwell making the case against. Even after producing this episode, we’re still deliberating, so we’d love to hear your thoughts or opinions and collect more data! Let us know what you think on this episode’s instagram post.
TOPICS & TIMES
PRESENTING SPONSOR: RHINO SKIN SOLUTIONS
Climbing is complex and performing at your limit means bringing many variables together at the right moment. Rhino Skin Solutions makes the best skin care products for keeping your skin dry, healthy, and resilient, which brings one of the most crucial elements of performance under your control. Keeping your skin in good condition not just before a redpoint attempt but throughout the season means more effective training and climbing harder on the wall, it’s as simple as that.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A couple weeks ago, our host Dave Alie and his wife Katie set off to Yosemite with the goal of climbing The Nose, often called The Greatest Rock Climb on Earth.
It has a reputation as being accessible to non-elite climbers, yet at least half of the teams who leave the ground end up bailing on Day 1.
With the good fortune of a stable forecast, relatively low traffic on the route, and a supportive ground team (helmed by the adventure baby), we succeeded in climbing the route wall-style over three days. Prior to our attempt on The Nose, we had done tons of prep and research, but still had a ton of questions going in.
So this episode is a trip report and our chance to answer many of those questions for folks who might want to give The Nose a go. And if you have any questions that we didn’t cover or you’re gearing up for an attempt and want some beta, feel free to reach out to through Blister at ([email protected]) or on Instagram (@hakunaburrata).
TOPICS & TIMES
Check out the show notes to this episode to see photos from the route, including the loose block at the Wild Stance.
PRESENTING SPONSOR: RHINO SKIN SOLUTIONS
Climbing is complex and performing at your limit means bringing many variables together at the right moment. Rhino Skin Solutions makes the best skin care products for keeping your skin dry, healthy, and resilient, which brings one of the most crucial elements of performance under your control. Keeping your skin in good condition not just before a redpoint attempt but throughout the season means more effective training and climbing harder on the wall, it’s as simple as that.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Justin Brown is a Bend, Oregon local who spends much of his free time climbing around the country and volunteering as a board member of the Smith Rock Group. Between campfires and trail-building, he’s even found himself clipping the chains on routes as hard as 5.14a.
He recently ditched his career as a chef to start Rhino Skin Solutions, after elevating his own climbing by creating recipes for some extremely effective antiperspirant and skin-recovery products. We talk about what it has been like to start a business in the outdoor sports industry, why it’s important for us all to give back to the resources we depend on, and why belaying just might be the sport of the future. We also cover why skin care is so important and how it can change your climbing.
TOPICS & TIMES
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Matt Pincus is a climber’s climber, deeply committed to the sport and the community. He’s also the content manager and head coach / trainer at TrainingBeta, and a Blister alumn. Suffice it to say, when it comes to improving your climbing, the guy knows his stuff. Since the days back when he and I used to trade notes while reviewing gear, he has taken his life on the road, climbing as much as possible and sharing his wisdom and experience with others through coaching sessions and writing. We caught up recently to talk about what he’s learned along the way, how it’s shaped his climbing, and what his perspective is on the trendiness of “training.”
TOPICS & TIMES
Presented by Rhino Skin Solutions
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Alex Honnold “The Climber” needs absolutely no introduction. He is one of the most talented climbers of his generation, and he is without question the greatest free soloist of all time. And yet, Alex Honnold The Philanthropist” may be even more impressive.
Roughly five years ago, Alex teamed up with Maury Birdwell (an extremely talented climber himself), to start the Honnold Foundation. Since then, they’ve donated countless hours and several hundred thousand dollars (most of it Alex’s money) to support energy access projects in various parts of the developing world. Few climbers have advanced our concept of the sport to the extent that Alex has, yet his more important legacy could be the lives changed by the work of the Honnold Foundation.
In this episode Luke and Dave Alie talk to Alex and Maury about how, exactly, the Foundation works; how they choose their projects; how they gauge whether they’ve been successful; their hopes for the future of the Foundation; and how working in development has changed their perspectives on climbing. And finally, Alex also details what it was like to film the upcoming documentary Free Solo, a film by Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, about his astounding, ropeless ascent of The Freerider on El Cap.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Presented by Rhino Skin Solutions
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As the number of people that are climbing outside continues to explode, there is increasing pressure on land managers and advocacy groups. This often leads either to “active management” (e.g., restrictions on bolts or route development, etc.) or to complete closure. Does this stuff work? Why do we need these types of interventions? How are the ethics and culture of climbing altered or preserved through rules implemented by non-climbers?
Furthermore, this trend is picking up steam all across the US. As just one recent example, a handful of Blister Climbing Editor Dave Alie’s local crags in Golden, Colorado have seen dramatic increases in the number of visitors in recent years, causing the County to step in and take a more active management role. So in this episode, we take a close look at how this practice has impacted climbers through the lens of some high profile Front Range crags. We hear from both Eric Kraus, who oversees outdoor recreation for Jefferson County, and Dave Montgomery, who sits on the Fixed Hardware Review Committee that advises the county on climbing related actions.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Part I - Eric Kraus
Part II - Dave Montgomery
Presented by Rhino Skin Solutions
Climbing is complex and performing at your limit means bringing many variables together at the right moment. Rhino Skin Solutions makes the best skin care products for keeping your skin dry, healthy, and resilient, which brings one of the most crucial elements of performance under your control. Keeping your skin in good condition not just before a redpoint attempt but throughout the season means more effective training and climbing harder on the wall, it's as simple as that.
On top of all that, Rhino Skin Founder Justin Brown sits on the board of the Smith Rock Group, which helps plan and fund-raise for various maintenance projects at Smith Rock State Park. We're donating all our proceeds from the show, after production costs, to the American Safe Climbing Associate and the Access Fund. Rhino Skin is fully behind this effort and has offered to knock 10% off your order and kick an additional 10% over to the Access Fund when you use the promo code “Blister” at checkout. Head over to Rhino Skin Solutions to check out their offerings.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nik Berry has propelled himself onto the national climbing scene with a seemingly unending series of hard sends on long routes all over the country. With a taste for big walls and an aptitude for committing routes, Nik has racked up an impressive list of hard, gear-protected test-pieces including the Salathe Wall (ledge-to-ledge variation) and El Corazon, The Hallucinogen Wall (5.13 R), and El Sendero Luminoso in Wyoming, and the first free ascent of Lunar Ecstasy (5.13 R) in Zion. He has also cultivated a career in nursing and remains one of the most enthusiastic climbers I’ve ever spoken with.
In this episode, Nik discusses how he balances a career with the training required to climb at an elite level; what sort of climbs he aspires to for the rest of his career; and what goes into finding big-wall routes that have potential for free climbing.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Presented by Rhino Skin Solutions
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The podcast currently has 23 episodes available.