Climbing Gold

Ben Mayforth’s strength is a sight to behold. The professional paraclimber’s social clips of campusing double digit boulder problems may have made it into your social feed, but his story runs much deeper than any grade or route. It’s a story of hard work, belonging and finding a path in the world. 

Forerunner features Alex Johnson

Adapted Part 1 and Part 2 features Mo Beck

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Henson Shaving Use link and enter CLIMBINGGOLD at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. (Note: you must add both the 100-blade pack and the razor for the discount to apply.)

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Altitude Climbing Learn the three key elements needed to make progress again from Dave Macleod. Sign-up for the course at altitudeclimbing.com/climbinggold

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart. 

Watch Climbing Gold on YouTube

Last summer, Alex and Tommy Caldwell rode bikes from Estes Park, Colorado to SE Alaska where they boarded a sailboat which dropped them beneath the fabled Devil’s Thumb. Their adventure is now a film on Disney+, but a lot of the experience got left on the cutting room floor. We sat down with Tommy and their photographer/wingman, Taylor Shaffer, to dive deeper into the journey.

The Devil's Climb trailer

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The North Face 

Altitude Climbing Learn the three key elements needed to make progress again from Dave Macleod. Sign-up for the course at altitudeclimbing.com/climbinggold.

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart. 

LMNT Use link to get a free LMNT sample pack with any order 

Watch Climbing Gold on YouTube

Tucked away in a corner of Chilean Patagonia, Valle Cochamó wasn’t going to stay hidden forever. The soaring unclimbed granite walls instilled dreams of first ascents in climbers. Industrialists eyed its free flowing rivers with their potential for hydroelectric power. Conservationists hoped it could provide a final puzzle piece of an incredible protected wildlife corridor. To the families who live there, it was simply home where they ranched amidst the 3,000-year-old Alerce trees. This is the story of how a coalition of Chilean gauchos, climbers and activists fought off development efforts for two decades. Now there is an opportunity for a lasting conservation victory. How do you make the next Yosemite? You start by buying it.

Donate today: https://bit.ly/SavingCochamo

This episode was produced in collaboration with The Dirtbag Diaries. Listen to all episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Thanks to our sponsors

The North Face 

LMNT Use link to get a free LMNT sample pack with any order 

Altitude Climbing Learn the three key elements needed to make progress again from Dave Macleod. Sign-up for the course at altitudeclimbing.com/climbinggold.

Henson Shaving Use link and enter CLIMBINGGOLD at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. (Note: you must add both the 100-blade pack and the razor for the discount to apply.)

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart. 

Watch Climbing Gold on YouTube

5.13 at 78. That’s staggering, but the numbers don’t capture the breadth of Jamie Logan’s climbing career, which now spans seven decades. Through every chapter of our sport, Jamie has been a contributor from pioneering free climbing in the 1960’s to leading design trends of the modern gym. The risk she took in her 70’s may ultimately prove to be the most lasting pillar of her legacy. Never be afraid of who you are. 

Watch Jamie film at bit.ly/JamieLogan

Thanks to our sponsors

The North Face 

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart. 

Altitude Climbing Learn the three key elements needed to make progress again from Dave Macleod. Sign-up for the course at altitudeclimbing.com/climbinggold.

LMNT Get a free LMNT sample pack with any order at bit.ly/LMNTxCG

Watch Climbing Gold on YouTube

Alpinist and photographer Cory Richards was living at full speed. A steady stream of Himalayan expeditions and assignments from National Geographic kept him relentlessly moving around the world. Meanwhile, his long struggle with bi-polar disorder, PTSD, alcoholism, and sex addiction hit new lows until Cory’s world came undone. Today, Cory’s stepped away from both climbing and photography, has written two books and in a lot of ways, is happier than he’s ever been. 

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The North Face 

Altitude Climbing Enroll in Hazel’s brand new course to overcome fear of falling and learn more about the 7 signs of fear at altitudeclimbing.com/climbinggold.

Henson Shaving Use link and enter CLIMBINGGOLD at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. (Note: you must add both the 100-blade pack and the razor for the discount to apply.).

LMNT Use link to get a free LMNT sample pack with any order 

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart. 

Watch Climbing Gold on YouTube

El Cap. Free. In a day. Putting those words on your resume puts you in the league of legends. How did that become the bar? Lynn Hill. A singular athlete who stepped up to the biggest stage in climbing, Lynn redefined what was athletically possible not just for her generation, but generations to come. Emily Harrington and Beth Rodden add their perspective on the momentous achievement. 

“It Goes Boys” poster

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The North Face 

Henson Shaving Use link and enter CLIMBINGGOLD at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. (Note: Add both the 100-blade pack and the razor for the discount to apply.).

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart. 

Altitude Climbing: Sign up for a free mini-training that Hazel and Altitude have put together to bust some of the biggest myths and faulty advice when it comes to overcoming fear of falling at altitudeclimbing.com/climbinggold

LMNT Use link to get a free LMNT sample pack with any order 

Ms. 5.15 – that was the moniker the climbing world bestowed on Margo Hayes after she became the first woman to climb the grade. Two more 5.15’s followed and Margo seemed poised to be a defining climber of her generation. Yet, in the background, Margo was quietly struggling with Lyme disease and exploring other interests when she wasn’t healthy enough to give climbing her all. What does a professional climber owe their sport, their community, and what do they owe themselves? 

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The North Face 

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart. 

LMNT Use link to get a free LMNT sample pack with any order 

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While most of the elite climbing world has turned its attention to raw difficulty in sport and bouldering, Babsi Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher have been carrying the torch for hard, sometimes dangerous, traditional climbing. We talk about Eternal Flame, managing risk and getting sandbagged in Yosemite. 

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The North Face 

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart. 

LMNT Use link to get a free LMNT sample pack with any order 

Watch Climbing Gold on YouTube

Beth Rodden started climbing in 1995, and it wasn’t long before she radically changed the sport. Within three years, she’d become the first woman to climb 5.14; within five, she established a still unrepeated free route on Yosemite’s El Capitan. Today, Beth is making waves in a different way: by leading the climbing community in difficult, vulnerable conversations. Fitz chats with Beth about her new book, A Light Through The Cracks, and what it means to live a big life.

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The North Face 

LMNT Use link to get a free LMNT sample pack with any order 

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart. 

Watch Climbing Gold on YouTube

After a protracted battle over bolts and sport climbing, American climbers nearly lost the ability to climb on public lands in the early 1990s. It would have completely altered the course of our sport. Fortunately, lawyer and climber Armando Menocal rose to the challenge of protecting climbing for generations to come, despite the fact that many climbers hoped he would fail. We take a peek into the early days of the Access Fund and Leici Hendrix adds perspective on the importance of local climbing organizations. 

Armando Menocal Climbing Advocacy Fund

Originally aired in 2021. 

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The North Face 

LMNT Use link to get a free LMNT sample pack with any order

COROS Use code CLIMBINGGOLD to get a free watch carabiner with the purchase of a VERTIX 2s watch when both items are in your cart.