MtnMeister

Jeffrey James Binney is currently training for the Leadville 100 on Saturday, August 22, 2015. On MTNmeister, this is typically something that we’d expect to hear, but Jeffrey’s background is anything but typical. Jeffrey grew up on a pig farm in Missouri and is now a comedian based out of Los Angeles. A little more than three years ago, he lost his mom to obesity, and he himself weighed 340 lbs at his heaviest. He has lost over 100 lbs and is in the process of creating a hybrid comedy/documentary called Once Is Enough.

Ueli Steck is a Swiss mountaineer who is well known for his speed ascents in the alps and Himalaya. He climbs mountains that normally take skilled climbers days in a few hours, like the Eiger North Face, which he climbed in 2 hours and 47 minutes. "The Swiss Machine" has been awarded the Piolet d’Or, one of climbings highest honors, twice. 

Colin Arisman is a storyteller and a long distance hiker. Occasionally he kills those two birds with one stone, like the time when he hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail: Mexico to Canada, 2668 miles, five months. He created a film to share the story called Only The Essential.

Mountain Accord has a proposed blueprint for the future of the Central Wasatch Mountains. They are soliciting public feedback on this document from now until March 16. In this live debate, various stakeholders will provide an overview of the proposed blueprint.

In the first 30 minutes, the representatives discuss the project’s impact on four main systems: environment, recreation, transportation, and economy. In the second half, we run an audience Q&A. Questions can be submitted before or during the live discussion on the discussion forum below or by using #MountainAccord on social media.

Garrett Madison is a high altitude mountain guide and owner of Madison Mountaineering. He has personally lead 37 climbers to the summit of Everest over the last 7 years, more than any other American. In 2011 and 2013, Garrett was successful in guiding climbers to a combo-summit of Everest and Lhotse: reaching the summit of two 8000 meter peaks in less than 24 hours and becoming the first ever to do so. More recently, this past summer, he led the first ever successfully ‘guided’ ascent of K2.

Major Rob Marshall is a Reserve C-17 pilot in the Seattle area, co-founder of the USAF 7 Summits Challenge, and the director of the USAF 50 summits challenge.  In the 7 Summits Challenge, Rob led the climb of Mt. Everest among other mountains in the process of fundraising for the families of fallen soldiers. On the summit of each mountain, Rob does pushups to honor his fellow veterans.

Brian Warren is a year-round professional mountain guide based out of Jackson, WY. He guides in various parts of the world including Jackson Hole, the Pacific Northwest, and the European Alps. He has also climbed and guided in Alaska, Canada, South America and the Himalaya. Brian presently holds IFMGA and AMGA Aspirant status and an Avalanche level III certification.

Aaron Scheidies has traveled around the globe competing in over 200 triathlons. Before all of this, at nine years old, Aaron was having trouble seeing the chalkboard. This eventually led to him being diagnosed with a condition called Stargardt’s disease, which is a common form of inherited juvenile macular degeneration. Aaron now has 10% of the vision of a fully sighted person, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming an eight-time World Champ, an eight time-national champ, and a guest on the MTNmeister podcast.

Kalen Thorien is a professional skier, adventurer, writer, and photographer based out of Salt Lake City, UT. She has been placed on the covers of Ski Magazine and Powder Magazine among many other publications. Until recently, to support her skiing, Kalen held jobs in construction, as a dock hand, and as a firefighter. Contrary to what some might think, Kalen didn't start seriously skiing until 16.

Jason Thompson is a professional adventure photographer with industry leading media clients and brands including Patagonia, North Face, Alpinist, National Geographic, and NPR.  Jason was also a mountain guide; from 2005-2013, he collected 100 + summits of Mount Rainier, four Denali expeditions, and more as a senior guide at Rainier Mountaineering and Pacific Alpine Guides.