Eighty feet off the ground on the sheer brick side of the tallest building on campus hung a cryptic sign. No one admitted to having hung it, and few would have even had the skill to do so. It was in such a difficult place, that the best efforts of campus maintenance workers, local law enforcement, and even the pseudo-military boys from the ROTC were thwarted. No one ever came forward. Until now. Long live happily single (by choice) members of the NCS!

We all have formative figures from our past - and Aaron and Adam Gibson loom large in my memory as legendary friends.  Looking back it is crystal clear that these two helped create experiences that set the direction for my college and post college years, but more-so, the two were instrumental in showing me the power of positive "shit-talking" support within peer groups. I looked up to these two more than they can likely ever realize, and their kindness formed me into the type of coach, teammate and friend that I am today.  

Going to college at the University of Oklahoma, my twin and I fell into this group of ragtag climbers at a time when climbing was still a real counter-culture expression sport similar to the early years of snowboarding, skateboarding and even surfing way back when.  We climbed at the cliffs when we could, but we spent a lot of time looking for any and all sorts of climbing closer to our dorms.  In all honesty it is amazing that we survived these exploits and were never arrested.  Well actually forget that, we were arrested.  

Our crew's buildering (climbing on buildings) exploits soon became prolific enough that Aaron wrote and published an actual guidebook to climbing buildings on campus.  You are in for a treat.  

For those interested - the "Andy" in story #1 is my twin brother that has been in a few other episodes.  Also Aaron himself was part of Episode #2 : Big Jugs in Hueco Tanks.

For more information on Aaron Gibson, check out www.fusionfortyseven.com. He's a talented storyteller in many media forms and you see some of his work on that site.  

On Dec 31 1999, much of the world was poised and tense - waiting for potential disaster to strike from the Y2K bug.  But twins Jason and Andy Magness were more concerned with finding a place to ring in the new millennium that was as far away from any kissing couples as possible.  Maybe they went too far?  Or not far enough. Listen to find out.  This story was originally published in Paddler Magazine in 2001.  Huge thanks to Angelina's Organic Skin Care and Mission Farms CBD for the continued support.  Oh - and if you enjoy this even a little - give it a share for us!  

Get some Skindoctor and CBD rest Gummies!

Skindoctor (use code BendRacing)

Mission Farms CBD (use code BendRacing20)

Music

Ocean by Luke Bergs | https://soundcloud.com/bergscloud/

Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Most of the time when people ask, "What are you a Rocket Scientist?" they are being rhetorical.  But if you find yourself asking that to Mr Magness - he would have a different answer.  "Yeah, actually - once upon a time."  Despite being far more well know as a yoga teacher, acrobat or endurance athlete, Jason once worked at Raytheon Missile Systems on the team that was working on the Exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicle.  This story isn't about that (since it's all still classified) but it does chronicle his inauspicious shift from being a full time climbing dirtbag to being a (temporary) cog in the government contractor machine.  So lets take a little road trip from San Diego to Tucson shall we?  

Music credits:

Journey’s End by Purrple Cat | https://purrplecat.com/

Bloom by Roa | https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031/

Lonesome Journey by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon

Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Time Travel, Murder, heavy drinking, and a world slowly devolving into chaos and desperation.  All in a 10 minutes.  Listen to the story that first made host Jason Magness want to become a writer and teller of tales.  Bonus, it was written and performed by his father Mark Magness.  Complete with a haunting music, this one is especially eerie if you listen to it with eyes closed and good headphones. 

Music credits 

Some stories change the direction of your live forever.  This is that story for Chelsey Magness.  If you know the arc of Chelsey's love affair with Patagonia and the Patagonian Expedition Race, this will serve as somewhat of an origin story for her racing career and emotional resiliency in the face of tremendous loss.  There is not much else to say.  You might cry.  I did.  

Huge thanks to the various artists that provided the music for this episode - and to the visionary event of the Patagonian Expedition Race.

Music

Inspiring Dreams by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon

There Was A Time by Scott Buckley | www.scottbuckley.com.au

Spring Flowers by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon

Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Inflection points in mathematics are where the direction of a line changes.  It may seem subtle at first, almost nonexistent until we zoom way out and look at things from a much more removed point of view.  Our life is full of these if we look back.  The saying goes - "life can only be understood backwards after it has been lived forwards. But on occasion we might get an inkling of what is going on at the moment and even wonder if we are standing right there at one such point.  This is the story of my first taste of endurance, my first hint at coming loneliness, and 13.1 miles that literally changed my life.  

Visit Missionfarmscbd.com and use "Bendracing20" to get 20% off.  The muscle gel will keep those walls at bay, or at least help with the recovery if yo run through a bunch of invisible hurdles. 

Celtic culture, music and climbing were a huge influence on the Magness twins during their high school and college days.  The duo became fascinated with one type of climbing in particular - sea stacks.  These are littered around the rugged coast of Scotland and beg to be summited by any adventurous climber that gazes upon them.  But as their name suggest reaching these stacks is not so easy, as they are separated from the coast itself and usually require inventive problem solving or perfect low-tide timing.  Join the Magness's on our first Ten Minute Mission episode (basically shorter stories) as we hear a humorous first-hand account of their first (but far from their last) foray climbing on a sea-stack.

Music credits:

Medieval and Celtic Music | LANDS by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/

Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Creative Commons CC BY 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Music: https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Gjallar by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com

Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Creative Commons CC BY 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In 2006 an issue of Rock and Ice came out with a feature story on New York City bad boy boulderer Ivan Greene.  The magazine's cover photo (which appears as this episode's cover too) causes a lot of controversy in the climbing community.  The outdoor industry was finally becoming more aware of the systemic objectification of women in sport and climbing was no exception.  But within the "Dispatches" section of that same issue, there was an even more hotly debated story - a story that read more like a young male climber's wet dream than anything based in reality.  Many readers flat out didn't believe it was true.

In 1997, the Magness Twins were true dirtbag climbers.  During spring break they found themselves in the bouldering mecca of Hueco Tanks, Texas - with a broken down car, a broken heart, and only bullion cubes for food.  Like many young male climbers, they fantasized about rare the mountain nymphs (basically any woman that would date a dirtbag rock-jock).  At the time, climbing was a predominantly male sport and finding love (or even enticement) at the crag seemed an impossible myth.  

But is the story of the day that they actually had their hopes renewed.  Oh, and it is all 100% true.

The Yukon 1000 is the world's longest annual paddle race, and the world record of 6 days and 2 hours has stood since 2009.  In 2022, Jason Magness and Daniel Staudigel set out in an attempt to win the race and break the record.  Only problem, they hadn't paddled together in over a year, they were using a rental boat they'd never even seen, and they only brought enough food to sustain them if they actually were on pace to break the record.  And, um, they actually had to get insurance to cover the costs of bringing their remains back to civilization in case they died.  Sound like a good time? Sit back an have a listen to the first episode of Bend Racing's Tales from the Epic Machine.