David Baltz started climbing in 1974 when there were only eight climbers in all of Albuquerque. Over five decades, he's witnessed climbing's transformation from a fringe pursuit requiring pitons and commitment...to a commercialized sport with grid-bolted crags and documentaries glorifying free soloing. This episode explores the clean climbing revolution that defined David's early years, the bolting controversies that followed sport climbing's arrival in New Mexico, and what gets lost when safety becomes the priority over experience. We discuss finding partners in an era before Facebook groups, the ethics of retrobolting established trad lines, Alex Honnold's impact on climbing culture, and how David approaches climbing now. 

Topics include: clean climbing history, New Mexico first ascents, bolting ethics, trad climbing at 69, helmet debates, commercialization of outdoor sports, Free Solo culture, risk versus safety, aging climbers, psychological climbing, sport climbing evolution, and maintaining old school values in modern climbing.

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#livinglegend #oldschoolclimber

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Jason met a new climbing partner through a Facebook group, vetted him over a few conversations, and went to Eldorado Canyon for their first route together. Twenty feet up the Yellow Spur, his partner fell onto a ledge—rope behind the leg, face-first impact... broken wrist and severe facial trauma. This episode walks through the accident sequence, the rescue, and what Jason feels went wrong. Despite multiple outreaches, his injured partner stopped communicating with him after the accident and has left Jason to process and reflect on the accident alone. He reflects on partner vetting, extending gear on traverses, communication during high-consequence terrain, attentive belaying, and processing the guilt of an accident where someone gets badly hurt and disappears. In this conversation we cover topics such as: finding partners online, multi-pitch trad climbing, ledge fall dynamics, first aid response, and helmet effectiveness.

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#ClimbingAccident #TradClimbing

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After being literally run over by a school bus in Atlanta, climber Taylor Martin rebuilt her life through big mountain pursuits and solo aid climbing. This episode dives deep into Taylor's five new Yosemite first ascents established in a single season, including several big and technical aid routes in Yosemite. We explore her 70-hour Hardrock 100 ski traverse with only one hour of sleep, advanced aid climbing techniques like back-looping and daisy soloing, and the psychological toll of spending days alone on big walls. Taylor opens up about navigating trans identity in competitive climbing and record-keeping, the traumatic recovery from devastating injuries, and why partnerships rank above performance despite climbing mostly solo. Topics include: A3/A4 aid climbing, traumatic brain injury recovery, solo endurance objectives, new route development in Yosemite, mental challenges of solitary big wall pushes, modern speed climbing ethics, and finding meaning beyond grades in mountain sports.

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#routedevelopment #aidclimbing #firstascents #trauma #bigwallclimbing

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22-year-old Zion crusher Connor Baty on first ascents, rope soloing the Triple Wall in 12 hours, and why he climbs without sponsors. Kora FA, Towers of the Virgin, and living the unsponsored dream.

Today's guest is 22-year-old silent crusher from Zion, Connor Baty. Connor has been climbing since he was 8 years old, with key early development as a trad climber at Garden of the Gods in Colorado—a notoriously chossy area with soft, loose sandstone. Since then he quickly progressed through the grades, leveling out around the 5.13 range. He then took that knowledge and merged it with his true passion: adventure. Connor has been quietly building a reputation as a cutting-edge first ascensionist and endurance linkup climber. Connor was the partner to our previous guest James Barrow for the Complete Tower of the Virgin Traverse. They also established a new 5.12+ multipitch route in Zion, called Kora. Connor has climbed Time Wave Zero down in Potrero car to car in 5 hours and most recently he’s claimed the rope solo speed record of the Zion Triple Wall—linking Touchstone, Moonlight Buttress, and Prodigal Son in a blistering 12 hours. Needless to say Connor is a crusher.

He could easily seek out sponsorships at the level he is climbing. But as we learn in our conversation, Connor has zero interest in self-promotion. For him it's all about personal progress, adventure, and living the life he has now to the fullest. He even has groundbreaking pursuits outside of climbing and is currently attempting to navigate the Colorado River from source to sea. What I found most interesting about our conversation is how well-spoken, composed, and level-headed Connor is as a human and a climber. Back when I was 22 I could not say the same thing about myself. I really felt the stoke and energy from Connor in our conversation and I'm happy to be sharing it with you now.

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#firstascents #bigwallclimbing #routedevelopment #aidclimbing #speedclimbing

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Vitaliy is one of the most prolific and respected alpinists of his generation and has a reputation as a master of long, complex alpine objectives—including becoming the first person to complete The Goliath Traverse in the Eastern Sierra…which might be the longest ridge traverse in the western hemisphere…if not the world.. He's established more first ascents in the Eastern Sierra than any other person, authored a three-volume guidebook series to the Eastern Sierra, and spent years developing new routes around the world. He's summited all the peaks in the Fitz Skyline and only has one summit left to complete the Torre Skyline: the infamous Cerro Torre. Even with such an astounding list of achievements, Vitaliy's deep sense of empathy, humility, and curiosity keep him grounded, thoughtful, and heartfelt.

Sean McLane is an American climber and alpinist with a knack for hard ice climbing. He blends curiosity, adventure, and a commitment to exploring terrain that few others pursue. One of his life goals is to complete Guy Lacelle's Favorite 135 Ice Climbs—a notorious list of iconic, hard, and bold routes. Sean has currently completed 71 of the 135 and soloed 61 of them. That's an insane amount of soloing on hard ice routes. Along with several other first ascents, Sean recently put up The Penitent Path, a 12-pitch M9 considered one of the longest routes at the grade in the U.S. Beyond his technical prowess, Sean is a deeply thoughtful and introspective human—and this is his first time ever sharing his story.

We start with Sean's background and how he was introduced to climbing while living abroad in China. We then explore a deeply personal and traumatic story from Sean's past involving a tragic ice climbing accident that took the life of Meg O'Neill and left Sean with a broken back. We use this story to expand on grief and loss, and learn how Sean processed these deep emotions and reintroduced climbing into his life. We then pivot to Vitaliy's background—a wildly unique story checkered with unbelievable suffering, uncertainty, and struggle, but also resilience, empathy, grit, and growth. Next, we dive into Vitaliy and Sean's recent climbing trip to India—an adventure that tested their commitment, focus, determination, and humility. We then contrast their India trip with a wildly successful and spontaneous trip to Patagonia. Finally, we close by diving into deeper topics around work-life balance, the sacrifices we make for success, unmitigatable risk justification, the concepts of faith, luck and self-reliance, and mastery versus complacency.

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#alpinism #mountaineering #firstascents #routedevelopment #partnerships #iceclimbing

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Way out in the Canadian wilderness — six hours from the nearest city, little to no cell reception, surrounded by mossy forests and granite — lies a world-class bouldering destination. Secluded, quiet, and breathtakingly beautiful, The Nooks has quickly become one of the most talked-about new climbing areas in North America. With incredible rock quality and a massive spread of problems from V0 to V13, it’s the kind of place that feels unreal the first time you see it.

The Nooks was first discovered in 2018 by Michigan climber Brendan Baars. Since then, he has spent nearly every climbable weekend out there — cleaning hundreds of boulders, building trails, collaborating with the local community, and documenting the entire process alongside his close friend DJ Viernes. Brendan’s vision and commitment have transformed a patch of remote forest into a full-blown destination area visited by hundreds of climbers a year — something that almost never happens on this scale. Today, I’m sitting down with both Brendan and DJ to talk about how it all came to be.

In our conversation, we dive into the history of The Nooks, why Brendan fell in love with bouldering, and what it actually takes to develop an area of this size. We break down his first ascent of a new V13 called Deadliness, and get a deeper understanding of how The Nooks has shaped both Brendan's and DJ’s lives over the last seven years.

We also talk at length about DJ’s new feature-length film The Developer, which documents the area and the process behind building it from the ground up. It’s beautifully shot, full of heart, and we use it as a reference point throughout this conversation.

If you’re interested in watching The Developer, DJ has created an exclusive 20% discount for the first 50 listeners to check out the film, making it just $4 to rent or $16 to purchase. Click the link in the show notes and use code “TCM20” at checkout. I don’t expect those codes to last long.

Did you know this podcast is also on YouTube? I spend an enormous amount of time and money making sure the video and audio quality are as professional as possible — and this time, DJ even set up a full studio on his end so we could capture his side of the conversation at the highest quality. So if you want to watch this episode, the trailer, or any of our video podcasts, head over to YouTube and hit subscribe — even if you’re not normally a video-podcast person. We’re getting close to our goal of 1,000 subscribers, and every sub helps a ton.

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#routedevelopment #bouldering #firstascents

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Randy Leavitt.

As a climber who grew up in Southern California, I’ve been hearing this name since the very beginning of my climbing career. Collaborative inventor of the wide-crack climbing technique so aptly named “Leavittation,” developer of thousands of routes — with around a dozen graded 5.14 or harder, including Jumbo Love at Clark Mountain, the first 5.15 in the United States — and long-time athlete manager for Maxim Ropes… Randy’s name has carried serious weight and inspiration for decades. A climbing legend if there ever was one.

I actually remember listening to his episode on The Enormocast way back in 2012, when I was just getting started as a climber. So to now be sitting down with Randy in person, over thirteen years later, felt surreal. While Randy is best known for his achievements in the sport climbing world, the life behind the headlines tells a much broader story — one built on creativity, discipline, and a blue-collar work ethic. He found climbing young and quickly cut his teeth in Yosemite, climbing The Leaning Tower at age sixteen, The Zodiac and The Ephemeral Tis-sa-ack at seventeen, The Pacific Ocean Wall at 18, AND the first person ever to climb up — and then BASE jump off — El Capitan at just twenty. Back then, all of this was part of his bigger vision: to become a high-altitude mountaineer. But as he would discover throughout his life, his passion for business and financial independence remained just as strong, ultimately leading him toward a more balanced existence where climbing fit into a much larger picture.

In our conversation, we explore Randy’s 1986 expedition to the Karakoram — including summit pushes on Gasherbrum IV and The Nameless Tower. We revisit his gripping ascent of The Stratosfear in the Black Canyon; we talk about the origins of his business, the freedom it’s given him, and his philosophy on route development, mentorship, and legacy. We also touch on a recent development in his health that has made climbing too painful to pursue — and how he’s learning to navigate that new reality. Later, we take a deep dive into the climbing industry itself: how it really works, how athletes are chosen, and what brand support actually looks like. And finally, we reflect on how climbing culture has evolved over the decades — and why Randy believes the rise of climbing gyms has changed the sport more than anything else in history.

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#firstascents #routedevelopment #livinglegends #proffesionalclimbers

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Today I have the privilege to be sitting down with our previous guest Silas Rossi..Silas is an IFMGA Certified Mountain Guide and President of the AMGA organization. After Silas and I’s last conversation in April, I’ve been jotting down a list of questions and reflections in preparation for our inevitable next conversation. So simply put, this conversation is a culmination of that list. We dive into a wide variety of topics; including nuanced gear questions surrounding rappelling, anchor building, fixed point belays, and clipping cams in sequence. We also explore more thoughtful questions like what it means to move away from fear and towards joy in our climbing. Or how we can balance learning through our own experience vs learning from the experie nce of others. We also get to hear about a guided trip early in Silas’ career involving an epic with an older client in freezing whiteout conditions.

As many of you already know, Silas is such a wealth of knowledge and wisdom and being able to sit down with him to pick his brain on such specific nuanced topics… was just really special.

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#AMGAguides #climbingsafety

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"Enrollment will require a credit card to receive your 15% discount. If you choose to remain an Ascend member, you will continue to receive 15% off of your recurring annual membership until you choose to cancel it. You can easily unsubscribe anytime to avoid being charged. If you need help with this just reach to me at [email protected]" - Silas

In his earlier years, Kevin dedicated his life to the craft of climbing. He lived in a van, chased adventure across the globe, and devoted every ounce of his energy to the pursuit of performance. During that chapter, he climbed up to 5.13b, established several major first ascents, and ticked over fifteen hundred routes. Climbing wasn’t just something Kevin did — it was who he was. His identity was built around his achievements, his grades, and his ever-growing tick list… until one day, everything changed. After successfully rope-soloing Freerider on El Cap, a dream that would represent the pinnacle of accomplishment for many, Kevin found himself not elated — but empty. Confused. Frustrated. Wondering what it all meant. That moment became a turning point — a quiet reckoning that forced him to question why he climbed in the first place. It was from that reflection that a new path emerged. Today, Kevin is an AMGA-Certified Rock Guide and co-owner of Vertical Pursuits, a guiding service based out of Lake Tahoe. His focus has shifted from personal performance to mentorship — helping everyday climbers build competence, confidence, and a deeper connection with the craft.

In our conversation, we use Kevin’s climbing stories as a framework to explore some of climbing’s bigger questions. We start with his rope-solo ascent of Freerider — and how that experience reshaped his identity. Then, we dig into a story from his time climbing with Brad Gobright, using it to dissect the psychology of risk management. From there, we travel back into Kevin’s dirtbag years  and get to hear several increidble stories.  A bear encounter in the Wind River Range. A remote big-wall first ascent in the wilds of British Columbia. And his time on the iconic Andean peak Alpamayo. We wrap up by exploring Kevin’s guiding philosophy — how he sees mentorship as one of the most underutilized tools in modern climbing, and how professional instruction can change the way we learn, grow, and stay alive in the mountains.

This conversation is full of honesty, vulnerability, and hard-won wisdom. I walked away from it reflecting on my own relationship with climbing, and I think you might too.

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#AMGAguides #climbingsafety

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Justin Salas has a significant visual impairment. He lost his sight due to an undiagnosed optic neuropathy when he was 14. Imagine, you're a teenager fresh into highschool…you have ambitions to join the military, you already own a small business mowing lawns called J&J Lawn Care…everything seems within reach…and then in what seems like an instant…you lose your sight. While Justin is one of the most humble, capable humans I know…the impact this kind of loss has on the human mind cannot go understated.

It’s been over 16 years since Justin has lost his sight. During that time he has become the world's strongest outdoor paraclimbing boulderer, the first ever to climb V11. He is a sponsored athlete, he is building a business in the world of accessibility, and has found a life partner. And yet he still wrestles, almost daily, with the shadow of “what could have been.” His life split the day he lost his sight, and he can’t help but wonder about the path not taken—the one with sight.

In our conversation, we dig into how Justin thinks about his identity—as a climber and as a human. We talk about the maze of balancing independence with accepting help, and what Justin’s climbing experience actually feels like: how he performs at a high level, the crucial role of sight guides, and why visualization matters—not just for him, but for all of us.

We also get into choosing direction in life and how climbing can complicate our decision-making. We talk about the major pivot in Justin’s life after learning that he won’t be able to compete in the upcoming 2028 Olympics, what it’s like to be a modern day climbing athlete, and finally we close off the conversation exploring the concept of mastery.

Now, Justin and I love to go philosophical…and while you will see some of that in this episode, we also recorded an extra 45 minutes after this episode. We explore the concepts of stillness, fear, control, purpose, ambition, communication, and learning. If you like conversations where climbing is the lens but the subject is really how to live, this conversation is for you.

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