The Climbing Majority

Nearly a decade ago, Kevin Dahlstrom walked away from a seven-figure corporate career in search of a happier, more fulfilling life. The decision had been brewing for years, until one day, at the very top of his career, sitting at a table with some of the most powerful people on Wall Street, it all became clear. He was unhappy. He had climbed the wrong mountain. Two weeks later he quit, and soon after he moved his family from Dallas to Boulder, Colorado, to rebuild his life around the thing that had always made him feel most alive: climbing. Soon after at 50, he sent ten 5.13s in a calendar year.

On his 55th birthday, Kevin posted this: “I’m the fittest, sharpest, and happiest I’ve ever been. If I’m an outlier, it’s not because I’m built different or discovered a secret formula. The truth is far less glamorous: It’s a million tiny choices, compounded over decades. Here are 55 of them.”

When I read Kevin’s list, a lot of it hit me hard. At a time when I’ve been struggling in my own ways, it was a wake-up call, a reminder of things I had somehow forgotten in the pursuit of my goals. So I picked fifteen of the choices that felt most important and relevant, and we talk through each of them in this episode. The funny thing is, none of them are particularly new. We’ve heard most of these for decades. But that doesn’t change how easy it is to forget them, get lost in routine, and wonder why we aren’t feeling our best.

As you listen, I encourage you to notice which of these reminders hits closest to home. Where have you traded your happiness for arbitrary goalposts? Where have you stopped taking care of yourself? What could you change TODAY that would make a difference?

If you’re willing, share the reminders that mattered most to you in the comments.

#selfimprovement

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Kevin's List of 55 Life Lessons

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Mr. Money Mustache

In May 2026, Bryce and I climbed The Nose on El Capitan (5.9 C2, 3,000ft) big wall style over three days. On September 19th, we went back and stood on top again, this time in 15 hours, 48 minutes, and 22 seconds. This conversation is our trip report. To help me unpack our experience, I brought in my friend and Vertical Pursuits guide Erik Griffith. As someone who has climbed NIAD in ten and a half hours he brings a unique and experienced perspective. We talk about the gear we brought, the systems we trusted, and what went right and what went wrong.

We also get into what it took to show up mentally. Bryce, a dad of two young boys; me, running this podcast, Brox Rocks, and a full-time marketing job .... Walking away from all of that to give the wall everything we had was its own challenge. The biggest thing we took away is that you don't have to race to get up The Nose quickly. It comes down to smooth, consistent, focused movement with as few errors as possible.

You don't have to move fast to be fast on El Cap.

**Apologies ahead of time. Erik's internet connection was super unstable and we lost some of his audio feed and a large chunk of his video feed. This edit is my best attempt to piece together a cohesive conversation.

#yosemite #bigwall #rockclimbing #speedclimbing

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Book w/ Vertical Pursuit Guides

Steven Dimmitt is the host of The Nugget Climbing Podcast, labeled as "one of the best long-form interview podcasts in the outdoor space" by Outside Magazine, with over 300 episodes and conversations spanning some of the sport's most accomplished athletes, coaches, and thinkers. He's also a serious climber in his own right — double digit boulderer, onsighting 5.13a, training out of the Tension HQ in Colorado, and building a body of climbing experience that informs how he approaches every conversation on the show. Beyond the podcast, Steven now runs a coaching accelerator, translating years of pattern recognition from his interviews into practical guidance for climbers trying to get better.

When I first started podcasting I looked around me in the space for inspiration. Who was at the top doing exactly what I wanted to be doing? Steven Dimmitt and his podcast The Nugget was one of them. Now having had five years and over 100 episodes of my own podcasting experience I wanted to speak creator to creator about the journey of self growth, development, and lessons learned from producing over 300 podcast episodes with some of the world's most elite climbers. I feel like Steven continues to be one of the more thoughtful voices in climbing media and this conversation is a look inside how he thinks — about the sport, about the work, and about what it actually means to build something meaningful in a noisy digital world.

#bouldering #climbingtraining #climbingcreator

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https://thenuggetclimbing.com/

Explore The Nugget Training App & The Climb Accelerator
https://thenuggetclimbing.com/coaching/#climb-accelerator

Cover Image by William Woodward

Noah Kane is a creator first and a climber second. He first picked up a camera when he was only 10 years old. From those early days he already found a proclivity for creating content while crafting horror scenes, comedy skits, and digital effect experiments. While in film school, his adventurous spirit rejected dense urban life and caused a profound shift in life trajectory. Soon after he found climbing, and simultaneously, a new place for all his creative efforts. In our conversation we talk about his development as a creator and a climber. How he's progressed to hard 5.12 trad climbing and grown one of the most well known climbing Youtube Channels in the world. We talk about the craft of adventure storytelling and what it actually looks like to live a life of creating content in the vertical world. 

I've been an admirer of Noah Kane both as a creator and a climber for years now. As a creator and climber myself his talent behind a camera, ability to craft a story, and development as a adventure-first climber has been an inspiration. I've had Noah Kane on my list for years but it has only been until recently where I felt the show was ready for him. I was beyond stoked to have a chance to sit down with him in person during my recent "Washington Triple" trip.

#climbingcreator

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December 19th, 2022; the last time Ryan Jenks and I sat down for TCM episode 29. Now nearly four years and almost 100 episodes later, we sit down again; evolved humans with new projects, new lives, and the same sense of obsession over what we're building. I flew out to Ryan's hometown in Washington with all my studio equipment to record this conversation in person at the HowNOT2 headquarters.

Since we last spoke, Ryan has built HowNOT2 into a real business — an online retail store with a physical storefront and roughly a dozen employees to make it all run. HowNOT2 has now become a full media, testing, and retail operation. Ryan sees his store as a direct response to the frustrations climbers experience when ordering gear from the big online retailers: shipping delays, poor customer service, wrong items, less than ideal communication. Every internal system he's building exists to solve one of those problems from the inside so the customer never has to deal with it. And he's done it without compromising the mission that started it: putting hard data behind climbing gear that has always relied on assumption and tradition. His long term vision? The retail store is here to fund the continued expansion of his Youtube channel and the science behind testing gear.

In this conversation we go deep on the business behind HowNOT2 — how he thinks about scaling, hiring, and building the systems that make his retail store thrive. We talk about product development, from the drill-powered ascender he’s partnered with in China to his ambitions for making his own line of gear. We get into the philosophy that drives everything he does and talk honestly about the cost — the burnout, the personal money still going in, and the 1,000 decisions that got him here.

#rockclimbing #climbing #climbinggear

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Picking right up where we left off in the previous episode with Myles and Harry. If you haven't listened to episode 125 be sure to go back before continuing here.

The Central Tower of Torres del Paine in Patagonia has been on the radar of many elite climbers ever since Tyler Karow's viral YouTube vlog documenting his ascent of the South African Route during an unprecedented long weather window. This past winter, several teams from around the world came down to test themselves on the slightly overhanging 4,000ft thumb of granite. You've probably heard of Tommy Caldwell and Siebe Vanhee's remarkable 24-hour free ascent of the South African Route, or the first all-female ascent by Belen Prados, Caro North, Amelie Kühne, and Julia Cassou. While climbing icons were making headlines, Myles Moser and his team were just around the corner making history of their own.

In this part of the conversation we dive deeper into what happened on the first expedition including a flash freeze the forced the entire team into a e-bivy. We explore how they managed resources on the wall, how a death block that Myles had found on the first expedition almost took out the entire team on trip two, and we go into the summit bid and descent. 

This team is not sponsored. Every person on this expedition contributed their own money, gear, and time to make it happen. Which is exactly why this route — and their remarkable collective effort — has gone largely unnoticed in the wider climbing community, overshadowed by the catchy headlines of sponsored athletes. In alignment with the purpose of this podcast, I'm here to tell their story.

This is part 2 of 2 of my conversation with Myles Moser and Harry Kinnard.

#patagonia #firstascent #bigwall

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Both Myles and Harry have written remarkable journals from their time on the wall — filled with personal anecdotes and intimate moments not fully shared in this podcast. If you'd like to read them, they're available to Patreon subscribers.

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Cover Photo Credit: Trevor Anthes

The Central Tower of Torres del Paine in Patagonia has been on the radar of many elite climbers ever since Tyler Karow's viral YouTube vlog documenting his ascent of the South African Route during an unprecedented long weather window. This past winter, several teams from around the world came down to test themselves on the slightly overhanging 4,000ft thumb of granite. You've probably heard of Tommy Caldwell and Siebe Vanhee's remarkable 24-hour free ascent of the South African Route, or the first all-female ascent by Belen Prados, Caro North, Amelie Kühne, and Julia Cassou. While climbing icons were making headlines, Myles Moser and his team were just around the corner making history of their own.

Nearly 15 years ago, Myles and Amy Ness established Plate Tectonics, a grueling 3,300ft Grade VI 5.12 C1 on the East Face of the North Tower — a route they were both lucky to survive. The North Tower offers a remarkable view of the Central Tower, and it was from that vantage point that Myles first began imagining a new line up its unclimbed east face. That vision finally came true this past winter.

Myles approaches new routes with a very specific style: ground up, capsule style. Once they leave the ground, they does everything possible to never come back until the route is finished — bringing everything they needs to live on the wall for up to a month, dedicating every waking second to pioneering a masterful, safe, repeatable, and free-climbable route up an unclimbed tower of granite. It's an approach that reflects Myles' blue-collar work ethic and a depth of passion for route development that's only found in the most elite climbers in the world. It took two expeditions over two years, $60K of personal funds, and a cumulative 71 days on the wall to establish his new route up the Central Tower. Together with Hugo Perez, Kellen McGrath, Trevor Anthes, and Harry Kinnard, Myles successfully completed the first ascent of Paradigm Shift — Grade VII 5.12+ A2, 4,000ft.

This team is not sponsored. Every person on this expedition contributed their own money, gear, and time to make it happen. Which is exactly why this route — and their remarkable collective effort — has gone largely unnoticed in the wider climbing community, overshadowed by the catchy headlines of sponsored athletes. In alignment with the purpose of this podcast, I'm here to tell their story.

If you've been following the show for a while, you'll remember episodes 67 and 68 where I last spoke with Myles. If you haven't heard those, I highly encourage you to go back and check them out — they add real context to who Myles is and the depth of experience he brings to Patagonia's big walls.

This is part 1 of 2 of my conversation with Myles Moser and Harry Kinnard.

#patagonia #firstascent #bigwall

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Both Myles and Harry have written remarkable journals from their time on the wall — filled with personal anecdotes and intimate moments not fully shared in this podcast. If you'd like to read them, they're available to Patreon subscribers.

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Cover Photo Credit: Trevor Anthes

The Southern Sierra is the quieter, less-traveled tail end of California's Sierra Nevada range — running from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks down through the Kern River drainage to where the range finally peters out into the Tehachapi Mountains. It's a land of dense pine forests, hidden granite formations, deep river canyons, and small mountain towns like Kernville, Springville, and Porterville tucked into its foothills.

For climbers, this region is a genuine treasure trove that remains largely under the radar. The Needles are the crown jewel — a cluster of striking granite spires rising out of pine forest above the Kern River, home to some of the finest crack climbing in California. Dome Rock offers accessible multi-pitch classics. Deeper into the range you find places like The Fin at Castle Rock, Homer's Nose, Hermit Spire, and countless other obscure formations that have been quietly developed over decades by small groups of locals. The rock is high-quality granite, often steep, often demanding, and almost always uncrowded.

Culturally, the Southern Sierra has always attracted a specific kind of climber — someone drawn to first ascents, comfortable with long approaches, willing to work for solitude, and less interested in the spray culture of more famous destinations. The area saw a renaissance in the late 1970s and early 1980s when climbers from Los Angeles started making pilgrimages up to Kernville and Porterville, discovering that the Needles and surrounding formations offered climbing that rivaled anything in Yosemite — just without the crowds. Patrick Paul found himself right in the middle of this renaissance and became a pioneer in his own right, establishing 54 first ascents across the Southern Sierra over his 50 year career.

In this conversation we go back to Patrick's tumultuous upbringing and how a single trip to Joshua Tree became the catalyst for an entire life pivot — one he's convinced saved his life. We dig into stories from his years on the rock, including run-ins with icons like Randy Leavitt, Lynn Hill, and Fred Beckey, and several close calls: an earthquake mid-approach, expanding flakes on Homer's Nose, and a moment when his main partner Richard Leversee saved Patrick from certain death when Patrick leaned back away from an anchor without being tied in.

#livinglegend #firstascents

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Mark Hudon is a Yosemite legend whose work in the late 1970s and early 1980s helped push big wall climbing into a new free climbing era. Often partnered with the equally groundbreaking Max Jones, Mark became known for his bold, ground-up style—blending meticulous preparation with a willingness to test the limits of free climbing on terrain that had previously only been aided. Few climbers have shaped as many eras of the sport as Mark Hudon.

Mark was born three years before El Capitan was first climbed. That kind of historical proximity gives him a perspective on climbing's evolution that almost nobody else alive can offer—and that's exactly where this conversation starts. We dig into what the lives of Royal Robbins and Warren Harding actually represented, why their conflict mirrors the tensions we still see in climbing today, and why Mark thinks ego is at the root of most of it.

We talk about how ego in climbing has evolved—for the sport and for Mark personally—why partnerships have been the single most important element of his climbing life, and what it actually looks like to build a life around climbing without letting climbing become your entire identity. Mark built a coffee roasting company from scratch, lived in a van for ten years, spent winters in Baja, and at 70 years old remains fit, healthy, and largely injury free. He values experiences over trophies and partnerships over pride.

We also explore his remarkable relationship with Jordan Cannon—how they met, what they gave each other, and why Mark considers Jordan as close as family. And we close out talking about Mark's recent pivot to public speaking and his desire to help people acquire more agency over their own lives—a philosophy that, it turns out, he's been living since he was a teenager in New Hampshire learning to climb on granite.

#livinglegend

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This article by Mark Hudon "Long, Hard and Free" inspired a whole generation of climbers, including Todd Skinner and Paul Piana, and laid the groundwork for the game that is Yosemite big wall free climbing.

Long Hard & Free

On May 12th, 2026, Bryce and I took our first steps onto the most iconic big wall route in the world—The Nose on El Capitan. Three days later we woke up on the summit of 3,000 feet of vertical granite after a clean, smooth, and successful ascent. This conversation is our debrief. Bryce has done the Nose twice now. I had never set foot on El Cap. The experience gap between us was real, and we talk openly about how that shaped the dynamic—how Bryce became my cheat code for this objective and how I showed up as prepared as I could be without ever having practiced the systems in a real setting. We cover where we each were in our lives leading into the climb, what preparation actually looked like with two weeks of limited communication. We get into the practical stuff; how much water and food we brought, portaledge decisions, hauling systems, and how we chose to break up the wall across three days. We walk through navigating other parties on route, the King Swing, Changing Corners, and the moments that tested us most. And we close out talking about how we are going to approach our NIAD (Nose in a Day) attempt in the fall of 2026.

#aidclimbing #bigwall #yosemite

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