Today, we’re doing something a little different. For the first time ever, I’m releasing a TCM Legacy Episode—diving back into one of the show’s earliest conversations, this one with Joshua Reinig.

It’s been over three years since this episode first aired, and a lot has changed since then. For some of you, you’ll hear a familiar voice—my previous co-host, Max Carrier. But the biggest changes are in Josh’s own life, and those changes are exactly why I’m bringing you this newly remastered version of our conversation.

I first met Josh over a decade ago, during my very first year of climbing, when he invited me—a complete gumby—out to one of his first ascent projects. Whether he realized it or not, that simple act of kindness shaped me as a climber, and I’m still grateful for it today. I also know I’m not the only one he’s impacted in that way.

Since then, Josh and I have become close friends, following each other’s life stories closely. Over the course of his climbing career, Josh has put up more than 2,000 first ascents and currently sits in the top 20 Mountain Project contributors. His routes often focus on safe, moderate climbing that everyone can enjoy. He’s an AMGA apprentice rock and alpine guide with over 6,000 guided trips under his belt. It’s safe to say he’s dedicated a huge portion of his life to serving the climbing community.

One of the main reasons for revisiting this conversation is some exciting news—Josh has just published the most comprehensive guidebook to the Alabama Hills climbing area. This 300-page book features over 700 routes, more than 100 of which are his own first ascents. It’s packed with detailed route descriptions, maps, and photos, the product of more than five years of work and documentation. With Alabama Hills now federally recognized as a scenic wildlife area, Josh also includes important guidance on how we can all respect and preserve this fragile place.

For Josh, this guidebook is just another extension of what he’s always done—sharing climbing with others. He gives huge thanks to Marty and Sharon for mentoring him through the process, and to his wife, Melissa, who played a major role in the documentation and creative work.

When I first heard about the guidebook, I offered to have Josh back on the show in person. But unfortunately, Josh has recently been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The details of his prognosis are still unfolding, but he faces a difficult road ahead—one that may include surgery, chemo, and all the challenges that come with fighting cancer. The location of the cancer has already made speaking difficult, so joining me for a new conversation just wasn’t possible.

As someone who has spent his life supporting the climbing community, Josh now needs our support. The best way to help is to purchase his Alabama Hills guidebook—link in the show notes. You can also donate directly via his GoFundMe, like I have. And if nothing else, please take a moment to send Josh your thoughts, prayers, or positive energy during this time.

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Resources

Buy The Alabama Hills Guidebook

Support Joshua on his Go Fund Me Page

Joshua Reinig's Mountain Project Profile

We kick things off by diving into the nuances of Totems—what their limitations are, whether they’re as good as everyone says, and whether the mystical powers of the black Totem are fact or fiction. From there, we dig into climbing partnerships: what to look for, what to avoid, and how we can all be better partners. Tal shares two of his closest calls in the mountains and how they shaped his evolving relationship with risk. And then, we shift to Tal’s true passion: Wonderland.

A 5 sqmi area southwest of Denver, CO that Tal has been developing for the last three years. While only a handful of first routes were developed in the area back in the 2000s by Jay Vonesh… Tal and his community has now since added well over 200 routes across numerous of the countless rock formations that litter the forested area. While it is a slab climber's paradise. Wonderland has something to offer for just about everyone with cracks, slabs, face climbs, and a variety of high quality bouldering. Expect to find this area littered with raspberries, mushrooms, owl pellets, bones, deer/elk scat, oddly friendly magpies, unnerving signs of big cats, great views, and a lot of solitude.

For Tal, developing a climbing area is far more meaningful than any single route. He believes you need to “hear the song” of a place before you can truly develop it. The more intimately familiar you are with the rocks, the plants, the wildlife, the rhythm of the land—the better developer you become. A beautiful, poetic reflection of the depth and care Tal brings to this sport and his community.

If you stoked about visiting Wonderland be sure to pick up a copy of the guidebook Tal made for the area. You can do so with the link in the episode show notes. Tal also invites anyone interested in meeting the local community to reach out! You’ll find Tal’s IG link below as well. 

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Resources

Tal's IG

Buy The Guidebook to Wonderland

Today, I sit down with Tal Wanish—rock climber, mentor, prominent route developer in Colorado’s Front Range, and brother of our previous guest, Tanner Wanish. But Tal’s not just a rogue route developer. He’s a deeply involved member of his local climbing community—someone who chooses to play by the rules in order to help foster sustainable growth for future generations.

He’s replaced over 600 bolts as an instructor with the Boulder Climbing Community, and today he puts most of his effort into the Pikes Peak Climbers Alliance. There, he serves on the South Platte committee, helps organize clean-ups and fundraisers, and works directly with landowners to ensure new climbing development is legal and sustainable.

While Tal is a thriving member of his community today…that wasn’t always the case. Plagued by imposter syndrome and his own crushing expectations to perform as a climber, he found himself quite alone in the world of climbing struggling to find partners and mentors.

Everything changed when Tal shifted his focus—from numbers to impact. When he discovered route development and community involvement, climbing took on a new meaning. Since then, he’s helped establish over 160 routes in just the last four years and over a vertical mile of new climbs in just the last 12 months. While the grades no longer define him, he’s also recently broken into the 5.13 range—on his own terms.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Tal. He loves climbing, but just as much—he loves sharing climbing with others. And there’s something truly special in that.

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Resources

Tal's IG

Today, we’re continuing our conversation with Dean Rosnau. If you haven’t listened to Part I yet, I highly recommend checking that out before diving into this episode.

We pick up with one of the most personal and tragic stories in Dean’s life: the loss of his close friend, Pete Schoerner, in an ice climbing accident. This part of the conversation is heavy—graphic at times—so please proceed with that in mind. But it’s also an important story, one that opens the door to a deeper conversation around grief: how it manifests, how we process it, and what it looks like to live on the other side of profound trauma.

From there, we shift focus to a more positive side of the SAR experience—a rescue that saved three skiers’ lives after a cornice collapse on Mt. Dana. We explore why, despite the complex technical skill required and the real risk involved, nearly all search and rescue work remains volunteer. What does that mean for the people who do it—and what drives them to keep showing up?

We also talk about the long-term emotional effect of saving a life. To witness someone you’ve rescued go on to live, have children, and impact the world—it changes something in the rescuer too.

We close the episode by talking about Matthew Greene, a missing climber Dean has been searching for over the past 13 years. We go into the details of his disappearance, the painstaking efforts to find him, and the difficult question: when is it time to stop searching?

You’ll hear both Dean and I reference a book throughout this conversation—The Shortest Straw: Search and Rescue in the High Sierra. It’s Dean’s memoir, filled with some of the most powerful stories from his 35 years in SAR. This podcast only scratches the surface. I encourage you to grab a copy and dive deeper.

 You can find the link to the book HERE

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The TCM movement is growing but we need your help to spread the word! Word of mouth is one of the best ways to support the show. 

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Resources

Dean's Book "The Shortest Straw: Search and Rescue in the High Sierra"

Dean's Website

Dean's IG

As we progress as climbers and inevitably turn our gaze toward higher peaks and more remote objectives, a common lesson begins to emerge: the mountains are a dangerous place to play. But early on, this remains a lesson heard, not truly learned. Inevitably, with enough time spent in remote places, something is bound to happen—either directly to us, or to someone close enough to sear this truth into our souls.

From an early age, Dean Rosnau found himself brushing shoulders with death, learning not only that the mountains are dangerous—but that life itself is dangerous, and that our actions can carry severe consequences. Looking at your friend’s body in a casket, and watching a fallen climber bleed out at the base of Bridalveil Falls all before the age of 10 would shape anyone. What Dean didn’t know at the time was that the world was preparing him for some of the most challenging, demanding, and ultimately rewarding years of his life: those spent on the Search and Rescue team for the Eastern Sierra.

Dean has since accumulated over 35 years of SAR work, recovered 66 bodies, and completed over 800 individual rescue missions—with more than 2.5 years of volunteer time spent away from his family, in the service of strangers.

And this… is his story.

We start part one of this conversation with Dean’s origin story—how he grew up as a young climber surrounded by legends like John Long, John Bachar, Bob Gaines, and Lynn Hill. We go into two very close calls that nearly cost Dean his life, and explore how we—not just as climbers, but as humans—can play safer in the mountains. We also discuss how we can aid search and rescue find our bodies… alive or dead… in the event that we go missing in the backcountry.

This is a deep—and at times heavy—conversation, with some stories and visuals that may not be appropriate for children. Please proceed with that in mind.

You’ll hear both Dean and I reference a book throughout this conversation: The Shortest Straw – Search and Rescue in the High Sierra. This is Dean Rosnau’s educational memoir of some of the cases he’s been involved in over his 35 years in SAR. While we reference a few of these stories here, this episode does no justice to reading the full thing. I highly encourage you to pick up a copy to truly understand the scope of Dean’s experience in the mountains. 

You can find a link to the book HERE

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The TCM movement is growing but we need your help to spread the word! Word of mouth is one of the best ways to support the show. 

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Resources

Dean's Book "The Shortest Straw: Search and Rescue in the High Sierra"

Dean's Website

Dean's IG

Today, we’re picking up right where we left off with Petch Pietrolungo—climber, AMGA certified guide, free soloist, and the local legend of Lover’s Leap in California.  If you missed part one of this conversation, I highly recommend heading back and starting there—it’ll give you a deeper appreciation for where we’re going today.

In this second part, we dive into Petch’s journey to becoming an AMGA-certified guide and how he launched Lover’s Leap Guides back in 2003. We take a close look at stewardship—what it really means, why it matters, and how we all can contribute to protecting the places we climb, even if we’re not out there building trails or replacing bolts.

We also get into Petch’s relationship with free soloing—not as some reckless pursuit, but as a practice that’s deeply personal, calculated, and, in his case, something he attributes to saving his life. He walks us through what it takes to move through the mountains with that kind of confidence, including a mind-blowing day where he soloed 112 pitches… and how those skills and systems carry over into offering large days of climbing to his clients.

Finally we close the conversation off with a deeply personal look into Petch’s battle with alcoholism… how it impacted his life, and his decision to live sober and fully present moving forward

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The TCM movement is growing but we need your help to spread the word! Word of mouth is one of the best ways to support the show. 

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We are always looking for new guests. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the show please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can reach us on IG or email us directly @ [email protected]

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Resources

Petch's IG

Hire Petch As A Guide

Today’s episode brings us to one of California’s most iconic granite crags: Lover’s Leap. If you’ve ever climbed here, you already know what makes it special—600 feet of mostly vertical granite laced with splitter cracks and wild horizontal dikes that jut out up to a foot. The featured nature of the rock makes the climbing feel surprisingly secure and approachable, even on steep terrain. But beyond the rock itself, there’s another reason Lover’s Leap is such a memorable place—and that is the local legend who’s made it his home: Petch Pietrolungo.

Petch is the founder and operator of Lover’s Leap Guides, the longest-running local guide service in the area. But beyond that, he’s played a huge role in protecting and maintaining the area—working with the Access Fund, CRAGS, and the Forest Service to preserve trails, support nesting raptors, and ultimately give back to the climbing community If that weren’t enough, he’s also put up more than 50 routes at The Leap—ranging from 5.5 all the way to 5.12d—and some of them have already become modern classics. It is safe to say that Petch is a true steward of the land.

But what Petch is maybe best known for besides his contagious level of stoke for climbing is his deep relationship with free soloing. For him, it’s not about risk or ego. It’s a methodical, meditative experience. It’s also very efficient—Petch holds a personal record of climbing 112 pitches in a single day. That same love for big linkups spills over into his guiding, where he offers “birthday pitch” days—where clients climb the number of pitches that match their age. Some have climbed over 50 pitches in a day.
But Petch didn’t always live in the small town of Strawberry. He didn’t even start as a climber.

This is part one of my conversation with Petch—and in this episode, we go way back. From his early days as a surfer to a near-fatal rappelling accident that shaped his relationship with risk. We explore his eight month climbing road trip that took him to iconic places like Red Rock Canyon, Joshua Tree, Devils Tower, and the Wind River Range. A trip that would eventually land him in the small town of Strawberry and his now home crag… Lover’s Leap.

We close off this part of the conversation with his firsthand account of the 2021 Caldor Fire, and how close it came to wiping Strawberry off the map.
This is the first time Petch has ever spoken publicly about his life on a podcast, and I’m honored to bring it to you. So without further ado, here is The Leap’s local legend…Petch Pietrolungo

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The TCM movement is growing but we need your help to spread the word! Word of mouth is one of the best ways to support the show. 

Share an episode with a friend.
Post about the show on social media.
Jump into Reddit threads or Mountain Project forums and tell people what you’re listening to.
Tag the show, tag your favorite guests, help spread the word.

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We are always looking for new guests. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the show please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can reach us on IG or email us directly @ [email protected]

---

Resources

Petch's IG

Hire Petch As A Guide

Today I sit down with Denis Langlois — father, climber, and dedicated route developer. Like many of us he balances climbing with a busy life of work and family. Denis found that bouldering gave him the most freedom. It let him climb on his own schedule — quick sessions, solo missions, and total flexibility.

One day, while commuting to a job site, he passed through a narrow canyon next to his home town in in British Columbia, Canada..and something caught his eye… boulders — tons of them. Unclimbed and Untouched. Denis knew he had to come back.

Fast forward to today — thanks to his vision and the help of a few committed locals, the Fraser Canyon is now home to more than 80 established boulder problems, ranging from V0 to V10, with development still ongoing.

In this episode, we dive into the deep and layered history of Fraser Canyon — from the Gold Rush to its roots in Indigenous land. Denis shares his personal journey in climbing, how he fell in love with the area, and what it’s been like developing a climbing destination from scratch.

He’s also teamed up with video producer Jesse Wheeler to create a beautiful short film about the canyon and its development — be sure to check that out after the show.

I love having route developers on this show — these are the folks literally giving back to the community by creating more places for us to climb and they usually do so out of their own pocket with their own passion… So if you’re ever heading up to Squamish, looking to avoid the crowds and try something new, make a stop in Fraser Canyon. Check out the boulders, soak in the views, and if you can, give Denis a shout — as I am sure he’d be stoked to show you around.

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Don’t forget to check out our full video episodes on Youtube!

The TCM movement is growing but we need your help to spread the word! Please share this podcast with your friends and family. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to support the show. If you enjoyed the show we’d appreciate it if you could rate and review us on your favorite podcatcher.

We are always looking for new guests. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the show please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can reach us on IG or email us directly @ [email protected]

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Resources

Kaya Climbing App (Download For Route Information)

Short Film: Gold Rush: The Nuggets They Left Behind

Denis' IG

Jesse's IG

When you hear the phrase living legend, what comes to mind?....to me…this is someone who has lived a life to their fullest. A life that inspires us to be our best. Someone whose legacy will outlast them.

Today, I have the pleasure of releasing my conversation with a true living legend…Bob Gaines. 

Bob began climbing in the mid-1970s—right in the thick of climbing’s golden era, alongside icons like Ron Kauk, Scott Cosgrove, John Bachar, John Long, and Lynn Hill. But Bob wasn’t just in the audience—he was part of the show. He became John Long’s main climbing partner for five years. He trained hard, soloed hard, and became a Joshua Tree lifer—watching legends like Bachar soloing 5.10s and 11s before most people had their morning coffee.

It's easy to remember these iconic names like John Bachar and Lynn Hill, but Bob Gaines has his own right to stand amongst these icons of climbing. With nearly 600 first ascents under his belt, and 500 of them located solely in Joshua Tree California. Bob has certainly stamped his name into the history of climbing. His routes are known for being clean, creative, and undeniably classic—if you're on a Bob Gaines line, chances are you're giving it four stars on Mountain Project.

This episode marks Bob’s first-ever podcast appearance. I give him the chance to share his origin story. How he found climbing and how the icons of history directly influenced his journey. We dive deep into several of his key first ascents, so get out your MP and be ready to add a bunch of climbs to your to do list. We explore the controversial issue of bolting, how that process developed over the decades, and how we are currently in a time period where we may lose the freedom to bolt in wilderness areas entirely. We explore Bob’s unique experience in Hollywood as a stunt double for William Shatner in Star Trek V and safety officer for the 1993 movie Cliffhanger. And finally we speak about Bob’s unique experience as a climbing instructor for SEAL Team 6. 

This is a rare, wide-ranging conversation with a man who’s lived more life than most of us can imagine.

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Don’t forget to check out our full video episodes on Youtube!

The TCM movement is growing but we need your help to spread the word! Please share this podcast with your friends and family. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to support the show. If you enjoyed the show we’d appreciate it if you could rate and review us on your favorite podcatcher.

We are always looking for new guests. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the show please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can reach us on IG or email us directly @ [email protected]

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Resources

Bob's Instagram

All Of Bob Gaines' Books

Opening Scene of Star Trek V

Bob's Write Up on Slab Climbing

Star Trek V & Free Solo Parody

In a world flooded with climbing content, tech tips, and loud online opinions, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re educating yourself on safety systems. The truth? Learning how to climb safely and efficiently can be confusing—and quite honestly pretty dangerous. So what is the best way to learn? Books, YouTube, mentors, guides? Honestly, it’s a mix of all four. 

Today’s guest is someone who has spent his life thinking deeply about how we learn, how we climb, and how we can stay alive in the mountains. Silas Rossi is an IFMGA certified guide, current president of the American Mountain Guides Association, and owner of Alpine Logic Guide Services... With 24 years of climbing under his belt, he’s instructed athletes, recreational climbers, and guides around the world. He’s climbed the Matterhorn nearly a dozen times, spent multiple seasons in the Alps, and enjoys crushing hard trad routes near his hometown in New York—Silas is the real deal.

And yet, despite his deep experience and knowledge, Silas is the first to say that no matter how dialed you are, luck undoubtedly plays a role in the mountains. Mistakes happen. Conditions shift. And with enough time out there, luck is often the invisible hand that tips the balance.

But that doesn’t mean we’re helpless. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” If we prioritize safety, build good systems, and stay aware, we give ourselves the best chance to succeed—and survive.

In this conversation, we dig into the philosophy of risk. We uncover the truth that most of us are probably less prepared than we think—for emergencies, for rescues, for moments when things really go sideways. We unpack the phrase: “If you’re not falling, you’re not trying.” And we go into some simple yet often overlooked ways to build safety and redundancy into our systems.

We also take a hard look at the guiding industry in America, the public’s misconceptions about hiring guides, and how the influencer-ification of safety content has both helped and hurt the profession.

This one is packed with knowledge, insight, and reflection—and I’m stoked to share it with you.

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Don’t forget to check out our full video episodes on Youtube!

The TCM movement is growing but we need your help to spread the word! Please share this podcast with your friends and family. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to support the show. If you enjoyed the show we’d appreciate it if you could rate and review us on your favorite podcatcher.

We are always looking for new guests. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the show please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can reach us on IG or email us directly @ [email protected]

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Resources

Alpine Logic (Hire Silas As A Guide)

Sign Up For The Ascend Membership

Silas' Instagram

Silas' Youtube