The Climbing Majority

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 HowN...

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 a...

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 rema...

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 foothi...

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...

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 ...

Brent Barghahn is a tinkerer first and a climber second and understanding that order tells you a lot about him. Since he was a child Brent saw the world through the lens of design, building gadgets to solve the problems he found along the way. He even had a charge account at his local hardware store that was funded by his parents. That same instinct to build, solve, and design has followed him through his life. He spent five years ...

Zach Dreher started highlining in Flagstaff until climbing came into his life, at which point he made a complete pivot with eyes on big walls. After only a year and a half into his climbing career he began cutting his teeth in Yosemite and created a huge foundation of experience with multiple big wall ascents and NIAD runs; all with the vision of even bigger international objectives. Zach made his living as a masonry worker, kept l...

If you don't already know who Steph Abegg is, I can almost certainly say that you've used her work. Her detailed route topos, trip reports, and beta overlays appear all over the internet covering climbs from the North Cascades to Red Rocks. For nearly 20 years, she's been quietly building one of the most comprehensive free climbing resources on the internet—not for profit, not for sponsorship, but because she genuinely loves ...

Philip Setter is an insurance broker and software entrepreneur from Canada who's been climbing for over a decade. He is known to quietly solo some of the gnarliest ice the Canadian Rockies has to offer and has an affinity for chossy, runout, dangerous, and psychologically demanding routes.

Phil has a tangible passion and enthusiasm to extract the most out of life. Whether its in business, his partnerships, or in climbing he...

Drew Brodhead is the Staff Advocacy Coordinator and Anchor Maintenance Coordinator for the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance, one of the most respected local climbing organizations in the country. With 18+ years of climbing experience and SPRAT Level 3 certification, Drew leads a professional anchor maintenance program that rebolts routes across the Wasatch Range April through November. This episode explores what it actually means to pro...

Paul Rogers is an active duty US Army Special Forces (Green Beret) officer who previously served as the commander of the Special Operations Mountain Warfare Training Center (SOMWTC), the specialized schoolhouse responsible for training all military mountaineers for US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). This episode explores what it actually takes to train elite operators for mountain warfare, why these skills matter in modern co...

Jared Wicks has been a rock climber for over 30 years, he is a former SWAT officer, and one of seven full-time commissioned officers on the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Search and Rescue team. Born and raised in Montana, Jared served in the military and spent his off-duty hours climbing at Red Rock—falling so in love with the area that he moved to Las Vegas in 2006 specifically to combine his passion for climbing ...

Justin Sackett, an AMGA guide who googled "hardest hike" in college and ended up on a 20,000-foot peak in Ecuador with zero mountaineering experience. That failure lit a fire that led him from complete beginner to professional guide to running his own guide company at 28—all while training single-mindedly for Everest without supplemental oxygen. This episode explores his rapid progression to being an alpine guide, the mentor ...

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...

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 in...

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-l...

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 ...

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...