Climbing Gold

The gold rush begins. When two skiers reported a possible plane crash, Yosemite Ranger Tim Setnicka started making calls. Pretty soon he realized the Park Service had a serious investigation on their hands. When federal agents landed in El Cap Meadow, the Camp 4 climbers knew something was up, but had no idea their lives were about to change.  

In 1976, a plane carrying four million dollars in marijuana crashed into a small alpine lake in the Yosemite high country. Broke and living off discarded scraps of tourist meals in the valley below, America’s best climbers smelled opportunity. The events at Dope Lake became climbing’s most potent myth and inspired a Hollywood blockbuster, but the real story and the lives it changed is stranger than fiction.

What happens when you unexpectedly find yourself in the global spotlight? Tommy Caldwell offers a candid perspective into the personal impacts that the Dawn Wall media coverage had on his life. Almost overnight, the ascent arguably made Tommy the first household name in climbing and inspired an influx of new climbers to the sport.

In 2015, climbing became a cultural avalanche. The Dawn Wall was its tipping point. In part one, we talk with the Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times reporter John Branch. We hear about Sandy Russell’s novel project to put The Nose on Google Street View and Tommy Caldwell helps us make sense of the year climbing finally hit the mainstream. 

This month, Alex completed his multi-year project to traverse Red Rock’s iconic skyline. In 32 hours, Alex ticked off 35 miles, 23k feet of climbing up to 5.11- and 20 named summits to complete the HURT – Honnold's Ultimate Red Rock Traverse. Fitz and Alex’s conversation digs into what went into this cutting edge effort.   

For many of us, social media is the portal into the lives of outdoor photographers and filmmakers. We see the images and the films they create, but it can be a bit of a mystery for how it all works behind the lens. Today we talk to climbers Colette McInerney and Austin Siadak, both photographers and filmmakers who have worked on many different outdoor film projects, to get a glimpse of what it takes to create incredible outdoor stories. Films and photographers mentioned in this episode:Pretty Strong by Never Not CollectiveThe Alpinist with Marc-Andre LeclercMikey SchaeferMeru by Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk

How can you turn your fear into excitement? Today, we’re sharing an episode of Re:Thinking with Adam Grant, a podcast from the TED Audio Collective. In this episode, Alex sits down with Adam to talk about regulating emotions when you’re hanging off the edge of a cliff, what still scares him, and how he stays motivated to pursue ambitious goals. If you’d like to hear more from leading thinkers and creators, follow ReThinking wherever you get your podcasts. Each week, Adam dives into the minds of interesting people to learn the unique ways they think and find practices we can all apply in our daily lives to live a little better. This season, the show features guests like bestselling author Celeste Ng, entrepreneur Mark Cuban, and Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon. 

Does climbing have inherent value? We kick off season 4 of Climbing Gold by talking about finding meaning in our lives, whether through climbing or other pursuits. Nik Berry, an ER nurse and rock climber, reflects on his pursuit of climbing hard routes and how that shifted and guided him during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How do you decide to take on risk? Alex and Fitz discuss their five takeaways from talking to climbers, alpinists and experts for this season on risk.  

We’ve spent this season trying to better understand the risks climbers take, but we had one last question. How do you walk away? Steve House gave his entire attention and focus to alpinism. He was an iconic figure who seemed poised to finish out a career as a sponsored athlete. Then in April of 2021, Steve announced that he was done with elite climbing, embarking on a new chapter of life.Learn more about Steve's work at Uphill Athlete.