67 | Seven Years of Silence Part I w/ Myles Moser

In today’s world, where social media, technology, and commercialism are at the forefront of our minds, the reasons why we climb can sometimes get a bit confusing. Professional climbers often need an “audience” for brands to market their products to, and climbers everywhere, myself included, share videos and photos of our recent ascents. It makes you wonder… why do we climb? Is it truly for personal satisfaction, or are we chasing clout and recognition for our achievements?

For Myles, this era of “clout chasing” and immediately posting about our climbing is completely against his ethos. He climbs for himself, for his personal exploration as both a climber and a creator. Over the last seven years Myles has even turned down pro contracts in order to dedicate his life to his personal goals of putting up countless dangerous, massive alpine multi-pitch first ascents in the Whitney Portal area and in Patagonia. Most of these routes have never been repeated,and never shared with anyone. For some of them this is the first time the world is hearing about them.. The seriousness and complexity of these routes can’t be overstated—one even got him nominated for the Piolets d'Or, one of the most prestigious international mountaineering awards. Myles has built a successful contracting business, allowing him to self-fund his objectives and first ascents. He doesn’t feel pressure from brands or the need to monetize his climbing in any way and instead relies on his own skills, his partners, and a lot of luck to pull off these truly inspiring and bold new routes. 

Today, we’re opening up Myles’ black book of climbing topos and breaking his seven years of silence. We get to discuss what he’s been up to, the routes he’s developed, and the incredible stories from these years of establishing some of the gnarliest routes the climbing world has seen. Myles also shares a refreshing narrative that reminds us to reflect on the reasons why we climb, how we choose our routes, and how much danger we put ourselves in. Are we climbing for ourselves or for recognition from others?

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:36 Injuries & Resilience
• 7:51 Early Climbing Adventures
• 27:05 Establishing Major Routes in Lone Pine

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:24:03
Unknown
Hey, everyone. Kyle here. Welcome back to the Climbing Majority podcast, where Max and I sit down with living legends, professional athletes, certified guides and recreational climbers alike to discuss the topics, lessons, stories and experiences found in the life of a climber. If you haven't already, please subscribe, rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts.

00:00:26:07 - 00:00:34:19
Unknown
In today's world, where social media technology and commercialism are at the forefront of our minds, the reasons why we climb can sometimes get a bit confusing.

00:00:34:19 - 00:00:47:16
Unknown
Professional climbers often need an audience for brands to market their products to, and climbers everywhere, including myself, share videos and photos of our recent ascents. It makes you wonder why do we climb?

00:00:47:18 - 00:01:20:13
Unknown
Is it truly for personal satisfaction or are we chasing clout and recognition for our achievements? For Miles, this era of clout chasing and immediately posting about our climbing is completely against his ethos and the reasons why he climbs miles, climbs for himself. For his personal exploration as both a climber and a creator. Over the last seven years, Miles has even turned down pro contracts in order to dedicate his life to his personal goals of putting up countless dangerous, massive alpine multi pitch first ascents in the Whitney Portal area and in Patagonia.

00:01:20:15 - 00:01:44:18
Unknown
Most of these routes have never been repeated and never shared with anyone. For some of them, this is even the first time the world is hearing about them. The seriousness and complexity of these routes cannot be overstated. One even got him nominated for the PDR, one of the most prestigious international mountaineering awards. Miles has built a successful contracting business, allowing him to self-fund his objectives and his first ascents.

00:01:44:20 - 00:02:10:20
Unknown
He doesn't feel the pressure from brands or the need to monetize his climbing in any way, and instead relies on his own skills, his partners and a lot of luck to pull off these truly inspiring and bold new routes. Today we're opening up miles's Black Book of Climbing topos and breaking his seven years of silence. We get to discuss what he's been up to, the routes he's developed, and the incredible stories from these years of establishing some of the gnarliest routes the climbing world has seen.

00:02:10:22 - 00:02:23:17
Unknown
Miles also shares a refreshing narrative that reminds us to reflect on the reasons why we climb, how we choose our routes, and how much danger we put ourselves in. Are we truly climbing for ourselves, or are we climbing for the recognition from others?

00:02:35:17 - 00:02:56:19
Unknown
What the fuck happened to you today? That is what happens when you when you do construction all day, and then right off of the couch, you try to send your project without warm it up and you've never actually like, tried it before. You hurt yourself. Yeah, yeah, my LKL tried blowing out on me, though. Or is it just hurting?

00:02:56:21 - 00:03:23:08
Unknown
Can you hear this? You ready? Hold on. My hands are greasy. Can you hear that? Yeah. Well. Well, that that sound. Yeah. That's what my LCL did. so while I was pulling and all of a sudden I had put put your, your heel on your knee as if you're, like, sitting in a chair. And I had my heel like, in a pocket in a Waco that I was levering off of that while reaching up.

00:03:23:10 - 00:03:46:23
Unknown
And my LCL just made this fucking popping noise and sounded like a hold broke. And, you know, I dropped onto the rope, but it just was like instant pain. And I just was like, mom, doesn't sound good, man. No, but you know what I ended up doing? Taking a Norco, getting a shot of ibuprofen. And I went to work for six hours.

00:03:47:01 - 00:04:09:09
Unknown
That's good. I think that's, that's what 1 in 4 doctors recommend. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. But that's the Trek, doc. I'm going to need some fentanyl and, some extra strength ibuprofen. Get me back on the job site ASAP. So, you know, you're like. It's like a high school football player. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that was a nightmare.

00:04:09:09 - 00:04:30:00
Unknown
Literally. Totally. And then. And then I went. I went into the orthopedic today, and I told how I demanded the nurse because I woke the nurse up at the E.R. at 6 a.m. yesterday, and he's like, this is life threatening stuff. Like you can't be walking in here. I'm like, buddy, this is what you're going to do. And so I told my, my doctor and he's like, what?

00:04:30:00 - 00:04:44:08
Unknown
He did a good job because, you force the doctor, right? You a, a referral to come here, and she's like, what do you want to do? I'm like, well, if it's blown out, I need you to cut it. Institute. We got, like, six days before this thing is non repairable. And she's like, Jesus, you did your research.

00:04:44:08 - 00:05:04:05
Unknown
I'm like, yeah, yeah. It's you know, I got like six cords of firewood to chop. Let's get this done. So it's it's kind of dark. Did they scan it or anything. Like is it, is it torn. It sounds like it's torn. They did X-rays. They checked it out. I'll go into the MRI on Monday. But what's it even cooler.

00:05:04:05 - 00:05:25:16
Unknown
Check this out. The, orthopedist. so I went to Bishop about an hour away from me, and they were like. So is there anything else, like, wrong with you? And I'm like, yeah. I was like, I got this chronic foot pain from climbing for 20 years. And she's like, let's put you in the X-ray machine. I'm like, are you shitting me?

00:05:25:18 - 00:05:44:05
Unknown
I've been dealing with chronic so pain for like four years from hitting the deck while soloing or bouldering, you know, jumping from rock to rock. And she's like, all right, I got you an appointment set up on Sunday with, the foot doctor. I'm like, you're kidding me. And so, yeah, we're going to get all fixed up before South America.

00:05:44:05 - 00:06:08:12
Unknown
I'm stuck. Yeah. So what would the X-ray show like? Was it like a broken bone? Like on my feet? Ligaments? Literally. Yeah. You have you have these bones. So if you if you go into your, what we call it, behind your big toe, the ball, your foot behind, behind the ball, your foot. You have these two bones called the sesamoid.

00:06:08:14 - 00:06:34:19
Unknown
And they're these two little bones that your tendons for your big toe run under or above or on. And, my theory is the sesamoid were broken from impact, and, once she looked into it, she's like, they're not broken, but they're displaced. And I was like, oh, but it's both feet. So like hiking 20 miles in South America with these giant bags to big balls was like, my partners be like, how are you doing, Miles?

00:06:34:19 - 00:06:58:13
Unknown
I'm like sitting there creating my teeth, being like, chunk, like, yeah, let's let's rock and roll by reality. My feet were just like, fuck yeah. And so you just kind of bite and go, but it, no, I'm stoked they're going to fix me up the LKL, to be honest. we'll see. We'll see what's up. But I've never heard a noise like that unless I break bones.

00:06:58:13 - 00:07:26:21
Unknown
And I was like, that's terrible. but, you know, before this, I was wheelbarrow in, mulch and firewood around my yard, so it can't be that bad. Hurt like a motherfucker. But, yeah, dude, God's totally bitchin. I wish you all the best. Oh, yeah. It's it's got to be fucking exciting, I'll tell you that. Yeah, definitely. For a second there, I thought you you just going to like.

00:07:26:22 - 00:07:51:05
Unknown
Oh, here's the shirt. Here's like, it's gonna, like gorilla pound his chest and just like, I'm ready to be interviewed. Yeah, let's do this. I think this is probably a pretty good place to like, you know, start transitioning a little is like, you know, who are you, Miles? Like, maybe if you can kind of, like, go back a little bit and just give us a little bit of, like a history of, like, you know, how did you find climbing?

00:07:52:17 - 00:08:19:02
Unknown
I found climbing, because my parents used to go to the cemetery all the time when I was a little kid, but no one in my family climbs. I was adopted into the family. when I was about four years old. And so as far as, like, passions. definitely no one has, the, the similar, taste for the great outdoors as I do.

00:08:20:04 - 00:08:41:18
Unknown
so they took me to the cemetery. My dad took me to cap meadow at nighttime, and essentially I got to see people sleeping on El Capitan. I was like, well, I want to do that. And so I was probably I was probably like 12 at the time and then immediately started, like getting pictures off of crappy internet photos or whatever I could find in magazines.

00:08:41:18 - 00:09:04:19
Unknown
And then I built a portal edge, out of junk and essentially was like, yeah, we're we're going to we're going to sleep on a wall. My dad was like, you're like 15. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, I'm this, this what we're going to do, we're going to try it out. And so the first time I ever slept in for a ledge was actually, like, hanging on the drywall in my closet as a kid.

00:09:04:20 - 00:09:31:21
Unknown
Hell, yeah. But, Wow. He. My dad sold search of rescue equipment because, he was a salesman, and so he had some weird stuff. but by it being weird stuff, I then started stealing that stuff. And then I stole my mom's sewing machine and started turning it into, like, haul bags and that kind of things, and, started using them.

00:09:32:01 - 00:09:50:20
Unknown
And by the age of 19, I'd moved to a cemetery and was actually using those things that I had built when I was a little kid, with the idea. So it was like it was very when I was very young, I was very much aware that this is what I was going to do, and my parents actually let me go for it.

00:09:50:21 - 00:10:13:19
Unknown
They were really, just like my dad never yelled at me for dipping into the garage and taking things that, you know, were showpieces to try to sell. and my mom never yelled me for stealing the sewing machine. and so that kind of actually carried on, for quite a while, making stuff for climbing just because I was pretty bare bones.

00:10:15:03 - 00:10:39:14
Unknown
and eventually I, I was kicked out of you 70 for inciting a riot with the DNC employees. I lived there for I made it, I made it 11 months, and, I convinced a bunch of people to, flip the vending machines for me, so I knew candy bars to go up on El Capitan. and somebody snitched when I grew up.

00:10:39:14 - 00:11:02:01
Unknown
Snitches get stitches, but. So. But somebody snitched on me. it didn't take too long for them to find me, persona non grata. Me? Which means you're not welcome in Latin. You're not welcome here. And, so I was kicked out of Yosemite National Park for six years, which was like, you know, that's that's every climber's dream, right?

00:11:02:01 - 00:11:21:20
Unknown
Is everybody is awesome. And, all of a sudden, I'm being escorted out the gates for inciting a riot, which is like, did I inside a riot? Or did I just entertain the idea of flipping vending machines? And these people did it for me? yeah. You're an innocent man. Clearly. Totally. Totally. Except the whole bag full of candy bars at the basement.

00:11:21:20 - 00:11:47:16
Unknown
Okay. Oh, you didn't have bear. What about the bear? We. We were all in on the first pitch on Magic Mushroom, and this bear left onto the hall bags and would not release it. He was so jacked on the amount of candy that was in there that it was like we were hauling the bear up the wall while he was, like, feverishly like clawing the whole bag that I sowed when I was like 15 fucking years old.

00:11:47:18 - 00:12:09:03
Unknown
And I'm just like, he's got my fucking bag, bear. Which is hilarious because I remember Jackson Mitten at the time, one of my one of my, coworkers in the Valley. He, he didn't have a poor ledge. I had my childhood bought ledge. I built. So he came across this lawn chair that, like a beach chair that folded three ways.

00:12:09:05 - 00:12:28:14
Unknown
You know, like the metal ones I ratchet. Yeah, yeah. And so he we strapped it up with cord, and that was his. That was his portal edge of magic mushroom. And anytime he mouths off to me, I would ratchet up his head and, like, click it into position. So you have to get out of the portal edge, click it all the way down and then fold it back straight.

00:12:28:14 - 00:12:51:14
Unknown
It would sit. He hated me. Needless to say, Magic Mushroom didn't work out too well for us. Yeah, I've got a map of El Cap behind me and Magic Mushroom looks like a very involved endeavor. Oh it's gnarly dude. Yeah, we were so in over our heads. That was probably like, We are. We were just dumb kids with that.

00:12:51:14 - 00:12:56:04
Unknown
Too much testosterone and bullshit equipment.

00:12:56:06 - 00:13:21:04
Unknown
But regardless that that operation ended up getting me kicked out of society for six years. But I'm allowed back in. But it was one of those times of my life. If it didn't happen, if that did not happen, I would have not have found Lone Pine. I lived in a campground. I've been here for 17 years. I lived in a campground off the grid for seven years, and Tuttle Creek Campground with no running water or electricity.

00:13:22:04 - 00:13:46:13
Unknown
I moved here in a Volkswagen 1971 super beetle that I built as my climbing rig. The whole thing converted into a, camper. And so it was kind of like sleeping in a casket, which is kind of strange. but it was like the, the first. My first version of a camper van was a 71 super beetle that I bought when I was in the eighth grade.

00:13:47:23 - 00:14:09:00
Unknown
and totally restored it, rebuilt it, moved here in it, and then slowly but surely got a van. Like a creepy, Chevy van. Like an astro van? No, like a big old Chevy. Like, child molester white van. Yeah, yeah. The Chester ranch. Yes. So I was stuck because I made some money, like, you know, Volkswagen living in a Volkswagen buggy is terrible, right?

00:14:09:00 - 00:14:23:21
Unknown
So I was like, all right. So my my boss at the time, the owner of the climbing shop here was like, miles, we got to get you out of the Volkswagen into a van. I'm like, all right. Yeah. So she she fronted the money and helped me out. and we ended up getting the van, but it turns out it's stolen.

00:14:24:03 - 00:14:40:02
Unknown
Oh my God. so, like, me getting this thing registered is like a nightmare, so I'm like a light the van on fire because it's like, you know, I can't move it. I can't drive it. And then I actually, taken my good buddy. I'm like, hey, Neil, you want a van? He's like, yeah. How much? I'm like 300 bucks.

00:14:40:04 - 00:14:59:13
Unknown
And he's like, sweet, here's 300 bucks. Somebody gets stolen. It's your problem. Now. And then I, I moved into a, a pop top, like one of those, palomino pop top camper things, you know, that go out on the sides like a cloth camper and that kept getting blown out in the desert wind and then eventually got a hard shell camper.

00:14:59:13 - 00:15:20:00
Unknown
And once I had a hard shell camper, life started getting a little easier. But it's like a 1950s camper and this is all campground live. And so I got a permit that allowed me to sleep in the campground here for eight months for $300. It was called an LTV, a long term visitor area, and I never had to move sites.

00:15:20:05 - 00:15:48:14
Unknown
I kind of got to be the the king of, Turtle Creek. And for seven years I lived off the grid. I would bathe in the creek every day and, go to work and try to out, like, homeless and then, those four months that I wasn't living in the campground, I either traveled the world or, climbed in the US and then eventually ended up buying a house and starting my contracting business.

00:15:48:16 - 00:16:10:00
Unknown
And from there, it just life has been better. which one would take, you know, taking taking on all that, house stuff? Kind of. So, yes. So, Miles, when when we had initially talks, as we had tried to do a recording last week, you had mentioned that like you had saw the people up on El Cap and you were inspired by that.

00:16:10:02 - 00:16:45:13
Unknown
I think you also had mentioned that the allure of like establishing in first ascents, establishing your name in the world of climbing was something that appealed to you in the beginning. Is that correct? Oh, absolutely. So, said, like the story you just told in the progression, it shows a level of dedication to something bigger. because I would, you know, to, to a lot of people, I'm sure hear that story and like it captures the essence of adventure and the capture, you know, but I think it captures the dedication to something bigger, more than anything else.

00:16:45:15 - 00:17:02:20
Unknown
And I think a lot of us, when we start getting into climbing, it's very easy for us to be like, oh yeah, first ascents. Like, that's what I want to do. Like, I want to put my name on the world. But it's like this fleeting emotion or this thing that we like, talk about, and it's like this thing, it feels good and but we never actually putting the action to it.

00:17:02:22 - 00:17:45:11
Unknown
So like, why are you different? Like, what do you see as being the deciding factor between it just being like this pipe dream or this good idea versus like the level of dedication that you've made towards establishing your name in this world of climbing in your own way. I would say, moving to Lone Pine specifically and climbing my brains out here and then becoming well aware of the potential, what could be done, but also just me having a naturally creative type mind, like I'm very good with my hands.

00:17:45:13 - 00:18:25:01
Unknown
I can fix and build almost anything. So I just have that concept of, like, Idle hands is the devil's playground. And when it comes to climbing these, these routes, it's it's one of the hardest things I've ever have to do. You know, it's it's the hardest thing I've ever done. So going going out and repeating a route, yes, can be difficult, but going out and casting yourself into the abyss without knowing if the next six feet are going to go and you're going to take a 30ft or header is really exciting.

00:18:25:21 - 00:18:49:11
Unknown
and it's kind of this idea of dancing with the devil, but dancing with the devil in control. And so that that excites me with the idea of, will it go out, you know, do I go left? Do I go right? Did I miss the the turn, you know, 20ft below is the idea is always to set a free route.

00:18:49:13 - 00:19:10:17
Unknown
And so I have something in me that's very like, maybe it's because I've been doing it for so long, but I can sit in a parking lot and stare at a cliff or at a trail and pick, an amazing line just through a pair of binos. Because I know what I'm looking at, because I've done so many of them.

00:19:10:17 - 00:19:37:17
Unknown
And that that for me is a thrill. And I don't really get scared by the size of something, you know, it's not like I walk up to, for instance, like the North Tower and Patagonia. when I walked up to that, that was one of those situations where I was like, no, I'm here to climb this. And everybody had given me fair warning how dangerous the wall was, and I could give in to shit what they told me.

00:19:38:18 - 00:20:00:12
Unknown
and that's simply because it's like, I know it's going to be scary, and that's what I enjoy out of it. But the idea is to walk away from it, creating a really good line. And when I say creating, you know, you're not altering anything. It's just the idea of like connecting all the dots and the pieces to me is a really artistic form.

00:20:00:14 - 00:20:29:23
Unknown
And I don't climb very hard. And that's something that, you know, is kind of goofy to hear. But the reality is it's like I would say I'm a really solid 11 climber. I definitely can free climb, 12 day, maybe not on site, but I can ground up at 12 with no hooks, no problem. and there's something a little different about that.

00:20:30:01 - 00:20:57:11
Unknown
And this little, like, gorilla comes out when it's like go time of like, you know, hold on. And so I get a really big kick out of that. but when I go out and do these routes, by no means my trying to, like, establish a really hard five, 12 or 513. I'm really actually just trying to put something together that would be a esthetically pleasing as to me, it's kind of like a dance up there, right?

00:20:57:11 - 00:21:17:21
Unknown
You know, you want to, you want it to feel good, flow good. And so that's that's really what I seek. But a lot of it has to do with I'm not scared of it just because I've been doing it for so long. And I have been in some pretty hairy situations doing this where it's like my body reacts incredibly, differently.

00:21:17:21 - 00:21:41:05
Unknown
I think the most people I have a really good sense of, when shit goes south, I deal very well with, what we call that, correct decisions or patience, and kind of get a kick out of it, you know, when the when the mountain tries killing you, you know, you gotta you gotta fight back.

00:21:41:07 - 00:22:04:21
Unknown
How aware. In the climbing community do you feel that your first ascents and your climbing accomplishments are like, how aware is the climbing community of these? Do you not care? Or kind of where's your mentality in terms of publicizing these things that we're, you know, going to talk about? You know, I've always like when I was younger, I wanted to be a professional athlete.

00:22:04:22 - 00:22:46:15
Unknown
That was one of my things. You know, I realized that was something that I wanted to accomplish. And then there was a period in my life where, you know, I started getting sponsors, and I was really excited about it. It was cool. But I also started having a really hard time, as you know, just technologically, the idea of, kind of putting it out there and, you know, either pictures or videos and I have a hard time, kind of with this cloud, especially this day and age, that people search for, and maybe I don't really talk too much about my climbing just simply because I myself.

00:22:46:15 - 00:23:11:23
Unknown
I don't think I'm that great of a climber. You know, I just said 11 C and 12 A, you know, that's to me that's a consistent thing. But I can I can climb the 11 C in the 12 A for 30 pitches over 20 days. You know, it's a little different beast. But no, I, I don't think a lot of people actually know, too much about the routes that I've done.

00:23:11:23 - 00:23:39:15
Unknown
I think they hear things. I also think sometimes people expect me to be a much stronger climber than I am, just because maybe the stories that they've heard. But I don't really talk a whole lot about the climbing unless I'm approached or asked about it. just simply because, in my mind, it's this idea that the adventure is, you know, the adventure isn't lost.

00:23:39:15 - 00:23:57:21
Unknown
And I feel like when you start really, talking about how amazing something was, you know, it's like, well, what did you do before, you know, do you do it? Do you do it for yourself, or do you do it because you want somebody, somebody else to think that you're amazing? And so that's something that I've actually struggled with.

00:23:57:21 - 00:24:25:04
Unknown
And I, I have my personal reasons, like my deep reasons, where I maybe don't talk as much about it. And I think a lot of it maybe is also because I got to experience this sponsorship thing when I was younger, and I probably punted those opportunities, just because I was a little more broke and be just kind of, doing it for myself.

00:24:25:05 - 00:25:04:07
Unknown
And I'd say currently, I'm probably even a little more quiet about it just because, you know, I have a good job. I run my own business, so if I need to buy things, I can buy them. I do have friends in, in in the industries that will help me out with certain things, but, you know, I get discounts at the local shops, but I have absolutely no problem funding my own expeditions these days, and, not, hoping that I'm going to get a grant or a sponsorship just simply because, you know, I got two hands.

00:25:04:07 - 00:25:33:15
Unknown
I can make the money to do it. but I definitely struggle. with the modern day spray, I would call it, because you almost need to wear Gore-Tex jacket these days, because that spray is heavy duty. which is fine, which is totally cool. And I love reading about it, but I definitely do not, talk too much about my first descents.

00:25:34:06 - 00:25:52:19
Unknown
which is too bad, because, you know, I put in all this work to do. and, you know, I would love for you and Max to, to come and repeat some of these routes. And, you know, I got a binder full of topos of grade fives and grade sixes that nobody knows about. And it's kind of dumb, to be honest.

00:25:52:21 - 00:26:18:01
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, I, I feel like, you know, with the little amount of time that we've, you know, interacted and stuff, I've, I'm already blown away and impressed with the number of first assets that you even shared with us. And I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface. and I think that, you know, with the spray and with detention of, of professional athletes and everything, I think it's just, just a reiteration of kind of what this podcast is all about.

00:26:18:02 - 00:26:38:16
Unknown
It's like sharing the stories of of people like you. Exactly. And, again, I'm just a psyched you're on the show, and I'm psyched to to share these stories and that you're, you're willing to come on the show and talk about them. that being said, I think it's a good opportunity to kind of start to jump into, you know, some of these stories you have in the holster.

00:26:38:16 - 00:26:55:02
Unknown
I think that, yeah. What do you want to hear? so if we're talking like, climbing adventures, like, I don't even know, like, where's a good place to start? Miles? Like chronologically. Like what was, you know, what were some of, like, the most major or exciting things like that you think we should jump into?

00:26:56:03 - 00:27:03:19
Unknown
Hey everyone, please like, subscribe and share this podcast with your friends. Word of mouth is the best way to support the show.

00:27:03:23 - 00:27:13:16
Unknown
Well, I would, I would start, the Mount Whitney search, here in Lone Pine.

00:27:13:16 - 00:27:38:14
Unknown
You know, that's pretty much the reason why I moved here. And then from there, what I learned there, goes further into the, the reaches of, like, South America just because this is like my training ground and stomping ground. So the, you have Whitney Portal, which is, essentially a forgotten Yosemite Valley. I don't know why people don't climb there.

00:27:39:06 - 00:28:16:02
Unknown
you know, it's got anywhere from easily 15 to 1800 foot walls to 1000ft walls, most grade floors. There's a couple great vibes that I've established out there, which are literally 15 minutes from the parking lot. most people walk right by Whitney Portal to go climb these face or the East Buttress or Whitney or Mithril dihedral on, Mount Russell or Fisher, which I totally understand because those are fabulous routes, but they walk past these pristine buttresses and that's kind of where I, cut my teeth.

00:28:16:04 - 00:28:38:15
Unknown
And that all began. what really opened my eyes was, I don't know if any of these names ring a bell, but I moved here, didn't have a climbing partner. I was working on the climb shop, and the owner, Kesley Line, led me up a climbing day. she's like, hey, you're going to go up to Whitney Portal and you're going to go climb with these guys.

00:28:38:17 - 00:29:05:11
Unknown
And I was like, okay. And all of a sudden I'm lined up with Darrell, Hansel, Johnny World Ward, Kevin Powell, Kevin Daniels, Mike wall, and I think there was maybe one other one I can't remember. And these are like, Kevin Daniels owns, fix hardware in North America. Darrell Hansel was, one of the hardest slab climbers in the world.

00:29:05:13 - 00:29:46:02
Unknown
Kevin Kevin Powell was Darrell Hanson's partner when they were kids, developing Whitney Portal. and Mike was just your classic Yosemite crusher. And these are all these old men. And, here I am hooked up with these guys, and they just were like, the world is your oyster steel. It's pearl like, welcome. Welcome to lumpy. and so it all started in Whitney Portal, and then shortly after that, I started March my way up to the high country and established my second grade five since I had been there at that time.

00:29:46:02 - 00:30:24:10
Unknown
And that was on Keeler Needle, where I lived on the wall for ten days, ground up, capsule style, establishing the second free route on Keeler Needle at 14,000ft. And that was 512, which, has been repeated a few times, but that was real low budget at the time. I was taking, bed frames out of the dumpster in the dump in Lone Pine and Hacksaw, and I'm in my campground and, making quarter inch bolt hangers and, you know, with a hand drill drilling out.

00:30:24:10 - 00:30:46:19
Unknown
So I was making the hangers for that route. and my partner and I were up there for ten days, free, climbing every pitch ground up and establishing it all by hand, drilling quarter inch, hand handrail and bolts, which I've gotten a lot of flack for, especially on that route, because that route was established when I was in my 20s.

00:30:46:19 - 00:31:09:16
Unknown
So it's got a lot of balls to it. It's got some teeth. It's pretty ballsy, for sure. big run outs. Like one pitch is called the upside down Screamer traverse. And at that time, I had a really hardcore ethics and we intersected, an 83 route. And I really didn't want to add bolts on his 83 hooking pitch.

00:31:09:18 - 00:31:32:07
Unknown
So the upside down screamer curse was created on that. And I've even had friends that went up there, and they got to that section and they were like, fuck this! And rappelled and pendulum way right to, to bypass it because they were like, fuck you. and so there's a lot of button heads that are like, keyhole hangers.

00:31:32:07 - 00:31:55:04
Unknown
So you got to bring like, your own fucking hangers, which is ridiculous. I think I placed more pitons on that route than I did bolts. And so I think, like, I can't remember the counts in the American Alpine Journal, but it's some silly. It's like 12 pitons, like heat bolts or ten bolt on a 2000ft face at 14,000ft.

00:31:55:06 - 00:32:16:18
Unknown
But that was that was ten days, man on that totally castle style. Freeing the route completely, which was awesome. Did each of you free it or did you guys. Oh, no. We always we always team freed. My partner at the time was, Amy. A-minus. and and I always, not team free. Take that back. We always freed every pitch together.

00:32:16:19 - 00:32:36:00
Unknown
So each person freed each pitch. Yeah. Which I, I have a hard time with. I don't really understand the team free. That's a that's a an interesting thing for me. Okay, just to clarify, team free means that together as a whole, you free the route. Exactly. But it means if I take pitch ten, you don't have to free pitch ten.

00:32:36:00 - 00:32:56:05
Unknown
Your your mission is to free like pitch 12 or 13. Correct. so pitch ten is my, my crux pitch, whereas, my, my code of ethics is like, no, we free the whole goddamn thing together. Yeah. So I go up, I free it, I go back down, and then you free it. No no no no no. Just in non that sense that's extreme.

00:32:56:05 - 00:33:17:05
Unknown
Which is what it is. Yeah yeah yeah. The whole team Clayton climbing it free without falling. So if you, you lead it I follow it as well. Clean. Okay. yeah. But the team free concept to me is one of those things I don't fully understand because, you know, you want to climb all the pitches, right? Yeah. That is not the thing.

00:33:18:09 - 00:33:42:16
Unknown
but prior to killer needle, the first root. Actually, I, I was mistaken, I thought, and it was the first one. The first root I had done was Daniel and Danny Needles to the left of killer. So it goes. Day needle killer needle. Matt Whitney and, day needle. I lived on for seven days. pioneering every pitch on that.

00:33:44:08 - 00:34:08:05
Unknown
and that root to this day is kind of my, like, that one's badass. That one's like, that's the fucking Hulk at 14,000ft. That is. Wow. I've kept I've kept that one quiet. I've freed every pitch and retired it. So it's actually, you know, it's not like bare bones, quarter inch hanger bullshit. I was like, fix it up.

00:34:08:05 - 00:34:33:22
Unknown
Over time. As you know, I got older and acquired more money and got a real job. I've snuck out there and I've been on that route quite a few times. And I'll tell you what, that one, it's sick. but I keep that oboe hidden. You know, the tempo that's out there right now is one of those things that it's like, makes it look like it's like A2, A3, my original turbo, and it's like I have freed every patch except this massive root.

00:34:34:00 - 00:35:03:16
Unknown
And that's actually a goal for this year is to, establish the essentially the the third grade five, free route for me up there. And Daniel was absolutely gnarly, actually, when when I had established that, we had no portal edge, we had no stove, we were eating peanut butter sandwiches and sleeping on ledges that were like, probably two feet by four feet wide.

00:35:03:16 - 00:35:25:19
Unknown
The two of us and just, you know, absolute hell on earth. It was miserable. It was absolute miserable. Drill bits were breaking while his drill in the quarter inch. Yeah, it was gnarly, man. There's probably so many drill bits at the base of that wall. but originally it was like five, 11 a zero. And then just over the years, you know, I've, I've corrected the route and just gotten stronger and better.

00:35:26:13 - 00:35:44:17
Unknown
but that, that in my mind, is hands down one of the, I think the coolest routes I've ever put up. It's got a lot of a lot of really neat flavor and amazing rock on it that you just like like that's one of those things that people, that people should probably know about that want to they know about it.

00:35:44:17 - 00:36:10:23
Unknown
They know about blood of the monkey killer needle. Is that what it's called? And then, and then there's a lot of blood of the monkey on, Keeler and then BCB on the prowl, which is a play on words, because at the time, I was a burger flipper at Whitney Portal when I was younger. And so the tickets would come in and it was bacon cheeseburger bcb.

00:36:11:01 - 00:36:39:15
Unknown
Yeah. and so I cooked a lot of bacon cheeseburgers. but at the time, we had this kind of, like, flick going called, backcountry bandidos. And so it was kind of the idea of, like, backcountry bandidos, prab, but, really cool route, I think. I think online you can find the tail bow. I'm sure people, would enjoy seeing the, free variation and what's happened to it, because it's really, really cool.

00:36:39:17 - 00:37:01:17
Unknown
What is it? So that's that's two. It almost goes through. I bet you I could probably free the roof at like 12 C to 13 A I bet, but I've never climbed 513 because I'm lazy. but I bet you I bet you I could, and that's the only reason why I haven't talked about it. So now people know about and they're going to be like, oh, there's a, there's a rule.

00:37:01:17 - 00:37:34:20
Unknown
There we go. Free one picture up, but then so that's, that's two grade fives, both of which, Daniel right now is five, 12 A0 or C1. We call it C1 because the roof is C1. those are both grade fives. And then Keeler's a grade five, five, 12. And then Mount Whitney, took 26 days to pioneer route that I think only man, probably only a handful of people actually know about because I never published it.

00:37:35:10 - 00:37:56:20
Unknown
and that is King Pile and I think that's like 18 pitches, 12 B and that was also done ground up. But I sieged that one. just because my Whitney's kind of a pile of shit. And so I kind of figured it was going to take a lot of, a lot of cleaning and a lot of patience on it.

00:37:58:11 - 00:38:21:22
Unknown
and since I already had it pile a rope out there from a decade of climbing in the summer, I might as well string it out. but that route itself, actually, my best friend Neil, whose house I doing this podcast and right now, that that route sent him into retirement because a football sized rock came off and almost took him out.

00:38:22:00 - 00:38:40:10
Unknown
He just he looked up at me. He's like, fuck this, I'm done. But being my best friend, he sat in a cave at the base of the wall for the next six hours while I reigned down, personally trying to hit him at this point, because he's just like sitting down there. I could see his head poke out from like, you know, I'm up like 1800 feet on the wall.

00:38:40:10 - 00:39:03:11
Unknown
I could see his head and just like, throw a rock down and see if I can kill him just because it's like, you know, he's he's down there for a reason. Enjoy the show. So we had a lot of fun establishing that route. That was fun. but that route we air quotes. We, Yeah. So yeah, he's like, if you're choosing retirement, I'm going to force you out of retirement.

00:39:03:13 - 00:39:20:20
Unknown
That's what you did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He did not walk away from the base. And when when I got back down after that day's work, man, he was still glowing. He's like, man, that was wild. Because it's like just a meteor shower coming down around the cave that he stopped watching the rocks. so you're like, yes. Yeah, just that's great.

00:39:20:21 - 00:39:39:21
Unknown
I he I could see him when when we were, originally, I was like, you fucking asshole. And I was like. And I was like, oh, that's actually kind of cool if you're doing that of your own volition. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Like like you'd be lying on top of the cave on the rock watching, and then, you know, all I'd have to yell is rock.

00:39:39:21 - 00:40:01:05
Unknown
And you could see this little ant figure run into his, like, barricade and, you know, be tucked in. I really like my boys up there kicking ass. but I, you know, the the thing the thing about that, that Cirque is, they're giant, they're big, they're committing. It's, it's a miniature Patagonia up there. It's like being on the moon, too.

00:40:01:07 - 00:40:24:07
Unknown
It's kind of desolate, and it's like, you know, you're pretty high up. It's not like it's a big wall at 14,000ft with nothing except, so, it has a different feeling. But for me, it was really important to establish three huge routes up there. And no one else has that, actually, which is a lot of fun. You know, I have day needle killer malware.

00:40:24:08 - 00:40:58:03
Unknown
I definitely that those are my babies. And I probably established easily anywhere from 95 to 98% of every single pitch ground up. and then my partner would pre climber pick and choose which pitches after they were established that, they wanted. so it was awesome. but King Pile has been repeated twice by me and then once by, Tyler Caro and Peter.

00:40:58:03 - 00:41:13:23
Unknown
Yeah. I can't remember his last name. Yeah. yeah. And, to be honest, it, you know, it sounded like you kind of stymieing them, which was cool, which you always want to hear. You know, you don't want somebody to be like, oh, yeah, we smoked. You're really good like, that took me 26 days to establish.

00:41:13:23 - 00:41:34:19
Unknown
What do you mean? Yeah. Like. Jesus. and so, talking and talking with them afterwards, they found me because I, I run my business, I Whitney Portal, where I maintain 26 cabins up there. for eight months, they found me on one of my job sites, and they just were like, why haven't you told anybody about this route?

00:41:34:19 - 00:41:56:11
Unknown
I was like, well, you know, I just whatever did it for myself. And they're like, this is a North American classic. This is absolutely ridiculous that no one knows about this. They're like, you should put the top online. I'm like, yeah, you know, I could make and, I, I honestly, I really don't know why I haven't. I think you're allergic to technology.

00:41:58:01 - 00:42:17:02
Unknown
well, we know that based upon this. So we'll we'll give you a couple of drills and get you to sit down at, like, the computer for a day and, like, put some top up, you know, it's you know, my current climbing partner said, which I thought, like, kind of nailed it. My my partner, Trevor Athens, he, what did he say?

00:42:17:02 - 00:42:37:21
Unknown
He said, if if you find the toe bow through the underground, you're worthy enough to get on the roof. And, you know, I thought that was kind of a cool statement just because, you know, there is an underground, like, you know, Tyler's got a toe bow. Like somebody is going to reach out to that guy and be like, hey, let me get that topo.

00:42:37:21 - 00:42:58:22
Unknown
And then, you know, it will carry on. or somebody may come into my house and be looking through my black book and take a picture of it, which is fine. Yeah. Did you just, like, invite the public into your house to, like, steal your car? That.

00:42:59:00 - 00:43:27:06
Unknown
Is like sharpening a knife in the background, as he's, like, saying that, there's definitely a rather large, black book of this area for sure. but so, so that that's just like, a few roots in the Whitney search, but, there's also, you know, you got I took it to South America, and that's when shit started to get real big.

00:43:27:12 - 00:43:42:10
Unknown
And, those mountains down there want to kill you more than the Sierras do. To be honest. You guys want to hear some about that? Yeah, I it's, Let's do it.

00:43:42:10 - 00:44:11:22
Unknown
That's it for today's episode, everybody. I want to extend a huge thank you to Myles for sharing this exclusive, never before heard stories. And thank you, listeners for tuning in. If you enjoyed the episode, please don't forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast. Plus, if you're interested in watching this episode, check us out on YouTube. In our next episode, Myles dives into the detailed stories of his ascents in Patagonia, including the route that got him nominated for the PDR, which involves rockfall, starvation and a whole lot of survival.

00:44:11:23 - 00:44:17:20
Unknown
Until then, keep exploring, stay safe and as always, thanks for being a part of the climbing majority.