68 | Seven Years of Silence Part II w/ Myles Moser

Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in and for being a part of The Climbing Majority. Today, we're diving into part two of our conversation with Myles Moser. If you missed part one, I highly recommend going back to the previous episode before continuing.

This episode is PACKED with stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat. So I will keep this introduction brief. First we explore Myles' incredible experience establishing the first ascent of his route 'Plate Tectonics,' a 21-pitch Grade VI 5.12 C1 on the east face of the North Tower of Torres Del Paine in Patagonia—a 3000ft unclimbed vertical face deemed simply too dangerous by local climbers.. We then discuss his attempt on the Central Tower of Torres del Paine and a climbing accident that left him with a broken ankle 1600 ft off the ground. All I can say after listening to these stories, is that Myles is lucky to be alive and that he is probably one of the most determined and mentally tough men I’ve ever met. Also, the scale and seriousness of these objectives are almost too intense to truly comprehend. Myles has a Youtube channel and I HIGHLY recommend check it out after this episode to help gain some context to the stories he shares in this episode.

Finally, wrap up our conversation by discussing Myles' future objectives and get to reflect on why he chose now to break his seven years of silence…with these remarkable stories of radical first ascents….

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Resources

Learn about Plate Tectonics Grade VI 5.12 C1

Learn about Una Fina Linea De Locura Grade VII 5.12 A3

Myles' Youtube

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:00 Plate Tectonics
• 12:50 Una Fina Linea De Locora
• 27:17 FA's in Lone Pine
• 34:52 Broken Ankle 1600ft Up
• 52:24 Earthquake on the Wall
• 54:51 Future Objectives & Reflections

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.

00:00:24:17 - 00:00:34:19
Unknown
Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in and thanks for being a part of the climbing majority. Today we are diving into part two of our conversation with Miles Mosher. If you missed part

00:00:34:19 - 00:00:44:12
Unknown
one, I highly recommend going back to the previous episode before continuing. This episode is packed with stories that are going to keep you on the edge of your seat, so I'm going to keep this introduction brief.

00:00:44:14 - 00:01:15:17
Unknown
First, we explore Miles's incredible experience establishing the first ascent of his route. Plate tectonics a 21 pitch grade six 512 C one on the east face of the north tower of tourist Alpina in Patagonia. A 3000ft unclaimed vertical face that was deemed simply too dangerous by local climbers. We then discuss his attempt on the central tower of tourist still piny, and a climbing accident that left him with a broken ankle 1600 feet off the ground.

00:01:15:19 - 00:01:35:20
Unknown
All I can say after listening to these stories is that Miles is lucky to be alive, and that he is probably one of the most determined and mentally tough men I've ever met. Also, the scale and seriousness of these objectives is almost too intense to comprehend. Miles has a YouTube channel and I highly recommend checking it out after this episode to help gain some context to the stories he shares.

00:01:35:22 - 00:01:48:21
Unknown
Finally, we wrap up our conversation by discussing Miles future objectives and get a chance to reflect on why he chose now to break his seven years of silence with these remarkable stories of radical first descents.

00:02:00:21 - 00:02:32:03
Unknown
There's also, you know, you got I took it to South America, and that's when shit started to get real big. 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 mean, it's, Let's do it. we we marched to the north tower of Torres del Piney, which is a 3000ft on, climbed east face.

00:02:32:05 - 00:02:49:07
Unknown
And so it's like a two hour bus ride to a seven hour hike in to Glacier Crossing, to a 3000ft wall that when I was sitting in a hostel, I'm talking to these Spanish guys and they're like, no, you got to stay away from that wall. I'm like, what do you mean, Peligro? So this is what I came for.

00:02:49:07 - 00:03:18:10
Unknown
I got a picture of this from some photographer, and I was like, that's what I'm going to warm up on. And I took the same California tactic to Patagonia, you know, ground up capsule style and up in, the Whitney Cirque or pretty much anywhere I go. I'm a huge fan of getting pitches up and just sleeping in in the port, a ledge, like three feet, three feet off of the ground and just, you know, that's day one on the wall, right?

00:03:18:12 - 00:03:40:15
Unknown
And, the next day you'll jog and haul and all that, and we're sitting there, we're cooking away, and all of a sudden, this baseball comes flying through the portal ledge like baseball sized rock. And it just literally it enters the portal ledge, one side goes out the other, and it's just like, holy fuck. Like that was a close one.

00:03:40:16 - 00:04:07:13
Unknown
Like, you know, you get out your suture kit and start patching that up so it up, glue it up and like, wow, what the fuck are we in for? The next 15 days that ensued were like, possibly the most terrifying I've ever been. We had ropes cut, we had equipment failing, we had rocks just constantly berating our portal ledge, just coming through it at.

00:04:07:15 - 00:04:32:22
Unknown
We were sleeping in our helmets on this thing, which I now understand why there hadn't been a rule established on this face. And there were attempts and those attempts actually, they say they summited, but the the the actual truth is, a lot of people have a tendency of lying when no one's looking in in these big wall things.

00:04:32:22 - 00:04:54:01
Unknown
I've definitely learned that traveling around you, you, you know, there's there's it happens. You can draw a little red line all the way to the summit really easily. Yeah. And so there's a lot of hokey shit out there. And being on this wall, we definitely got to see, you know, people's high points and people's bail points. but this wall.

00:04:54:03 - 00:05:26:12
Unknown
Holy shit. So the north tower, the east face of the north tower of Torres del Piney, we've lived on it for 15 days. we plan for 12, and we had to eat our garbage. We were tearing open our tea bags because what had happened is, at some point, Amy and I had decided that we were done like our ropes had been chopped.

00:05:26:14 - 00:05:54:02
Unknown
we had so many rocks coming down on us that it was like we threw in the towel. We were like, fuck this. And we also were starving for sure, because we were really rationing our food correctly. And so when we said, fuck this, all this, I was like, well, let's eat some food. And so we started devouring our food and got all like comatose in the portal ledge, and then woke up the next day and we're like, oh fuck, are we really going to quit?

00:05:54:02 - 00:06:19:20
Unknown
And then we decided not to, but now we ate like fucking three days of rations, which felt great. But now we're like, totally fucked. So we end up, it ends up being like seven days of perfect splitter weather in Patagonia. I believe in Shelton. They had like 15 people. Summit zero Tory. It was like just fucking unbelievable weather.

00:06:19:22 - 00:06:45:21
Unknown
And here we are on this face, which, you know, seven days of sunny weather sounds amazing, right? But the face is, like, glued together by ice in the cracks. So all sudden, like, this thing just starts letting go and we're getting closer to the summit, that it's like fort. You bring it on. And I mean, like, there's pictures on the web of my board.

00:06:45:21 - 00:07:14:08
Unknown
Alleged rain fly edit it's like it's gnarly. I think I still have the original helmet I wore. It has a piece of rock stuck in the helmet. and so we end up, we end up summiting. And I'll never forget this. This was absolutely wild, man. so we summit, we're rappelling down, fixing, fixing one one ball, one piton, or, like, a bolt or a nut for repels.

00:07:14:10 - 00:07:40:00
Unknown
Because we got to get back down there. I camp, and, by the time Amy would rappelled down to me at my anchor, I would have one bolt drill. Takes me about five minutes to drill a 3/8 bolt. And so I'm screaming for, to, you know, off of POW. And then all of a sudden, like, I'm not getting a response because a 70 meter repels and all of a sudden we're pretty close to the summit after we had summited.

00:07:40:00 - 00:08:07:00
Unknown
So we're on. She's on a big ledge. The whole sky just lights up in these fucking meteors, and I'm talking like truck size tires or flight over my head. And all of a sudden I take one to the head, like I take a really big rock, and if I can pretty much knocks me out, I come to and I'm just screaming, hey, hey, hey, I'm not getting any response.

00:08:07:02 - 00:08:27:20
Unknown
And so I got two ropes hanging on the ropes and I'm like, fuck, which one is going to clog the anchor? Which one? Which one? Right. Like I'm so freaked out and I like, didn't have the bolt drilled. I didn't, you know, I'm. I'm fired. We're starving. We're out of water. We've been peeling ice off the inside of the porta ledge and melting our own condensation for water.

00:08:27:22 - 00:08:51:04
Unknown
So we're drinking our sweat, essentially. And I'm just like, fuck. Which one? I think it's this one. So I start jumping the rope as fast I can. Luckily, I chose the right side because I was not aware of what the fuck was really going on. Get up there. I jump like 70m probably, and 60s man. Just like, I'm screaming for it because I think she's dead and I'm expecting her to be gone.

00:08:51:04 - 00:09:12:03
Unknown
And I get out there and she's curled up on this little ledge where I left her, and she just looks me, and she's covered in rock dust, and she has tears writing down her eyes. And I'm just like, what the fuck? And she's like, it just came out of nowhere and it exploded in front of me. I fell asleep for a second and it just fucking exploded outward.

00:09:12:05 - 00:09:31:07
Unknown
I'm like, what the fuck? Why don't you answer me? And all of a sudden, you know, we're a couple, so we're fighting, we're arguing, and then I start dry heaving because I'm like, you know, I want to throw up because I thought she was dead. But I haven't eaten anything for, like two days. So I'm just literally, like, gagging on my own guts, just like, yeah.

00:09:31:09 - 00:09:52:16
Unknown
And, you know, that just was a constant on that wall. And, so we ended up calling that route. We we get down safely. God, I can't remember how many pitches. I think it was like 28 pitches. We established ground up capsule style, and we couldn't free climb, like, six fucking feet on a traverse because we didn't give a shit.

00:09:52:18 - 00:10:19:14
Unknown
We're just like, fuck it. And it was like 512 C one is what we called it. and we it was plate tectonics is what we named it. So that was, like 21, 23 pitches. Grade six plate tectonics 512 C one. Don't quote me on that. But, what's funny is that actual route itself. that was just the beginning.

00:10:19:16 - 00:10:42:17
Unknown
that was like our warmup. That's not what we came like. We came to do that, but our real goal was to then march over to the central tower of Torres del Piney, which is a 4000ft tower and go capsule style free climbing a route called Una Senior Linea de la Cora, which means a fine line of insanity.

00:10:42:19 - 00:11:01:07
Unknown
and that's a grade seven, I think at the time, five, ten, eight, three. And so here we are. We just got totally fucking bombarded by the North Tower. Right? We are shot kick the shit. and what's even funny before we went up, I think these pull up because, you know, you get these sponsored teams.

00:11:01:07 - 00:11:20:08
Unknown
I happen to be in these, like, expedition camps. this this pull lock team came up to Amy while she was, like, in the hot cookie, and they're like, what are you doing, little girl? Because she look like little girl. She's little cute. And, they were just like. Like, what are you doing? She's like, oh, we're going to establish a route on the space of the North Tower.

00:11:20:08 - 00:11:33:02
Unknown
And they just looked at her and she came back to the tent crying. And they totally were dicks to her. And she I was like, well, what are we going gonna do? I she's like, we're going to put a sock around up, I'm North Tower. I'm like, you bet you we are. And so, you know, they kind of had to eat their words.

00:11:33:04 - 00:12:00:23
Unknown
But we, we hiked out a lot of the equipment back to our base camp just simply so we could hike out, find a hardware store, bought a yellow duckie like fisherman ring, rain suit, and, like, bottles of caulking and thread. And I sat there and, like, glued and cocked and, like, hash. This port ledge rainfly back together, which was like, probably from the early 1990s.

00:12:00:23 - 00:12:20:18
Unknown
It was no black diamond, you know, it wasn't anything fancy was an old 85 North Face Rainfly like we were bare bones. All the haul bags I had made for this expedition. the rainfly we got at a gear exchange. The poor ledge, you know, that was at the gear exchange. And so it's all just use secondhand shit.

00:12:20:18 - 00:12:42:03
Unknown
I think most of our clothes were like thrift store clothes that we would find and alter. so we fixed this thing up, and then we're like, all right, let's go for the central tower now. But I mean, like this poor ledge. Rainfly probably we added like 20 pounds of caulking to it. I swear to God. It was like the thing kind of thing is ridiculous looking.

00:12:42:05 - 00:13:16:20
Unknown
and then we, we started, our attempt to free climb on unfinished and linear de la guerra. And I think we're up there for another. I'll call me on this just because it was so long ago. Easily. I think it might have been close to, like, 14 days on the wall, but the weather had shifted, and so we made it up just past the shattered pillar, which is like maybe a third of the way up.

00:13:16:22 - 00:13:47:21
Unknown
And that's when the Patagonia storms opened up and show their teeth. And we were pinned because we were willing to wait, because after, you know, the North Tower, like, psyche out wearing it, we were pinned down in a six by four foot or the ledge for seven days, sitting there hanging on the wall, not moving. And, you know, it would have been disastrous for us to try to, bale off the wall in the conditions we were in because it was nonstop.

00:13:47:22 - 00:14:12:05
Unknown
I mean, it was just like it all started with, waking up one morning and seen the, most amazing sunset I've ever seen or sunrise I've ever seen. And you know that saying among sailors. Red sky in the morn. Sailors take more red sky at night. Sailor's delight. I didn't know that had validity to it, but it certainly does down there.

00:14:12:07 - 00:14:33:13
Unknown
And I mean this, this thing look like a fire in the sky. And what happened for the next seven days was like avalanches off the wall. We're digging out the port edge. We're snuggling to try to stay warm and not die. I, I actually have in my trailer, that I used to live in Tuttle Creek, which is now in my backyard.

00:14:33:15 - 00:14:58:04
Unknown
or documents from that time on the wall. And it's like letters to our parents essentially saying goodbye because we we thought we were going to die. You know, their love letters to our folks and really heavy shit, man. I definitely desired a new port, a large rainfly for this type of scenario, just out of boredom. but yeah, we were being buried alive and freezing to death.

00:14:58:04 - 00:15:24:18
Unknown
So once the storms finally broke a little bit, we, we attempted it, to keep going. but from sitting for. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we we we we sat for seven days and we made, we made another, you know, like. All right, hey, the sun's out. Let's let's give this thing some help. But have you ever sat in the same spot for seven days with your knees touching your chest and your arms around your knees?

00:15:24:18 - 00:15:50:13
Unknown
No. When you stand up, your abdomen tear, you know, you're you're that your whole body is seized. Yeah. And so I remember getting up out of the port, a ledge and just like the two of us, all of a sudden, we were, like, emaciated. We were fucking hurting physically. Like, I remember trying to jump ropes to our high point and just looking at her and being like, what the fuck are we doing?

00:15:50:13 - 00:16:13:01
Unknown
So luckily, you know, we got our senses and, we ended up packaging everything up. And, you know, it's not your sanity. You know, there's rules about throwing your shit off a cliff. But I'll tell you, I love doing that. So you package up those haul bags and you fucking launch them. And that way there's there's no there's no like, you're not riding a pack.

00:16:13:01 - 00:16:37:09
Unknown
You're like, we're in the fuck out of here. Where? And, you know, you break stuff, and you destroy all the haul bags that you spent hours sewing on a sewing machine, which is really sad. but so we, we failed on that, and that was. That was really hard. But at least we, you know, we got one grade, I don't even know if I can call it grade six.

00:16:37:09 - 00:17:03:06
Unknown
We had one grade seven, at least under our belt. That was, first ascent. And we got back to the to the States and, I had no idea, how international apparently that ascent went. But I had a buddy down in Chile contact me and just be like, hey, you know, you were nominated for a play day, or I'm like, fuck you.

00:17:03:07 - 00:17:31:22
Unknown
Oh, well, I got the time. It's like Julie Stack was around and all these, like, Shaun Villanueva and his crew kicking ass. I had to find out about it. at that time, that was, 13 years ago. the climbing scene was very small down in Torres del Pi Day. So when something like that happened, people were fucking site.

00:17:32:00 - 00:17:51:09
Unknown
People were stoked. and so just word of mouth, they got out, especially since I doubt put that forward for you and like now. Yeah, yeah. Really cool. I don't know, I don't know who did it or how it carried on because literally the original Topo, I drew it in a hostel and I left it in the hostel.

00:17:51:09 - 00:18:10:22
Unknown
I think I might have a picture of it or photocopy, but you know, that that was that, you know, same as kind of today where I was like, all right, that one's done. Dust your hands off. And carry on about business to the next one. Has it been repeated? Oh, God, I hope not. Yeah. oh no, I mean Jesus.

00:18:11:00 - 00:18:39:04
Unknown
Holy shit. There are some pictures on there that like, I, I, I could vividly remember and being like, what the fuck were you thinking, Miles? Just because of the the danger you were putting yourself in or the, the climbing was just so outrageous. So here, here's, for example, something that happened and it actually just flashed to me and I can remember this very vividly is, I was always drilling a combination of quarter inch and 3/8 bolts.

00:18:39:04 - 00:19:03:08
Unknown
And down in South America it was always by hand. And, and I remember stepping off the belay really hard moves drill ball to protect it. So I don't, you know, hit Amy in the face and then I'm out there off to the side, which honestly is something that I actually I try doing when I'm first ascending is I really don't like climbing directly above my ball, where it really freaks me out.

00:19:03:10 - 00:19:24:06
Unknown
I have this thing where it's like when you're casting yourself off into the abyss and you don't know what's going to come off, you don't know what's friable. I don't want to kill my partner. I'm totally fine if I if I fucker myself. That's that's totally cool. Even though it sucks. but I do not want to be responsible for hurting you.

00:19:24:08 - 00:19:43:17
Unknown
You know what I mean? It just that's when things get messy. Unless your buddy bails on you and you try to purposely kill it with rockfall. Yeah, it was just like a game. I was just trying to get close to him. And so. So I have a tendency of kind of always veering off left or right, unless it's like a splitter crack right above the blade.

00:19:43:17 - 00:20:01:05
Unknown
Right. It's like I just have it's a natural thing I do, and I've noticed it, when establishing First Descents. And that's just my own personal thing. I just don't want to fall on Kyle like mad. So you don't want me fallen on you? Especially, like, now with the full kit. It's a big kit, my hardest. So don't want asteroids coming down on my head.

00:20:01:05 - 00:20:24:13
Unknown
You know, all those sound terrible. Yeah. Like, my my heart is. I'm talking. It's like a full alpine hammer. I usually have, like, six pitons, maybe like ten bolts. a hand drill, an alpine hammer with a pack and a double rack, if not a triple rack. So there's like it. It's fucking heavy. Yeah. That's insane. That's like 40 pounds or something.

00:20:24:13 - 00:20:40:18
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot, man. I have people come into my house and they want to see the kit and they pick it up and they're just like, you're shitting me. And most of the time they're like, why aren't you climbing? 513 I'm like, because I'm too busy doing this stupid shit. Yeah. And you're you're freeing 512 with a 40 pound rack.

00:20:40:20 - 00:21:00:09
Unknown
Yeah. There's levels. It's totally different than just climbing that grade. You see, I'm not I'm not necessarily always on sighting them. But there's times when that that magic does happen and I'm like, poo daddy's got it. Like yeah. Because it like most of the time that fucking kit still on me too. Just based upon what ends up happening.

00:21:00:09 - 00:21:24:20
Unknown
I'm like, well, yeah. And that's the thing. Like, I mean, we're talking about a 3000ft route to protect the route. If it was a face, you know, you're putting bolts in. I don't even know what 30ft like. I if it's I have found on average if it's a, if it's a bolted face like what I definitely have here in Lone Pine is a lot of, slab climbing.

00:21:24:22 - 00:21:49:19
Unknown
but, you know, slabs a funny term because just off vertical can be considered a slab, right? Yeah. I found in 70m, the average width. Like where I feel comfortable, I'm getting almost like 15 bolts, sometimes less. and that's that's not really a lot of bolts and 200. And what is that, 230ft, I believe, or 232 15.

00:21:49:21 - 00:22:16:04
Unknown
215 I can't remember, I think, but that's just it in retrospect, that's not a lot. You're looking so what is that? Every ten feet, every 15ft, every 15ft, it's honestly not bad. So you're looking at a pretty it's pretty conservative. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. but it's still a 30 footer if you go and and that that definitely has changed with I would say 15 is kind of like my max now I find that's just average.

00:22:16:04 - 00:22:38:00
Unknown
And a lot of it's because, you know, I am older. I have broken myself now taking these giant falls. and, you know, I got business around the mortgage. So it's like, as far as, having the gorilla being like, go further, it's like, I've definitely kind of wrangled it in because I do have the resources to, to spend on there.

00:22:38:00 - 00:22:59:00
Unknown
So, you know, I don't need a break ankles. But on the east face of Taurus, where you like searching for weaknesses and like traditional placements more, or where you just, like, always go, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Of course. Absolutely. Especially out there because, you know, you're, you know, that 100%. And when you look at the wall, it's very fractured, which is probably why I was a total piece of shit.

00:22:59:00 - 00:23:23:11
Unknown
Nobody should ever be up there. but in this particular pitch, I will never forget, I just, you know, being a construction worker, I understand just. Yeah. Good idea. Bad idea. This isn't my. Yeah. Don't put the bull right here. Put the bolts over here. So I handrail this bolt off to the side. I'm probably about 40ft out from Amy.

00:23:23:13 - 00:23:54:14
Unknown
up and out. Right. And get the bull, you know, probably hang on the bolts just because I just drilled the thing and took probably, like, ten minutes a stance. Drill it. And I'm like, all right, let's free this bitch right? And, I pull off a block that is probably the size of two closet doors. and I start cartwheeling down the face with this block, and it's probably about like, a foot thick to two feet.

00:23:54:16 - 00:24:21:07
Unknown
And I am just literally I will never forget spinning in space while holding this thing spinning. And then all of a sudden recognizing, like, I need to push off of this and let go. And like simultaneously pushing the block off away from me and jettison it. And, it was like a 30 or 40ft fall I took. But if I hadn't trended to the right, you know, my partner would have been dead.

00:24:21:09 - 00:24:49:21
Unknown
And that's just par for the course. Like the same thing happened on Mount Whitney when I was setting that route. I went up and put a point five in this roof, and it got kind of grungy. But same thing. Amy was down and to the right and around me. out of the way. I put a 0.5 in holder to take because I was going to start toss and blocked and the whole roof peeled off like this thing, I don't know, probably close, like 1,000 pounds of rock, just peeled off from this point.

00:24:49:21 - 00:25:16:01
Unknown
Five rock solid. Oh my god. And next thing you know is my body goes into this like possum mode where I just like black out and I rag rag doll down the wall and all of a sudden come to and I'm like, whoa, like what happened? And you know, you're watching the rocks still fall. And, you know, I got up there on my rope, actually, I had to cut like ten feet off my, my lead end because it had like it got hit.

00:25:16:03 - 00:25:38:22
Unknown
So that's just, you know, part of the ground up on sighting these pitches, which kind of a lot of fun for me. are you climbing with two or 2 or 1 lead rope? No. two ropes is a pain in the ass. That's such a pain in the ass. no, I have I have a five millimeter tagline, and then I have.

00:25:39:00 - 00:25:58:23
Unknown
I would disagree with you. I know they would, but I just did this down in Patagonia with two ropes. I was like, it's like, this is why am I carrying so much rope behind me? I was like, this is such a pain in my ass. How are you doing? 70 meter repels with a single rope tag line. I'll use a pole line.

00:25:59:01 - 00:26:19:14
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, I'll do a five millimeter cord. I'll just do the, I'll do. I'll just do a big honkin. Not that clogs, clogs the rigging or a carabiner. And so far, it's worked really well so far. Okay. So that that was the North Tower and a failed attempt on, the central tower by Boas. Cool.

00:26:19:14 - 00:26:40:14
Unknown
Well, was cool about the, North Tower was getting nominated for the play, which I wasn't aware of. And then when I finally, like, looked into it, it's really neat because it was like a list of 250 people globally. Right. Which is kind of a lot of people. But around the world, it's really neat. And I was like, number 75, that is South number 75.

00:26:40:14 - 00:27:05:05
Unknown
And I was like an ass. You know, we're just these kids living in Lone Pine that, you know, we made that list with, like, those, those dope ass people. It was cool. But it was also funny because I had no fucking idea that I was on the list of, like, me base. and then, and then came back and kicked ass again in Lone Pine.

00:27:05:07 - 00:27:39:03
Unknown
I think the probably not too shortly after that, I think, you know, I, I definitely had probably a little bit of an inflated ego and then established, pretty gnarly route that has only been repeated once, and that's called, small town throwdown. And that's a 512, a zero grade five on Steel Buttress, which is like, personally my favorite piece of granite in my backyard.

00:27:39:07 - 00:28:02:07
Unknown
It's a 2000ft pristine buttress. And at the time when I went out there, the only people that had roots were Fred, Becky, and Steve Schneider. And so Steve Schneider, Gary Slate put up a root. Fred, Becky and Joe Brown put up the Becky Root, which are like the Becky Root is the classic. That's what people come to do.

00:28:02:07 - 00:28:28:11
Unknown
And not even very many people repeat that route. But all great vibes. and small town throwdown I established over ten days capsule style on the wall, which was pretty awesome to be up there because, it's like, a low hanging fruit in the desert. It's on Lone Pine Peak, it's on the north Ridge. and it's massive.

00:28:28:12 - 00:28:55:18
Unknown
It's just a big fortress of granite. And it's not very cracky. So this is where, kind of the stance drilling really started to, not that I hadn't been doing it in Whitney Portal, but that was just kind of like training. the stance drilling on Whitney Portal turned into one of these, like, you know, 15 bolts out of good in 70m.

00:28:55:18 - 00:29:37:04
Unknown
This is like maybe ten bolts in 70m. And I myself went back and repeated that route and literally was just like, you got to be shitting me. That was terrifying. So there is definitely a lot more like, I'm in my 20s and I'm tough on that route. And there have been some attempts to repeat it, and they've always turned around, except for one where my buddy Andrew, Solomon and Scott Setter, before we had even gotten down to the base of the wall as we set a high camp on the port ledge he was hiking in, and he had help establish some of the route.

00:29:37:06 - 00:30:04:07
Unknown
Yeah, he was definitely belaying and just being a good friend and partner, while setting the route. But when he came up to get the second ascent, I handed him a drawing of the rest of the route. And so he he before I was off the wall, the route got a second ascent, which was fucking awesome. and he was up there until dark.

00:30:04:09 - 00:30:28:22
Unknown
So it's a it's a huge undertaking. The route has a ton of teeth and it is balls to the wall, man. And definitely some hard men have come out and try to repeat it and have not. There's one pitch that's in a zero, and that's something that sadly, I do run into on my routes, and I try to avoid it as much as possible just because, kind of sucks, right?

00:30:29:02 - 00:30:56:22
Unknown
You know, you're climbing all these amazing pitches and all of a sudden you get thwarted by like, either blankness or something so incredibly difficult. It's out of your pay grade, which does happen. And, you know, I had this talk actually with Sean be on a waiver recently down in Patagonia. sit around a fire. And I asked him, I go, Sean, you know, I had read that you, you bailed on this project on, on an f a your duties.

00:30:56:22 - 00:31:16:04
Unknown
I yeah. I wasn't going to drill a fucking bolt ladder. I'm like, well, you know, it it really got me thinking. I was like, oh, man. Like, I'm doing it all wrong, I guess. Well, I did my head. I was like, oh, fuck. Like, this guy is straight core, like. And, you know, we just know each other through passing.

00:31:16:04 - 00:31:47:10
Unknown
And, and so we had a chat about it and, you know, he's like, well, yeah, you know, I'm not going to cheat the wall. And I was like, oh, man, Sean Valen way. We just I cheated the wall off of, and and so for me though, I don't actually, it bothers me momentarily, but it's also one of those things, like, if you can, if you got something that's so incredible that all of a sudden you got to 20ft a bolt ladder just to pull yourself through it in a zero, and then all of a sudden you're right back on to five star.

00:31:47:12 - 00:32:04:15
Unknown
510, five, 11. Climbing doesn't bother me that bad. Yeah. I mean, and that's up to the a essentialist to that. Is that the rules? So you're right. It's like, you know, you're the one ethics for the route. And if someone wants to come in free it. By all means go do it. By all means. That stuff is in place.

00:32:04:15 - 00:32:22:01
Unknown
And in this particular situation, there is a day that I, you know, I, I chase features, I look at walls as, a blank canvas that, you know, once you're up there, all of a sudden they start showing you the colors and the texture of the rock. And you mind. I don't just walk up to walls without study.

00:32:22:05 - 00:32:47:20
Unknown
I spend a lot of time staring at stuff. And this particular route, man, we are on this, these amazing features for the entire way, but it's a very heavily bolted climb. just because that's kind of how, the steel buttress is and that a zero like there is a possibility that somebody's got to free it at hard 513, no doubt which would be sick.

00:32:47:22 - 00:33:06:16
Unknown
but it sure as fuck isn't going to be me. just I don't really have patience, and it's too hard. Pretty hard. and, you know, it may sound like, cheating by doing it, but I'll tell you what. Being the first ascension is doing it. It's a lot of work put on that thing, and it's not easy.

00:33:06:17 - 00:33:34:14
Unknown
and so that, that was five, 12, a zero grade five on Steel Buttress, which very much opened my eyes to that area because I had climbed all the the other two existing routes on that wall. And, I actually was just up there, this past summer and then the November before that, establishing two new grade fives on it.

00:33:34:20 - 00:33:58:14
Unknown
And, I had taken a backseat to climbing just because of life events. And so kind of right off of the cow, I called up my, my partner and best friend, Trevor, and was like, yo, trans, you want to, you want to go put up a new route on BR steel? I got it all scoped out and, let's do it.

00:33:59:21 - 00:34:07:13
Unknown
Hey everyone, please like, subscribe and share this podcast with your friends. Word of mouth is the best way to support the show.

00:34:08:22 - 00:34:09:06
Unknown
And he's

00:34:09:06 - 00:34:43:21
Unknown
like, It's November. I'm like, well, yeah. You know, if we if I wanted it to be easy, we would have done it in summer. And so we were up on the steel buttress two Novembers ago and nine degrees, establishing I think it's. 15 pitches ground up, and we are capsule style for seven days on the wall and on day six I was stance drilling.

00:34:43:23 - 00:35:08:15
Unknown
Five well, I think five for a about 300ft from the summit. And I think I had established like five pitches that day, ground up and keep mine. It's, you know, a lot of work. It's a blank face and so my arms can only take so much. I was just shot and my body just went numb. It's like nine degrees out.

00:35:08:17 - 00:35:38:09
Unknown
And I took like a 30 footer and I snapped my ankle and I was 300ft from the summit. So I'm probably about like 1800 feet up and the adrenaline is pumping and I get up and I may I just thought in one more bolt, even with a broken ankle, because I'm just like fucking livid. And then I tried continue and I'm just like trying to my ankles broken.

00:35:38:14 - 00:36:06:15
Unknown
And I sit down and my goal is serve broken. And he's like, oh fuck. And so from that point, you know, Trevor is my ride or die, man. I can't ask for a better partner these days. Yet he is down for the raw adventure. and he causally has a shitty grin, but he also, he knows this is what I love doing.

00:36:06:17 - 00:36:33:21
Unknown
Like, I just, I love pioneering first descents and going into the void and connecting the dots. And so he really, you just he lets me do it. And, you know, definitely gives me sound advice, but he is my right hand man in this currently. And he looks at me and he goes, Miles, you got to get me down to the portal edge just simply because it's like I'm always the one that kind of manages the ropes on the rappel.

00:36:33:23 - 00:37:08:08
Unknown
And he now has to on his own personal body, take a shit ton of the equipment down to the portal edge. so he's got to be super heavy. I got a broken ankle, and I have to, you know, figure out where all these anchors are in the dark, because that's essentially what we're about to deal with. And I can't remember how long it took us to get down the wall, but it was hours to get to the portal ledge, just the portal ledge hanging in the middle of that face.

00:37:08:10 - 00:37:27:17
Unknown
And when I got to him, because we had to fix lines and all kinds of shit strung out. So we're trying to get as much as we can. But we were also very aware that we're about to abandon a lot of stuff. and he finally gets a point where he's going to go ahead down the fix lines.

00:37:27:17 - 00:37:54:12
Unknown
I'm going to grab some stuff just because I'm starting to gather equipment as I go with my broken ankle. He's gathering shit. He's going to go get the portal ledge nice and comfy for us. And, I'm probably like an hour behind him, and I get to the portal edge, and he he's on his. There's like a Rockledge there, and he's just looking at me, and he's just like, it's okay, you can cry.

00:37:54:14 - 00:38:18:10
Unknown
And I mean, for the last, like, three hours, I've been, you know, fighting this fucking broken ankle, but it's broken. It's severely broken. And I'm having to stand on it and I'm crawling down the wall. I'm using my I'm using my my hand as a leg. I'm sliding on my hip while rappelling double rope rappelling like it's it's full board.

00:38:18:12 - 00:38:35:20
Unknown
and I get down to the ledge and he's got a picture of me, and I'm covered in, like, fix lines because I'm gathering chicks. I'm trying to save as much equipment so it doesn't get destroyed because we're about to abandon the ship. Right. yeah. And so at least I want to get down to the haul bags and, in the poor ledge.

00:38:35:22 - 00:38:57:03
Unknown
And so I get down there, he's got this picture of me just with. He's like, you can cry. And I just start fucking put my head against a wall, and I just start bawling, you know? It's like my first time back. I haven't climbed in three years. yeah. Just all kinds of life transitions have been taking place.

00:38:57:03 - 00:39:18:01
Unknown
I think my dad had just died in October 2nd, and so it was just like a lot of shit going on. And all of a sudden here I have 1000ft in the air by my portal ledge with a snapped ankle. And I just like, you know, I'm just streaming tears. But the party's not over yet, right? so far, yeah, yeah, we're still 1000ft.

00:39:18:01 - 00:39:40:20
Unknown
And, you know, we're theoretically caught in the backcountry here, even though it's like a desert, big wall type scenario. but it's also November. Place is covered in snow. There's icicles on the wall. It's like real shit. And, and so we go to bed and, the next morning, though, that's the worst part, because it's like a reality.

00:39:40:22 - 00:40:01:21
Unknown
Yeah. It's reality. And you know what's funny, though, is I'm actually not one to bring a first aid kit on, on these climbs. You know, I just roll the tape. Will do. But but it's something, something told me, I've just had a lot of injuries as I've gotten older, so I have, like, you know, kind of a stash, like, bike it in or painkillers.

00:40:01:21 - 00:40:17:19
Unknown
I was like, you know what? I'm going to take two Vicodin on this just because, like, I hate ice, I hate it, I hate it, like, any time I've ever gotten hurt because of fucking ice or glaciers. And it's because it's like two ladies have been on the fucking crampons. Or, you know, just when you're cold, you just do dumb shit.

00:40:17:21 - 00:40:41:22
Unknown
I was like, you know, it's pretty icy and cold and I'm going to take two guns. So that's what I got. I got two like, it ends when I wake up in the morning. And, so I take one Vicodin just because I know now I have to put on my mountaineering oath on a broken ankle. And so Trevor calls his buddies like, hey, JP, you know, I hear Miles put on his boot.

00:40:42:00 - 00:41:07:10
Unknown
Oh, Jesus. And I'm just like, I like Lacey. I like it as much as I can. I'm just like, go and get it. It. Fucked me. And I think I cried and so, so, so like, just just for the the the picture for the audience. What, like anatomically happened to your ankle. So we can, like, visualize that I, I broke the towel ice.

00:41:07:12 - 00:41:34:03
Unknown
And so my ankle was. That's serious. Yeah, yeah. So my ankle was, slightly tweaked to the less. So my right ankle was tweaked downward. This bitch had, Yeah. Back. And so, so I, I got this busted, and now it's in the boot. So now it's secure. So we lace the shit out of the boot. I'm one by foot in deep, but we still got 1000ft to repel.

00:41:34:06 - 00:41:56:17
Unknown
Now I'm in mountaineering boots now rock shoes and mountaineering boots on a big wall that, they're really only good in Atreus, you know what I mean? If you're standing on ladders, aid climbing or Jamari, they're great for that. But in reality they suck for rappelling because you can't articulate your ankle. Right. And considering that that's broken, now we have a problem.

00:41:56:17 - 00:42:20:16
Unknown
So we we package up the poor ledge, all the haul bags I think we take out, like, sleeping bags. probably like our puffy jackets. I think Trevor brought down. Yeah. You know, he brought down all the technical climbing cams and that stuff because we would need those when we come back. And, you know, you don't want that shit sitting up there all wear.

00:42:20:18 - 00:42:53:01
Unknown
And so we package everything up, abandoned it on the wall and start rappelling down. And it goes pretty well until we get to the snow. And that it's one of these situations that it's like I have to crawl out for, like the next five hours through a lot of snow. And, you know, I'm with my best buddy. So it's there's a form of entertainment, but he's behind me and he's he's got probably about 100 pounds worth of shit in his bag.

00:42:53:03 - 00:43:19:15
Unknown
And he's packed my, my backpack with just down sleeping bags. And when I fall backwards, I have some form of cushion because I have to walk. I can't just crawl the whole way. So I'm walking up post hole in yellow and we we broke in a trail somewhat on the way in and movement loads, but you know, he he has to sit there, watch his body essentially just have like mental breakdowns every half hour.

00:43:19:17 - 00:43:43:01
Unknown
And I end up eating the other vision. And I think when I first got to the snow. But the the best part is, you know, I have like done great. I like Trevor will even tell you like I did a good job. I got out like I think he actually had to like hold me up once to, to get me up because I was, you know, I'm losing my shit.

00:43:43:03 - 00:44:14:10
Unknown
And, so you could see the car. We are now in dry desert, and I have these tracking poles that I've been leaning on so fucking hard, and I'm, like, 40ft from the car, and both these tracking poles snap simultaneously, and I take, like, a fucking face plant and Trevor just started dying of laughter. He's just because it's like, oh, holy.

00:44:14:10 - 00:44:35:19
Unknown
Or it's so close to victory. Yeah. So me being a stubborn mule, you know, I get home, I sit on my, sit in my chair in my living room and stare at my foot for like, oh, least a day and a half before I even go into the air. And I'm looking and I'm, like, watching the pool.

00:44:35:21 - 00:44:56:15
Unknown
Because, like, it just. It's the same reason. Why didn't I call for a rescue, right. So that's my question. Like, did that, did that ever cross your mind or did like, was that a conversation that you and Trevor had? Oh fuck. To the no, I don't want to read about myself like all the miles fucked up and got himself out.

00:44:56:20 - 00:45:20:22
Unknown
Like, what would you have done in this situation? It's like, no, you know, you do it to do it. I, I that's not it was so inappropriate. I just ain't no bitch. It's like, you know, I got myself in this situation. Give myself out. That's the that's the blue collar in me. I guess. Did I gladly take the title of bitch?

00:45:21:00 - 00:45:41:07
Unknown
Man, who? What did you call a girl? I was like, so it wasn't a conversation at all, like you and Trevor were, like, on the same page the entire time as, like, rescue. Rescue was not an option. Yeah, that never even was mentioned in any way, shape or form. Trevor is a professional mountain guide. People have been rescued for much less.

00:45:41:09 - 00:46:12:19
Unknown
Oh fuck yeah. Totally. No, Trevor. Trevor has, you know, he has been through it himself. And, you know, he's, he's a guide of probably easily, 20 or 30 plus years, professionally. And, Yeah, he he just knows me well enough that that is like. No. Yeah. No. Like, you know, even I even if I, if I died, he knows the, the people to call, to carry me out like there's not going to happen.

00:46:12:21 - 00:46:33:11
Unknown
And on top of it, it's like, you know why? Why put people in, in, harm's way, right? It's only a broken ankle. I mean, so let's let's talk about the injury a little bit, like, what was the prognosis? Like, what actually happened? Did you get, like, like screws? Because from, like, I broke my toes as well. And it was non displaced which was nice.

00:46:33:11 - 00:46:50:17
Unknown
But yeah doctor told me that like it's actually kind of a pretty scary bone to break because it doesn't go oh yeah. Blood flow. And exactly if it doesn't heal well it will just deteriorate and get necrotic. And then you can't even walk on it at all. And it's basically like you, you've lost your foot at this point.

00:46:50:19 - 00:47:26:02
Unknown
So like at some point, at some point what the doctors things happen is walking on it in the boot, relocated it. Wow. And I had no screws and nothing put into it. So not being a bitch saved your foot. But yeah. Yeah, yeah. No. The doctor they so. Well, it's even funnier actually is so I go I, it took me two days to go into my E.R. and then be like, yeah, it's broken.

00:47:26:04 - 00:47:50:04
Unknown
Going to go into ortho, which, you know, I definitely I've become friends with and they, they look at it and they're just like, this is unbelievable. It's like perfectly seated, exactly where it needs to be. like, I, I had no choice. But what's also funny is, you know, I live alone. I heat my house with with firewood, which means I got to go out and chop wood.

00:47:50:05 - 00:48:09:23
Unknown
They put me in this big old cast because they saw me walk in, and then they're like, hey, we heard you break your ankle. Yeah. And then they saw me stand up and walk to the X-ray machine. They're like, are you fucking kidding me? I'm like, what? They're like. They're like, sit down. We conflated putting you in a walking boot.

00:48:10:05 - 00:48:31:15
Unknown
You're dead in a cast. Like, right now, I'm like, five. So they probably in this cast, and I go home and I make it like one week in this cast. And at one point, I think it was day one. I got a plate of food in my hand in the kitchen. I wood floors and tile, and I'm just like looking out my kitchen table.

00:48:31:17 - 00:48:52:23
Unknown
And I'm in this predicament. I'm in like, you got shitty meat right now. Like, how am I going to get to point A? Point B? So I end up, I end up, you know, making do for about a week, and then I show up to ortho and I'm just like, hey, here's the deal. I'm going to cut this cast off or we're going to alter it.

00:48:53:01 - 00:49:10:22
Unknown
And they're like, Miles, you can't put any pressure on your foot. I'm like, no, I need to be able to split wood. I need to heat my house. You know, it's wintertime because it's happened in November. And I'm just like, I need you to cut the bottom of this cast off a little bit and a little bit off the top just so I can like, little, just a life.

00:49:11:00 - 00:49:31:18
Unknown
And they're like, what do you mean, like, why? And then I take out my phone and it had, like, snowed briefly outside, and I went to get firewood and my crutches had snow on them. And my buddy happened to be sitting there and I, like, splayed out like a dead bird on the floor because my crutches were wet and the wood floor.

00:49:31:18 - 00:50:11:05
Unknown
And so I like showed improvement for shit like, this is happening, like, like I'm going to get a rat and they're like, okay, okay, point taken. So they ended up adjusting the cast for me, but I managed to get away with no screws, no pans, no plates, which was cool. but that was, that was kind of, an interesting awakening for me because, now I would say, when it comes to my run outs, etc., you know, being out of work, having this ankle and trying to pay my bills, I was like, oh, okay.

00:50:11:05 - 00:50:41:11
Unknown
Like, we can't let that happen again. So definitely as far as, like, the big macho, wanting to be 20 years old again, no longer was really a good idea as what I've discovered. So subsequently, what ended up happening is this past summer, I went out. I finished the route, which was amazing, and even retrofit as I went because there's no need to, to deal with that again.

00:50:41:11 - 00:51:10:08
Unknown
And I actually got up to the spot where I broke my ankle. And Trevor being such a, good man and partner, I was like, Trevor, you know, it doesn't look that bad, man. And I started to take off from where I broke in myself, and he wouldn't let me leave. He he actually locked down the roof, and he's like, no, you're going to you're going to go up there and you're going to place another bolt like, stand on that bolt and put another one in, because whatever's down below you is going to break you again.

00:51:10:08 - 00:51:29:12
Unknown
It's you fall. And I was like, wow. All right. Thanks. Voice of reason. Right. So you know, he he he was he was on it. And I got to I got to say like thanks to him tip my app because like that's a fucking valid point, right? It's like you don't you may be able to do it today, but what about the next guy?

00:51:29:16 - 00:51:49:03
Unknown
And so I after breaking the ankle that kind of definitely changed my my concept. But I was cool. So we finished that group. And then I think we took maybe like, a week off because we were out there for quite a while, and then we just moved all that equipment that had been out there, moved it probably about 100ft down the wall.

00:51:49:05 - 00:52:16:11
Unknown
And then we established another grade five ground up, over, you know, I think another ten days on the wall. And so in one year, I hammered out to two grade fives that are incredible, which no one knows about. Of course, you know, I don't even think I've drawn a toe bow. And that was, last summer. And then, yeah, that's that's just some of some of the good stuff.

00:52:16:17 - 00:52:38:13
Unknown
But that's kind of, that's kind of what I did do from the backyard. You know what, though? Lone pine had a 6.0 earthquake. Did you guys hear about this? Yeah. So there's this girl who's on Instagram called round the World girl, and she was on fire. Correct. When it happened. I was on Whitney Portal Buttress when it happened.

00:52:38:15 - 00:53:03:18
Unknown
How was that experience? You know, as climbers, have you guys always been curious of what it's like? Like, right. Like what what what went on about it. But I'm pretty intrigued right now. Holy fucking shit, man. A 6.0 hit and hit in that canyon was like, I'm on like A57 flake. And the whole thing starts barking me off.

00:53:03:20 - 00:53:28:22
Unknown
And I mean, like, way shaking like like my my hands are holding the flake and I'm flagging off of it. That's how hard it's shaking me. My god. Okay, then. And then all of a sudden, like, my feet come back to to the wall and like, the mountains around me are completely crashing down. We're watching like boulders the size of houses flying off of things like decapitating trees.

00:53:29:00 - 00:53:52:06
Unknown
I got hit in the arm by a branch that ended up sending, like, a pencil into my my forearm. Just totally like, oh, gnarly pieces. And, it broke into a bunch of pieces, inside the arm. And so the doctor could only get out so much. He's like, hey, your body wash out the rest. I'm like, are you kidding?

00:53:52:06 - 00:54:23:03
Unknown
And so, like, for the next week, these quarter inch chunks would just get popped out. And that was I was the only victim in Lone Pine that got injured. Wow. Which was absolutely ridiculous. But, I mean, all hell broke loose. We had like, helos and Chinooks all over the Sierras, this lower southern Sierras because of that earthquake. And they were just, extricating people just constantly, like, just getting them the hell out of there.

00:54:23:05 - 00:54:47:20
Unknown
just full evacuation because the whole place became unstable. Wow. So that was absolutely nuts. So, yeah, it's it's, it's definitely a wild time. And it's it's, extremely while, doing the pioneering, out here. But that's just some of those, like, some of the major walls. Those are some of my favorite walls. Yeah. that's what we're here for.

00:54:47:22 - 00:55:19:08
Unknown
But, you know, those those are kinda kind of small compared to what I would really like to do. I'd really love to, go establish a first ascent on, Triangle Tower. I had plans, to head to, like, mounts or, Baffin Island. Asgard. Those are definitely on my list to do phase on. And, you know, those are all probably be funded by pounding nails, and making stuff.

00:55:19:13 - 00:55:42:03
Unknown
I don't think so. At this point with the accolades, I guess not. That's not the right word to the, let's just say, the Black Book. Like, you could approach. I would say at this point, you could approach any brand with that black book and be like, hey, look what I've done. This is what I want to do. Give me some fucking money or some equipment.

00:55:42:03 - 00:56:07:00
Unknown
And I feel like they would do it. Have you I think I have, I definitely, you know, I had some pretty decent sponsors years ago that always treated me very, very well. and, you know, honestly, I think a lot of that just kind of comes down to I somewhere in my mind, I have this idea that there's better acquirers out there that, you know, deserve that.

00:56:07:02 - 00:56:27:02
Unknown
and maybe it's just because, you know, I, I've worked so hard to get to where I'm at, as of now that, like, you know, I'm not afraid to put my nose to the grindstone, and I got to make. And I'll make it. If I can afford it, I'll buy it. that, I'm very kind of grassroots when it comes to it.

00:56:27:02 - 00:56:51:16
Unknown
And, you know, not to say that, that's not a possibility, because I have had some big sponsors. I had sponsors fly me to China, which was cool. and so, yeah, if I chose to, I could probably do it, but there's, you know, something deep inside me that's just very much like, you know, if you want it, you can do it yourself.

00:56:51:18 - 00:57:13:20
Unknown
and relying upon somebody, for instance, you know, relying on a grant, it can be heartbreaking when you don't get that grant. But I've been there, and I have not gotten grants when I was younger, and it kind of devastated. so it can have an effect because you think, like, everything's relying on getting that, either, that sponsorship or that grant.

00:57:13:22 - 00:57:42:20
Unknown
And, you know, the truth is, you know, work a little harder, but, you know, I, I currently, I, I was down in Patagonia and I have a massive project, and that's the whole reason why I went down there this past winter was to, go see my, you know, area of my tours, Del Piney, Cirque and I hadn't been down there in ten years, so I went down there with the strict mission, finding the next project.

00:57:42:20 - 00:58:11:01
Unknown
And, you know, I think I, I think I sound what I want to go down and, you know, I I'll probably reach out to a few companies, but even if I don't get it, you know, I still, you know, I can patch the holes, my puffy jacket and whatever and make it happen. but even for that, for instance, actually, I've been going to the used gear shop recently and buying, used dynamic ropes for like 30, 40 bucks.

00:58:11:03 - 00:58:34:15
Unknown
Just so I have fixed lines to fly down there. so, you know, once I'm down there, you know, they'll stay down there, I'll give them away. I'll give them to the gauchos. But, you know, literally currently buying used rope or, probably close like a 3000ft loss project out there. which I'll probably be on the wall for about 40 days, I would imagine.

00:58:34:17 - 00:58:59:02
Unknown
Maybe 30, if I'm lucky. This is going to be your biggest objective yet. Yeah, I would say I would, you know it. Well, yeah, I actually I end up going back for the central tower of tourist El Piney with Amy, after that first attempt, and we ended up actually living on the wall for 19 days. So that's the longest I've ever lived on a cliff.

00:58:59:02 - 00:59:29:18
Unknown
I was up there for 19 days, and we freed. Man, I bet you probably close to like. 85, 90% of the route. but once we hit this corner system on that route, which was solid a three peaks and, you know, really just gnarly, gnarly eating. at that point, I think we had thrown the, the free asset out the window, but we did a damn fine job frame what we could eat.

00:59:29:20 - 00:59:53:22
Unknown
But, what was cool about that coming back to that was, we we were up there. We were the second asset, and the first capsule style was set of that route, because when they originally did it, they they sieged the entire wall team. And that's not to knock that team. They did a fabulous job there. Young badass.

00:59:54:00 - 01:00:20:00
Unknown
kids, I'm not sure if they were kids, but, you know, I wouldn't surprise me if they're in their 20s or a few of them in their teens, but, so we lived on that wall. We got the second set, finished it out. didn't have to sit in two gnarliest storms. but that's still the biggest thing at 4000ft that I, have really put my head to.

01:00:20:00 - 01:00:43:00
Unknown
But, you know, during your towers, literally just around the corner for me, that is definitely something that is going to happen. And if I'm going to go to pack, stand to do Triangle Tower, I'm not going to go there. To repeat in Turtles Eternal Flame, I'm going to put my fucking name on. That's a guarantee that AC that's like a huge statement for sure.

01:00:43:02 - 01:01:04:06
Unknown
Yeah, that's why would a why would I fly halfway across the world to be like, oh, I repeated a route. No, it's not that. You know, I'll be the one to submit your, appeal it to Oregon for that one that's here. That fits. That's you're not good at you'll you'll just put it in the black book and sit on your couch and forget about it, and I'll be the one that tries to push it out for you.

01:01:04:08 - 01:01:28:14
Unknown
You can jump back on the podcast again this this thing going on in South America. It's going to be, it's going to be my my partner, Trevor, you and I are going to go down there. We'll, we'll team up with my, my climbing partner that I was hanging out with down in Chile. And you know what's actually the coolest part about, Nico, school is he has the the original porta ledge from the north tower in the central tower.

01:01:28:14 - 01:02:04:16
Unknown
I gave that to I. Wow. When I was down there. So that that portal edge is probably going to come on this wall, but I have a duplicate rainfly that fits that, that he'll be taking up on the wall. So we'll be a three man team, probably around like 30 days. And what's sick is, remember I was talking about the crystal layers, and, you know, just the are the name of the expedition when I was there is what we're going to be climbing is a vertical quartz and die for about 3000ft.

01:02:04:18 - 01:02:29:01
Unknown
And this thing is anywhere from, like, 20ft wide to like six feet wide. And it just serpentine its way up this massive, thick wall. so much so that when you look at it, you think it's ice. So different times a day. Make this thing just pop and shine. Wow. And, yeah, it's really cool. And I look forward to really get some sick crystals out.

01:02:29:01 - 01:02:48:14
Unknown
Root, you're going to use your ascender to to get some of the quartz out of the deck. You're going to bring a third one just in case you're like, hey, I need my backup ascender, please. Luckily, likely there will be three of us, so there'll be three hours. I'm sure I can do like a hammer or two. A hammer instead of a bucket center.

01:02:48:16 - 01:03:06:04
Unknown
But that. That's actually. While I was down there, I went down there to find a massive project to go say hi to, towards the party again. Wow. and when is that? When is that objective happening? We are leaving in December. And so actually, what's funny is I had told you earlier about possibly blowing out my LCL.

01:03:06:06 - 01:03:23:05
Unknown
yeah. Two nights ago, when I was sitting there talking to the doctor, I, I made it very clear I was like, I had an expedition leaving in December. And he's like, all right, we'll get you fixed up before that. I'm like, I mean, like within days, right? He's like, yeah, we got to cut you. We're going to fix it.

01:03:23:05 - 01:03:46:14
Unknown
I'm like, how long's my recovery is? Like, you'll be like, all right, boss, let's get this. Hey, let's get this done now. So I'm like, you know, it seems like when I, when I tell people like I'm leaving in December to go do this, they're like, answer. Let's get that. Take care. Catch you. Yeah. I mean, I think it's important to lay down the vision and what exactly you're looking for, because otherwise, I mean, they don't fucking know you.

01:03:46:14 - 01:04:13:07
Unknown
No, no, no. And of course, the doctor ask questions. So I had to show a picture. He's like, oh, God. Yeah. It's like, let's get you fixed. You know, it's it, it's it's funny, to actually even be on this podcast because I like myself just as this little pioneer and a no name climber that lives in Lone Pine, California, of all places, because I'm sure you noticed, there's not a lot of climbers here, if actually any really?

01:04:13:09 - 01:04:44:14
Unknown
Yeah. It's interesting, I think that, I mean, just having listened to these stories and looking at these objectives that you've done, like, I mean, fuck, like if, if, if someone had professionally documented all of these objectives, in a sense, I mean, you'd be all over the place. But, you know, and that's that's the weird, the weird thing about these days, it's like, not necessarily what you're doing.

01:04:44:14 - 01:05:10:06
Unknown
It's like how you share what you're doing. And it's like this double edged sword. It's like, is it, is it really why I'm doing it? And it's kind of like what we talked about in the beginning. But, yeah, you know, I, I rode I started writing an article a long time ago and I, I think I buried it just because, I don't know, I, I just struggle sometimes wanting to, put something in print for people.

01:05:10:08 - 01:05:27:06
Unknown
it's just that concept. And I think I said earlier, it's, the adventure, you know, you walk this line, it's the adventure has been lost or it hasn't been lost. And it's like, who's adventure are you doing it for? Are you doing it for yourself? Are you doing it for the masses? Are you doing it for clout?

01:05:27:08 - 01:05:58:03
Unknown
You know, and that's that's something that I really, I get confused on. And I've actually been working on something, called seven Years of Silence. And I've been trying to to write this out, for a long time because it's like, I haven't really documented anything publicly in almost seven plus years. You know, I was really into writing stuff for the American Alpine Journal and at the time, I was a huge, super terrible bug.

01:05:58:04 - 01:06:28:04
Unknown
I love that that form. But, you know, that's not with us anymore. And to be honest, Mountain Project's not really my scene. I could really care less about what's on there, what gets said. and I just feel that I get conflicted sometimes with the idea of like, you know, why am I actually putting the route up for the public, or am I putting it up because I love that adventure so much?

01:06:28:04 - 01:07:00:17
Unknown
Am I doing it for me? But then you walk that way. I of like, is it selfish that I'm not sharing the public this these things to the public? Like is, you know, is that a dick move? you know what my record is? I. Yeah. What? I feel like you should keep everything you've done super quiet until you essentially retire one way or another and then write a, a guidebook called, However Many Years of Silence and just release it to the public.

01:07:00:19 - 01:07:25:19
Unknown
That's exactly what Travis said all at once. Just like once you're ready to be clean. What? Your hours. 20 years of silence. The guidebook, 20 years. This box. What the hell is this? Every room. It's like Zach's like certain death. Not. Yeah. There's no reaper. No. Like that beheaded by that storm. Yeah. Just say that to keep them.

01:07:25:21 - 01:07:57:00
Unknown
Keep them off of it. Yeah. Nods like I definitely even that. Even that idea is crossed my mind. But it you know, I'm definitely very conflicted and I, I don't know why I don't talk about it. I maybe I just get shy easily, but you know, some that here's something about myself that I actually struggle with. just to open some doors is, you know, I can go to a sport climbing area, and I have good days and I have bad days, and some people know me, just by the ascents I've done.

01:07:57:00 - 01:08:26:11
Unknown
And they have this idea that I should be able to climb 513 or that, you know, that's almost like a standard. Now, if you're if you're a hard climber, you definitely should be able to climb 513. and I can a lot of it is because I've never sat down. I've never tried project, you know, 513 just because, I don't have the patience to do it if I, if I'm going to take that type of effort to do that, I'd rather go put up, a 15 pitch.

01:08:26:11 - 01:08:52:01
Unknown
510. See, to be perfectly honest. And, you know, compare to one pitch, I can go get 15, five star pitches that are ten, see, which would be an amazing route, right, by anybody's standard. but sometimes when I run into these people, they're like, oh, you. It's from long time sick, man. I like, write about you. And then all of a sudden they see me climb and I'm like, I'm not what they thought I was going to be.

01:08:52:01 - 01:09:16:13
Unknown
And I'm like, good. And so that's that's definitely something. So maybe there's like a small part of me that's like, you know, I just do this for myself because I enjoy it. I enjoy that type of style of climbing. It's my adventure. if anybody is, this is giving you negative energy or whatever for what you're doing or what you're quote unquote not doing, they can go fuck themselves to be honest.

01:09:16:13 - 01:09:35:08
Unknown
Yeah, I, I can't even say that anybody's ever given me that negative energy. But you know, how you get in your head sometimes it's like, you know it. I some people, bake. I'm like this super hard man, badass. And in my mind, I'm not really that hard, man. Or a badass because I can't climb at the certain grade.

01:09:35:08 - 01:10:00:09
Unknown
I just I'm really good at putting up first ascents that are really big and fucking scary. Here's here's one thing. This is this has always been a childhood dream. My and this just kind of puts in perspective of how I feel about, grades and climb my dream. Ever since I was a little kid living in Yosemite has always been the idea of pioneering.

01:10:00:11 - 01:10:38:03
Unknown
And I know this is ridiculous. Pioneering a 510 route up El Capitan that just bobs and weaves through all the existing routes. And if you could find that magical line that does that, that would be the world's greatest route, right? Because grades don't necessarily make a great climb. Right. And and that's something that I kinda sometimes get bothered by is I feel like sometimes, since climbers is a very number based game, that that's what it's all about.

01:10:38:03 - 01:11:01:07
Unknown
Whereas for me, most importantly, is the time with my friend putting up these routes, but also the adventure, you know, the the blacking out while ragged, falling down the wall, while the roof pulls out. Like I'll never forget that. And no one will experience that on that route because that roof's got, you know, that was my adventure that I get to take with me.

01:11:01:09 - 01:11:27:01
Unknown
it's quite the receptive. Yeah. Yeah. So but you know what I'm saying? It's like it's it's it goes hand in hand with that, the adventure, hasn't been lost or the adventure has been lost until you walk that light. And it's just those moments, too, that you can't write in a topo either. You know, it's like, yeah, this this roof used to be here, but I tomahawk down the cliffs, clutching on to a boulder for 40ft.

01:11:27:02 - 01:11:46:04
Unknown
Now it's not there. And it blacked out. I had to cut my rope. Yeah, my not so at a chop. I know, and I think it's, it's important to share these stories and stuff. And, I appreciate you being here. And you, you kind of alluded to the fact that it's, like, not something you normally do. So I'm curious as to why.

01:11:46:05 - 01:12:07:23
Unknown
Why now? Like what? What, what about now? has kind of got you to the point where you're open about sharing these stories, you know, to be honest, I, I, I kind of actually, I'm sure you gathered, you know, I kind of ignored you for a while about it. Right, Kyle? Like, I, you know, you send me that final email me and like, yo, bro, you want to do this or not?

01:12:08:03 - 01:12:46:08
Unknown
And, I put some thought into it. I was like, you know what? Like, I, I kind of broke my rule. I was like, well, you know, seven years of silence, right? Like, why not tell people about some of this stuff? Because, you know, maybe there is actually a part of me that I want people to come out and, and experience some of these monstrosities I've created, and, you know, get their take on it, because Lone Pine is, you know, it is growing, but I'm still really the only, real diehard climber here.

01:12:46:10 - 01:13:07:09
Unknown
and I strictly moved here for the climbing and low point, so it's like, maybe, maybe there's a part of me now more than ever that I. I would like to see people coming and, you know, being on the walls of witness portal, or on a steel buttress. I was out on the steel buttress for 40 days.

01:13:07:11 - 01:13:29:19
Unknown
The 2000ft piece of stone. And I didn't see a soul. There was no one except me. And my partner. And, you know, it's only an hour and a half hour 45 block from the car. So, like, maybe, maybe there's a part of me that I would like to see more life come here. And I think also it's just like, you know, I'm getting older.

01:13:29:21 - 01:13:57:14
Unknown
I'm 36 now. That's lived a hell of an adventure. And, you know, maybe it's time to start sharing it, which has been pretty neat tonight, to be honest, is a lot of these stories, you know, they're they're not written down. These are just stories that, you know, flash in my memory time to time. so yeah, I think I think, kind of letting people into the sandbox and realizing what's here is actually kind of a good thing.

01:14:00:09 - 01:14:19:04
Unknown
That's it for today's episode. Everybody, I want to extend a huge thanks to Miles for trusting our show to capture and share these truly epic, untold stories and thank you, listeners, for tuning in. If you'd like to learn more about Miles, check out our links in the show notes. One final thing. We need your help. Please share this podcast with your friends.

01:14:19:04 - 01:14:33:10
Unknown
Word of mouth is the best way to support the show. Plus, don't forget you can watch our full episodes on YouTube. Until then, keep exploring, stay safe. And as always, thanks for being a part of the climbing majority. See you in two weeks.