The Climbing Majority
Most of today’s climbing media is focused on what happens at the edges of the sport involving the most experienced and talented climbers in the world. Your host Kyle Broxterman believes that most of these stories and experiences do not directly relate to the majority of climbers that now exist. As a part of this group, he is here to give this new Climbing Majority a voice. Tune in as he explores the world of climbing, through the lens of a non-professional.
The Climbing Majority
94 | Local Legend of Lover's Leap w/ Petch Pietrolungo Part I
Today’s episode brings us to one of California’s most iconic granite crags: Lover’s Leap. If you’ve ever climbed here, you already know what makes it special—600 feet of mostly vertical granite laced with splitter cracks and wild horizontal dikes that jut out up to a foot. The featured nature of the rock makes the climbing feel surprisingly secure and approachable, even on steep terrain. But beyond the rock itself, there’s another reason Lover’s Leap is such a memorable place—and that is the local legend who’s made it his home: Petch Pietrolungo.
Petch is the founder and operator of Lover’s Leap Guides, the longest-running local guide service in the area. But beyond that, he’s played a huge role in protecting and maintaining the area—working with the Access Fund, CRAGS, and the Forest Service to preserve trails, support nesting raptors, and ultimately give back to the climbing community If that weren’t enough, he’s also put up more than 50 routes at The Leap—ranging from 5.5 all the way to 5.12d—and some of them have already become modern classics. It is safe to say that Petch is a true steward of the land.
But what Petch is maybe best known for besides his contagious level of stoke for climbing is his deep relationship with free soloing. For him, it’s not about risk or ego. It’s a methodical, meditative experience. It’s also very efficient—Petch holds a personal record of climbing 112 pitches in a single day. That same love for big linkups spills over into his guiding, where he offers “birthday pitch” days—where clients climb the number of pitches that match their age. Some have climbed over 50 pitches in a day.
But Petch didn’t always live in the small town of Strawberry. He didn’t even start as a climber.
This is part one of my conversation with Petch—and in this episode, we go way back. From his early days as a surfer to a near-fatal rappelling accident that shaped his relationship with risk. We explore his eight month climbing road trip that took him to iconic places like Red Rock Canyon, Joshua Tree, Devils Tower, and the Wind River Range. A trip that would eventually land him in the small town of Strawberry and his now home crag… Lover’s Leap.
We close off this part of the conversation with his firsthand account of the 2021 Caldor Fire, and how close it came to wiping Strawberry off the map.
This is the first time Petch has ever spoken publicly about his life on a podcast, and I’m honored to bring it to you. So without further ado, here is The Leap’s local legend…Petch Pietrolungo
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Resources
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:09:24
Kyle
Welcome to the Climbing Majority podcast, where I capture the stories, experiences and lessons of nonprofessional climbers, guides and athletes from around the world.
00:00:09:26 - 00:00:14:17
Kyle
Come join me as I dive deep into a more relatable world of climbing.
00:00:15:05 - 00:00:41:27
Kyle
Well what's up everybody. And welcome back to the Climbing Majority. Today's episode brings us to one of California's most iconic granite crags, Lover's Leap. If you ever climbed here, you already know what makes it special. 600ft of mostly vertical granite laced with splitter cracks and wild horizontal dikes that jut out up to over a foot. The featured nature of the rock makes the climbing feel surprisingly secure and approachable, even on the steep terrain.
00:00:41:29 - 00:01:02:04
Kyle
But beyond the rock itself, there's another reason Lover's Leap is such a memorable place. And that is the local legend who has made it his home patch. Pietro Luongo Petch is the founder and operator of Lover's Leap Guides, the longest running local guide service in the area. But beyond that, he's played a huge role in protecting and maintaining the area.
00:01:02:07 - 00:01:32:02
Kyle
Working with the Access Fund, crags and the Forest Service to preserve trails support nesting raptors and ultimately give back to the climbing community. If that weren't enough, he's also put up more than 50 routes, the lead ranging from five five all the way to 512 D, and some of them have already become modern classics. It's safe to say that Petch is a true steward of the land, but what patches may be best known for, besides his contagious level of Stoke, is his deep relationship with free soloing.
00:01:32:05 - 00:01:59:17
Kyle
For him, it's not about risk or ego. It's a methodical, meditative experience. It's also extremely efficient. Petch holds a personal record of climbing 112 pitches in a single day. This same love for Big Link ups spills over into his guiding, where he offers birthday pitch days where clients climb the number of pitches that match their age. Some have climbed with him over 50 pitches in a day, but Petch didn't always live in the small town of strawberry.
00:01:59:19 - 00:02:28:00
Kyle
He didn't even start as a climber. This is just part one of my conversation with Petch and in this episode we go way back from his early days as a surfer to a near-fatal rappelling accident that shaped his relationship with risk. We explore his eight month climbing road trip that took him to iconic places like Red Rock Canyon, Joshua Tree, Devil's Tower and the wind River range, a trip that would eventually land him into the small town of strawberry and now his home, Crag Lover's Leap.
00:02:28:02 - 00:02:48:00
Kyle
We close off this part of the conversation with his firsthand account of the 2021 Caldor fire, and how close it came to wiping strawberry off the map. This is the first time patch has ever spoken publicly about his life on a podcast, and I am honored to bring it to you. So without further ado, I bring you the leaps local legend pitch.
00:02:48:01 - 00:02:50:15
Kyle
Pietro Luongo.
00:03:01:21 - 00:03:06:27
Kyle
Oh, you go to the valley in the winter.
00:03:07:00 - 00:03:10:15
Kyle
Yeah.
00:03:10:18 - 00:03:14:27
Kyle
Okay.
00:03:14:29 - 00:03:17:28
Kyle
Yeah. Hell, yeah.
00:03:18:01 - 00:03:24:25
Kyle
What routes have you done on El Cap?
00:03:24:25 - 00:03:28:28
Petch
a long time ago. I've done the West face, these buttress, but mostly just cracking.
00:03:29:07 - 00:03:29:24
Kyle
Yeah.
00:03:29:26 - 00:03:39:08
Kyle
Do you have any rec recs for cracking at the base of El Cap? Any particular pitches?
00:03:39:08 - 00:03:41:10
Petch
blast is so good that ten c.
00:03:43:01 - 00:03:44:25
Petch
That Sacher cracker.
00:03:45:27 - 00:03:48:04
Petch
I took a huge whipper on it a couple of years
00:03:55:02 - 00:04:05:14
Kyle
Oh shit. Hell yeah.
00:04:05:16 - 00:04:09:09
Kyle
Nice. Yeah. What about.
00:04:09:12 - 00:04:14:18
Kyle
Was it Moby Dick left or center or whatever it is?
00:04:14:18 - 00:04:15:00
Petch
same.
00:04:15:00 - 00:04:19:28
Petch
Day actually, I think, yeah, it was like the, the, the hands
00:04:20:26 - 00:04:23:26
Kyle
Yeah. To the like you just like a 30ft splitter. First climb.
00:04:23:26 - 00:04:26:18
Kyle
Yeah. Cool.
00:04:26:28 - 00:04:27:14
Petch
Yeah.
00:04:27:16 - 00:04:29:10
Petch
It's so good.
00:04:29:13 - 00:04:30:23
Petch
But I, I it to all of me a.
00:04:30:23 - 00:04:31:24
Petch
Lot.
00:04:31:26 - 00:04:37:29
Petch
In the summertime and we'll just daytrip it there too. Because it's like three hours.
00:04:37:29 - 00:04:39:00
Kyle
That's not too bad.
00:04:39:07 - 00:04:50:23
Kyle
It looks like there I mean we've really kind of, a long lasting winter. I was hoping to be able to get through the pass, but it looks like that's not going to be the case.
00:04:50:28 - 00:04:56:21
Petch
Last year, they opened up to me the day before. They opened it up.
00:04:56:21 - 00:04:59:16
Petch
To cars on, for bikes.
00:04:59:18 - 00:05:00:21
Petch
And I rode my bike.
00:05:00:24 - 00:05:03:14
Petch
I rode my bike in from Tioga.
00:05:03:16 - 00:05:13:07
Petch
And then I brought shoes and a chalk bag, and I sold it on, stately pleasure down in the circle, like, just no cars. Just people on bikes
00:05:13:20 - 00:05:15:10
Kyle
That's cool.
00:05:15:10 - 00:05:16:26
Petch
hopefully I'll be able to do that again.
00:05:17:18 - 00:05:18:14
Kyle
Yeah.
00:05:18:17 - 00:05:25:16
Kyle
Yeah. How how often do you get to to travel for climbing outside of the, the lovers leap kind of area?
00:05:25:16 - 00:05:33:07
Petch
You know, I do a lot of day tripping. This season, in the summer, like tomorrow, I'm going to Caledon.
00:05:38:13 - 00:05:47:13
Petch
dome. Generally. Not many people are there. If anyone. There's some, I mean, Yosemite quality granite.
00:05:49:13 - 00:05:53:24
Petch
And I'm getting we're getting on a new, shroud. It's a 15 pit trout.
00:05:53:24 - 00:05:55:13
Petch
That's how big it is.
00:05:57:05 - 00:06:02:25
Petch
It's going to pitch a 12 minus on and then a handful touches of 11. Looks really,
00:06:03:18 - 00:06:04:11
Kyle
Cool.
00:06:05:08 - 00:06:10:23
Petch
Glacier climbed on the Hawk, like, 6 or 7 times, and we just get up early hiking and.
00:06:11:01 - 00:06:23:10
Kyle
Have you done sunspot? How's that? Kind of like how's the crux. The, the I guess there's like the run out traverse and then there's like the 11 V corner. I was kind of, intimidated by that climb last time I was up there.
00:06:24:19 - 00:06:25:10
Petch
Yeah.
00:06:25:12 - 00:06:35:06
Petch
It's, it's been a while. I climb down in 2017 and climb it last summer, but, Yeah. It was good. It was sustained, but. Yeah, it was really. Yeah.
00:06:35:06 - 00:06:39:29
Petch
It is such a beautiful corner.
00:06:40:02 - 00:06:41:04
Petch
Yeah. I mean.
00:06:41:04 - 00:06:42:01
Petch
That rock is just so.
00:06:42:01 - 00:06:42:24
Petch
Good.
00:06:43:12 - 00:07:05:08
Kyle
The rock is awesome. Yeah. We, we had to bail off of Positive vibrations this last season because of the wind. I've never. I've never experienced such absolutely wild winds than I did on, like, we, like, came out of the shelter on the top of pitch four, and it was just, like, blasting, like constant 40 mile an hour winds with, like, gusts that were even more insane.
00:07:05:11 - 00:07:17:17
Kyle
And I was just like, if this if this is crazy, I can't even imagine what Patagonia is like. And the winds that are down there, it's just like this. Just absolutely fucked.
00:07:17:20 - 00:07:28:25
Kyle
No, I mean, like I said, the second you get back down around the, the almost like the nose of it, you're totally protected from the wind. It was just the upper pitches that were just getting absolutely hammered.
00:07:28:25 - 00:07:30:12
Petch
Brad.
00:07:30:15 - 00:07:33:01
Petch
Yeah. You know, I hiked in.
00:07:34:14 - 00:07:36:12
Petch
A couple of times last year.
00:07:36:15 - 00:07:39:09
Petch
And it was so cold. We bailed and, like. Well, one time.
00:07:39:09 - 00:07:40:07
Petch
We pulled in.
00:07:40:07 - 00:07:42:07
Petch
And the lake had whitecaps, and we're
00:07:44:26 - 00:07:48:10
Kyle
Yeah. If it's windy down there is really fucked up there.
00:07:48:10 - 00:07:50:18
Petch
They say if the lakes avoid caps, don't.
00:07:50:18 - 00:07:53:28
Petch
Go in there like. Like we need to get better. I like looking at the weather. We're just like.
00:07:53:28 - 00:07:54:07
Petch
Let's
00:07:56:11 - 00:08:10:21
Kyle
Yeah I feel like that's the one place you can't do that my buddy and I like. It's kind of a drive to get up there. It's a hike to get up there. And both of us are just like, all right, if we're going to go back and redeem ourselves, like the weather has to be for sure. Good. And we're doing it car to car, because fuck all that baby stuff in the campaign.
00:08:10:21 - 00:08:12:19
Kyle
It's like, just get in and get out.
00:08:12:19 - 00:08:14:07
Petch
Car to car. It's actually, it's not.
00:08:14:07 - 00:08:17:03
Petch
Too bad at all.
00:08:17:06 - 00:08:18:16
Petch
Yeah.
00:08:18:18 - 00:08:20:13
Petch
And then, you know, it's also really good. Is that.
00:08:20:20 - 00:08:22:03
Petch
Those spires across from.
00:08:22:25 - 00:08:30:13
Kyle
Yeah. Everyone's talking about how good those are across the valley.
00:08:30:16 - 00:08:31:14
Kyle
Okay, I think that's.
00:08:31:14 - 00:08:36:07
Kyle
Yeah.
00:08:36:09 - 00:08:43:15
Kyle
Yeah. Cool.
00:08:43:17 - 00:08:44:15
Kyle
Cool.
00:08:44:15 - 00:08:44:21
Petch
all you
00:08:47:07 - 00:08:49:08
Kyle
Okay.
00:08:51:01 - 00:08:53:13
Petch
in a 70 meter rope and.
00:08:53:16 - 00:08:55:02
Petch
It goes in the shade at, like, after.
00:08:55:02 - 00:09:05:13
Petch
Once. You can, like, start hiking in at, like, you know, 9:00 am and when the days are long and then just do it and then hike out in the evenings. Pretty sweet.
00:09:06:07 - 00:09:06:17
Kyle
Oh, yeah.
00:09:06:19 - 00:09:21:14
Kyle
Yeah. We when we were up there I'm pretty sure there were some like well there were some just very stereotypical tour and they had just gotten off of that route. I believe that's what they were talking about. And they were just like, it's so good. You know, like everybody's talking about how amazing it was.
00:09:21:14 - 00:09:23:13
Petch
Yeah, it is good. And then.
00:09:23:18 - 00:09:24:06
Petch
I saw you guys.
00:09:24:06 - 00:09:25:11
Petch
Did chocolate corners.
00:09:25:11 - 00:09:26:12
Petch
The other day.
00:09:26:16 - 00:09:47:07
Kyle
Dude. Chocolate flakes. Yeah. That I keep calling it like cinnamon corners or chocolate corners. It's like it's funny. It's the one thing it's hard to say, but. Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm surprised by how many people have, like, recognized it and said they've done it because it seems like at least a mountain project kind of obscure route that no one's really talks about.
00:09:47:20 - 00:09:55:05
Petch
Yeah. My lady and I, we did that in February like, when it was warm and we did that and, and did,
00:09:55:08 - 00:09:55:21
Petch
Dark and.
00:09:55:21 - 00:09:56:27
Petch
Long or dark
00:09:57:10 - 00:09:59:23
Kyle
Oh, yeah. How was that one?
00:09:59:23 - 00:10:02:14
Petch
good. You know, you kind of have to punch, punch it in the cracks.
00:10:02:23 - 00:10:08:28
Kyle
Okay, okay. Yeah. Yeah.
00:10:08:28 - 00:10:12:23
Petch
But unfortunately, that thing came into the side and got really hot.
00:10:12:23 - 00:10:14:20
Petch
And I took a little wipe on that one.
00:10:14:21 - 00:10:16:24
Petch
I thought that one was actually harder.
00:10:16:24 - 00:10:18:28
Petch
Than dark and long or whatever.
00:10:19:13 - 00:10:26:29
Kyle
Interesting. The. Yeah. Everyone says that saucer is, soft and the other one's harder. So it's funny to hear that you think it's the other way around.
00:10:32:22 - 00:10:36:02
Petch
and, I didn't bring in, I linked the first into the.
00:10:36:05 - 00:10:37:12
Petch
Rat, and I didn't bring.
00:10:37:12 - 00:10:50:23
Petch
Enough gear like, it's it was a little heady, like, I was like, whoa. You know, like, there are all these little funky and there's, like, ledge potential. I was a little corrupt in the beginning part, which was only like the 510 section.
00:10:54:08 - 00:11:07:01
Kyle
Yeah. Definitely. Like those two. I got to go back and get those two. I was going to try to top up the 11 but we were, we were fighting the weather. Yeah. There's like some storm coming in. So we just wanted to get off those pitches.
00:11:07:04 - 00:11:11:14
Kyle
Yeah.
00:11:11:17 - 00:11:11:23
Kyle
Yeah.
00:11:11:23 - 00:11:14:25
Kyle
It's been raining the last couple of days.
00:11:14:28 - 00:11:25:02
Kyle
Yeah.
00:11:25:04 - 00:11:48:18
Kyle
I know for sure all the, all the stuff we, end up avoiding to go climbing. Well nice dude. I've got, you know, a trajectory here for kind of, some stuff I want to talk about. You ready to, you're ready to dive in here? All right, so I'd like to start this conversation.
00:11:48:18 - 00:12:09:19
Kyle
You know, obviously, this is a chance for you to, like, tell your origin story. And, I think one thing you said interest that was interesting during our meeting. Great. Was the fact that you you kind of have these two worlds of surfing and climbing and how they kind of merged together. And you ended up going one direction versus the other.
00:12:09:21 - 00:12:24:04
Kyle
So I'm interested in your experience with both how you find some similarities in the two sports, because I feel like there are some, and what ended up kind of steering you, towards climbing and away from surfing.
00:12:24:04 - 00:12:32:08
Petch
So. Yeah, I started surfing when I was 13, and I had an older brother that did a little bit, and I kind of looked up to him.
00:12:33:29 - 00:12:39:25
Petch
I grew up in Southern California. The other valley, not the valley, is down.
00:12:39:25 - 00:12:40:18
Petch
But the.
00:12:40:20 - 00:12:42:02
Petch
Valley of, like. Oh, my God, for
00:12:45:07 - 00:12:52:02
Kyle
What part? What part of, SoCal. I'm from San Diego. I was raised there, like, 0 to 26. San Fernando Valley.
00:12:52:04 - 00:12:53:09
Kyle
Okay.
00:12:53:09 - 00:13:03:11
Petch
you know, it's like Water Valley Girl was filmed and, you know, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, you know, like the Frank Zappa.
00:13:03:11 - 00:13:08:19
Petch
Song That's the Valley. You know, it's like the total suburbs of LA.
00:13:10:02 - 00:13:15:14
Petch
Luckily, where I grew up, there two blocks from my.
00:13:15:14 - 00:13:21:00
Petch
House, like LA. And then it was the foothills of Santa Monica mountains. So I had.
00:13:21:03 - 00:13:27:08
Petch
Foothills run around. Yeah, there was caves. And actually one of those caves had been developed.
00:13:27:10 - 00:13:31:07
Petch
I had the climb there. Yeah, but like one day I was hiking in there and I told my ex-wife, I'm like.
00:13:31:07 - 00:13:33:10
Petch
If I ever had to live down here, I'd.
00:13:33:13 - 00:13:35:27
Petch
I'd developed this cave. And I walked in and there was.
00:13:35:27 - 00:13:37:18
Petch
Bolts.
00:13:37:20 - 00:13:42:14
Petch
But, so, yeah, I started surfing at, Malibu.
00:13:44:03 - 00:13:50:08
Petch
Super busy area. I'm sure it's totally crazy now. Really good wave.
00:13:50:16 - 00:13:56:13
Petch
I ended up getting pretty good at surfing by the time, you know, 17.
00:13:56:16 - 00:14:03:05
Petch
I like to say in high school, I majored in surfing and and college, I majored in climbing.
00:14:03:07 - 00:14:04:23
Petch
And I'm a climbing guide now, so I.
00:14:04:23 - 00:14:06:05
Petch
Guess I got my degree.
00:14:06:28 - 00:14:09:20
Petch
But I skipped a lot of high school.
00:14:12:13 - 00:14:16:03
Petch
I lost my I lost my dad when I was 15, and.
00:14:16:03 - 00:14:32:15
Petch
Then, so all of a sudden, there was a second car in the house. So my mom would go off to work even one before I even had a driver's license. So she was a substitute teacher. I make sure she was in there teaching at my school, and it's like, call up my body.
00:14:32:17 - 00:14:34:00
Petch
Like, hey, man, I ain't.
00:14:34:00 - 00:14:37:24
Petch
Got the car. Let's go surfing.
00:14:37:27 - 00:14:50:28
Petch
So, yeah, I did a lot of surfing. Got pretty good at it. I was definitely always interested in climbing. We lived not too far from Stony Point, a pretty popular bouldering area. We drive by it, I'd see climbers.
00:14:52:16 - 00:14:58:18
Petch
One time we were hiking around in the Malibu Creek State Park.
00:14:58:20 - 00:15:06:29
Petch
You know, teenagers smoking weed, hiding, and, you know, found this cave. And then these two climbers came up, you know.
00:15:06:29 - 00:15:08:25
Petch
Stashed our our.
00:15:08:25 - 00:15:19:14
Petch
Pipe. And I just like what's going on here. And, like, the guy set up a top rope and then fired this thing, and he was so pumped up, he's like, yeah.
00:15:19:14 - 00:15:20:25
Petch
It was the first ascent.
00:15:20:26 - 00:15:22:05
Petch
I went to my buddies. I'm like.
00:15:22:05 - 00:15:22:18
Petch
Man, that.
00:15:22:18 - 00:15:24:20
Petch
Was great. We should do this.
00:15:24:23 - 00:15:32:07
Petch
And they were in into it. I'm like, they have it. Let's take a let's take a class at the community college. And they just weren't into it. And for some reason, I.
00:15:32:07 - 00:15:33:22
Petch
Didn't have the gung ho to do it.
00:15:33:22 - 00:15:36:13
Petch
On my own.
00:15:36:15 - 00:15:45:08
Petch
In high school, I also wrestled. And there's a lot of similarities with, I think with climbing and wrestling, sort of like, you know, one on one kind of pushing yourself.
00:15:45:08 - 00:15:55:19
Petch
Not letting go, you know, like not giving up, like the wrestling super hard and physical, like, you know, if if you give up, you're on your back. It's over.
00:15:55:19 - 00:15:59:13
Petch
And like, you know, when you're climbing something really hard, if you're not pushing yourself.
00:15:59:15 - 00:15:59:27
Petch
You know, no.
00:15:59:27 - 00:16:03:26
Petch
Way up or you're in there taking the time to do it.
00:16:03:29 - 00:16:08:20
Petch
So as a kid on my wrestling team, his brother was gone and got him.
00:16:08:20 - 00:16:10:08
Petch
Into bouldering and he's like.
00:16:10:08 - 00:16:11:26
Petch
Hey, you want to go bouldering?
00:16:11:29 - 00:16:13:18
Petch
I was like, fuck yeah, let's do. And he's like.
00:16:13:18 - 00:16:23:08
Petch
Yeah, just bring your wrestling shoes. They look like climbing shoes. So yeah, we went out to Stony Point and I was stoked right away. But the second time I went, I bought.
00:16:23:08 - 00:16:26:28
Petch
A pair of used shoes and I was going like five days a week.
00:16:27:01 - 00:16:28:12
Petch
And,
00:16:28:15 - 00:16:31:21
Petch
On the first day I had really good climbers coming.
00:16:31:21 - 00:16:50:28
Petch
Up to me, like giving me pointers and being really cool. And I was like, wow, you can be good at something, not be a dick. Because the surfers in Southern California were super aggressive. I saw fights, I got into arguments. I had some guy once purposely run over my board. You know, it's just like there's only so many ways with too many surfers.
00:16:50:28 - 00:16:54:21
Petch
And, you know, I saw a ton of arguments and fights. I mean, as.
00:16:54:21 - 00:16:57:16
Petch
Soon as we got better at surfing, we started going.
00:16:57:16 - 00:17:13:18
Petch
North into Oxnard and then tour and surfing the beach breaks where it wasn't as crowded. And that was also part of the reason why I skipped a lot of high school. Most people had jobs that they had to go and work at and like, you could surf. Malibu was just a few people out. It was pretty good.
00:17:13:27 - 00:17:16:16
Kyle
And everyone's just fighting over real estate at that point. Right.
00:17:16:22 - 00:17:25:09
Petch
Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, it's just one person per wave. I mean, I learned how to whistle, like, really loud because I was pretty small.
00:17:25:12 - 00:17:26:03
Petch
You know.
00:17:26:03 - 00:17:29:29
Petch
And like, someone taken off in front of you, they don't know how big you are.
00:17:29:29 - 00:17:31:11
Petch
When you whistle really loud.
00:17:31:11 - 00:17:35:17
Petch
And work pretty. And.
00:17:35:19 - 00:17:43:06
Petch
So then I, graduated high school. Somehow, I actually, I had pretty good grades for not going.
00:17:43:13 - 00:17:47:05
Petch
There, and,
00:17:47:08 - 00:17:59:23
Petch
Decided to go to Humboldt State, and I was into party and smoking weed. I was kind of into the hippie thing and grateful dad, he now was just like, was either going to San Diego State.
00:17:59:23 - 00:18:04:16
Petch
Or Humboldt State. And I was like, I want to go to the redwoods. So.
00:18:04:18 - 00:18:07:08
Petch
But by this point, I'd been climbing for six months.
00:18:07:11 - 00:18:09:09
Petch
And.
00:18:09:11 - 00:18:13:15
Petch
I moved up there. I bought a wetsuit right away, found out where the climbing.
00:18:13:15 - 00:18:23:13
Petch
Was, which was on the beach, and, went to the beach and met some climbers. And one of them stole really good friend of mine. From the first day I went out.
00:18:24:26 - 00:18:29:23
Petch
The surfing up and Humboldt is really cold.
00:18:29:26 - 00:18:37:19
Petch
It's inconsistent. It's powerful. It's not like surfing waves in Southern California. You get the beat down.
00:18:37:22 - 00:18:39:06
Petch
But all the climbing was on the beaches.
00:18:39:06 - 00:18:40:13
Petch
So, so on the beach.
00:18:40:13 - 00:18:48:23
Petch
So mostly just boulders and top rope. And then I met some of the crew of good climbers up there who.
00:18:48:23 - 00:18:50:13
Petch
Were.
00:18:50:16 - 00:18:55:22
Petch
Kind of, developing the a lot of areas, like we were finding areas like the promontory.
00:18:55:22 - 00:19:00:27
Petch
And the footsteps and lost rocks is this like we start developing one.
00:19:00:27 - 00:19:02:21
Petch
Area and we're like, whoa, let's go check that.
00:19:02:21 - 00:19:03:14
Petch
Place out.
00:19:03:14 - 00:19:09:16
Petch
And so, yeah, I got hooked up with like, kind of the best climbers of the area.
00:19:09:16 - 00:19:12:07
Petch
And motivated, one of them became my.
00:19:12:07 - 00:19:17:24
Petch
Boss. I mean, I'm dropping out of college.
00:19:18:10 - 00:19:41:15
Kyle
Would you. Would you say that running in into those people? Would you say running into those people was, like, serendipitous? Just because, like, you were lucky to run into the the kind of good climbers of the area? Or would you say that it was just a time where if you were a climber and you were in these areas, there's just such a small group of people that, you know, you're bound to run into these people after a while.
00:19:41:15 - 00:19:41:27
Petch
crew.
00:19:43:26 - 00:19:50:09
Petch
And I was lucky. I mean, I definitely wanted to latch on to good.
00:19:50:09 - 00:19:54:02
Petch
Climbers just because, you know, like.
00:19:54:05 - 00:20:01:22
Petch
If they're climbing. Good. It's on the elevate. You're climbing. And, like, after wrestling for four years, I was pretty strong.
00:20:01:22 - 00:20:05:21
Petch
I was super shaky climber. I used to shake so bad.
00:20:05:23 - 00:20:11:26
Petch
Especially, like when I started leading every time I'd pull up the rope, I'd almost shake myself off. It was. It was
00:20:15:04 - 00:20:17:21
Kyle
Like a full body shake or just the Elvis leg?
00:20:17:21 - 00:20:25:07
Petch
Like, it's sometimes it would go into, the body, but. Yeah. Alvis. Yeah. Especially leading, pulling up the ref because I knew like,
00:20:25:07 - 00:20:28:27
Petch
man, if I fall with all this slack out, I'm on with.
00:20:31:06 - 00:20:44:13
Petch
So, Yeah. So we just started developing routes, and it was a lot of fun and, you know, that that definitely shaped me because I, I love doing.
00:20:44:13 - 00:20:52:23
Petch
Affairs. I'm still, you know, put finding affairs. I just put up a couple of routes on the east wall last week, actually,
00:20:52:28 - 00:20:56:11
Kyle
Yeah. You have almost 51st ascents to your name at this point. Is that correct?
00:20:56:11 - 00:20:57:18
Petch
Yeah. At least.
00:20:57:22 - 00:21:02:04
Kyle
At least. What would you say the regular correct number is?
00:21:03:29 - 00:21:07:01
Petch
Yeah. You know, I.
00:21:07:04 - 00:21:09:03
Petch
I mean, in a lifetime over 100.
00:21:09:03 - 00:21:10:07
Petch
Easily.
00:21:10:09 - 00:21:10:23
Petch
Here at the.
00:21:10:23 - 00:21:13:10
Petch
Leap over 50 for sure.
00:21:13:13 - 00:21:18:19
Petch
And then I've developed some smaller crags in the area. You know, I got a.
00:21:18:19 - 00:21:26:10
Petch
Handful of routes at Sugarloaf and Phantom Spires. I have a couple of crags I've had. I've only told my friends about.
00:21:26:12 - 00:21:27:17
Petch
Not that I'm gatekeeping.
00:21:27:21 - 00:21:33:25
Petch
That, like, I don't. I also don't have to put it out there. Right. It's kind of nice to have,
00:21:33:27 - 00:21:34:17
Petch
You know.
00:21:34:20 - 00:21:35:24
Petch
There's little crags you.
00:21:35:24 - 00:21:45:14
Petch
Can go to and hang out and just you and your buddies and, even though they're super quality.
00:21:45:17 - 00:21:46:02
Petch
Yeah.
00:21:46:05 - 00:21:56:03
Petch
I'm, I don't really, I just, I don't put my stuff on Mountain project generally. Eventually it shows up there, but, like,
00:21:56:03 - 00:22:05:02
Petch
I don't mind not having my stuff out there. It's like I put up roots. Just because I enjoy.
00:22:05:02 - 00:22:11:14
Petch
The whole process. I'm not in there to, like, put up public service routes.
00:22:11:14 - 00:22:16:11
Petch
I guess I mean, I have put up some over and beginning beginner areas and I try and make those.
00:22:16:11 - 00:22:18:09
Petch
Beginner climbs, but like.
00:22:18:11 - 00:22:19:13
Petch
I want to go out and just have an.
00:22:19:13 - 00:22:22:14
Petch
Adventure and have fun and like.
00:22:24:11 - 00:22:30:10
Petch
You know, some of my roots are appreciative because, you know, I'm not I'm not bolting. I'm like, sport climbs.
00:22:30:21 - 00:22:40:27
Kyle
Yeah. I was going to say do you climb them to or establish them in a way to repeat them. Or is it like a one and done badge on your, your closet.
00:22:40:27 - 00:22:41:29
Petch
I mean, the really.
00:22:41:29 - 00:22:45:05
Petch
Hard ones I generally don't repeat because it takes me. So on
00:22:45:05 - 00:22:47:18
Petch
all my hardest ride points have all been first descents.
00:22:47:28 - 00:22:49:06
Kyle
Oh whoa. That's cool.
00:22:49:10 - 00:22:51:07
Petch
Yeah, I just I'm not a Project Dragon.
00:22:51:07 - 00:22:54:04
Petch
Unless it's a first ascent. Like. And as I don't
00:22:54:14 - 00:23:04:27
Kyle
So, so if you're not on sighting, the only exception to that rule is if it's your first ascent. If I'm being, like black. If I'm being black and white, obviously.
00:23:04:27 - 00:23:08:21
Petch
there's a now there's a grand illusion down the hill. I'd Sugarloaf, which.
00:23:08:21 - 00:23:15:04
Petch
Was, you know, the first aid first 13 BC.
00:23:15:06 - 00:23:18:10
Petch
And I was like to actually project that. I've been on it a.
00:23:18:10 - 00:23:25:12
Petch
Few times, but it's just like I'm not motivated enough just to go back over and ever, you know, to.
00:23:25:15 - 00:23:25:21
Petch
To.
00:23:25:21 - 00:23:38:28
Petch
Hang on this stuff. I mean, it's it's a ride. Beautiful line. It's one it's it's stunning. But, like, I'm just I guess I'm just not committed to it. I'd rather go climb other stuff and climb a bunch of different and like on siding.
00:23:38:28 - 00:23:41:10
Petch
And I mean, I do row, I repeat stuff.
00:23:41:10 - 00:23:44:27
Petch
All the time here at Lover's Leap because I'm a guide here.
00:23:45:03 - 00:23:45:20
Kyle
Yeah.
00:23:45:22 - 00:24:04:18
Kyle
Okay. So before we get too carried away because this is a whole topic I do want to dive into a little bit later back kind of bringing us back to Humboldt and you, you know, you found this crew of climbers. You guys are kind of doing root developing, you know, in terms of, like, separating, I guess, answer this question.
00:24:04:18 - 00:24:10:26
Kyle
Like, do you still surf when you can? Are you still like, is that something that still is a passion of yours?
00:24:12:05 - 00:24:16:22
Petch
I've surfed, I surf a little bit. Not as much as I used to.
00:24:16:24 - 00:24:18:06
Petch
Obviously living in the mountains.
00:24:18:06 - 00:24:19:05
Petch
I'm.
00:24:19:08 - 00:24:23:19
Petch
You know, I'm four hours, so, like Santa Cruz,
00:24:23:21 - 00:24:31:00
Petch
In the previous, like, my. When I was married, my ex wife and her family and I, we owned.
00:24:31:00 - 00:24:48:23
Petch
A house in southern Humboldt and was like this three story geodesic dome that was falling apart that we bought for like, the cost of the land and fix it up. And, and so we were spending the winters up there working on the house. I'd surf in the mornings, but when I got divorced, which is gone on six years.
00:24:48:25 - 00:24:54:06
Petch
Surfing kind of, stopped just because it's hard from up.
00:24:54:06 - 00:24:54:22
Petch
Here, you.
00:24:54:22 - 00:24:57:08
Petch
Know?
00:24:57:11 - 00:25:15:07
Petch
But this last winter, my lady Heidi, who's also a guide and runs Earth Play retreats, we ran her. I helped her run a retreat in Puerto Rico, and, it was a surfing, climbing yoga trip.
00:25:15:09 - 00:25:17:10
Petch
So. Yeah.
00:25:17:13 - 00:25:28:04
Petch
Yeah, I was pretty fun. So we surfed with, our clients, our guests one day, and then we were there before and.
00:25:28:04 - 00:25:33:28
Petch
After our our our guided trip. And we we surf Tibet and,
00:25:34:01 - 00:25:37:23
Petch
You know, it's so like riding a bike, you know, I can pop out and.
00:25:37:25 - 00:25:39:02
Petch
And,
00:25:39:05 - 00:25:39:29
Petch
You know, I'm.
00:25:39:29 - 00:25:41:28
Petch
A little slower on my pop ups.
00:25:41:28 - 00:25:42:26
Petch
And then, you know.
00:25:44:16 - 00:25:52:24
Petch
Not as good as, you know, surfing. It's hard. It's one of the hardest things I've ever learned. I was actually just invited to go.
00:25:52:24 - 00:25:54:17
Petch
On a trip to Mexico.
00:25:54:17 - 00:25:55:06
Petch
Like.
00:25:55:09 - 00:26:13:09
Petch
Leaving in a couple of weeks on the 17th, and it was a really good deal that, like, it's my busy season right now. And I don't work a ton in the winter time, so it's like it was really tempting. Like it was a sweet spot in Mexico. Right on the right on the beach. Right on the break.
00:26:13:09 - 00:26:18:01
Petch
Private break. It was like it was pretty dreamy, but like.
00:26:18:04 - 00:26:18:20
Petch
You know.
00:26:22:11 - 00:26:46:26
Kyle
Yeah. Fair enough. Fair enough. So there's like, in terms of like, like, climbing and how this, like, passion started to develop. Do you remember, like a specific moment where you, you just got hooked, like where it's just like, wow. Like, this is how I want to spend most of my time. You know, other friends that you had, like, they weren't even interested to begin with.
00:26:46:29 - 00:27:03:23
Kyle
You know, you were already surfing a ton. You you had already kind of developed a passion for being outdoors. Like, what about climbing captivated you? And was there a specific moment that you can recall? That kind of like, encapsulates that feeling?
00:27:03:23 - 00:27:07:03
Petch
And like I said earlier, it was something always.
00:27:07:03 - 00:27:13:23
Petch
I wanted to do. And as soon as I went, just the movement, the excitement,
00:27:13:25 - 00:27:17:15
Petch
Stony Point's got some high balls, and, like, one of the first.
00:27:17:17 - 00:27:27:28
Petch
I still remember this boulder problem in Ireland. They rated it like an out and they said it was like five six, but it's like 20ft high. And I was up there shake shaking my way.
00:27:28:01 - 00:27:35:10
Petch
My buddies is like, yeah, you're high enough. Now all I can do is spot your head. I'm like, great, thanks.
00:27:36:29 - 00:27:47:14
Petch
Yeah. But like, I don't know, just the movement on the stone. The freedom, you know, especially just bouldering. You know, I bouldering a lot.
00:27:47:14 - 00:27:49:18
Petch
In my first couple years now. I almost never.
00:27:49:18 - 00:27:56:18
Petch
Boulder. But just like you, just movement, you know, getting the.
00:27:56:18 - 00:28:00:25
Petch
Palm driven home with my fingers out the window on them, down from the rough.
00:28:00:25 - 00:28:07:07
Petch
Sandstone. And then just in, the climbers were just so cool, you know? And, that was a big thing too.
00:28:07:07 - 00:28:08:11
Petch
Is just.
00:28:10:18 - 00:28:10:29
Kyle
Yeah.
00:28:11:05 - 00:28:32:09
Kyle
That is cool. I like to hear that I yeah I get, I get that a lot from, from people talking about how the community is part of what pulled them in to the sport. And I think that's, that's a special thing about climbing. Because I think that sometimes nowadays, like, we can go to a sport crag and, I don't know, I've had some bad experiences of just, like, just people not being that chill.
00:28:32:10 - 00:28:48:01
Kyle
They're not very being very cool. And maybe that's like a new development, to the sport of climbing and just how many people there are and how much access there is it? It's not as, cherished as it used to be. Do you have any experience with that and new, newer climbers and kind of.
00:28:48:01 - 00:28:58:07
Petch
noticed it's it's not as friendly as it used to be. I mean, especially when it's really busy. Like, I remember a day last year and.
00:28:58:07 - 00:29:06:13
Petch
The gallery was really busy, and people putting their stuff right on top of your stuff, and.
00:29:08:20 - 00:29:11:08
Kyle
It's like hanging on a route for too long.
00:29:12:25 - 00:29:19:09
Petch
being on, like, top, you know, it's just like you, like, I ended up leaving something there because someone came and.
00:29:19:09 - 00:29:23:07
Petch
Put their backpack basically on top of my stuff. You. Now it's just like, well.
00:29:23:07 - 00:29:42:21
Petch
Dude, you know, like, there's other spots and I'm super friendly. I like to say, hey, what's up? And I make eye contact with people and smile. And, it just seems like when it gets busy and crowded, especially at sport areas where people just now sport climbing and they've come out of the gym.
00:29:42:21 - 00:29:49:15
Petch
Or it's crowded in these city gyms, it's like it's just not as friendly.
00:29:49:17 - 00:29:52:10
Petch
Compared to like when you're out at like a.
00:29:52:13 - 00:29:55:13
Petch
A and A now and like.
00:29:55:13 - 00:29:57:23
Petch
Lovers late this really friendly. You know,
00:29:59:20 - 00:30:00:26
Kyle
Yeah.
00:30:00:28 - 00:30:11:00
Kyle
It is, it is an interesting thing you said it's like, almost has to do directly with the level of crowds. Like the more crowded it is the more angry we get in general. Doesn't matter what we do.
00:30:11:00 - 00:30:23:29
Petch
surfing thing too, you know, it's just like there's this a couple of people out on the water. Everyone's chill, but like, all of a sudden one, there's a bunch of people and you're not catching waves. And people are like snaking you and dropping in on you. You get a little.
00:30:23:29 - 00:30:27:27
Petch
Frustrated and uptight and, you know, you turn your smile upside.
00:30:30:08 - 00:30:49:15
Kyle
Yeah. I guess that's one good thing about the difference between climbing and surfing is that there is always somewhere else to go if you want to go climbing by yourself, whereas if you're surfing there's really only one place or a few breaks. And so you know, the beach is only so big, the break is only so big.
00:30:49:15 - 00:30:50:12
Petch
coming in.
00:30:51:11 - 00:30:55:09
Petch
And then again, you know, like, really does get busy.
00:30:56:14 - 00:31:03:07
Petch
You know, the leap is right across the street from my house. Like, if there was a window here, I'd be looking filtered views of it, through the trees.
00:31:04:18 - 00:31:07:12
Kyle
Sounds like you need a window there.
00:31:07:12 - 00:31:08:05
Petch
office.
00:31:12:14 - 00:31:15:03
Petch
But it's good that I don't have a, straight via.
00:31:15:05 - 00:31:15:26
Petch
I get more.
00:31:15:26 - 00:31:18:00
Petch
Work done if I'm. If I'm not looking at
00:31:20:11 - 00:31:21:10
Kyle
Yeah. Fair enough.
00:31:21:10 - 00:31:43:06
Kyle
during your kind of, like, formative climbing years, it sounds like you had a couple kind of like, close calls and, traumatic accident that happened, kind of early on. You want to kind of talk about those two experiences? I'm specifically talking about Flagpole Peak and then the rappelling accident.
00:31:43:09 - 00:31:50:07
Kyle
I'm curious as to what those stories were and kind of how they shaped your early years as a climber.
00:31:50:07 - 00:31:51:18
Petch
actually happened.
00:31:51:21 - 00:31:52:19
Petch
This last fall.
00:31:53:25 - 00:31:56:16
Kyle
Oh, it was recent. Okay, let's do the repel accident first, then.
00:31:56:19 - 00:31:59:25
Petch
Yeah. So, yeah. The Rapallo accident.
00:32:03:08 - 00:32:10:26
Petch
So I just finished my first semester of school at Humboldt.
00:32:10:28 - 00:32:13:15
Petch
And,
00:32:13:18 - 00:32:34:16
Petch
My first climbing partner had been climbing for bit. You know, he kind of had been climbing bouldering top rope and doing a little lead climbing. At least a year, if not two years before I started. But we hooked up right away. I bought my first pair of shoes off of him, used. We started.
00:32:34:16 - 00:32:35:18
Petch
Bouldering all the time at.
00:32:35:18 - 00:32:45:03
Petch
Stony Point, so I went to school after Humboldt and he went to school in, Boulder.
00:32:45:05 - 00:32:45:08
Petch
And.
00:32:45:08 - 00:32:47:14
Petch
Then we finished our first semester.
00:32:47:14 - 00:32:48:14
Petch
It was,
00:32:48:16 - 00:32:54:13
Petch
Winter Christmas break. So.
00:32:54:15 - 00:33:05:04
Petch
We hooked up, we went climbing, actually on the beach down there in Southern California at Zuma Beach, Point Dume. Cool. Little like, 80ft cliff.
00:33:08:25 - 00:33:10:13
Petch
He's. And.
00:33:10:15 - 00:33:14:11
Petch
You know, he'd been climbing a lot in Boulder, a lot of multipath challenges.
00:33:14:13 - 00:33:27:11
Petch
Tried, you know, where I was still mostly bouldering and just a little top roping. You know, you soloing the flat irons and stuff. I mean, I hadn't even been climbing for a year yet, so, you know, sounded super rad.
00:33:27:13 - 00:33:37:15
Petch
And so we get to the beach, he's like, all right. Yeah, let me lead. This was A59 vaulted phase. He's all the sal bring you up roller pedal.
00:33:37:15 - 00:33:39:10
Petch
Down.
00:33:39:12 - 00:33:58:19
Petch
And then you can lead. And I'm like sure sounds great. So he leads it and I follow it. I get up on top. He's like, all right. Yeah, I let's, repel like he repel first I'm like, okay again. You know, I didn't look at his name, freedom, anything. And this is what I mean.
00:33:58:19 - 00:34:01:21
Petch
It's super crazy and tragic.
00:34:01:23 - 00:34:04:16
Petch
He's like, oh, shit, I forgot my belay device.
00:34:04:19 - 00:34:05:26
Petch
Let me go first.
00:34:05:28 - 00:34:08:23
Petch
I'm like, okay, you know, you're the man.
00:34:08:23 - 00:34:15:27
Petch
Yeah. So hand in my blade of ice. He puts himself on repel,
00:34:16:00 - 00:34:16:15
Petch
Weights the.
00:34:16:15 - 00:34:17:18
Petch
Rope and the anchor.
00:34:17:18 - 00:34:18:18
Petch
And.
00:34:18:21 - 00:34:20:06
Petch
He just had one sling.
00:34:20:06 - 00:34:21:18
Petch
Around the block on top.
00:34:21:25 - 00:34:22:19
Petch
And.
00:34:22:19 - 00:34:29:23
Petch
Didn't tie or didn't finish his water or not. And so as soon as he waited, the anchor pulled.
00:34:29:25 - 00:34:32:10
Petch
And.
00:34:32:12 - 00:34:45:21
Petch
Yeah, he fell 80ft onto the beach, onto the sand, which was somewhat good because it was sand, not Talis. We're on an LA County beach, so,
00:34:45:23 - 00:34:47:27
Petch
Someone saw the fall on the beach.
00:34:47:29 - 00:34:55:05
Petch
Ran to a lifeguard, got the lifeguard. Lifeguard called the helicopter. I mean, it's still just a blur.
00:34:55:08 - 00:34:58:12
Petch
It was stupid, too, because there's a walk off, I ran down, I was down in.
00:34:58:12 - 00:35:00:21
Petch
Less than a minute. And as soon as I saw it happened,
00:35:02:13 - 00:35:05:22
Kyle
Wow.
00:35:05:22 - 00:35:06:20
Petch
00:35:06:22 - 00:35:15:07
Petch
So the helicopter landed. Got him in the, helicopter flew him. If I had to call his.
00:35:15:07 - 00:35:16:10
Petch
Mom.
00:35:16:12 - 00:35:22:22
Petch
And, like, just, like, tell her what happened. I was super, super rough.
00:35:22:24 - 00:35:26:14
Petch
I even and then I, you know, I turn on the radio, I'm driving. The song that comes on is.
00:35:26:14 - 00:35:31:09
Petch
Tom petty Freefalling like, these are things like. It's just like. And it's, like,
00:35:31:22 - 00:35:34:16
Kyle
Wow. To this.
00:35:34:16 - 00:35:40:07
Petch
So, he ended up surviving, but he was,
00:35:40:10 - 00:35:43:07
Petch
Paralyzed from the waist down.
00:35:46:09 - 00:35:47:14
Petch
So he was in the
00:35:48:02 - 00:35:49:15
Kyle
Is he. Is he alive today?
00:35:49:23 - 00:36:01:19
Petch
He passed away about 6 or 7 years ago from, a stroke, which was probably from his accident. Just being a pair of collegiate, not being able to move.
00:36:02:18 - 00:36:05:28
Kyle
Gosh, that's so sad and so terrifying to.
00:36:05:28 - 00:36:14:02
Petch
And, you know, it just teaches you, the major lesson is it's like you got to check yourself. You got to check your partner.
00:36:14:05 - 00:36:17:05
Petch
You know, like, I was about to, like, slip into.
00:36:17:05 - 00:36:18:22
Petch
That anchor, and I, you know.
00:36:20:17 - 00:36:24:11
Petch
It could have been me, but I should also check his anchor.
00:36:24:14 - 00:36:25:02
Petch
Right.
00:36:25:13 - 00:36:41:11
Kyle
It's a tricky one though because he was almost like in a mentor role for you. He was the one that was clearly experienced. He was the one that had you know the knowledge. And he was almost kind of in a guiding role. And I think it's really easy for us to get not, I would say complacent, but it's not even complacent.
00:36:41:11 - 00:37:05:07
Kyle
It's just your your trust is in that person, especially if you're new. You don't really know what to check for and you don't really know. But I think, yeah, the lesson there is just to, you know, even the most knowledgeable people, however, that, you know, is, you know, it's all relative, right, knowledgeable. And, you know, one person is going to have a lot more experience than one person, and that person is going to be, you know, not very knowledgeable compared to somebody else.
00:37:05:07 - 00:37:26:13
Kyle
But it's all of our jobs to to check each other and to be as, as safety conscious as we can be. Because, yeah, that's, those kind of simple mistakes are what really, really take people out. Did you hear about the thing that happened here in Red Rock recently? The fatality.
00:37:26:16 - 00:37:54:10
Kyle
Yeah. Well, apparently what happened is they they only brought Gregorys and. Yeah, she Gregory into the wrong side. Yeah. She just she wasn't experienced with multi pitch systems and they didn't bring atcs. And she just ended up a clipping on the wrong side. And the second that thing was waited the whole system failed. And yeah it's just like it's really scary to not really know.
00:37:54:13 - 00:37:54:29
Kyle
The.
00:37:54:29 - 00:38:19:19
Kyle
The dangers that are right in front of you sometimes. How did that experience, shake you? How did it, like, affect you in terms of risk management? It seemed like, with the nature of it, how close you were to making that same mistake yourself. I would imagine it had quite a large impact on, your your sense of risk management and and safety awareness and climbing.
00:38:20:29 - 00:38:48:21
Kyle
Let's be real for a second. The current blueprint for a successful climbing podcast is simple. Interview the best climbers in the world. Big names mean big followings. Lots of SEO power and a built in audience that helps boost every episode. But this show, this show has never been about that. From the beginning, I have made it my mission to bring you stories from the climbing majority, the climbers who don't live in the limelight, the ones who avoid interviews, quietly put up roots and give back in ways that are rarely recognized.
00:38:48:25 - 00:39:05:14
Kyle
And while that's what makes this show special, it also means we have an uphill battle when it comes to growth. And that is where you come in. If you're psyched about the show, if you've been inspired, entertained, or fired up about an episode. Word of mouth is the single most important way you can help the show. Share an episode with a friend.
00:39:05:18 - 00:39:23:02
Kyle
Play one on a group road trip. Post about the show on social media. Jump onto Reddit threads and Mountain Project forums and share with people what you've been listening to. Be sure to tag the show, tag your favorite guests, and spread the word. And if you want to help even more, I'm currently sending posters to climbing gyms around the country.
00:39:23:06 - 00:39:36:18
Kyle
If you'd like to support one in your climbing gym, be sure to reach out. Email me at the Climbing Majority podcast at gmail.com and I will be sure to send you one. Let's band together and show the climbing community that the climbing majority has a voice.
00:39:37:10 - 00:39:37:18
Petch
Oh, yeah.
00:39:37:18 - 00:39:42:06
Petch
For sure. I mean, I, I was really apprehensive to.
00:39:42:06 - 00:39:43:00
Petch
Repel.
00:39:43:03 - 00:39:43:10
Petch
For.
00:39:43:10 - 00:39:45:24
Petch
A while, and I mean, so to this.
00:39:45:24 - 00:40:13:05
Petch
Day. And so this was an 89 going on 36 years ago. It's stolen. I had, you know, and like, every time I put myself on pal and clipped into an anchor and, you know, you know, I when I'm guiding and teaching skills, I definitely, you know, like that lady in Red rocks. She should that before she unclipped from the old.
00:40:13:05 - 00:40:16:24
Petch
She should have tested the new and waited at all.
00:40:16:27 - 00:40:18:23
Petch
You know, like.
00:40:18:25 - 00:40:23:27
Petch
Taking all the weight on the new system while she was still clipped into the old system.
00:40:23:27 - 00:40:29:29
Petch
You know, And, you know.
00:40:30:01 - 00:40:33:18
Petch
Watching people, watching my partners checking, checking even.
00:40:33:18 - 00:40:35:09
Petch
The most experienced now.
00:40:35:09 - 00:40:37:19
Petch
Because sometimes when you're really good.
00:40:37:19 - 00:40:40:08
Petch
And if, you know, I've been climbing forever.
00:40:41:15 - 00:40:46:19
Petch
You miss things sometimes, especially if you're in a rush or if it's getting dark or, you know.
00:40:46:21 - 00:40:49:07
Petch
Storms coming in, you know?
00:40:49:10 - 00:40:52:24
Petch
So I've always got eyes on people, and.
00:40:52:26 - 00:40:54:27
Petch
I got eyes on myself, too.
00:40:55:00 - 00:40:55:28
Petch
You know?
00:40:55:28 - 00:41:08:10
Kyle
Has that have, has that a like level of detail and attention. Attention to detail and level of awareness. Have you found certain moments where you've literally saved yourself again or saved somebody else's life
00:41:09:05 - 00:41:18:00
Petch
Yeah. I mean, I've, I've caught people, like, missing on, you know, and putting the rope through the atcs only catching one loop.
00:41:19:09 - 00:41:21:20
Petch
Right now, nothing's jumping out of my mind
00:41:22:03 - 00:41:41:23
Kyle
And it happened early on too. I think that's something I through this podcast and interviewing these, you know, so many different people, what I found is the people who have the lowest amount of injuries or the like either no injuries at all or very like few injuries in their climbing career. It's usually because they learned the lesson of risk.
00:41:41:23 - 00:42:02:24
Kyle
Really early on in their climbing career, and it's also been where they learned it through somebody else's, trauma or somebody else's accident. Unfortunately, that was very close to them. Like seeing a partner fall or like in your case, you know, that happened like those lessons. They come at a cost of somebody else's trauma in somebody else's.
00:42:02:24 - 00:42:11:12
Kyle
But it it almost had benefited these people in such a profound way where it led to a injury free career almost.
00:42:11:12 - 00:42:26:00
Kyle
how do you feel like, this is a question I'm not sure can actually be answered. How do you feel? Like we can learn that lesson without having to learn it directly, or have something traumatic happen to someone directly next to us?
00:42:26:04 - 00:42:28:00
Petch
You know, reading accident.
00:42:28:00 - 00:42:42:00
Petch
Reports is a really good one. You know, like. And since you're you don't have a connection, it's a little easier to read them. But like, reading about other people's mistakes, for sure.
00:42:43:01 - 00:42:44:18
Petch
No, I don't like watching, like.
00:42:44:18 - 00:42:53:01
Petch
The weekend whoppers. And I've never, like, watching, like, gnarly ski accidents or escape or, like, I don't need to see that.
00:42:53:04 - 00:42:58:15
Petch
But like, reading about, like, mistakes and how, What they.
00:42:58:15 - 00:43:00:15
Petch
Did wrong and thinking about.
00:43:00:19 - 00:43:04:13
Petch
How that, you know.
00:43:04:15 - 00:43:13:02
Petch
How to make that not happen to you or your partners is huge. But yeah, you got to check yourself before you wreck yourself.
00:43:13:02 - 00:43:36:08
Kyle
Yeah, I almost feel like the weekend whipper and the Instagram ification of, like, taking falls. Almost like normalizes it in a bad way. And it's like it's, it's almost like we're, it's like not the right kind of data that we're absorbing and it's normalizing the fall and everything. And I just don't think that's great information for most people.
00:43:36:08 - 00:43:37:22
Petch
I agree because.
00:43:37:26 - 00:43:46:23
Petch
Yeah, luckily, all these falls, they show no one's getting hurt and then they're being like being putting on a spotlight like, oh yeah.
00:43:46:23 - 00:43:48:05
Petch
You can take these huge whoppers and.
00:43:48:09 - 00:43:49:28
Petch
Not get hurt, but, like.
00:43:50:01 - 00:43:51:22
Petch
You know, here I have to leave, but you.
00:43:51:22 - 00:43:56:13
Petch
Don't want to be fallen until you're like, at least five, nine.
00:43:56:15 - 00:43:56:25
Petch
Or.
00:43:56:29 - 00:44:06:10
Petch
Ten or above just because it's so featured. Even a small fall, you can break an ankle or a leg because there's so much stuff to hit.
00:44:06:12 - 00:44:08:00
Petch
You know, people.
00:44:08:02 - 00:44:12:17
Petch
People come on out wanting, wanting to learn how to fall in.
00:44:14:21 - 00:44:20:17
Petch
Which, you know, is a skill. But like, generally you don't want to start falling until you you don't.
00:44:20:17 - 00:44:37:08
Petch
Want to fall, you know, in these earlier routes, you know, you learn how to fall in a gym where it's steep or on a sport route or it's steep. You don't want to be fallen on these low angle slabs or dikes jutting out. Like one of my guides says, you don't.
00:44:37:10 - 00:44:39:09
Petch
You don't care to drive in school and they teach you.
00:44:39:09 - 00:44:40:20
Petch
How to crash. They teach you how to
00:44:43:14 - 00:44:46:18
Kyle
I love that analogy. Yeah.
00:44:46:20 - 00:45:00:22
Kyle
No I, I mean I, I've talked about it a lot on this podcast so I won't, I won't be the dead horse here. But I am very much on the camp of like do everything you can not to fall. And obviously when you start to climb hard enough, you are going to put yourself in a position where falling is almost inevitable.
00:45:00:28 - 00:45:17:21
Kyle
But normalizing this, this thought process of just like, yeah, take the whip because you need to try hard. It's like, it's just that to me, it's completely wrong mentality. And I think that like taking at a crux, if you're pumped and you don't really know the beta and you're not really sure if your care is good, like put a piece in and take and rest out, shake it out.
00:45:17:21 - 00:45:30:17
Kyle
Like feel better about your your state, especially on site, because I feel like a lot of us are on site in these multi routes. And yeah, I just think like that general blanket term of just like try until you fall is terrible advice for most track climbers.
00:45:30:17 - 00:45:31:18
Petch
yeah, especially.
00:45:31:18 - 00:45:33:18
Petch
At the lower levels.
00:45:33:21 - 00:45:34:16
Petch
Now.
00:45:34:18 - 00:45:37:17
Petch
Where I'm at. And like I said earlier, I like to on site.
00:45:37:17 - 00:45:41:09
Petch
I fall all the time.
00:45:41:11 - 00:45:46:10
Petch
I do with a lot. But generally, you know, I know when it's safe to web and when
00:45:46:10 - 00:45:49:28
Kyle
That's the key right.
00:45:50:02 - 00:45:51:08
Kyle
Yeah.
00:45:51:08 - 00:45:51:29
Petch
know how to down.
00:45:51:29 - 00:46:01:21
Petch
Climb and I'm a really good ground climber, and I can put a piece of gear in really quick and take two. But I loved the on site.
00:46:01:24 - 00:46:02:22
Petch
And if I'm safe.
00:46:02:22 - 00:46:08:23
Petch
I'll go till I'm. Until I fall. Just because you only get one chance to on site.
00:46:08:23 - 00:46:27:24
Kyle
Yeah. I think that's just a catch. We, I think a lot of us myself included, get really star eyed by the on site. And I think that it's easy for us to put ourselves in harm's way for that, that cherry, when we don't really know exactly what we're even risking in the first place.
00:46:28:26 - 00:46:47:07
Kyle
How about your road trip? It sounds like after Humboldt, you, I think you lost your painting job that you had at the time, and you just went on a big, long road trip with a friend. Tell me about that and how it led you to now be in the, Lover's leap area.
00:46:47:15 - 00:46:58:16
Petch
Yeah. So, yeah, I dropped out of Humboldt State in 92. My main climbing partner worked for the city of Arcadia as a painter, and we.
00:47:02:05 - 00:47:04:12
Petch
He gave me a job, you know, painting.
00:47:04:12 - 00:47:05:21
Petch
And they hired.
00:47:05:21 - 00:47:20:03
Petch
Climbers because we were painting those, like, massive water tanks and, located inside the redwood forest. It was pretty rad, job like, because we'd have to repel down and paint these massive tanks. So it.
00:47:20:06 - 00:47:51:05
Petch
Did that got laid off because of budget cuts. So I ended up going back down to my mom's house, for a month and a half, and I, I worked for a painter from, like, 8 to 5, and then I'd come home, eat some food, and then go deliver pizzas from 6 to 11. So work 70 hours a week for like, six weeks and saved, a bunch of money.
00:47:51:12 - 00:48:06:19
Petch
And, yeah, I hit the road with Brian K, aka the koala. He just left humbled, too. We became climbing partners. I met him in Joshua Tree, one of my first trips there, and then he moved up to Humboldt.
00:48:06:19 - 00:48:08:19
Petch
And,
00:48:08:21 - 00:48:15:07
Petch
And we started climbing a lot together. Super character, really good climber, really good on his feet.
00:48:17:09 - 00:48:24:09
Petch
And he was in a car accident. So he got a little settlement out of that, and he bought a new truck.
00:48:24:11 - 00:48:26:18
Petch
He's like, let's go on the road. So, yeah, we.
00:48:26:18 - 00:48:39:18
Petch
Hit the road. We went to Joshua Tree for a couple weeks. We went to Red rocks. We stayed there for seven weeks and lit camp for free, and Oak Tree Canyon and Black Velvet and.
00:48:39:21 - 00:48:40:24
Petch
It was a hoot, Mike.
00:48:40:24 - 00:48:41:24
Petch
And, like, camping out.
00:48:41:24 - 00:48:47:08
Petch
And our creek canyon was just so good.
00:48:47:10 - 00:48:49:08
Petch
And we just had a good crew of.
00:48:49:08 - 00:48:50:21
Petch
People, you know.
00:48:50:25 - 00:48:53:28
Petch
These guys who were putting up our phase one guy was putting up a bunch of our.
00:48:53:28 - 00:48:55:28
Petch
Phase, and,
00:48:56:00 - 00:49:06:16
Petch
Where he'd make money, he'd go to the, the construction sites around Vegas and, pick up all their scrap wood and then go out to.
00:49:06:16 - 00:49:12:13
Petch
The reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell and sell firewood from there. And that's how he was
00:49:16:16 - 00:49:20:10
Kyle
were there for seven weeks, what were some of your highlights.
00:49:20:12 - 00:49:22:02
Kyle
Were back then?
00:49:24:16 - 00:49:50:25
Petch
Well, Fiddler on the roof was definitely one of them. Like Crimson Chrysalis. I mean, we were, like, humble climbers, like, mostly like single pitch top roping, like sport climbing. So, you know, it was kind of a big deal. One of those guys, Who? The guy who's grabbing the firewood.
00:49:50:28 - 00:49:52:01
Petch
We.
00:49:52:04 - 00:50:02:01
Petch
One day we went out and, like, freed, one of the routes he put up, which we started on, which was before we started on Johnny.
00:50:02:01 - 00:50:10:25
Petch
Vegas, we went up Johnny Vegas. So this is before I was Johnny Vegas and then went into what they now call, walking and walking on sunshine.
00:50:10:28 - 00:50:12:14
Petch
Have you done that on Solar Slam?
00:50:14:00 - 00:50:20:11
Kyle
I've done Johnny Vegas. Is that right? Are you telling me it's not called Johnny Vegas?
00:50:20:11 - 00:50:23:11
Petch
Well, I mean, at this call Johnny Vegas, I mean, we
00:50:27:10 - 00:50:35:18
Petch
over, left and climbed this like five, ten, ten crack. Which is now called, you know, we didn't put any bolts in.
00:50:35:18 - 00:50:43:11
Petch
It's got some bolts on it, which whenever it's great. It's super good that that walking on sunshine. And then
00:50:44:00 - 00:50:46:02
Kyle
Okay. I have to check it out. Hell yeah.
00:50:46:02 - 00:50:56:05
Petch
on the upper slab to the right of, like, sunflower. And, you know, it was kind of like the horndog or slacked. But like, it got reported from.
00:50:56:05 - 00:50:59:14
Petch
But who cares, you know? And,
00:50:59:17 - 00:51:00:08
Petch
So that was.
00:51:00:08 - 00:51:01:07
Petch
Cool.
00:51:01:10 - 00:51:05:11
Petch
I mean, just just kind of like getting into the trad climbing.
00:51:05:11 - 00:51:08:08
Petch
The multi pitch climbing at that period.
00:51:08:10 - 00:51:13:13
Petch
We were also on the road for eight months. So like, we are in our early 20s.
00:51:13:13 - 00:51:17:10
Petch
Just partying, drinking shitty beer and smoking shitty weed and like.
00:51:17:12 - 00:51:28:12
Petch
Climbing every day. We were gonna bar climb and it was like it didn't really matter. And it was winter though, so it was kind of rainy. So there was times where.
00:51:28:14 - 00:51:32:11
Petch
We just hang out in this party and hike the canyons.
00:51:32:13 - 00:51:39:03
Petch
But then we headed out to Arizona. Flagstaff coaches,
00:51:39:06 - 00:51:41:06
Petch
In Colorado, Durango.
00:51:41:13 - 00:51:44:22
Petch
Then we went to Turkey Rocks and the South Platte and.
00:51:44:22 - 00:51:50:03
Petch
Stayed there for five weeks. And we just got deer out a day and just hang out.
00:51:50:05 - 00:51:56:10
Petch
And then into Wyoming. And we are Hoover. Hoover dirt bags, like we were in Boulder.
00:51:56:10 - 00:51:58:01
Petch
And like, I mean.
00:51:58:04 - 00:52:02:12
Petch
We are such dirt bags. We.
00:52:02:15 - 00:52:04:21
Petch
It was pretty.
00:52:05:00 - 00:52:11:12
Petch
Yeah. We were just camping out, living in the cars and, you know, showering in the creeks.
00:52:11:12 - 00:52:20:03
Kyle
what was the most dirtbag thing you did during those eight months?
00:52:20:05 - 00:52:22:10
Kyle
One show or eight months?
00:52:25:04 - 00:52:31:27
Kyle
Hey, bro, will you scrub my back?
00:52:32:00 - 00:52:35:20
Kyle
Yeah. Yeah.
00:52:35:20 - 00:52:37:06
Petch
in L.A. You know, now
00:52:37:06 - 00:52:40:10
Petch
and then we, you know, hit Devil's Tower.
00:52:40:10 - 00:52:41:01
Petch
And.
00:52:41:03 - 00:52:43:01
Petch
Then we went into the wind Rivers.
00:52:43:04 - 00:52:44:24
Petch
And,
00:52:44:26 - 00:52:56:27
Petch
My buddy Brian, he bailed. He he got sick hanging out. But in between, we had another buddy, Chris, joined, and he stayed with me. And so we went into the Wind Rivers, and we were like.
00:52:56:27 - 00:52:57:13
Petch
Let's go for.
00:52:57:13 - 00:52:59:20
Petch
A month. We were like, running low on.
00:52:59:22 - 00:53:01:12
Petch
On funds.
00:53:01:15 - 00:53:08:02
Petch
So we put a rack of rope each because we used to climb with two ropes in the mountains. Right.
00:53:08:04 - 00:53:09:19
Petch
And,
00:53:09:21 - 00:53:13:25
Petch
And a month's worth of food on our back. And we hiked into the winds and,
00:53:13:27 - 00:53:16:03
Petch
We made it three weeks.
00:53:16:06 - 00:53:17:28
Petch
Before,
00:53:18:00 - 00:53:19:03
Petch
Before we were over.
00:53:19:03 - 00:53:20:26
Petch
And, like, the bugs and stuff, but.
00:53:20:26 - 00:53:21:17
Petch
Like, yeah, we made.
00:53:21:17 - 00:53:23:03
Petch
It. It.
00:53:23:03 - 00:53:23:22
Petch
Took us.
00:53:23:24 - 00:53:24:13
Petch
Two days.
00:53:24:13 - 00:53:30:02
Petch
I ten miles because our packs were so heavy. And, like, one time I fell over and I was like a turtle because my
00:53:36:08 - 00:53:44:18
Petch
Yeah. Then after we left, the winds were like, all right, well, we're out of money. Let's head back to California. And we actually stopped in at the casino.
00:53:44:18 - 00:53:49:19
Petch
In Reno to, like, spend our last money to see if we could, like when some
00:53:53:17 - 00:54:04:12
Kyle
I'm assuming that didn't go very well.
00:54:04:12 - 00:54:11:16
Petch
And we pulled into the leap and right away we met some cool people bouldering.
00:54:11:16 - 00:54:12:13
Petch
And.
00:54:12:16 - 00:54:21:24
Petch
Kind of like hooked in with the community. Like, there was a bunch of, like, climbers working at the lodge, free camping, just like you camped right at the base.
00:54:23:28 - 00:54:27:21
Petch
My buddy Chris took off. I was just living in the campground, and the lodge.
00:54:27:21 - 00:54:28:08
Petch
Was doing.
00:54:28:08 - 00:54:29:24
Petch
A.
00:54:29:26 - 00:54:36:17
Petch
A new addition. So, got a job digging ditches for five bucks an hour.
00:54:36:19 - 00:54:53:05
Petch
And I was happy as could be. I was making money. Dollar beers at the lodge and, living in the campground, getting off work, bouldering and little easy soloing. Winter came. They liked me. They made me a bartender.
00:54:53:07 - 00:54:56:17
Petch
I never did the snow thing, you know? So I tried snowboarding.
00:54:56:17 - 00:55:00:18
Petch
And surfing is probably the hardest thing I've ever learned to do. And I think.
00:55:00:18 - 00:55:01:27
Petch
Snowboarding.
00:55:02:00 - 00:55:02:21
Petch
Because of that.
00:55:02:21 - 00:55:11:19
Petch
Snowboarding was the easiest thing I've ever learned. It just was like, you know, it's just like I knew how to surf, you know, like snowboarding.
00:55:11:19 - 00:55:12:18
Petch
You're on a surfboard.
00:55:12:18 - 00:55:13:06
Petch
But.
00:55:13:08 - 00:55:15:06
Petch
The mountain's not moving, you know?
00:55:15:06 - 00:55:20:24
Petch
So I got into that and yeah, I ended up just kind of, like, really fallen.
00:55:20:24 - 00:55:27:19
Petch
In love with the area and the community, and, I ended up buying a house.
00:55:27:21 - 00:55:28:18
Petch
Yeah.
00:55:28:20 - 00:55:32:10
Petch
House in the 90s. Started my guide business in the early 2000.
00:55:32:10 - 00:55:33:20
Petch
So. Yeah.
00:55:33:20 - 00:55:34:08
Petch
yeah, I'm now
00:55:34:08 - 00:55:35:02
Petch
the longest living.
00:55:35:02 - 00:55:37:05
Petch
Local here at The Leaf, which is kind
00:55:37:16 - 00:55:51:22
Kyle
No way. Wow. That's cool.
00:55:51:24 - 00:55:55:08
Kyle
Yeah. I was going to say how to keep people, to keep track. But if there's only 46 of you.
00:55:55:08 - 00:55:56:14
Kyle
Then,
00:55:56:16 - 00:56:03:05
Kyle
That's a that's a really small community. I would imagine there's some drama.
00:56:03:07 - 00:56:04:25
Kyle
That's really cool to hear.
00:56:04:25 - 00:56:20:02
Petch
Yeah. You know, our community is rad. It's super cool. Life. And there's squirrel is the owner of this little store here. He's got a climbing shop. It's a good beer. I mean, he'll give you a shirt off his.
00:56:20:02 - 00:56:27:10
Petch
Back, and like, he does burger nights. Saturday nights during the climbing season for five bucks. He just wants to, like.
00:56:27:13 - 00:56:28:21
Petch
You know, with.
00:56:28:23 - 00:56:40:00
Petch
Just a cool hang. It's just a cool, like, climbing scene. And we actually even start a little climbing festival here. Lovers fest. We, this year will be our third year doing a.
00:56:41:18 - 00:56:46:21
Kyle
Wow. That's awesome.
00:56:46:23 - 00:56:49:28
Kyle
Yeah, I've.
00:56:50:00 - 00:57:08:15
Kyle
That's awesome. Yeah. It seems like you just kind of stumbled upon it too. It's really cool that you. And it's it's, it's so secluded. It's so, like, just kind of out there and away from everything. It's really cool that you, Yeah. You found found home there. I'd say that's a rather unique situation.
00:57:08:15 - 00:57:10:07
Petch
See, I feel so.
00:57:10:07 - 00:57:12:18
Petch
Lucky and fortunate, you know.
00:57:12:20 - 00:57:14:16
Petch
And,
00:57:14:18 - 00:57:23:09
Petch
Like, Lover's Leap and being a climber and living out of climbing, I. And I got the American River. And it's not really secluded, though. Like, it sounds secluded.
00:57:23:09 - 00:57:32:15
Petch
I mean, maybe in the wintertime, but, like, tahoe's 20 miles away, you know, highway 250. I mean, that's the biggest drag is we have highway safety running through it. But like, right
00:57:33:22 - 00:57:58:23
Kyle
Yeah, I guess I just mean, like, geographically you're like really tight in this canyon and it's like you're secluded. You can't see very far, you know, it's like a very tight small little area. What's it, what's the history of leap like? Both in a kind of like, human history sense and also a, like a geography sense.
00:57:58:23 - 00:58:07:27
Kyle
Like, how did that place get settled? And also, do you know how and why those rocks are, exist the way they do?
00:58:08:26 - 00:58:27:18
Kyle
I send professional recording equipment to every single guest to ensure that you get top tier audio and video quality, and those costs add up. Right now, the show is also completely ad free and I would love to keep it that way. So if you've been enjoying the Climbing Majority podcast, we'd like to help keep this podcast ad free and want to help me cover shipping costs.
00:58:27:22 - 00:58:45:12
Kyle
Consider joining our Patreon for as little as $5 a month. You can help support the show and you'll get access to exclusive episodes. You can find the link in our show notes or head to Patreon.com slash the climbing Majority podcast. That's Patreon.com slash the Climbing Majority podcast.
00:58:46:03 - 00:58:48:18
Petch
Well, let's, let's start with the rocks and what I.
00:58:48:18 - 00:58:49:28
Petch
Now.
00:58:50:00 - 00:58:51:15
Petch
It's a glacier carved.
00:58:51:15 - 00:58:59:18
Petch
Canyon, and you can see it when you're up above. Looking down, you can see the U-shape.
00:58:59:20 - 00:59:08:13
Petch
So what makes lovers unique is the horizontal dikes. And now I forget you lived in Marina. You climbed up Felipe a little bit.
00:59:09:03 - 00:59:19:03
Kyle
I have yeah, I did the line. I think that was the only route I had the, the pleasure of doing, but I've been there. I've seen the dikes. Yeah.
00:59:19:03 - 00:59:24:01
Petch
Super classic. And you know it's like there it is.
00:59:24:01 - 00:59:27:21
Petch
But yeah the dikes make it super climbable.
00:59:27:21 - 00:59:46:29
Petch
And supposedly there was the first magma, pluton that happened and it started to cool and fracture. And then there was a secondary intrusion of magma that was forced through the seams and cracks, like, cooled at a different rate. So it, it's a harder rock.
00:59:46:29 - 00:59:48:26
Petch
So it erodes slower.
00:59:48:26 - 00:59:49:29
Petch
And.
00:59:50:03 - 01:00:10:03
Petch
In some places they can stick. Yeah, they can stick out 6 to 8in. And I actually find, like, the climbing at the leap and Red rocks kind of similar just because it's so featured. You know, you can be climbing this moderate side of super steep now instead of the red rocks you have the plates, you know. But at the leap you're.
01:00:10:03 - 01:00:11:24
Petch
Grabbing the dikes.
01:00:11:27 - 01:00:17:24
Petch
It's super fun. Even like when you're on easy terrain like five easy, you still feel.
01:00:17:24 - 01:00:26:04
Petch
Like you're climbing because you got like some exposure, because it's steep. And the views, it's it's really it's really pretty.
01:00:26:04 - 01:00:29:16
Petch
Now, we did experience a fire in 2021.
01:00:29:16 - 01:00:33:23
Petch
That went through the leap.
01:00:33:25 - 01:00:37:01
Petch
Which was pretty devastating. I was actually just going through.
01:00:37:01 - 01:00:38:03
Petch
Some photos.
01:00:39:13 - 01:00:45:24
Petch
Of the fire this morning and like, seeing the photos before the fire and how green everything was.
01:00:45:24 - 01:00:46:28
Petch
And then like.
01:00:47:00 - 01:01:05:23
Petch
You know, there's we're surrounded by burnt, dead trees that are all starting to fall. It's kind of sketchy, actually. And we rebuilt a lot of the trails and then, like, after the winter, it's like, well, this massive tree just took out that part of a trail. We're building another trail around it.
01:01:05:26 - 01:01:09:27
Petch
So that's that's an ongoing project we have here.
01:01:10:04 - 01:01:10:26
Petch
Is just.
01:01:10:26 - 01:01:12:02
Petch
The the.
01:01:12:02 - 01:01:12:24
Petch
Aftermath of
01:01:17:00 - 01:01:20:10
Kyle
Yeah. What was that experience like when the fires were.
01:01:20:13 - 01:01:20:17
Kyle
What.
01:01:20:20 - 01:01:34:19
Kyle
What was that like when the fires were actually, like, ripping through? Like, did you guys have to evacuate? Like, how close were you losing to, like, losing your residents and your job and everything? Like, what was that like?
01:01:34:19 - 01:01:44:26
Petch
So the fire started, about 50 miles away from here, and, it was getting closer and closer, but I was just like. And it's.
01:01:44:27 - 01:01:45:11
Petch
Not done yet.
01:01:45:11 - 01:02:06:28
Petch
Here. It's got to go over. This river has got to go through this canyons. Got to go see this river. That town's been evacuated a few times and the fire's never gotten here. My neighbors are like, aren't you worried? I'm like, no, we're good. And, like. Five days before the fire got here, like, it was getting.
01:02:06:29 - 01:02:08:09
Petch
Super, super smoky.
01:02:08:13 - 01:02:11:09
Petch
And, like, my girlfriend and I, we did some.
01:02:12:10 - 01:02:26:17
Petch
Brush clearing. I live right up against the, Forest Service Wilderness area. So we did some brush clearing, and I had backpacking permits for the Palisades, and I was just like, well, you know, what are we going to do?
01:02:26:17 - 01:02:36:15
Petch
Like, hang out here and breathe smoke? I like I think, you know, we've kind of done as much clearing as we can really do. So let's go back to packing.
01:02:36:17 - 01:02:45:04
Petch
So we drive and go into the Palisades and, it's, you know, I had like, gotten these.
01:02:45:04 - 01:03:07:11
Petch
Permits six months in advance, and, and I wanted to solo Temple Crag and to Mount Gailey and to, Mount. So it was like a goal of mine to do that link up solo. And and I did it and came back, woke up the next morning and the winds were kind of ripping. I'm like, hey, we got to go.
01:03:07:11 - 01:03:12:11
Petch
And she's like, what the hell? I'm like, no, I think we need to go on. As soon as we got.
01:03:12:14 - 01:03:23:13
Petch
Into, cell service, my phone lights up from friends. Hey, where are you? And then the call from the county. This is the El Dorado County. You know, you're under mandatory evacuations, like.
01:03:23:13 - 01:03:24:18
Petch
Oh, shit.
01:03:24:21 - 01:03:27:27
Petch
Yeah, I didn't expect that.
01:03:27:29 - 01:03:28:19
Petch
So we drive.
01:03:28:19 - 01:03:30:10
Petch
Back and.
01:03:31:14 - 01:03:33:22
Petch
I talked my way through the road closure.
01:03:33:22 - 01:03:54:26
Petch
And they let me back in. I had a little cab over camper for my truck. I put that on there. Kind of did the last few things, grab some stuff and drove out in tears. Like like it was here. It was just like ten miles away. Ash was falling out of the sky. It was black and like. Like I'm never gonna see my house again, you know?
01:03:54:27 - 01:03:56:14
Petch
My, you know, like.
01:03:56:17 - 01:03:57:08
Petch
If I lost my.
01:03:57:08 - 01:04:02:26
Petch
House and lose my business, it just, you know, it was scary. So I.
01:04:02:28 - 01:04:04:05
Petch
Ended up being evacuated.
01:04:04:05 - 01:04:13:07
Petch
For 32 days. I just drove down to Bishop and went climbing, and then just kind of climbed around at.
01:04:13:07 - 01:04:21:26
Petch
One point when the the fire was right on strawberry. The following morning, I woke up. And there's these infrared maps you can get online.
01:04:22:03 - 01:04:35:18
Petch
Or like in real time. And I live on a dead end road on the cul de sac and in the last house there. So it's kind of like if you look at this map, you're like, that's where my house is at the end of that road. And there was a red dot right there. And like, I said, over.
01:04:35:18 - 01:04:37:18
Petch
And then slowly.
01:04:37:21 - 01:04:41:25
Petch
You know, on Twitter, they were, you know, journalists were allowed pass road.
01:04:41:25 - 01:04:45:25
Petch
Closures. And like, all of a sudden we started getting news like they saved everything.
01:04:45:25 - 01:04:47:08
Petch
And strawberry like strawberry.
01:04:47:08 - 01:04:55:15
Petch
Was like big time on the news. And yeah, they saved the town. Like, we only lost one structure now.
01:04:55:18 - 01:04:56:18
Petch
Yeah, yeah.
01:04:56:18 - 01:04:58:21
Petch
It's crazy. So they ended up.
01:04:58:24 - 01:05:02:01
Petch
The firefighting crew did such a good job.
01:05:02:01 - 01:05:13:22
Petch
Now they had a huge force here. They were stationed at the lodge and at the store, and they were here at least seven days before the fire got here. And they cut line all.
01:05:13:22 - 01:05:20:18
Petch
The way around town and laid hoses. And before the fire got here and they back burned everything,
01:05:20:20 - 01:05:23:10
Petch
So it pushed it around strawberry went around.
01:05:23:10 - 01:05:39:05
Petch
Strawberry and then annihilated the canyon above us, like 300 homes, got burned, had friends lose their houses. And one of my good friends, he's almost finished rebuilding. And so that's going on for years now.
01:05:39:07 - 01:05:49:11
Petch
So yeah. And then, like, coming back, yeah, I was, you know, I got back into the house and then the following day they had.
01:05:49:13 - 01:06:09:28
Petch
They had, you know, the Forest Service was closed, but like, I had a log I could sneak. I didn't have to walk through the campground and the trailhead. There's a log over the river. So I snuck into the leap and like, soloed and hiked on the I swallowed up corrugation corner and there's like trees still on fire as I go.
01:06:10:01 - 01:06:13:06
Petch
More door. You know, I was just nutty.
01:06:13:08 - 01:06:16:01
Petch
Like shit was still kind of life, you know, probably not the.
01:06:16:01 - 01:06:18:12
Petch
Smartest thing, but, like, you know, this is my home.
01:06:20:18 - 01:06:31:06
Kyle
Yeah. What a wild experience. So I bet it was like a, like a apocalyptic environment to be climbing in. That's, That's wild.
01:06:31:06 - 01:06:39:10
Petch
like, I was like, I had there I have right on the ridge. The rock ridge. Because like, you know, there's these burned out.
01:06:39:10 - 01:06:43:12
Petch
Stumps and holes, you know, you could fall in and just be like.
01:06:43:14 - 01:06:43:19
Petch
A.
01:06:43:19 - 01:06:45:15
Petch
Pig in the ground, you know? So
01:06:46:28 - 01:06:53:04
Kyle
Oh, jeeze. Yeah.
01:06:53:06 - 01:06:55:01
Kyle
Ash everywhere, I would imagine.
01:06:55:03 - 01:06:58:25
Kyle
Yeah.
01:06:58:25 - 01:07:06:08
Petch
hillsides, if there's rocks, like, if you just touch the rocks. It was, it was so ashy and silty, like there was.
01:07:06:08 - 01:07:13:02
Petch
Nothing holding them down. You touch them and they just roll down the hill like any size, from small to big, because.
01:07:13:04 - 01:07:14:01
Petch
The earth.
01:07:14:01 - 01:07:18:26
Petch
Wasn't holding them up anymore. It was like floating and ash. It was a crab.
01:07:20:07 - 01:07:25:01
Petch
And then I came back, you know, again, whatever. A week or so.
01:07:25:01 - 01:07:30:10
Petch
Later and, like, walked the base of the soil where the line is, and all the bushes were gone. We didn't have.
01:07:30:10 - 01:07:33:07
Petch
Trees up against the cliffs of the cliffs, didn't get damage because the.
01:07:33:07 - 01:07:36:03
Petch
Bushes just burnt out in quick.
01:07:36:06 - 01:07:38:21
Petch
But I was like hiking around and and finding.
01:07:38:21 - 01:07:40:18
Petch
All of the gear that was dropped because all the bushes
01:07:46:09 - 01:07:49:17
Kyle
No way.
01:07:49:17 - 01:07:56:05
Petch
had described it as like it was like an Easter egg hunt, but all the eggs, right? And you're like, I look at this cam.
01:07:56:05 - 01:07:57:13
Petch
It's all like.
01:07:57:15 - 01:07:59:22
Petch
Melted and shit.
01:07:59:25 - 01:08:01:05
Petch
Also.
01:08:03:07 - 01:08:08:29
Kyle
Do you have any of those, like, trinkets left over from your your your plunder?
01:08:08:29 - 01:08:11:10
Petch
Yeah, I just saw him the other day. They're sitting.
01:08:11:14 - 01:08:13:01
Petch
On this table in my backyard.
01:08:13:01 - 01:08:16:20
Petch
So I thought, I thought it'd be cool to make like, a molehill or something.
01:08:16:20 - 01:08:17:07
Petch
You know, or
01:08:17:29 - 01:08:25:12
Kyle
Yeah, totally. Yeah. Absolutely.
01:08:25:12 - 01:08:35:18
Petch
was interesting, too. I found, like, a mysterious master cam and, like, the ceiling was all melted, but like, the little, you know, they use the caviar, the cord triggers.
01:08:38:29 - 01:08:41:09
Kyle
No way.
01:08:41:12 - 01:08:47:23
Kyle
Okay. Good to know. There's always things that those things look so visually flimsy.
01:08:47:25 - 01:08:48:09
Kyle
Yeah.
01:08:48:10 - 01:08:49:04
Kyle
That's wild.
01:08:49:07 - 01:08:55:12
Petch
While on the carabiners, like, the spring would melt out, like. So you'd push open the gate.
01:08:55:14 - 01:09:02:18
Petch
And the spring was gone, but, like, it was still kind of like, you know, like aluminum didn't melt.
01:09:02:21 - 01:09:02:27
Petch
Yeah.
01:09:02:27 - 01:09:04:07
Petch
It's a trap.
01:09:04:07 - 01:09:28:21
Kyle
That's a trip. Yeah I remember the, the day I got into my accident was the same day that, that called the fire started. And like I drove away out of Cloudburst Canyon and looking in the mirror to like a black plume of spark like in the sky. It was so weird that, like, it's like, obviously they're not connected, but like, after that injury, I'm like, in a wheelchair for six months and there's just like, fire everywhere.
01:09:28:21 - 01:09:36:27
Kyle
I'm just like, man, what is my life? It was terrible. It was terrible. Yeah. That fire was it was really devastating up there.
01:09:36:27 - 01:09:38:25
Speaker 1
was, In what?
01:09:39:01 - 01:09:42:13
Speaker 2
The houses they saved in Tahoe, like.
01:09:42:15 - 01:09:46:12
Speaker 3
Saving Christmas Valley was just amazing. You know? Like.
01:09:46:14 - 01:09:48:22
Speaker 2
It is definitely.
01:09:48:24 - 01:09:52:02
Speaker 3
Impressive what the firefighters did and, like.
01:09:52:04 - 01:09:55:01
Speaker 2
Just the limited time I was here in that smoke.
01:09:55:01 - 01:10:12:18
Speaker 3
Like getting the last of out. Just thinking about those guys having to, like, work and live in those conditions all summer long. I mean, we've had some really bad summers here. You know, Tahoe sucks and the smoke from all over California. So.
01:10:12:20 - 01:10:16:27
Speaker 2
The last couple of years have actually been since the fire. We haven't had a.
01:10:16:27 - 01:10:23:28
Speaker 3
Really smoky summer. Maybe just because this part of the state is all burned. But we've been lucky so far.
01:10:23:28 - 01:10:26:18
Speaker 2
But all the bushes have come back so strong.
01:10:26:18 - 01:10:39:15
Speaker 3
Like we're trimming bushes back at the leap. Around my house. I was just doing fire clearing. This the other day is just like, man, these bushes are back. Like, you know, fire starts now. It's like.
01:10:39:18 - 01:10:52:20
Speaker 2
It's a it's a real thing, like, I didn't I, I had a friend lose her house in, Paradise fire 6 or 7 years ago, and she's totally got PTSD.
01:10:52:23 - 01:10:53:26
Speaker 1
And it's.
01:10:53:29 - 01:10:58:27
Speaker 2
You know, losing your house is. Yeah. Is is so,
01:10:58:29 - 01:11:02:07
Speaker 3
Yes. So tragic. But, like.
01:11:02:09 - 01:11:05:05
Speaker 2
I flew in to Reno, a couple years.
01:11:05:05 - 01:11:15:29
Speaker 3
Ago, and there was some fire in Nevada. And, like, as we got out of the airplane, it was so smoky, it, like, made me like, take just from the.
01:11:16:01 - 01:11:16:22
Speaker 1
Remembering.
01:11:16:22 - 01:11:19:03
Speaker 3
What was going on. And I'm like, man, I didn't lose my.
01:11:22:12 - 01:11:34:27
Kyle
Yeah. Now I would imagine that the valley with how, with how burned it got. It's at a much lower risk of having such a severe fire going through that area again. Right.
01:11:34:29 - 01:11:39:29
Kyle
It in, in like a near a short time frame. That's fair.
01:11:46:01 - 01:11:49:15
Speaker 2
here at. Let us leave strawberries still green.
01:11:49:21 - 01:11:49:28
Speaker 1
You.
01:11:49:28 - 01:11:58:12
Speaker 2
Know. And it's crazy to what? How long they let the campers.
01:11:58:12 - 01:12:02:25
Speaker 3
In the campground have fires?
01:12:02:27 - 01:12:04:08
Speaker 1
It's nutty.
01:12:04:10 - 01:12:06:13
Speaker 2
I've called and complain, and neighbors.
01:12:06:13 - 01:12:08:13
Speaker 3
Have called and complain.
01:12:08:15 - 01:12:15:10
Speaker 2
They're just like, well, there's a campground host and there's water in the campground, so they're allowed to have fires. It's it's like, well, the house is asleep.
01:12:15:10 - 01:12:18:09
Speaker 3
At 3:00 in the morning.
01:12:18:11 - 01:12:21:26
Speaker 2
The water's hundreds. It's a walk there, walk in campsites.
01:12:21:28 - 01:12:22:13
Speaker 3
I'm like.
01:12:22:15 - 01:12:24:29
Speaker 2
People leave there. I've walked through the campground at.
01:12:24:29 - 01:12:32:04
Speaker 3
Noon and had to put out people's fires. You know, it's just like it's it's.
01:12:32:06 - 01:12:33:23
Speaker 1
You think we.
01:12:33:24 - 01:12:38:02
Speaker 3
Learned something, you know? But like America on their hot dogs and their
01:12:42:04 - 01:13:05:02
Kyle
I mean I will say a campfire camping is pretty quintessential to the experience and I can't, I can't help but admit that I am slightly bummed whenever there's like a campfire. Like no campfire sign. Obviously I would say in general, people are probably unfortunately not very responsible with their with their fires. Which is, which is unfortunate.
01:13:06:28 - 01:13:07:08
Speaker 2
are having.
01:13:07:08 - 01:13:11:06
Speaker 3
These big fires and they're not even standing next to them, and then they go to sleep and.
01:13:11:06 - 01:13:12:19
Speaker 2
The most people don't put out their.
01:13:12:19 - 01:13:15:14
Speaker 3
Fires properly, you know, that's the big thing.
01:13:15:16 - 01:13:21:10
Speaker 2
Like, and it's inconvenient to like, you have to walk 100 yards.
01:13:21:10 - 01:13:27:20
Speaker 3
And coming back and forth to dump water on it. You know, it's like you got to put those things out.
01:13:27:22 - 01:13:27:29
Speaker 1
And.
01:13:27:29 - 01:13:28:24
Speaker 2
The community is.
01:13:28:24 - 01:13:30:28
Speaker 3
Surrounded by that campground.
01:13:31:00 - 01:13:32:04
Speaker 1
And the.
01:13:32:06 - 01:13:35:01
Speaker 2
Campers, you know, they're coming up. They
01:13:37:04 - 01:13:40:05
Kyle
Yeah. Just a.
01:13:40:05 - 01:13:40:21
Kyle
Yeah.
01:13:40:24 - 01:14:12:22
Kyle
The furnace. That's scary. I can imagine the PTSD and being just like. Yeah. Just being very triggering to see mismanaged fires so close to home. That would be definitely stressful. So you're trip not trip. Your your passion to become a guide. What inspired you to take that route rather than just like I'm a climber is is what I do.
01:14:12:29 - 01:14:24:12
Kyle
I work my day job, and I go out and solo and I. And I climb, like, what about guiding and, Why did you want to go down that road to to share this passion with others in such a direct way?
01:14:25:22 - 01:14:35:18
Speaker 2
My family just naturally always liked taking people on hikes. Even before I was a climber. Like, I disliked showing people around.
01:14:35:18 - 01:14:36:11
Speaker 3
And, like,
01:14:36:11 - 01:14:38:26
Speaker 3
showing people a good time, you know?
01:14:38:29 - 01:14:45:26
Speaker 2
And just like. Yeah, check this out. Let's go crawl through this hole and, you know, like, let's go climbing. Let's have some.
01:14:45:26 - 01:14:47:03
Speaker 1
Fun.
