95 | Local Legend of Lover's Leap w/ Petch Pietrolungo Part II

Today, we’re picking up right where we left off with Petch Pietrolungo—climber, AMGA certified guide, free soloist, and the local legend of Lover’s Leap in California.  If you missed part one of this conversation, I highly recommend heading back and starting there—it’ll give you a deeper appreciation for where we’re going today.

In this second part, we dive into Petch’s journey to becoming an AMGA-certified guide and how he launched Lover’s Leap Guides back in 2003. We take a close look at stewardship—what it really means, why it matters, and how we all can contribute to protecting the places we climb, even if we’re not out there building trails or replacing bolts.

We also get into Petch’s relationship with free soloing—not as some reckless pursuit, but as a practice that’s deeply personal, calculated, and, in his case, something he attributes to saving his life. He walks us through what it takes to move through the mountains with that kind of confidence, including a mind-blowing day where he soloed 112 pitches… and how those skills and systems carry over into offering large days of climbing to his clients.

Finally we close the conversation off with a deeply personal look into Petch’s battle with alcoholism… how it impacted his life, and his decision to live sober and fully present moving forward

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Resources

Petch's IG

Hire Petch As A Guide

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:51 AMGA Guide Path
• 12:17 Stewardship
• 33:12 Free Soloing
• 56:46 Massive Days In The Mountains
• 1:08:27 A Battle With Alcohol

Transcript

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.

00:00:15:26 - 00:00:41:05
Kyle
Today we're picking up right where we left off with Petra. Petra Lingo, climber and Certified Guide, Free soloist, and the local legend of Lover's Leap in California. If you missed part one of this conversation, I highly recommend heading back and starting there. It'll give you a deeper appreciation for where we're going today. In this second part, we dive into pitches journey to becoming an AMG Certified guide and how he launched Lover's Leap Guides back in 2003.

00:00:41:08 - 00:01:05:14
Kyle
We'll take a close look at stewardship, what it really means, why it matters, and how we can all contribute to protecting the places we love, even if we're not out there building trails or replacing bolts. We also get into his relationship with free soloing, not as some reckless pursuit, but as a practice that's deeply personal, calculated and in his case, something he attributes to saving his life.

00:01:05:16 - 00:01:30:27
Kyle
He walks us through what it takes to move through the mountains with that kind of confidence, including a mind blowing day where he soloed 112 pitches, and how those skills and systems carry over into offering large days of climbing to his clients. Finally, we close off the conversation with a deeply personal look into his battle with alcoholism, how it impacted his life, and his decision to live sober and fully present moving forward.

00:01:30:29 - 00:01:39:17
Kyle
So without further ado, here is part two of my conversation with the one and only Pietro Luongo.

00:01:51:08 - 00:02:07:28
Kyle
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.

00:02:08:05 - 00:02:19:18
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?

00:02:20:28 - 00:02:30:24
Petch
My family just naturally always liked taking people on hikes. Even before I was a climber. Like, I disliked showing people around.

00:02:30:24 - 00:02:35:01
Petch
And, like, showing people a good time, you know?

00:02:35:04 - 00:02:42:01
Petch
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.

00:02:42:01 - 00:02:45:16
Petch
Fun.

00:02:45:16 - 00:02:46:04
Petch
And then.

00:02:46:11 - 00:02:50:10
Petch
I became a bartender after a ditch digger. I moved up in the world.

00:02:50:13 - 00:02:54:10
Petch
And, I,

00:02:54:12 - 00:02:58:18
Petch
I'd have people, you know, like bartending. You know, people are always asking you questions, having.

00:02:58:18 - 00:03:00:11
Petch
Conversations, small talk, and.

00:03:00:19 - 00:03:04:13
Petch
People. It's like, oh, I've always wanted to climb. I'm like, hey, give me a.

00:03:04:13 - 00:03:05:29
Petch
Hundred bucks, I'll take it.

00:03:06:18 - 00:03:10:11
Kyle
Yeah. That's actually it's a great marketing tool for sure.

00:03:10:10 - 00:03:13:04
Petch
I bartended and guided for a while, you know.

00:03:13:04 - 00:03:33:16
Petch
I'd guide in the morning, come back and bartend at night. And once I started getting kind of busy with guiding that became too much, you know, like, work until one in the morning and getting up at 8 a.m. and doing a day of guiding became too much, and then finally started being able to pay the bills with guiding to

00:03:33:19 - 00:03:42:15
Petch
And then, one of my bar customers, we hit it off, you know, similar age. He had just finished.

00:03:42:18 - 00:03:44:16
Petch
Doing,

00:03:44:18 - 00:03:47:16
Petch
Guiding a kids camp where they were doing.

00:03:47:16 - 00:04:05:25
Petch
Backpacking and climbing and yeah, we hit it off in the bar. He was just he ended up coming back to my house. I lived just, right next to the lodge, basically walked on home. We, And he offered me a job. And so.

00:04:05:28 - 00:04:28:10
Petch
Yeah, I guided for the company. He worked for a few summers like this. One summer we did a 28 day leadership course. We did. We did five days like backpacking, starting on Donner Summit, came out, and then met a friend with a sailboat and sailed around Lake Tahoe for a few days and camped out a campground every night.

00:04:28:12 - 00:04:38:08
Petch
And he dropped us off in Emerald Bay. And we hiked from Emerald Day to the leap, bagging peaks along the way and then we got to the leave and we climbed for like six.

00:04:38:08 - 00:04:42:04
Petch
Or seven days. It was just awesome.

00:04:42:06 - 00:04:43:19
Petch
Yeah, it was pretty cool.

00:04:43:21 - 00:04:46:24
Petch
I'm like, yeah, I'm getting paid to do this.

00:04:48:22 - 00:04:50:05
Petch
And so.

00:04:50:05 - 00:04:52:02
Petch
Then,

00:04:52:05 - 00:04:55:12
Petch
I was bugging the Forest Service about acquiring a permanent.

00:04:55:15 - 00:04:55:26
Petch
You know.

00:04:55:26 - 00:05:00:10
Petch
It's hard to get and can be hard to get permits, scenarios and,

00:05:00:24 - 00:05:03:09
Kyle
Oh. Permit for what exactly? Guiding or.

00:05:03:09 - 00:05:05:11
Petch
got to be a commercial outfit

00:05:05:15 - 00:05:12:00
Kyle
Okay. To be like a business rather than a freelancer. That's just kind of like pirate guiding people up routes.

00:05:12:00 - 00:05:15:11
Petch
Yeah. Like when I, when I was bartending, you know, like, give me.

00:05:15:11 - 00:05:20:28
Petch
100 bucks, you know, that was just kind of like, under the table. 20 year old like you know, give me a.

00:05:20:28 - 00:05:21:17
Petch
Hundred bucks.

00:05:21:23 - 00:05:23:07
Petch
You know.

00:05:23:10 - 00:05:29:02
Petch
But yeah, then, you know, and then I was working for another company, you know, when I work for my buddy, they had permits.

00:05:29:02 - 00:05:38:01
Petch
So, like, you know, we are fully legit there, but. So I was like, yeah, I want to get into this. So I ended up getting a permanent two.

00:05:38:01 - 00:05:59:02
Petch
Thousand and three and starting Lover's Leap Guides. And I was a one man show pretty much up until 6 or 7 years ago when, my life exploded from a divorce, and then all of a sudden, like, this is like, all right, well, for me to.

00:05:59:04 - 00:06:00:00
Petch
You know, had to.

00:06:00:02 - 00:06:04:09
Petch
Buy my wife out of the house and walk away from certain things.

00:06:04:09 - 00:06:20:07
Petch
And it's just like, all right, well, now it's all on me. So that's when I expanded hired guides, you know, really put a little more effort into marketing and business and websites and.

00:06:20:10 - 00:06:21:21
Petch
And, you know.

00:06:21:23 - 00:06:25:00
Petch
It seems to pay it off. You know.

00:06:25:02 - 00:06:25:23
Petch
Not killing it.

00:06:25:23 - 00:06:30:28
Petch
But, you know, I'm able to climb and pay the bills and, you know,

00:06:33:06 - 00:06:33:24
Kyle
Yeah.

00:06:33:26 - 00:06:51:18
Kyle
Absolutely. And I would say it's, Yeah. I mean, it's not an easy thing to do to to live a life of climbing. And, we each, you know, I think a lot of us, try to make it happen in our own ways. And, I think at least from what I'm finding, it's it's a lot harder than I expected.

00:06:51:18 - 00:07:13:00
Kyle
So it's really cool that you you found that that niche and that, Yeah. And I think it's cool. I think I found that, like, success is found in, like, raising everybody up around you rather than, like, seeking for just like, I don't know, like, just like going after the money, right. Like the it depends on what you're looking for.

00:07:13:00 - 00:07:28:05
Kyle
And, it seems like you've just done so much for the climbing community, especially in the local area. And, Yeah, it's really cool that, you know, the community is, is there to, to support your, your lifestyle and to keep you climbing in that area. So I think it's rad the balance you found.

00:07:28:18 - 00:07:28:29
Petch
Yeah.

00:07:29:05 - 00:07:30:01
Petch
Again. Like I said.

00:07:30:01 - 00:07:33:27
Petch
Earlier, I feel very fortunate and lucky. And, Yeah. Life

00:07:34:23 - 00:07:37:14
Kyle
That's awesome.

00:07:37:17 - 00:08:05:00
Kyle
What about so someone someone looking to become a guide? I guess, you know, this could be a huge topic in itself. I don't necessarily want to go too far deep into it. My main question here is, the delineation between Spy and actually just going for the Rock guide course. Do you want to kind of enlighten us a little bit in terms of the differences between the two and, in what circumstances you would recommend one versus the other as a starting point?

00:08:08:09 - 00:08:10:13
Petch
So, I mean, the.

00:08:10:15 - 00:08:21:02
Petch
The spy is definitely a good way to, like, get a start on it and kind of seeing if you're gonna like it. But for me, like, the single pitch guiding.

00:08:21:02 - 00:08:42:00
Petch
Is my least favorite type of guiding. I love the more type educating. You know, sitting around and checking, not being a cheerleader and just playing top ropes all day is, I wouldn't be a guide if that was my life. You know?

00:08:42:02 - 00:08:45:15
Petch
And, you know, it's as if you guys are good, like, foot in the.

00:08:45:15 - 00:08:47:19
Petch
Door.

00:08:47:21 - 00:08:50:22
Petch
You get started to see. Make yourself hirable.

00:08:50:22 - 00:08:52:14
Kyle
okay.

00:08:52:16 - 00:08:56:14
Kyle
It's not necessary for the process, though.

00:08:56:13 - 00:08:58:07
Petch
know, you could.

00:08:58:09 - 00:08:58:24
Petch
Well.

00:08:58:28 - 00:09:10:20
Petch
You know, they might have changed it, or I think they want you to take the spy and then start going on through, You know, then you take your Iraq.

00:09:10:20 - 00:09:18:28
Petch
Guide course and advance or I advance or arcade course, and then the your exam.

00:09:19:00 - 00:09:20:21
Petch
But, yeah, if you're serious about guiding, you want.

00:09:20:21 - 00:09:25:14
Petch
To be going, you know, the spy, it's.

00:09:25:16 - 00:09:35:20
Petch
I mean, in in places like Joshua Tree. It's fine. Now, unfortunately, I think the standards are kind of low with the spy.

00:09:35:22 - 00:09:36:18
Petch
Like.

00:09:36:20 - 00:09:40:17
Petch
They only require for you to get your certificate.

00:09:40:17 - 00:09:45:08
Petch
To lead five, six.

00:09:45:10 - 00:09:45:22
Petch
I don't know.

00:09:45:22 - 00:09:49:11
Petch
How to be a certified single pitch instructor.

00:09:49:11 - 00:09:55:16
Kyle
You should probably know enough about climbing where you can. I don't know, I would say five nine. That's probably like a

00:09:55:22 - 00:10:07:29
Petch
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That's that's kind of how, in my opinion, that's kind of how I feel. And and like, sometimes these folks who are they want to know ahead of time, like what the five

00:10:10:16 - 00:10:12:09
Petch
lead one.

00:10:12:11 - 00:10:18:19
Petch
Way and they want to go and like practice before they and they want to like, climb it. Like, I don't think you should be.

00:10:18:19 - 00:10:23:07
Petch
Practicing five six to become a certified instructor.

00:10:23:09 - 00:10:35:13
Petch
And I think that just brings down the whole profession. Right. If you start dropping the standard, it kind of brings it down and then who knows? You know, when you start bringing it down, then you get accidents and then the

00:10:37:06 - 00:10:42:01
Petch
harder. And then, you know, more regulation from government agencies.

00:10:43:03 - 00:10:46:16
Petch
I think we need to lift up the standard, not bring it down.

00:10:46:17 - 00:11:00:11
Kyle
do you do you think the standard was dropped to maximize the amount of revenue that the AMG guide can acquire. Or do you think they lowered the standard because they're in need of guides. And not enough people are applying.

00:11:01:02 - 00:11:16:07
Petch
I mean, I think there's plenty of guides now, who knows exactly what. Why, that's kind of dropped. I don't know why they have A56 standard again, but just, you know.

00:11:17:11 - 00:11:17:28
Petch
I think I.

00:11:17:28 - 00:11:22:23
Petch
Could teach someone to, lead five, six and, a three day weekend. Right.

00:11:23:16 - 00:11:28:06
Kyle
Yeah. For sure. If not a single day if they're you've got some sort of athletic background. You.

00:11:28:07 - 00:11:43:27
Petch
Yeah. And, under city now, I have a common sense, and and I could teach someone how to play skier pretty good. And, but there's also, there's more than that. You know, there's risk management. There's.

00:11:44:00 - 00:11:45:01
Petch
You know, it's.

00:11:45:01 - 00:11:46:07
Petch
Not just like threading.

00:11:46:07 - 00:11:49:17
Petch
Ball, you know?

00:11:49:19 - 00:12:02:18
Petch
So I don't know. I mean, I did, run into some financial problems a few years ago. So they definitely, it seems like, I mean, the spy market is.

00:12:02:18 - 00:12:07:05
Petch
Flooded right now with, providers.

00:12:07:07 - 00:12:08:02
Petch
And.

00:12:08:04 - 00:12:14:18
Petch
There's courses and exams running all over the place.

00:12:14:20 - 00:12:16:05
Petch
So, yeah.

00:12:16:26 - 00:12:41:08
Kyle
What about stewardship. So so on like it's like a similar vein but slightly different and something I think that more of us can participate in. And we don't need a certification to be a steward of the land. And I would imagine that you I mean, you are. This I would say a very large and contributing steward to the Lover's Leap area.

00:12:41:10 - 00:13:05:20
Kyle
And I think stewardship is, is it's quite a cornerstone in climbing, and it's something that really is really necessary. How do you feel like stewardship is looked at nowadays? Do you feel like it's a dying art to do you feel like people are mostly just come and go? Thanks for the pitches. Thanks for Mountain Project. Thanks for these first ascents that are established.

00:13:05:20 - 00:13:12:22
Kyle
You know we're out. Or do you, you know, do you feel like it's something we can all participate in a bit more, than we are currently?

00:13:13:28 - 00:13:41:20
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.

00:13:41:24 - 00:13:58:13
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.

00:13:58:17 - 00:14:16:01
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.

00:14:16:05 - 00:14:29:17
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.

00:14:30:23 - 00:14:36:03
Petch
Well, like you said, Stuart steered shifts huge in my life.

00:14:36:06 - 00:14:41:17
Petch
I put a lot of time into the leap. I was actually,

00:14:41:19 - 00:14:43:08
Petch
But this time last night.

00:14:43:08 - 00:14:48:17
Petch
I was up on Corrugation Corner because we got a report of some lease blocks, so I went and took care

00:14:48:28 - 00:14:52:13
Kyle
Yeah, I saw the Instagram video.

00:14:53:18 - 00:14:54:22
Petch
And then I had to go back.

00:14:54:22 - 00:14:58:12
Petch
Up there this morning because I had to grab my rope and gear because I was like.

00:14:58:14 - 00:14:58:21
Petch
It's.

00:14:58:21 - 00:14:59:20
Petch
Kind of dark. I don't think I

00:15:02:12 - 00:15:07:00
Petch
But,

00:15:07:03 - 00:15:33:18
Petch
So, yeah, serious shifts, huge. You know, as a community for people who don't have the time to put into it because, you know, a weekend warrior who's got a big job, do you know, do they want to come on up and move rocks and crush their fingers? A big thing that was donating to the access fund and to the smaller.

00:15:36:16 - 00:15:51:21
Petch
Local groups like we have Nora, Cal Crags, and they actually, they raise money and then they bring out the acts. The access funds come out here part of that every summer. One year, a couple of years ago, they were here for six weeks.

00:15:52:20 - 00:15:55:16
Petch
And NorCal crags pays.

00:15:55:16 - 00:15:56:09
Petch
Them.

00:15:56:11 - 00:16:00:24
Petch
To have a crew here like their conservation crew. And they do amazing.

00:16:00:24 - 00:16:05:21
Petch
Work, like the work they've done, around the lower budgets. Is is so good.

00:16:05:23 - 00:16:15:12
Petch
But it costs money. So if you can't be out there volunteering, like, access funds going to be here for like two and a half weeks this summer.

00:16:16:20 - 00:16:26:24
Petch
You know, we're always like, we have big volunteer days on a weekend day, but then they have their crew out here midweek working all week. And so,

00:16:26:27 - 00:16:30:01
Petch
Volunteers will help them out on a smaller basis. But like.

00:16:30:04 - 00:16:31:19
Petch
Donating money.

00:16:31:21 - 00:16:31:28
Petch
If.

00:16:31:28 - 00:16:37:03
Petch
You can actually put the time in or even if you can put the time in donating money to the axis.

00:16:37:03 - 00:16:39:16
Petch
Fund and the smaller affiliates is.

00:16:39:16 - 00:16:43:16
Petch
Huge, because the amount of climbers that are out there and the amount.

00:16:43:16 - 00:16:47:07
Petch
Of money that is raised, it doesn't match up.

00:16:47:09 - 00:16:52:29
Petch
So and that goes with like boat replacement with, ask

00:16:53:01 - 00:16:54:27
Petch
You know, it's just like your

00:16:58:06 - 00:17:23:22
Kyle
Yeah. I was going to say, I think the bolting and replacing hardware, at least to me, it seems like an issue that's kind of like about to become really dangerous. I feel like there's a lot of these areas that maybe lack stewardship in general. And I think there might have been like a. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but there might have been like this, wave of first, a sense that, you know, happened at a certain decade, you know, whether that be ten, 20 years ago.

00:17:23:22 - 00:17:39:17
Kyle
And now, you know, we're getting to the point where these bolts are starting to become kind of dangerous. And maybe we don't have people that are out there to replace them, because that an actual problem that we're kind of running into is that like something that's down the pipeline that we're we're going to run into, or do we have enough stewardship?

00:17:39:17 - 00:17:43:20
Kyle
And are there people that are all kind of like monitoring these routes?

00:17:43:21 - 00:17:46:19
Petch
I think that is kind of area specific.

00:17:48:25 - 00:17:52:18
Petch
Like, I guess Clem knows out in Greece, they just got.

00:17:52:25 - 00:17:59:08
Petch
A coalition together to start rebuilding that place, and that's really close to the ocean. I've helped Heidi,

00:17:59:10 - 00:18:01:08
Petch
My partner run a couple.

00:18:01:08 - 00:18:03:20
Petch
Of guided trips over there. Like the bolts.

00:18:03:20 - 00:18:04:09
Petch
There.

00:18:04:13 - 00:18:06:12
Petch
Are getting bad because of the Sol. They're like.

00:18:06:18 - 00:18:12:28
Petch
Humboldt. The bolts we put up in Humboldt. Like we are poor college student in Sweden.

00:18:13:00 - 00:18:18:04
Petch
Right on the ocean. We were putting in a lot of steel bolts instead of stainless, and even stainless.

00:18:18:04 - 00:18:38:13
Petch
Rusts up there. So they've moved into titanium. People like Evan. What was your shop up there? A lot of time into, Oak Reequip in that place. So certain areas people are really on top of it here at the leap.

00:18:38:16 - 00:18:40:19
Petch
It's it there's not a.

00:18:40:22 - 00:18:42:25
Petch
Lot of bolts here for such a big.

00:18:42:25 - 00:18:44:03
Petch
Area.

00:18:44:05 - 00:18:50:17
Petch
But replacement has happened. Is starting to happen on some of the routes because there are some,

00:18:50:19 - 00:19:08:14
Petch
Routes that had butted heads and quarter inch bolts. You know, like a lot of that development was in the 80s. And they're using, you know, an inch and a quarter quarter inch bolts, you know, and so on. And there's a lot to do with some on the popular routes had been replaced.

00:19:10:03 - 00:19:12:26
Petch
And it seems like in Red rocks, I'm.

00:19:12:26 - 00:19:15:19
Petch
Noticing, and there's a lot of, stuff getting

00:19:15:25 - 00:19:34:19
Kyle
A lot of stuff getting fixed up for sure. And thank God because I mean like looking at some of these routes like, just it seemed to someone like me is, is on climbable. It's just like I, there's no way I'm putting myself out there like that. You know, if the. But I'm running into a situation where the next piece is and, like, might not even hold me.

00:19:34:22 - 00:19:41:27
Kyle
What about development? Do you, do you establish bolts or bolted lines or new anchors? Like, is that something that you do?

00:19:43:04 - 00:19:59:07
Kyle
how has the new update with the bolting band and wilderness areas and the permit systems, like, how has that, affected your process and has that kind of like, touched the lovers leave area yet?

00:19:59:11 - 00:20:03:03
Kyle
Okay. Who owns what's the land? Is it what's what is it owned by?

00:20:03:03 - 00:20:06:27
Petch
by the. It's federal land, but it's forest service.

00:20:07:18 - 00:20:09:17
Kyle
Okay.

00:20:09:17 - 00:20:11:21
Petch
power power drills are fine and.

00:20:11:21 - 00:20:15:15
Petch
Bolting is fine.

00:20:15:18 - 00:20:21:02
Petch
What's kind of rad here at the leap is, like, 95% of.

00:20:21:02 - 00:20:28:26
Petch
All the routes have been put up, ground up. It's kind of still a ground up traditional area, which is pretty rad.

00:20:28:28 - 00:20:34:20
Petch
And, and what's makes the leap kind of special, is it? It's so.

00:20:34:20 - 00:20:36:15
Petch
Doable.

00:20:36:18 - 00:20:36:24
Petch
With.

00:20:36:24 - 00:20:41:13
Petch
The dikes, you can always, like, throw a hook on a dike.

00:20:41:15 - 00:20:42:21
Petch
And you can read the dikes.

00:20:42:21 - 00:20:47:23
Petch
From the ground or, you know, it's like, oh, yeah, it looks like it will link up, you know?

00:20:50:03 - 00:20:53:16
Petch
So, yeah, it's super fun. Like,

00:20:53:16 - 00:20:54:27
Petch
100% of my.

00:20:54:27 - 00:20:57:13
Petch
Routes have all been ground up on site on.

00:20:57:13 - 00:20:59:11
Petch
Lead.

00:20:59:14 - 00:21:00:13
Petch
Which is pretty cool.

00:21:00:15 - 00:21:03:19
Kyle
Ground up. On site. On lead.

00:21:03:18 - 00:21:06:26
Kyle
So you didn't take on a hook or anything? Like all on site?

00:21:06:26 - 00:21:07:16
Petch
no no no.

00:21:07:16 - 00:21:09:23
Petch
No no no. Oh, no, I hang on the hook

00:21:09:22 - 00:21:17:24
Kyle
Okay, I see, like, just, like hanging on a cramp with the drill. Like never taking.

00:21:17:26 - 00:21:19:01
Kyle
Yeah, yeah.

00:21:19:01 - 00:21:19:23
Petch
now.

00:21:19:23 - 00:21:30:05
Petch
Just like not pre rehearsing dropping your up just walking up to the cliff going oh yeah. This. Let's see what happens. And I've only then shut down a couple of times.

00:21:30:05 - 00:21:32:20
Petch
Where it didn't go.

00:21:32:19 - 00:21:36:25
Petch
You know I've always so.

00:21:36:28 - 00:21:40:26
Petch
You know there's still some cracks left. They're super, super dirty.

00:21:40:28 - 00:21:42:11
Petch
You know, they're.

00:21:42:13 - 00:21:49:23
Petch
Living here so long. You know, I block by sections of cliffs and all of a sudden I catch a certain.

00:21:49:23 - 00:21:57:22
Petch
Light and it's like, oh, whoa, look at that. There's a system up there I've never noticed before.

00:21:57:24 - 00:22:00:05
Petch
So. Yeah. Stop taking

00:22:00:24 - 00:22:22:09
Kyle
What are what are some of your, your most proud first ascents. I have a couple here dog party. Correct me if I'm wrong on some of these sexy toodle, Sinbad's hairy banana. Is it sexy poodle or sexy poodle? Poodle. Okay. Because you have two you have two poodles, right? Or two dogs?

00:22:22:10 - 00:22:25:26
Petch
I kind of split Casey with my ex-wife, but. Yeah. So.

00:22:27:02 - 00:22:28:16
Kyle
Okay.

00:22:28:16 - 00:22:31:21
Petch
guy named a lot of roots after my dogs.

00:22:31:24 - 00:22:31:28
Petch
My

00:22:40:01 - 00:22:42:19
Petch
Herbert was actually is become pretty popular.

00:22:43:01 - 00:22:45:07
Kyle
Yeah, I saw that one on Mountain Project. Yeah.

00:22:45:07 - 00:22:49:06
Kyle
Yeah.

00:22:49:09 - 00:22:54:12
Kyle
You're like, who do I have to who do I have to talk to? Who's putting up my roots?

00:22:54:15 - 00:22:58:05
Kyle
I mean.

00:22:58:28 - 00:23:00:15
Petch
It goes up the central

00:23:01:05 - 00:23:03:01
Kyle
Yeah. Tell me about it.

00:23:03:01 - 00:23:09:04
Petch
wall is closed a lot of the year because of peregrine falcons. So it's kind of a dark grunge year.

00:23:09:04 - 00:23:12:16
Petch
Yeah.

00:23:12:18 - 00:23:16:23
Petch
It's in the rated zone, which is some of the steepest part of the the wall.

00:23:16:23 - 00:23:23:10
Petch
It's actually where people of all base jump and ski base off is in the winter time, because it's that steep.

00:23:23:19 - 00:23:25:22
Kyle
Holy shit. Whoa!

00:23:25:23 - 00:23:31:23
Petch
it's nutty like it's they only get like 400ft.

00:23:32:20 - 00:23:40:14
Kyle
Oh, yeah.

00:23:40:16 - 00:23:45:10
Kyle
Yeah. Oh, wow.

00:23:46:06 - 00:23:47:11
Petch
And you can find, you can.

00:23:47:11 - 00:23:49:13
Petch
Find videos of that on YouTube.

00:23:50:14 - 00:23:56:10
Petch
The Shane McConkey, who was a big squaw skier, he had developed.

00:23:56:10 - 00:23:58:28
Petch
That for ski racing.

00:23:59:01 - 00:24:00:07
Petch
And one year they did.

00:24:00:07 - 00:24:06:21
Petch
A festival out there, and there was like 20 people doing that, and we won. We just went out there and watched. It was pretty wild.

00:24:06:20 - 00:24:20:10
Kyle
it'd be crazy if you were on the wall with the base troopers. Like jumping behind you, like, just that would be quite. I would be quite the.

00:24:20:09 - 00:24:22:07
Petch
it's amazingly loud.

00:24:22:07 - 00:24:23:17
Petch
How you know I climb.

00:24:23:17 - 00:24:24:22
Petch
Yeah. What is that?

00:24:28:21 - 00:24:32:06
Kyle
Wow. Yeah.

00:24:32:06 - 00:24:42:11
Petch
So, yeah, the people are still and they still do it on the big winners. You know, we haven't had really a big winner in a couple of years. They've just been mediocre at best. But when there's a lot of snow people.

00:24:42:11 - 00:24:45:13
Petch
Will ski off the top. So it's.

00:24:45:13 - 00:24:46:11
Petch
Pretty it's

00:24:46:13 - 00:24:49:19
Kyle
Yeah. That's. Well.

00:24:49:23 - 00:24:55:01
Kyle
So, Tell me about Sexy Poodle. Tell me more about that. Climb.

00:24:54:29 - 00:25:01:07
Petch
in the rated access area and, it goes up. This the first pitch is steep dikes.

00:25:02:03 - 00:25:12:13
Petch
Probably 11 plus 12. And then it brings you into the space of this big arching crack.

00:25:12:16 - 00:25:13:03
Petch
You get a ball.

00:25:13:04 - 00:25:35:29
Petch
To start off with, and then it goes into really steep hands into like a squeeze chimney to chimney. And then you have to, like, traverse out sideways and this chimney into this big under clean on, like, super slick rock and like, the whole cliff just drops away and, it's nice to have, like, three number twos and three.

00:25:35:29 - 00:25:39:21
Petch
Threes and a four. So it's pretty wild in there.

00:25:39:23 - 00:25:48:06
Petch
And then you pull out of the arch like 11 minus. And then the climb in is okay from there. But the first two.

00:25:48:06 - 00:25:54:08
Petch
Touches are is spectacular like the possession and the exposure.

00:25:54:10 - 00:25:55:06
Petch
And.

00:25:55:08 - 00:25:57:19
Petch
And you know, it's like a small wall and, and.

00:25:57:19 - 00:26:00:18
Petch
It feels very remote over in that section.

00:26:00:18 - 00:26:09:22
Petch
It's not the cleanest wall, you know, it's it's kind of dark and foreboding and it's, it's pretty good. Like.

00:26:09:24 - 00:26:11:18
Petch
And this is a line I've stared at.

00:26:11:18 - 00:26:16:16
Petch
For years and years and years. And there's this. I finally like what we walked up there and,

00:26:16:15 - 00:26:20:05
Petch
Like, let's see what happens. And it happened.

00:26:21:12 - 00:26:26:13
Kyle
That's cool. That's right. So you made it up the first time. That was one of those routes.

00:26:26:13 - 00:26:34:01
Petch
it took us, you know, the, the first pitch was a day that was all bolted.

00:26:34:03 - 00:26:34:16
Petch
And then.

00:26:34:16 - 00:26:36:01
Petch
The second pitch was a.

00:26:36:01 - 00:26:42:28
Petch
Dad and the Red planet, or it was, it's pretty exciting. And the third to cheer now.

00:26:43:00 - 00:26:44:13
Petch
Like we'd. And then only six.

00:26:44:13 - 00:26:54:29
Petch
Reps every time you come down, we just relayed everything. And then, you know, the third pitch was another day, and then we came back and then I was able to read point it all the way to the top.

00:26:55:01 - 00:26:55:11
Petch
So

00:26:55:21 - 00:26:59:03
Kyle
Cool. Hell, yeah. That's badass.

00:26:59:04 - 00:27:00:02
Petch
it's pretty cool.

00:27:00:07 - 00:27:03:06
Petch
It's so hopefully I'll get some friends on it this year.

00:27:03:13 - 00:27:04:07
Petch
It's in the closed.

00:27:04:07 - 00:27:11:21
Petch
Area again, right now because of the parents. Hopefully this fall I'll get some friends on it and I'll see if they can give me a rating. But yeah.

00:27:11:21 - 00:27:13:04
Petch
I think it's 12 A, 11.

00:27:13:04 - 00:27:15:15
Petch
C 11 minus I don't know.

00:27:15:15 - 00:27:16:06
Petch
It's it's hard.

00:27:16:06 - 00:27:22:08
Petch
To write things after you've been on them a few times and they're so dirty at first too.

00:27:23:07 - 00:27:29:22
Petch
But I, I'm not really known for the cleanest routes, but I have a secret weapon. My partner, he likes putting

00:27:32:24 - 00:27:36:00
Kyle
Yeah.

00:27:36:02 - 00:27:38:27
Kyle
A little leaf blower.

00:27:38:28 - 00:27:40:08
Petch
yeah, I don't have one of

00:27:42:22 - 00:27:43:21
Petch
them, but, yeah, he's my secret

00:27:48:13 - 00:27:56:26
Petch
put up some good routes over the years. He moved to strawberry during Covid, and he's a great guy and a good partner.

00:27:56:29 - 00:27:57:15
Petch
And I've had.

00:27:57:15 - 00:27:59:22
Petch
Some great partners over the years for sure.

00:28:00:13 - 00:28:10:19
Kyle
Tell me about dog party. I looked it up. This is also a mountain project. 12 B, stemming corner with, like, kind of off Radley fingers. It looks like, what was the precipice for that climb?

00:28:11:00 - 00:28:12:12
Petch
Well, I was.

00:28:12:12 - 00:28:14:10
Petch
Working.

00:28:14:13 - 00:28:34:22
Petch
At the lodge during construction, and, and this is on the formation called the Box. So it's kind of in the pinnacles and buttress areas to the west of the leap. There's all these, like, little crags over there. And, I used to be way into roofs, like, now, so I was working on a roof. But I love, like.

00:28:34:22 - 00:28:40:01
Petch
Climbing roofs, like, because they're just exciting and they're safe because, you know, it's all in the air.

00:28:40:01 - 00:28:50:09
Petch
And there's this really beautiful roof that I was staring at on the box. So being on the. And we're doing metal roofing, like, I'm up.

00:28:50:09 - 00:28:55:14
Petch
On the roof, just, like, staring up at the cliff. Go online. The fuck am I working for? Five bucks an hour? I want to be up there.

00:28:55:14 - 00:28:56:27
Petch
All right.

00:28:56:29 - 00:29:06:10
Petch
So finally, I had that the I hiked up there and, figured out that roof had already been climbed, but then walked around the corner.

00:29:06:10 - 00:29:09:19
Petch
And there's this beautiful dihedral.

00:29:09:22 - 00:29:18:10
Petch
So I come back with a buddy. Actually, one of the first guys I met from Humboldt, I had a handful of people I met.

00:29:18:10 - 00:29:25:10
Petch
From Humboldt who kind of followed me up here and lived here for a while. Just kind of cool.

00:29:25:12 - 00:29:29:05
Petch
And so we went up. There was a rainy day. I was like, man, like, let's just.

00:29:29:05 - 00:29:29:16
Petch
Aid

00:29:49:27 - 00:29:55:03
Kyle
Yeah.

00:29:56:18 - 00:30:04:06
Petch
But, yeah, finally made it. But, it's it really taught me a lot. It it made me really good. Stemming.

00:30:05:08 - 00:30:19:10
Petch
The jamming spent a lot of palming, opposing pressure. It's really beautiful. It overhangs probably 12 to 15ft and, like, 65ft. And this is beautiful white corner.

00:30:19:10 - 00:30:21:28
Petch
It's really good. And,

00:30:22:01 - 00:30:23:03
Petch
Yeah, we put up a handful.

00:30:23:03 - 00:30:32:01
Petch
Of routes near that, and there's a really good 12 base for climb to the right of that called Power box. That's really good. That.

00:30:32:01 - 00:30:34:01
Petch
Roof crack is awesome.

00:30:34:01 - 00:30:39:03
Petch
It's kind of scary. Like 511 funky gear.

00:30:39:05 - 00:30:41:19
Petch
So, yeah.

00:30:41:22 - 00:30:47:16
Petch
It's funny that that Cliff doesn't see much attention because in my in my.

00:30:47:16 - 00:30:48:18
Petch
Biased opinion.

00:30:49:21 - 00:30:50:08
Petch
I think Dog.

00:30:50:08 - 00:30:56:11
Petch
Party is one of the better cracks in all of the Tahoe area. Like it? It's,

00:30:56:29 - 00:30:58:13
Kyle
Damn.

00:30:58:13 - 00:31:01:18
Petch
fortunate enough to be the first one to climb it like I did. Nothing except.

00:31:01:18 - 00:31:02:14
Petch
Climate.

00:31:02:28 - 00:31:18:13
Kyle
Oh that's cool. I mean that's kind of how. Yeah I mean single pitch stuff is a bit different than linking like you know faces or putting a bunch of different cracks together on a huge wall. But yeah, it, it's interesting that the it's all there. Right. It's already there. It's just who, who, who stumbles upon it, who has the vision first.

00:31:18:11 - 00:31:37:14
Petch
Yeah. Like when I, when I got here. So I got here early 90s and like, the, the crew before me who's putting up first ascents like Jay Smith, Paul Crawford, he put a bunch of roots up in, in Red rocks, you know, you see their names all over the place. Paul's still climbing.

00:31:37:14 - 00:31:44:01
Petch
He lives just down the hill, from us. I still see him all the time. He still.

00:31:44:03 - 00:31:52:29
Petch
Paul Crawford? Yeah. He might be fun to interview. He's old school. He's a badass. But him and Jay Smith were establishing.

00:31:52:29 - 00:31:55:13
Petch
A lot of stuff.

00:31:55:15 - 00:32:10:05
Petch
They developed caldera down, but, like, they just had so much rock, you know, they they had the Lee Sugarloaf and Spires, and they found Calaveras down that cave rock Eagle. I mean, just there's so much rock around time.

00:32:10:06 - 00:32:21:10
Petch
It's not here. And people are still finding crags all over the place. You know, especially in the Kirkwood area, you know, where like, that empath is and stuff. There's like some a truck out there.

00:32:23:11 - 00:32:27:11
Petch
So those guys kind of like, before they finished with Lee.

00:32:27:13 - 00:32:27:29
Petch
They moved.

00:32:27:29 - 00:32:28:20
Petch
On to all these.

00:32:28:20 - 00:32:34:27
Petch
Other cliffs. And, so then I moved, then and,

00:32:34:29 - 00:32:35:24
Petch
You know.

00:32:35:27 - 00:32:40:04
Petch
I didn't stop. Yeah, I put up, started putting up roots.

00:32:40:04 - 00:32:54:25
Petch
After a year or two, maybe, but like, mostly like kind of on the smaller, obscure stuff like the box. And then, you know, I finally I started, like, venturing on to the bigger walls and, I'm pretty fortunate to find

00:32:57:28 - 00:32:58:15
Kyle
Yeah.

00:32:58:17 - 00:33:13:19
Kyle
That's sick. That's awesome. Yeah. Dog party really caught my attention. And, I mean, after your description of sexy poodle, I, you know, I would be really proud to come out there and, climb some airlines with you. Hell, yeah.

00:33:13:19 - 00:33:14:26
Kyle
Let's talk about soloing.

00:33:15:04 - 00:33:38:00
Kyle
I want to kind of break down like the art of soloing, the risk management and kind of your experience while while you climb roadless. Bob Gaines, I just interviewed him recently, and he said something that I really liked. His quote was, the real irony about soloing is that you can die directly as a result from not wanting to die.

00:33:38:03 - 00:33:57:20
Kyle
And to me, that's just a statement about fear, right? It's like when you're soloing, you have to be completely locked in, completely in control. And fear creeps in when kind of you start to become out of control, and then you lose that focus and you make mistakes and you can fall. So how do you how do you balance that?

00:33:57:21 - 00:34:15:17
Kyle
How do you train your mental game? How do you stay in that zone of safety and control? And have you had any moments where that has broken wow. Rope lists and how have you regathered that that control.

00:34:15:17 - 00:34:19:15
Petch
It's a huge part of me. I solo.

00:34:19:15 - 00:34:20:15
Petch
A lot.

00:34:22:03 - 00:34:34:18
Petch
I love the freedom. I love the mileage. I like big days. I like just being able to go. I feel very fortunate.

00:34:34:20 - 00:34:47:05
Petch
To have the skill, climbing wise and mental wise to be able to do it.

00:34:47:07 - 00:34:51:27
Petch
It's now lovers. I soloed before I came to the leap.

00:34:51:29 - 00:34:52:28
Petch
I mean, what.

00:34:53:01 - 00:35:02:01
Petch
Like when I moved up to when I went to Humboldt, you know, one of my first partners, he would he soloed. And so I.

00:35:02:04 - 00:35:02:13
Petch
You know.

00:35:02:13 - 00:35:02:22
Petch
He was a.

00:35:02:22 - 00:35:11:06
Petch
Mentor, you know, he was soloing. So I soloed some of the easier stuff. I,

00:35:11:08 - 00:35:12:01
Petch
So it.

00:35:12:01 - 00:35:13:11
Petch
Was, you know.

00:35:13:11 - 00:35:14:23
Petch
I'm like the magazines.

00:35:14:23 - 00:35:19:14
Petch
And John Backer was a big thing. He picked me up hitchhiking once when I was 18

00:35:21:08 - 00:35:23:11
Kyle
Oh! No way!

00:35:23:13 - 00:35:31:24
Kyle
Well.

00:35:31:23 - 00:35:38:03
Petch
it was in a lot of the climbing media, you know, Dan Oseman and back here and Peter Craw, like my first.

00:35:38:03 - 00:35:39:08
Petch
Climbing magazine I ever.

00:35:39:08 - 00:35:40:16
Petch
Bought.

00:35:40:18 - 00:35:41:17
Petch
Had Peter Croft.

00:35:41:17 - 00:35:48:18
Petch
On the cover. And there's pictures of him soloing like horse and buggy and Joshua Tree and.

00:35:48:20 - 00:35:50:01
Petch
Tips.

00:35:50:04 - 00:36:02:11
Petch
In the valley, which I, I have a picture of the down in my garage store from that first magazine. I found that magazine again. And it's just such a beautiful wine. Like, look at that. Right.

00:36:02:13 - 00:36:03:11
Petch
Now lovers.

00:36:03:11 - 00:36:04:05
Petch
Leap.

00:36:04:07 - 00:36:06:19
Petch
Out of probably all the places

00:36:33:06 - 00:36:34:02
Petch
You know.

00:36:34:05 - 00:36:35:23
Petch
That it's solid.

00:36:35:23 - 00:36:42:00
Petch
Here. You know, for the most part, the rock is really, really solid. The, the footholds are really good.

00:36:43:25 - 00:36:45:10
Petch
And, yeah, I've had some.

00:36:45:10 - 00:36:48:06
Petch
Really big days where I just go.

00:36:48:09 - 00:36:50:13
Petch
Now.

00:36:50:15 - 00:36:53:27
Petch
When we first talked, I had mentioned, I had a close

00:36:58:25 - 00:37:01:15
Petch
which sounds crazy.

00:37:01:17 - 00:37:07:29
Petch
So I was up on Flagpole Peak, which is a cliff off the.

00:37:09:14 - 00:37:10:28
Petch
Pacific Coast Trail up on that.

00:37:10:28 - 00:37:16:07
Petch
Coast summit. That's a really beautiful cliff. And it's a route I've soloed over the years.

00:37:16:07 - 00:37:38:01
Petch
And it's it's a fun little morning. John. It's ten miles up the road, about a mile and a half hike in LA on the Pacific Coast Trail, right next to a lake. You hike up to the base. It's a three pitch, five eight of golden granite to a summit where you're looking down on, Echo Lakes.

00:37:38:01 - 00:37:51:15
Petch
And on one side and, like, tall on the other side. And then this really cool, like mountaineering Ridge back down to the lake to a jump in the lake and then back home. I can do it in a couple of hours. Round trip.

00:37:51:18 - 00:37:59:12
Petch
So I went up there and of October last year, I had a day guide in the.

00:37:59:12 - 00:38:01:03
Petch
Afternoon.

00:38:01:06 - 00:38:01:19
Petch
And was like.

00:38:01:19 - 00:38:02:08
Petch
Saturday.

00:38:03:02 - 00:38:08:22
Petch
Monday I was flying degrees to go meet my partner, and I got on a trip with her. I was just fired up.

00:38:08:22 - 00:38:13:06
Petch
Life's great. It's beautiful. Beautiful fall, sunny day.

00:38:13:08 - 00:38:20:03
Petch
To get up there. And I run into Dave Hatchet, who's kind of redeveloped that area.

00:38:20:05 - 00:38:29:01
Petch
He lives over in, like, kind of the turkey area. Really good guy, really motivated. He's he's he's developed a lot of Tahoe,

00:38:29:04 - 00:38:35:26
Petch
Especially North Shore. I ran into him with a partner, chat with them.

00:38:35:26 - 00:38:53:09
Petch
Like, I will see you guys. So I cruise on out this little, like, five, six crack, hit this kind of ledge, and then from the ledge, guy back up this section. Now, Dave and his partner at the base just uncoiled the.

00:38:53:09 - 00:38:55:01
Petch
Rope and then.

00:38:55:01 - 00:38:59:06
Petch
Walked away. Lie back in this section and the.

00:38:59:06 - 00:39:01:01
Petch
Whole block comes on out and is probably

00:39:03:28 - 00:39:07:19
Kyle
You.

00:39:07:18 - 00:39:09:17
Petch
I was on a rope, I don't put.

00:39:09:17 - 00:39:17:24
Petch
Gear in there anyways because it's always been kind of like on this is a chalked rock. You know, I ain't putting on gear unless you just kind of boulder up and do.

00:39:17:24 - 00:39:20:07
Petch
It and.

00:39:20:09 - 00:39:24:17
Petch
So whether I was on a rope or not, and I wouldn't have gear, so I.

00:39:24:17 - 00:39:25:13
Petch
Would have gone flying with the.

00:39:25:13 - 00:39:26:14
Petch
Rock, except if I.

00:39:26:14 - 00:39:30:29
Petch
Was on a row, I'm pretty sure the rock with a wrapped in my rope and pulled me off

00:39:36:09 - 00:39:43:10
Petch
this block on the ground, stuck the ledge really hard. The rock went flying on down and.

00:39:43:10 - 00:39:49:17
Petch
Landed on Dave's row. They had walked away. It was an 80 meter rope and I cut two feet of their

00:39:52:25 - 00:39:55:13
Kyle
Wow.

00:39:55:14 - 00:39:57:08
Petch
I would have killed my or with that.

00:39:57:08 - 00:40:01:27
Petch
Rock and probably pulled myself boss asshole and saved my life.

00:40:02:10 - 00:40:06:08
Petch
So it was not. It was super scary. I was rattled.

00:40:08:14 - 00:40:30:12
Petch
This guys are like, oh, shit. You know, they were fine. They're away from the law. They asked me if I was okay. I'm like, yeah, thanks. But, like, I don't want to down climb. Could you guys come on up and, you know, give me your harness so I can rap off or down. So they came on up, I jumped on the guy's harness, he lowered me, I can, I checked myself, and I hiked out.

00:40:30:15 - 00:40:34:07
Petch
And, I ended up gagging that day, which was.

00:40:36:12 - 00:40:39:14
Kyle
There's, like, staring off into space or like. Hey, hey.

00:40:39:16 - 00:40:52:06
Kyle
Fetch.

00:40:52:08 - 00:40:54:09
Kyle
Oh my goodness.

00:40:55:23 - 00:41:09:20
Kyle
So. So when the rock came off you, you became fully detached from the wall at some point and then landed on a ledge. How far down or were you always connected to the wall at some point?

00:41:09:22 - 00:41:10:06
Petch
so I'm.

00:41:10:06 - 00:41:10:15
Petch
Like.

00:41:10:20 - 00:41:32:10
Petch
Lie back, and then it comes sliding out and I kind of push off the wall, kind of like throw the rock away and I go flying, and I bam! And I cleared this. There is this boulder on the ledge. I cleared it just barely. And a jam my knee pretty good. And then I landed kind of hard on my tailbone.

00:41:32:29 - 00:41:34:27
Kyle
How far did you fall?

00:41:37:14 - 00:41:37:17
Petch
I.

00:41:37:17 - 00:41:42:19
Petch
Probably might see my see that high.

00:41:42:21 - 00:41:50:05
Petch
Off the ledge. I was probably about 6 or 7ft, but I flew like 6 to 10ft away.

00:41:50:05 - 00:41:51:11
Petch
From the wall. Probably.

00:41:51:18 - 00:41:53:00
Petch
It'd be interesting to go back up.

00:41:53:00 - 00:41:54:03
Petch
There and look at it like.

00:41:54:10 - 00:41:59:24
Petch
There's another block in there. There was two blocks that were like wedged in there.

00:41:59:26 - 00:42:05:21
Petch
And there's still one left. So I want to go up there and see how solid that is.

00:42:06:23 - 00:42:11:20
Kyle
What did that lesson teach you? Or what did that experience teach you?

00:42:11:20 - 00:42:15:14
Petch
taught me. Yeah. It's just like the rocks break.

00:42:15:17 - 00:42:20:01
Petch
And, I know I knock and.

00:42:20:03 - 00:42:24:09
Petch
I'm, I'm doing a lot more banging on stuff, and it's in my head a lot.

00:42:24:09 - 00:42:26:01
Petch
More.

00:42:26:03 - 00:42:32:06
Petch
And then when I heard about those loose blocks on corrugation yesterday. So someone posted on Mountain Project, a friend like sent me the.

00:42:32:06 - 00:42:33:11
Petch
Link Mountain project.

00:42:33:11 - 00:42:40:07
Petch
Like it is, a block that shifted me on Corrugation Corner and like, I got that in my head, like.

00:42:40:09 - 00:42:43:19
Petch
You think they're solid, but I'll send they're not, you know, and like.

00:42:43:24 - 00:42:44:20
Petch
I had climbed that.

00:42:44:20 - 00:42:45:26
Petch
Route.

00:42:45:28 - 00:42:46:20
Petch
15 to.

00:42:46:20 - 00:42:47:19
Petch
20 times.

00:42:48:11 - 00:42:51:04
Kyle
How did you use those blocks as holds or footstep.

00:42:51:07 - 00:42:52:16
Kyle
Wow.

00:42:52:15 - 00:43:02:29
Petch
and like the last time I had done it, the, the kids from the access front followed Heidi and I up at an,

00:43:03:16 - 00:43:06:28
Petch
He he's way bigger guy than I am to,

00:43:07:00 - 00:43:13:07
Petch
And he was reef and all over it, and, you know, his. Well, you know, his partner was right below them, too.

00:43:13:21 - 00:43:14:23
Kyle
Wow.

00:43:16:00 - 00:43:17:16
Petch
You know, sometimes you just don't

00:43:18:05 - 00:43:18:28
Kyle
Yeah.

00:43:18:27 - 00:43:20:24
Petch
you know, rocks come out.

00:43:22:04 - 00:43:47:18
Kyle
Yeah I can't tell you how many times in Red rock I've like done the test and the pounding and it's decent. I'm a bigger dude. I'm like to like 210 like naked. So like probably 230 with a full rack and a rope and everything. And if I like, commit my straight arm to like, a lie back and like, lift my feet up on a wall, I can't tell you how many times, like, I've had a big chunk of rock, like, shift on me and I, like, put it back, you know?

00:43:47:18 - 00:43:55:24
Kyle
I like, can't imagine having an experience like that, soloing, you know, like, you don't know what the hell you would do.

00:43:55:23 - 00:44:05:03
Petch
Yeah, that loose rock is real. You know, I mean, soloing or, like, on a rope. I'm like, sometimes we're on the easier train running around.

00:44:06:28 - 00:44:13:20
Petch
So, I mean, it's in my head. I mean, it's affected me for sure. Has it stopped me from falling down?

00:44:16:12 - 00:44:24:00
Petch
Just because it's part. And, you know, something is part of me, you know, it's me. You know, it's what I. It's what I do, like.

00:44:24:26 - 00:44:28:24
Petch
I don't ever really see myself stopping.

00:44:30:29 - 00:44:43:25
Kyle
Do you, do you think about death. In the mountains. Yeah. How how have you conceptualize the, the prospect of dying in the mountains and.

00:44:43:27 - 00:44:51:23
Petch
happen, and I do, but I know there's always a potential whether I'm on a rope or solo or if I'm just.

00:44:51:23 - 00:44:57:05
Petch
Scrambling and doing third class. I mean, I do a lot of things by myself.

00:44:59:08 - 00:45:00:26
Petch
You know, it's just like,

00:45:00:25 - 00:45:11:04
Petch
I just like getting up and going, you know, and like, I like being by myself in the mountains. I think it's very special.

00:45:11:07 - 00:45:12:03
Petch
I.

00:45:12:05 - 00:45:14:22
Petch
I and again, I feel fortunate that I.

00:45:14:22 - 00:45:22:24
Petch
Have the ability just to go and to be alone in these wild places.

00:45:22:27 - 00:45:24:22
Petch
And it's awesome,

00:45:24:21 - 00:45:26:11
Petch
you know.

00:45:26:14 - 00:45:32:26
Petch
But I like, I, I do like sharing them, too, you know, like, I love being with my lady running.

00:45:32:26 - 00:45:33:08
Petch
Around the.

00:45:33:08 - 00:45:37:14
Petch
Mountains. And that's kind of a newer thing. So I'm really excited about this summer with her.

00:45:38:20 - 00:45:45:06
Petch
She's a badass and to me, super fun. I also run around the mountains with Timmy O'Neill, and.

00:45:45:06 - 00:45:48:15
Petch
He's just a fucking hoot. And we have a blast. But, like.

00:45:48:18 - 00:45:49:11
Petch
It's it's.

00:45:49:16 - 00:45:49:23
Petch
You.

00:45:49:23 - 00:45:54:20
Petch
Know, sometimes when I tell people I have plans to go diesel, it's like, oh, can I come? And I was like, I don't.

00:45:54:20 - 00:45:58:15
Petch
Like say no, but I don't like to encourage them to come because like, sometimes like.

00:45:58:22 - 00:46:01:17
Petch
Is that is it a solo if you're with someone.

00:46:01:19 - 00:46:03:03
Petch
Right. Even you know.

00:46:03:04 - 00:46:09:21
Petch
It's do adding, do adding, it's a little different. Insulting I don't know I, I enjoy my alone time in the mountains.

00:46:09:21 - 00:46:12:02
Petch
It's just it's special.

00:46:12:15 - 00:46:26:29
Kyle
How do you feel about soloing around other people? Whether on adjacent routes or on the same route? What are the ethics there? What are the courtesies and, how you feel about that topic?

00:46:27:21 - 00:46:29:04
Petch
Yeah.

00:46:29:07 - 00:46:45:25
Petch
That's a touchy one. Generally, I don't like to solo around people. It gets harder and harder because the sport's gotten more popular. When I do solo around people, I always,

00:46:45:27 - 00:46:48:16
Petch
I'll let them know I'm coming.

00:46:48:16 - 00:47:01:02
Petch
And then I ask if I can pass, and, I don't. I let people finish their leads and, like, pass.

00:47:01:02 - 00:47:03:16
Petch
While they're around.

00:47:03:18 - 00:47:09:00
Petch
I think. I think it's rude of I mean, we get a lot of solos here.

00:47:09:03 - 00:47:09:09
Petch
And.

00:47:09:09 - 00:47:11:12
Petch
There's certain routes everybody needs to solo.

00:47:11:12 - 00:47:23:00
Petch
Like Bears Reach because every, you know, Dan Dan Osmond and Alex Honnold solid solo that in those videos. I really want to solo that one. And that's actually one of my least favorite routes to solo. I

00:47:25:27 - 00:47:29:26
Petch
That everybody wants a solo because it's and in the videos,

00:47:31:14 - 00:47:31:21
Petch
And.

00:47:31:21 - 00:47:43:09
Petch
I see people like solo through people while they're climbing and there's so many other routes. I've seen people solo through people when they're out next to them, and that's rated the same or.

00:47:43:09 - 00:47:45:05
Petch
Easier as open.

00:47:45:10 - 00:47:52:20
Kyle
Yeah.

00:47:53:13 - 00:48:04:25
Petch
So I don't know when, when, when you when you're soloing through a party, you're putting yourself at risk because they can drop something, they can fall on you and you're putting them at risk because you can fall on them.

00:48:04:26 - 00:48:06:09
Kyle
100%.

00:48:06:11 - 00:48:08:26
Petch
So,

00:48:09:05 - 00:48:15:07
Petch
Now, when I was in Red rocks, you know, I soloed olive oil a couple of times.

00:48:15:07 - 00:48:19:04
Petch
And, I mean, that route so popular. It's crazy.

00:48:19:06 - 00:48:21:11
Petch
But there's nice ledges for the players.

00:48:21:11 - 00:48:22:27
Petch
And stuff in life.

00:48:23:00 - 00:48:24:07
Petch
You know, I went up.

00:48:24:09 - 00:48:40:00
Petch
I went up and sang out the ledge and hung out with the person, and we just shot the shit into their partner was off belay. And then I shot up it really quick and I, you know, I just hang out and talk with people and.

00:48:40:03 - 00:48:40:28
Petch
You know.

00:48:41:00 - 00:48:46:09
Petch
Keep it fun. And, I don't want to be a deck.

00:48:46:12 - 00:48:48:04
Petch
Because I don't like decks.

00:48:53:29 - 00:49:13:17
Kyle
Yeah. No that's that's fair. Yeah. No I get it. I just, I'm curious because, I'm not a huge soloist. I, I've sold it a few times, but it's definitely not something I would consider myself like a soloist. But we've spoken to soloists on the show. We had Josh Arata on the show and he had like, a crazy soloist accident in Yosemite, where he fell like 200ft and miraculously survived.

00:49:13:19 - 00:49:38:01
Kyle
And like, hit a ledge halfway down and landed right next to another party. And so it's like he could have hurt them. Now everybody's involved in this rescue, and now these people who saw you deck like there's trauma there. So, like, you're you're taking so much risk on yourself, but also putting everybody else in this situation where they might have to either watch you die or like, get into this crazy rescue scenario.

00:49:38:01 - 00:49:42:28
Kyle
And so you kind of like it does involve everybody around you in a certain way.

00:49:42:29 - 00:49:45:02
Petch
Yeah. Like when I.

00:49:45:05 - 00:49:49:09
Petch
Solo at the leap, I either got really early in the mornings, or my favorite

00:49:52:07 - 00:49:53:20
Petch
by myself.

00:49:53:22 - 00:49:56:28
Petch
And my.

00:49:57:00 - 00:49:58:15
Petch
Catalog of solos.

00:49:58:15 - 00:50:00:29
Petch
At the leap is pretty big.

00:50:01:02 - 00:50:02:19
Petch
So, like.

00:50:02:21 - 00:50:07:09
Petch
I've done some big days.

00:50:07:12 - 00:50:13:03
Petch
Where I soloed from morning, from sunrise to dark, just to see what I could

00:50:13:17 - 00:50:15:00
Kyle
Wow.

00:50:15:01 - 00:50:16:01
Petch
I didn't pass.

00:50:16:01 - 00:50:19:08
Petch
One person the whole day. Never came across anyone like it.

00:50:19:09 - 00:50:21:14
Petch
Okay, there's people on that route. I can go do that.

00:50:21:14 - 00:50:21:29
Petch
You know.

00:50:21:29 - 00:50:25:01
Petch
And say, I don't. I mean, for a while I used to not.

00:50:25:01 - 00:50:33:00
Petch
Even like to solo around people now, and people are watching me, over the years have gotten I don't care as much, but.

00:50:33:03 - 00:50:34:23
Petch
Because it.

00:50:34:25 - 00:50:36:21
Petch
Makes my mind go somewhere else all of a.

00:50:36:21 - 00:50:39:13
Petch
Sudden I'm thinking about,

00:50:39:15 - 00:50:43:24
Petch
And still, like, if I'm on a solo, one of my harder things.

00:50:44:01 - 00:50:52:01
Petch
I don't want anyone around. Like, I don't want to have eyes on me. I don't want people taking pictures. I just, I, you know, I want it to be a all

00:50:52:23 - 00:50:53:06
Kyle
Yeah.

00:50:53:10 - 00:51:03:08
Kyle
And what's the hardest you've soloed. What's like your. Yeah. What's your hardest solo that you've done.

00:51:03:11 - 00:51:04:26
Kyle
Low tens and.

00:51:04:26 - 00:51:06:13
Kyle
Yeah. Yeah.

00:51:06:15 - 00:51:08:00
Kyle
Serious business for sure.

00:51:07:29 - 00:51:08:23
Petch
most of the soloing.

00:51:08:23 - 00:51:09:21
Petch
Here is like five,

00:51:10:14 - 00:51:11:03
Kyle
Yeah.

00:51:11:06 - 00:51:32:10
Kyle
And I think you I had this written down actually it was a question to see if the, if the horizontal dikes led to a more secure style of climbing that allowed for more, like, reasonable solo routes. And it's cool that you kind of answered that question already. I would imagine that's like a huge benefit to to soloing out there with just how secure you can feel.

00:51:32:10 - 00:51:40:23
Petch
what's also what's the dikes and lovers leap like the amount of traffic we get here. It doesn't really

00:51:42:02 - 00:51:47:06
Petch
Because people's things get polished when people's feet slip.

00:51:47:10 - 00:51:48:09
Petch
Right?

00:51:48:11 - 00:51:50:16
Petch
And generally, it's hard to slip.

00:51:50:16 - 00:51:52:14
Petch
Off a dikes. Now.

00:51:52:16 - 00:51:53:24
Petch
There's some.

00:51:53:27 - 00:51:54:21
Petch
Like.

00:51:54:24 - 00:51:57:14
Petch
The line, the start of the line that's kind of gotten.

00:51:57:14 - 00:52:07:18
Petch
Polished that first move because you're kind of like smearing, at the first cracks. That's a little polish. And Bear's reach is kind of gotten polished because everyone

00:52:09:08 - 00:52:12:04
Petch
can hook 20 to 30 people a day,

00:52:12:22 - 00:52:13:14
Kyle
Whoa.

00:52:13:15 - 00:52:15:16
Kyle
That is insane.

00:52:15:15 - 00:52:16:13
Petch
It is.

00:52:16:13 - 00:52:17:05
Petch
And like.

00:52:17:08 - 00:52:20:01
Petch
Literally right next to it is cracks, which.

00:52:20:01 - 00:52:28:12
Petch
Is I think is better climbing. We'll see a third amount of traffic as bears are each everybody wants it. I mean bears reach is like a great route, don't get me

00:52:28:26 - 00:52:47:03
Kyle
Well it's like it's like In-N-Out burger. It's like, is it worth the. Is it worth the line. No. But you got 50 people wrapped around the neighborhood to go get a fucking In-N-Out burger. So we're, we're humans, I guess. You know, we're just going to do what we're going to do.

00:52:47:05 - 00:52:53:11
Kyle
Yeah, we all like to think we're not. But we're all sheep in some way, one or the other, or one way or another.

00:52:53:12 - 00:53:12:26
Kyle
What do you make of the movie Free Solo and the commercialization of such a pure, personal and at times, life threatening art form? Do you feel like it's been a positive for new climbers? A net negative, kind of like, where do you stand on its influence on new climbers?

00:53:13:06 - 00:53:14:13
Petch
Well, I.

00:53:14:13 - 00:53:15:17
Petch
Mean, the free solo vel.

00:53:15:18 - 00:53:16:15
Petch
Cap is mind.

00:53:16:15 - 00:53:17:02
Petch
Numbing.

00:53:17:05 - 00:53:17:28
Petch
I mean, what he did is

00:53:18:25 - 00:53:22:13
Kyle
Yeah, there's definitely no denying that.

00:53:22:21 - 00:53:25:21
Petch
And, I mean.

00:53:25:23 - 00:53:33:07
Petch
It's just like him soloing El Cap. It was a built on previous people.

00:53:33:09 - 00:53:35:16
Petch
Soloing, right?

00:53:35:18 - 00:53:40:08
Petch
And you look back to John Backer. I mean, he was on like The Wild.

00:53:40:08 - 00:53:43:03
Petch
World or all the sports, you know.

00:53:43:05 - 00:53:45:05
Petch
Saturday afternoon wild

00:53:48:11 - 00:53:51:21
Petch
doing.

00:53:51:23 - 00:53:53:24
Petch
Doing like shaving and

00:53:56:05 - 00:53:57:28
Kyle
Yeah.

00:53:57:29 - 00:54:01:16
Petch
kind of like it's kind of just built

00:54:04:09 - 00:54:16:03
Petch
To think like how I just said, like when I solo, especially if it's something on one of my harder outs, I don't want eyes on me. I think it's crazy for him to be able to.

00:54:16:03 - 00:54:18:05
Petch
Do that with cameras hanging with people

00:54:19:06 - 00:54:19:29
Kyle
Yeah.

00:54:19:28 - 00:54:22:12
Petch
But I mean, he's just.

00:54:22:14 - 00:54:23:16
Petch
On another level.

00:54:26:11 - 00:54:29:10
Petch
levels.

00:54:29:13 - 00:54:33:17
Petch
And then I mean, he had I mean, he.

00:54:33:20 - 00:54:41:26
Petch
Had to probably approach them, you know, and like, it's worked. You know, he's he's made a good living

00:54:42:14 - 00:54:43:21
Kyle
Yeah. It it.

00:54:43:24 - 00:55:15:16
Kyle
Yeah, it is interesting. It's like, the general population. I think it's the easiest way for I'd say gen pop to like conceptualize the risks of climbing. Right. It's like there's no rope. It's like it's so easy for someone to think about like what that might be like because they're scared of heights. Like, oh, I know way like to to it's it's like way easier for someone to look at Alex Honnold free soloing El Cap and relate to that person than it is to that same person to like, watch somebody.

00:55:15:19 - 00:55:35:10
Kyle
I mean, even even Tommy Caldwell climbing the Don wall, like general population is not going to have the same amount of connection with Dawn wall versus as they do with free solo, just because of the fact that they're there's no rope. And so it's probably why it's been so commercially popular. It's just because it reaches a wider audience in general.

00:55:35:09 - 00:55:37:22
Petch
Oh, yeah. And then. I mean, you.

00:55:37:22 - 00:55:40:04
Petch
Living in Vegas. I mean, you're hiking around the red.

00:55:40:04 - 00:55:41:20
Petch
Rocks and.

00:55:41:22 - 00:55:42:00
Petch
You're.

00:55:42:00 - 00:55:47:07
Petch
On. And some people. Oh, you're climbing. You ever see that guy who free climbed?

00:55:47:11 - 00:55:48:15
Kyle
Yeah, yeah.

00:55:48:15 - 00:55:50:26
Petch
And how often do you. Especially in

00:55:51:12 - 00:55:52:20
Kyle
Oh, it's all the time.

00:55:52:23 - 00:55:53:26
Kyle
Yeah.

00:55:53:26 - 00:55:58:12
Petch
all the time. And I thought the Dawn wall was a much better movie

00:55:58:23 - 00:56:01:18
Kyle
I, I agree, I agree. Yeah.

00:56:01:19 - 00:56:05:13
Petch
and it was,

00:56:05:16 - 00:56:05:22
Petch
Yeah.

00:56:06:10 - 00:56:18:17
Kyle
Yeah. It's interesting I think climbing I, I've run into to this a lot recently just with this podcast and everything. I'm like the climbing community itself is really small. And if you're trying to think of like a business.

00:56:18:19 - 00:56:20:08
Kyle
Model.

00:56:20:11 - 00:56:44:07
Kyle
The market of climbing isn't really that great to get into. There's not a lot of us to begin with, and we're all very educated, very informed. We we know what we want. And, you know, we you know, we don't really like ads and we don't really like to spend money. So it's like a really poor, a poor community to try to market and make a living off of.

00:56:44:10 - 00:56:45:15
Kyle
Yeah.

00:56:45:18 - 00:57:10:08
Kyle
It's interesting. Let's talk about more a little bit more about, kind of like linking your soloing and these big days because I like one of your think like one of the things you offer your clients is like the birthday pitches, like, you know, 30 you do 30 pitches. I think that's like, a really cool thing that you have turned guiding into.

00:57:10:08 - 00:57:38:03
Kyle
Like, I think the guiding industry struggles with, attracting clients in a way. It's like, I think a lot of people think guides are just for like beginner climbers, like single pitch scenarios, like, I don't I think there's room for improvement on general climbers understanding of what we can use guides for. And that particular one, I think, is a really cool, easy way to get people psyched about hiring a guide and like going and doing something that's challenging for wherever you're at.

00:57:38:03 - 00:57:56:22
Kyle
Like if you're 20, 25, 25 pitches in a day is probably more than most people have ever done. So talk to me about like how that has gone with yourself. How many pitches have you done in a day? What's your biggest day and like? How has that translated to your clients and how have they received it over time?

00:57:57:18 - 00:58:16:10
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.

00:58:16:14 - 00:58:34:04
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.

00:58:35:02 - 00:58:35:17
Petch
Yeah.

00:58:35:17 - 00:58:56:04
Petch
So, yeah, I do birthday challenges. How's it going? And it's super fun. It's big. It's, And it's super rewarding to, like, be able to offer that to folks. I just I did one for a friend's son, and we did 29 pitches.

00:58:56:06 - 00:58:57:17
Petch
And he,

00:58:57:19 - 00:58:58:20
Petch
His dad said.

00:58:58:20 - 00:59:01:17
Petch
It, like, totally boosted himself.

00:59:06:12 - 00:59:13:29
Kyle
Yeah.

00:59:14:22 - 00:59:15:12
Petch
But like.

00:59:15:14 - 00:59:19:21
Petch
My knowledge of this area and climbing here for the 30 plus years.

00:59:22:20 - 00:59:26:26
Petch
It's it's a it's it's fun to give a gift to these people.

00:59:26:26 - 00:59:30:07
Petch
And being able to like. Yeah, not many people.

00:59:30:10 - 00:59:31:10
Petch
Can.

00:59:31:12 - 00:59:36:23
Petch
Do that or be at an area like because I saw, like, you know, I've spent some time at Red rocks the last.

00:59:36:23 - 00:59:39:12
Petch
Couple of years where I had a little bit and I think I'm like.

00:59:39:14 - 00:59:40:16
Petch
I don't know if I'd be able to.

00:59:40:16 - 00:59:43:12
Petch
Do what I do here. There.

00:59:43:15 - 00:59:58:01
Petch
Because like, this place is so stacked, so close together and I also know it so well, you know, I'll climb something. And like when I did this one the other day, I had 100 meter rail.

00:59:58:03 - 00:59:58:12
Petch
And then.

00:59:58:12 - 01:00:05:29
Petch
I use micro attractions if they fall. Keeps the stretch out. But you know, I can climb 330.

01:00:06:01 - 01:00:07:11
Petch
Feet.

01:00:07:14 - 01:00:09:07
Petch
In one pitch.

01:00:09:10 - 01:00:09:19
Petch
And then.

01:00:09:19 - 01:00:15:01
Petch
Lower them down and three pitches and they can climb back up. So like on that 29 pitch day, I'm.

01:00:15:01 - 01:00:18:00
Petch
Maybe only climbing 20 of those pitches, but I'm.

01:00:18:00 - 01:00:18:19
Petch
Also doing them.

01:00:18:19 - 01:00:25:09
Petch
In one long single pitch. So if you like Old Town, rope pitches are pretty short.

01:00:25:11 - 01:00:29:23
Petch
But it's gained popularity. I just booked another one today, and the

01:00:31:21 - 01:00:45:09
Kyle
Go!

01:00:45:11 - 01:00:50:15
Kyle
Okay.

01:00:50:18 - 01:00:57:10
Kyle
Yeah. Hell, yeah. Yeah.

01:00:57:12 - 01:00:58:28
Kyle
Logistically. Yeah.

01:01:03:19 - 01:01:05:28
Petch
the amount of rope work is.

01:01:05:28 - 01:01:09:23
Petch
What's really tiring. Just the pain and coiling. I.

01:01:09:23 - 01:01:12:01
Petch
Do prep the day before.

01:01:12:05 - 01:01:31:04
Petch
I stash water and food and places. So we're not climbing with heavy packs. I set up a rap line on the east wall. So once we get over the east wall, we can rap down, and we don't have to walk so that, you know, those little things help.

01:01:31:07 - 01:01:35:29
Petch
Last year I did 250 birthdays,

01:01:36:17 - 01:01:39:18
Kyle
Okay, I think. Yeah.

01:01:39:20 - 01:01:46:17
Kyle
Wait. Two. Two. 250. Pitch birthdays.

01:01:46:20 - 01:01:48:09
Kyle
Okay.

01:01:48:11 - 01:01:50:22
Kyle
Got it, got it.

01:01:50:24 - 01:01:52:18
Kyle
Yeah yeah yeah.

01:01:59:13 - 01:02:01:22
Kyle
Oh, wow.

01:02:01:21 - 01:02:06:14
Petch
25 sounds like a lot, but it's, you know, most of that climbing like.

01:02:06:23 - 01:02:08:12
Petch
Five seven and under like

01:02:08:27 - 01:02:11:10
Kyle
Okay.

01:02:11:13 - 01:02:13:17
Kyle
Yeah. You can cover a lot of ground really quick.

01:02:13:20 - 01:02:18:09
Kyle
Yeah, yeah.

01:02:18:10 - 01:02:21:10
Petch
you know, because obviously it's a lot of trad climbing, but you're.

01:02:21:10 - 01:02:22:18
Petch
Face climbing mostly.

01:02:23:26 - 01:02:36:10
Petch
and you're just paddling upticks. And again, I'm really comfortable on this rock live in here for, you know, I live in here as long as I have.

01:02:36:12 - 01:02:46:01
Petch
And then personally. So in 22, I mean, before 2020, I'd go out and solo and.

01:02:46:01 - 01:03:00:17
Petch
I'd maybe get like 20. I think 25 or 27 pitches was my most I did. And then in 2020, I set out of a goal and I said I wanted to do 71.

01:03:00:19 - 01:03:01:20
Petch
And.

01:03:01:23 - 01:03:06:12
Petch
I went out the day before, set up a wrap rope and,

01:03:07:05 - 01:03:08:12
Petch
Pitch 63.

01:03:08:12 - 01:03:16:24
Petch
I was wrapping down and going over if I had Covid hair, I just had a lightweight harness and I.

01:03:23:17 - 01:03:25:17
Kyle
Oh.

01:03:25:17 - 01:03:26:06
Petch
was brutal.

01:03:26:06 - 01:03:28:18
Petch
And like, I was on a skinny rope.

01:03:28:20 - 01:03:31:16
Petch
And spinning around in space.

01:03:31:18 - 01:03:35:15
Petch
Normally on my harness. You know, I've got a couple of prospects.

01:03:35:17 - 01:03:41:07
Petch
I got a knife, I had nothing, I just had my Gregory and

01:03:42:04 - 01:03:45:05
Kyle
And your hair stuck in a gorilla.

01:03:45:05 - 01:03:47:10
Petch
I'm in space. I just went over a roof.

01:03:48:22 - 01:03:51:03
Kyle
Oh my God.

01:03:51:08 - 01:04:07:10
Petch
I yeah, so I'm like, okay, what's going on here? So like, even though I had a Gregory, I, the rope was skinny, so I kind of like, I put a knot in the Gregory because it was still slipping that weight, getting.

01:04:07:12 - 01:04:08:13
Petch
Caught in there.

01:04:09:10 - 01:04:12:16
Kyle
Oh. Shit.

01:04:12:17 - 01:04:27:16
Petch
panicking a little bit, and so. And I'm like, first thing I think about it, like I put a knot and then, like, stand on the non like I'm no, no, I need to get the weight above it. So I start taking off my chalk bag with one hand, I'm like, I'll make a prosthetic out of my chalk bag because.

01:04:27:16 - 01:04:30:19
Petch
I have like some super tape.

01:04:30:22 - 01:04:31:23
Petch
And.

01:04:31:25 - 01:04:33:29
Petch
One of the few benefits of getting old. I guess

01:04:40:12 - 01:04:42:21
Petch
out, and I just.

01:04:42:23 - 01:04:43:22
Petch
Rip the whole.

01:04:43:24 - 01:04:44:01
Petch
Whole

01:04:44:19 - 01:04:51:22
Kyle
Let's just start calling your patch.

01:04:51:24 - 01:05:03:29
Kyle
I had to try. I had to try.

01:05:04:01 - 01:05:06:08
Kyle
Wow.

01:05:06:06 - 01:05:15:04
Petch
days, I bring a knife in and my and my prosthetics or my third hands or whatever. So I got on down.

01:05:16:07 - 01:05:22:14
Petch
So, yeah, I just had 63 or. Or maybe it.

01:05:22:14 - 01:05:28:05
Petch
Was like 65. I wanted to do 71 that day because that was the year I was born.

01:05:28:08 - 01:05:30:05
Petch
So I ended up finishing it off.

01:05:30:05 - 01:05:32:09
Petch
But, it definitely hurt.

01:05:33:26 - 01:05:41:12
Petch
So then the following year I did it for four years in a row. So that year was 71. The following year I did.

01:05:41:12 - 01:05:45:09
Petch
103, next year I did 108.

01:05:45:09 - 01:05:48:03
Petch
And then.

01:05:48:05 - 01:05:55:25
Petch
Two years ago I did 112. I didn't do that last year. I was having toe problems and it was super, super hot.

01:05:58:20 - 01:06:02:25
Petch
And now there's some repeats. I down climb some stuff, but like.

01:06:02:27 - 01:06:06:09
Petch
Yeah, it's whatever, you know, it's it's fun.

01:06:06:10 - 01:06:08:20
Petch
It's, it's it's a nice push.

01:06:08:21 - 01:06:16:20
Kyle
it's 112 free soloed pitches with the rope to use to get around right.

01:06:17:10 - 01:06:24:14
Petch
Yeah. So on the 112 that day, my buddy Timmy came out and we simul climbed two routes. He came on out just to

01:06:25:15 - 01:06:29:15
Kyle
Okay.

01:06:29:18 - 01:06:30:26
Kyle
Yeah,

01:06:30:26 - 01:06:37:07
Petch
They come on out. It was fun because he's such a riot. He's nonstop. It's. And he's a good friend.

01:06:38:14 - 01:06:40:16
Petch
I just use the rope on the east.

01:06:40:16 - 01:06:41:24
Petch
Wall.

01:06:41:26 - 01:06:45:25
Petch
To get down. I, I don't get to the east wall.

01:06:45:25 - 01:06:48:22
Petch
Until I'm already at, like, pitch 50 or something, but, like.

01:06:48:29 - 01:06:50:25
Petch
I'll go up one climb and then.

01:06:50:25 - 01:06:59:17
Petch
I'll down climb something else and, like, again, I got the place really dialed. I can just kind of get in this flow.

01:06:59:19 - 01:07:00:08
Petch
And, you.

01:07:00:08 - 01:07:03:04
Petch
Know, I like doing it right around the solstice, which is.

01:07:03:04 - 01:07:15:21
Petch
Getting that I want to climb with headlamps. I mean, I do climate headlamp sometimes, but like, I just start off like at sunrise and then climb until I throw in the towel.

01:07:15:23 - 01:07:18:16
Petch
But also at solstice, like one year, it.

01:07:18:16 - 01:07:30:14
Petch
Was really, really hot. And it was kind of a beat down. So that's kind of a crux is the heat, because the week the leap goes in the sun around one, and then you're in the sun the rest of the day.

01:07:30:16 - 01:07:31:19
Petch
When I did that, my.

01:07:31:19 - 01:07:35:17
Petch
Last big day was cool. And that made a huge difference.

01:07:36:01 - 01:07:38:25
Kyle
Wow. That is a tremendous amount of climbing.

01:07:39:09 - 01:07:40:16
Petch
Yeah. It's fun.

01:07:40:19 - 01:07:41:23
Petch
Yeah. Yeah.

01:07:41:23 - 01:07:42:03
Petch
It's fun.

01:07:42:03 - 01:07:42:25
Petch
It's silly.

01:07:45:20 - 01:08:06:19
Kyle
No, I mean, if you, you know, we're, you know, we all want to climb as much as we can, and that is that is one way to to get an absolute wild amount of climbing in a small amount of time. So that's really cool. And that's awesome that you're sharing it with the people and sharing that the vision and the logistics and like just opening people's mind to like how much is possible in a, in a given amount of time.

01:08:06:19 - 01:08:07:00
Kyle
It's really.

01:08:07:00 - 01:08:08:03
Kyle
Cool.

01:08:08:03 - 01:08:08:09
Petch
yeah.

01:08:08:09 - 01:08:08:28
Petch
And again.

01:08:08:28 - 01:08:15:27
Petch
I feel very fortunate I'm able to do that for folks. It's it's rewarding to see how stuck they are. And, like, you know.

01:08:15:29 - 01:08:21:15
Petch
One, one person who I hired, me, his wife paid for, and she's like, you know, instead of presents.

01:08:21:15 - 01:08:23:22
Petch
We want experiences. And this is an

01:08:24:20 - 01:08:27:12
Kyle
Yeah. Oh, yeah.

01:08:28:04 - 01:08:47:11
Kyle
Well, nice. You know, I've got, I basically don't have much left, on my roster here. You know, we're, pushing 2.5 hours. I know we had mentioned, you know, one other topic. I want to kind of just leave it up to you. Whether it's something you want to, dive into for a short amount of time.

01:08:47:14 - 01:09:06:00
Kyle
And this is just your, battle with alcohol and kind of how it, you know, shaped, a portion of your life. Again, totally optional. I just wanted to give you the platform to to speak about it, if that's something you're interested in, because you had mentioned it in our meet and greet. Otherwise, happy to to kind of round it off here.

01:09:06:03 - 01:09:07:20
Kyle
Leave that kind of up to you.

01:09:08:21 - 01:09:10:04
Petch
Yeah. I mean.

01:09:10:06 - 01:09:16:06
Petch
It's a huge, part of me and my life.

01:09:16:27 - 01:09:20:12
Petch
Yeah. I was an alcoholic.

01:09:20:14 - 01:09:20:19
Petch
Don't.

01:09:20:25 - 01:09:27:10
Petch
I don't really believe in, like, I'm still an alcoholic. Like, know I was sick. I got better.

01:09:27:13 - 01:09:27:20
Petch
I.

01:09:27:20 - 01:09:34:03
Petch
Can be around alcohol. I have plenty of friends who drink a lot. It doesn't bother, man on this, and I don't need to.

01:09:34:05 - 01:09:35:23
Petch
But at a point, I did.

01:09:35:26 - 01:09:37:09
Petch
I drink a lot.

01:09:38:21 - 01:09:40:17
Petch
One of my first climbing partners.

01:09:40:17 - 01:10:05:04
Petch
Who I met, and Humboldt, who was also my boss painting. He was an alcoholic who's always, like, six pack or a six pack when we go climbing. And then sooner or later, I was bringing the six pack. We each have our six pack. And then I became a bartender in the restaurant business. He. Now it's just like you're serving drinks.

01:10:05:04 - 01:10:07:23
Petch
People are buying you drinks.

01:10:10:14 - 01:10:32:02
Petch
I obviously have an addictive personality that's, you know, it. Maybe. I gave up my alcohol and jumped into my climbing even heavier, you know, like, gave up my alcoholism and picked up, climbing addiction, you know, I mean, I've always loved climbing. But, like, I definitely took it to the next level with my big days of soloing.

01:10:32:02 - 01:10:37:25
Petch
But I'm a high energy person, and I like to expend that energy now. And maybe the alcohol.

01:10:37:28 - 01:10:40:00
Petch
Not helped me.

01:10:40:02 - 01:10:46:08
Petch
Sit still because it gave me something to do is just numb my senses.

01:10:46:11 - 01:10:50:20
Petch
Yeah, I drink a lot better in my marriage.

01:10:51:20 - 01:11:12:11
Kyle
What, What about like, with the. I mean, like, I would imagine drinking alcohol starts as a habit. And then it kind of like whether you realize it or not it becomes a problem at a certain point and then you realize it's a problem. What was that kind of progression for you. Like, when did you know it was a problem?

01:11:12:11 - 01:11:19:13
Kyle
And like hindsight, looking back, when did the problem really start?

01:11:20:09 - 01:11:20:28
Petch
You know.

01:11:21:00 - 01:11:32:05
Petch
I knew I had a problem. I knew I was an alcoholic, but I was, you know, I was a functioning alcoholic. But then it started affecting my.

01:11:32:08 - 01:11:40:03
Petch
Marriage and family life. I do have a daughter, 16 year old. She's awesome. We have a great relationship. But I feel really bad.

01:11:40:19 - 01:11:42:09
Kyle
What's your name?

01:11:44:06 - 01:11:45:25
Kyle
Rocky. Nice.

01:11:45:25 - 01:11:46:14
Petch
Yeah.

01:11:46:16 - 01:11:49:14
Petch
She's my rock star. She's awesome. She's a really good.

01:11:49:17 - 01:11:55:07
Petch
Good kid. Super sweet, super smart. Fun. She actually came out to.

01:11:55:07 - 01:12:00:25
Petch
Red rocks when I was out there. I flew her out there. I went and saw Tyler, the creator. And then we climb the next day.

01:12:00:25 - 01:12:01:24
Petch
And.

01:12:01:27 - 01:12:03:25
Petch
Like, over the crater, and it's,

01:12:06:02 - 01:12:10:05
Kyle
Full dad mode. Yeah. That's awesome.

01:12:10:12 - 01:12:12:19
Petch
But, yeah, I mean, I was struggling.

01:12:12:19 - 01:12:13:25
Petch
I.

01:12:13:27 - 01:12:25:07
Petch
I was trying to cut back and cutting back was actually harder than just quitting. Yeah. I was passing out at night. I was, you know, having blackouts. I was killing them. I'd be dead.

01:12:25:07 - 01:12:26:28
Petch
Right now if I didn't quit drinking

01:12:27:18 - 01:12:30:27
Kyle
Just health wise, or because of the choices you were making.

01:12:47:16 - 01:13:03:22
Kyle
Yeah. To just pass out. Yeah. What did, did hard drugs ever come into the equation? During this time, I, I think that that level of, of kind of consumption can lead, I would say, especially in the restaurant industry and the bar scene, to like cocaine is like a really easy kind of drug to get into in that space.

01:13:03:22 - 01:13:12:02
Kyle
Like, did that have any, any, space in, in your life or. No.

01:13:12:04 - 01:13:12:26
Kyle
Nice.

01:13:12:29 - 01:13:23:11
Kyle
Yeah.

01:13:23:14 - 01:13:29:16
Kyle
Yeah.

01:13:29:29 - 01:13:30:09
Petch
You know.

01:13:30:09 - 01:13:34:15
Petch
When I quit alcohol, I was, I smoked pot on occasion, but I told.

01:13:34:15 - 01:13:43:21
Petch
Myself I wasn't at no, like, all of a sudden become a huge downer. So, like, I maybe have a Halloween a few times a year now.

01:13:43:23 - 01:13:44:25
Petch
Like, okay.

01:13:44:27 - 01:13:47:10
Petch
And just like, I'm just sober as can

01:13:52:16 - 01:13:56:28
Petch
mountains, like hiking out from there, a hawk, maybe I'll have a little.

01:13:57:00 - 01:13:59:20
Petch
Little taste, but like, just the smallest.

01:13:59:23 - 01:14:07:17
Petch
And, Yeah, I'm. Yeah. And, Yeah.

01:14:07:19 - 01:14:17:10
Petch
So. Yeah, it it it was a, it was a, it was a dark time. I'm glad I, I feel really bad that I let myself get that bad.

01:14:18:22 - 01:14:25:17
Petch
I know people who have problems, and all I can be is supportive.

01:14:25:17 - 01:14:39:15
Petch
It's just something you need to be able to do on your own and quit, like, I'm. I'm. I'm never judgmental. I'm just there to love my friends and give them support. And if they want to talk about it, you know, I have some friends.

01:14:39:17 - 01:14:40:01
Petch
Who who.

01:14:40:01 - 01:14:41:01
Petch
Will talk to.

01:14:41:01 - 01:14:59:00
Petch
Me because they know I was a big drinker and now I'm sober, living a super healthy life. In some ways, I'm allowed to say I've ever been. And I'm, you know, in my 50s now, I'm like, I can have this big, massive days. You know, I get up and go, I'm not getting up. All hung over and dehydrated.

01:15:00:13 - 01:15:16:13
Petch
So, yeah, it's it's an easy one to fall down the hole, you know, like a lot of outdoor people now. I mean, you know, you finish climbing, you go to the campfires and you drink and, you know, it's it's fun for a while, but like, it, like you said, it's habitual. And then you become.

01:15:16:13 - 01:15:18:25
Petch
More and,

01:15:18:27 - 01:15:21:24
Petch
Yeah, I feel bad that I, I let it take over.

01:15:21:26 - 01:15:36:12
Petch
I'm very grateful I was smart. Unfortunately, I was a little late. I took a bag that I put my ex-wife through that, and my daughter, but, you know, we make mistakes. We just have to move on.

01:15:37:13 - 01:15:38:19
Kyle
Yeah.

01:15:38:22 - 01:15:50:16
Kyle
Did, you had mentioned, you know, you've mentioned your ex wife kind of several times before? I would, I would imagine this kind of like period of your life was, was kind of the precipice for the separation.

01:15:54:21 - 01:16:04:03
Kyle
Yeah.

01:16:04:06 - 01:16:08:22
Kyle
Yeah.

01:16:08:21 - 01:16:16:17
Petch
you know, I hit bottom. Gotta hit bottom. And that was my bottom. And, yeah, she goes out, but.

01:16:16:19 - 01:16:22:25
Petch
You know, Yeah.

01:16:22:28 - 01:16:28:15
Petch
We have an awesome kid. Like I said, she's real. You know, I can be more happy with.

01:16:28:19 - 01:16:42:12
Petch
How great my Rocky is. And what a sweet, loving, smart teenagers is. 16 just started driving, and she's funny. She just ran for, like, student board at her school, and.

01:16:42:14 - 01:16:46:24
Petch
She put her face over a picture of, Rocky Balboa,

01:16:51:15 - 01:16:53:19
Kyle
That's awesome. Oh, yeah.

01:16:53:22 - 01:16:55:04
Kyle
Yeah. You must be proud.

01:16:55:04 - 01:16:56:24
Petch
Yeah, yeah.

01:16:56:26 - 01:16:59:16
Petch
I am. And like, is, you know.

01:16:59:18 - 01:17:01:10
Petch
She looks me in the eye.

01:17:01:11 - 01:17:05:18
Petch
She's engaging, she's funny, she's quick witted. It's pretty.

01:17:05:18 - 01:17:05:29
Petch
Cool.

01:17:06:06 - 01:17:07:06
Kyle
That's cool man.

01:17:07:16 - 01:17:10:21
Petch
She's motivated. So.

01:17:11:19 - 01:17:31:08
Kyle
What? It says someone to someone listening to your story here and, potentially having some issues of their own, with alcohol or maybe a substance that's inspired by your story. What advice would you have for them? In terms of, getting a grasp on on a way to move forward?

01:17:31:14 - 01:17:32:14
Petch
Yeah.

01:17:32:17 - 01:17:34:26
Petch
Your life is only going to be better.

01:17:34:28 - 01:17:40:17
Petch
If you leave that stuff in so many ways, health wise, mental wise.

01:17:40:19 - 01:17:51:24
Petch
Being a climber like I, you know, I might go out and I'd bring some beers here now. And even when I used to solo, I'd have a couple beers on me, and I was.

01:17:51:24 - 01:17:52:14
Petch
Like, oh, man.

01:17:52:16 - 01:17:54:18
Petch
Will I be able to like, you know.

01:17:54:20 - 01:17:58:26
Petch
Like the beers took the edge off of me and be more scared.

01:17:58:29 - 01:18:00:02
Petch
But like.

01:18:00:04 - 01:18:09:21
Petch
Yeah, I climb way better, way stronger, way more solid. I'm way more focused soloing.

01:18:09:24 - 01:18:10:21
Petch
One of my.

01:18:10:23 - 01:18:13:02
Petch
Guy. I'm climbing Cal down tomorrow.

01:18:13:03 - 01:18:24:15
Petch
I mean, he told me after I stopped drinking, he was all of a sudden to stop climbing with me because in an, like, climbing with me. Because the way I drank, you know, and it's like, whoa, really? Like, I wish he had told me.

01:18:24:17 - 01:18:25:03
Petch
You know.

01:18:25:06 - 01:18:27:28
Petch
Not not that he. You know what?

01:18:27:28 - 01:18:34:21
Petch
He it wasn't his responsibility. I put that all on myself. But it was bad. As bad.

01:18:35:23 - 01:18:39:24
Petch
I I'm embarrassed.

01:18:39:26 - 01:18:41:22
Petch
But,

01:18:41:24 - 01:18:48:11
Petch
I'm embarrassed. Who? I ruined sections of my life. But coming out.

01:18:48:11 - 01:18:55:23
Petch
Of it, I've made my life better, you know? And I just feel bad that I hurt my ex-wife and my my child.

01:18:55:28 - 01:18:57:05
Petch
You know?

01:18:58:00 - 01:19:06:01
Kyle
Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry you went through that, and, Yeah, it's, we all go through our own struggles and, Yeah, it's. I think it's cool that you.

01:19:06:09 - 01:19:07:09
Kyle
You know.

01:19:07:12 - 01:19:16:28
Kyle
Taking the opportunity to kind of to share with everybody. I think it makes, makes us all stronger to to be vulnerable and to to share these stories. So. Yeah, I appreciate that.

01:19:16:27 - 01:19:18:22
Kyle
Well.

01:19:18:25 - 01:19:33:07
Kyle
You know, to make sure, you know, we don't, end it on, on that note, what's, what's got you psyched in the future? What, what's on, patches menu for the next couple of years, which got you inspired.

01:19:34:01 - 01:19:35:14
Petch
Well, what's.

01:19:35:16 - 01:19:51:05
Petch
Really cool is, So this, my lady Heidi. Heidi Worth's, he's a badass climber. I actually known her since I was 18. She went to Humboldt. Also. I actually took her climbing for her first time, like.

01:19:51:07 - 01:19:53:04
Petch
You know, pickup line. Right? Hey,

01:19:55:09 - 01:20:01:25
Kyle
For sure. Pickup line. But also, it's like a checklist. Like, do you do you climb or will you climb?

01:20:01:27 - 01:20:04:07
Kyle
Yeah.

01:20:04:08 - 01:20:28:18
Petch
I mean, she was a kid. Heavy check. And, you know, 18. And I was a little 18 year old happy day climber, like, hey. Yeah, you want to go climbing? So I took her climbing, put her and she's there were mine that were too big. Put her on something too hard. She didn't like, she ended up, like, leaving Humboldt, moving to Colorado to be a ski bum.

01:20:28:18 - 01:20:32:05
Petch
And she tried climbing again, and she started off with ice.

01:20:32:05 - 01:20:38:26
Petch
Climbing, and then she started climbing. And then she became one of the top woman climbers in the world, and had the speed record on El Cap

01:20:39:21 - 01:20:42:00
Kyle
Damn. Wow.

01:20:43:19 - 01:20:44:25
Petch
And, yeah.

01:20:44:28 - 01:20:45:20
Petch
I've always

01:20:48:13 - 01:20:51:14
Petch
kind of had a crush on Heidi, but, like, you know, not that I would

01:20:52:01 - 01:20:52:20
Kyle
Yeah. Of course.

01:20:52:27 - 01:20:54:14
Kyle
Yeah.

01:20:54:15 - 01:20:59:23
Petch
And then I ran into her, actually in Red rocks in 95 and like, wow, you're climbing. That's right.

01:20:59:23 - 01:21:09:20
Petch
And then her dad lived down the hill from Strawberry, and she'd come up when she'd go visit her dad there. I go into a 70 year back.

01:21:09:22 - 01:21:17:09
Petch
Yeah, she had done. She would do me a 70 for a while. She's, you know, she's on Team North. It's just a badass.

01:21:17:11 - 01:21:19:12
Petch
So we'd climb together, she'd stop.

01:21:19:12 - 01:21:22:19
Petch
On through, and then,

01:21:22:21 - 01:21:25:28
Petch
Yeah. Just finally last summer, I was just like, hey, how are you with your

01:21:30:20 - 01:21:38:14
Petch
that's awkward. So now we're dating, living together, and, And what's funny is my ex-wife's name is Heidi,

01:21:41:03 - 01:21:50:12
Kyle
Interesting. Very interesting. Oh, that's a romantic. That's kind of a cool story. Congratulations. That's awesome man.

01:21:50:10 - 01:21:57:25
Petch
she she's a really accomplished guy. I mean, she got to the diamond last summer. She, She's, she just.

01:21:57:25 - 01:22:12:05
Petch
Guided for five days in Indian Creek, ran a women's retreat in Indian Creek, and now she's heading back to Boulder and some spears, and then she's coming back for the summer to work. We'll work together. And then she runs international trips. I've been going on with her.

01:22:12:05 - 01:22:16:02
Petch
So really good team. And it's super fun.

01:22:16:02 - 01:22:21:08
Petch
And like, we just have a blast together. Yeah. So

01:22:23:12 - 01:22:36:24
Kyle
That's awesome. Man, I'm excited for you. It sounds like, Yeah, it sounds like you've definitely turned, turn the full page and are stepping into kind of a second life, which is, which is. Right. It's awesome to hear.

01:22:36:27 - 01:22:39:05
Kyle
Yeah.

01:22:39:08 - 01:22:54:29
Kyle
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, thank you so much for coming and sitting down with me. And I know so many people that are like, they saw your my story with the box, and they're like, so psyched for this one. Exclamation, exclamation, exclamation.

01:22:55:00 - 01:22:56:07
Petch
Really? Some

01:22:56:08 - 01:23:01:22
Kyle
Yeah. Absolutely. No, I think, is this your first podcast, by the way?

01:23:01:24 - 01:23:04:16
Kyle
Okay, cool. Has anybody reached out to you before?

01:23:04:16 - 01:23:06:28
Petch
Yeah.

01:23:06:28 - 01:23:10:21
Petch
A couple of people have mentioned things, but they never turned into anything,

01:23:10:28 - 01:23:11:25
Kyle
Okay.

01:23:11:28 - 01:23:17:21
Kyle
Cool. Well, yeah, I think that,

01:23:17:23 - 01:23:41:13
Kyle
You're going to have just floods of of of invites. Now it's just going to break the seal. But, no, it's it's really cool. I think the, you know, a big precipice of this story or of this podcast, rather, is the voices of the majority, right? It's, you know, people who don't get their fair share of the limelight, people whose, stories aren't told.

01:23:41:13 - 01:23:59:05
Kyle
And it's really cool to be able to sit down and tell your story. And I know there's, like I said, there's a bunch of people that, have heard a lot about you have run into you at Lover's Leap or other places and, yeah, just really psyched to to have this chance to share that with everybody.

01:23:59:04 - 01:24:00:14
Petch
Fun. Yeah.

01:24:00:16 - 01:24:07:05
Petch
Yeah. Hopefully they'll enjoy it. And. Yeah. I enjoyed talking with you and. Yeah, come out to leave. Let's, I'll put you on some of my just

01:24:08:27 - 01:24:20:01
Kyle
Honestly, man, I really look forward to it. I try to get up to Reno, for work every now and then, and, Yeah, lover's leap is right there. I've got a bunch of stuff I'd like to do, and, Yeah. Dog police.

01:24:20:01 - 01:24:21:24
Kyle
And,

01:24:21:26 - 01:24:25:18
Kyle
What is it, sexy poodle are now on the top of the list, so.

01:24:25:21 - 01:24:26:08
Kyle
Yeah.

01:24:26:11 - 01:24:27:08
Kyle
It's awesome.