Episodes
We are celebrating two years of podcasting and taking a look back at the growth and development of the show. We've covered a wide range of topics in the past year including recreational climbers and professional athletes involved in tragic accidents, huge accomplishments,  and much more. We are excited to continue exploring new conversations in the coming year and are also excited to announce some updates to the show, including a new website, sponsorship opportunities, and live events. We are...
Published 01/01/24
Welcome to the last episode of 2023. Thank you so much for being a part of our growing community…It means a lot to Kyle and I that you are here.  As climbers we've all seen videos and media depicting near impossible feats of physicality. You've probably seen these videos and thought “I could never accomplish something so hard”. But are these limitations we put on ourselves real? While our guest today is not a part of the Majority….. she once was. As a young spirited climber she never believed...
Published 12/18/23
This podcast is no stranger to traumatic life altering accidents. It is easy to let these events cripple us, and hard to allow them to transform us. Jason Hardrath, PE teacher from Klamath Fall, OR and competitive endurance athlete who’d just qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Found himself ejected from a moving vehicle. He suffered a broken shoulder, collapsed lung, torn ACL and multiple internal injuries. Its fair to say the Jason is lucky to be alive. Just Three years...
Published 12/04/23
Teamwork…Communication…and Trust…are all paramount characteristics of a successful climbing partnership. And our safety is based around our own humility, proficiency, and confidence in the mountains…. The perfect balance of all these attributes is a complicated equilibrium to achieve. Today’s story is about what can happen when these pillars start to fall apart. When the ego takes over confidence….and when communication fails to keep everyone on the same page. That is when you find yourself...
Published 11/20/23
The Mountains test us, and shape us. We cannot lower the mountains. So we must elevate ourselves to their level. We should strive to choose goals in life that will challenge us, test us and that we think are impossible. Only through aiming at the highest peaks we can possibly envision will we truly transcend the suffering of the world to find meaning and purpose. For some this may be being a good life partner, having kids and enjoying the outdoors. For others it may mean climbing the wildest...
Published 11/06/23
As climbers we are aware of the finality of our actions. The possibility of death is always looming. Paradoxically, knowing this, is what can make us feel so alive. We know our actions have consequences, and only through the mastery of body and emotions can those consequences be mitigated to avoid the finality of death. Our guest today is no stranger to death. Austin McCall completed 13 tours of duty in the military. Operating in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the army's 75th Ranger Regiment....
Published 10/23/23
Welcome back everyone! We are about 1.5 years into this podcast and you are currently listening to our 50th episode and are rapidly approaching 30k all time downloads and just wanted to say thank you for being a part of this growing community, Max and I are beyond pumped that your here, and are excited to keep sharing stories of climbers around the world.  Today’s conversation is about my recent successful summit of Mt Russell via the Fishhook Arete in the Eastern Sierra in California. While,...
Published 10/09/23
Climbing can be risky, and it's easy to overlook those risks when you've never experienced them first hand. You might hear stories of injuries or even fatalities, but until you experience something first hand you are missing a true understanding of the risks you are taking. Enter Colin Jokisch, a seasoned climber whose world changed after a near-fatal fall on an Arkansas roof crack. Colin's accident gave him PTSD, especially when using trad gear—a sentiment Max and I deeply understand. Like...
Published 09/25/23
Our guest today is not a part of the majority; he is the very definition of a small minority of athletes doing unfathomable feats. Today Kyle and I are sitting down with Jack Kuenzle, a former Navy Seal who grew up in Dallas Texas. Jack attended Yale receiving his B.A before he joined the Navy Seals and completed Basic Underwater Demolition Seals Training (BUDS). He is best known for his pursuit of FKT,s. Some of his accolades include Beating Killian Jornet’s fastest known times on the 66...
Published 09/11/23
Climbing larger mountains, especially ones that are far away from home… takes a lot of planning, training, logistics, and a little bit of luck. We spend months preparing for what sometimes comes down to a single day on a mountain. So what happens when you're 700 ft from the summit, and you realize touching the top might mean you won’t come back? While that seems like an easy choice…. The weight of seemingly wasting months of planning, training, and traveling can be almost too much to...
Published 08/28/23
As mountain athletes it's easy to get consumed by our objectives and our drive to continuously improve and get stronger can be draining. It can make us forget that one of the most meaningful parts of the mountains is the people we meet on the way, the bonds we form and the experiences shared. In this conversation we explore what drives a 25 year old who was born and raised in the flat state of Long Island New York to pursue a challenging solo ascent of Denali. Our Guest today is Alex Mitchko,...
Published 08/14/23
The cool thing about climbing is that it means something different to everyone. From the weekend warrior trad dad to the dedicated dirtbag, each of us has our own reasons for interacting with the vertical plane. For Brenden, he has always wanted climbing to mean something to him, and for his efforts in the climbing community to mean something to others. With a natural proclivity to bouldering, Brenden, on his first outdoor bouldering trip during his first year of climbing, sent a v9. At...
Published 07/31/23
As climbers we all have our own goals and ambitions. In 2019 I had the goal of climbing the tallest mountain in North America. I had just recently completed an ironman and was looking for my next challenge. Life had other plans for me though. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic and a fall that nearly took my life all happened in 2021. Fast forward from 2019 to present day my girlfriend Rae and I have just returned from Climbing the West Buttress of Denali. Four years have passed and I've...
Published 07/17/23
As a budding trad climber, climbing hard and improving my grades is something I've struggled with the last several years. Time, energy, and life commitments can make it hard to focus on certain goals. As someone who is always looking to improve, sometimes I need help organizing and focusing on the correct things with my limited time. You've probably found yourself in a similar situation? Maybe you want to just learn a little more or maybe you want to take your climbing to the next level....
Published 07/03/23
As we’ve seen on this podcast, there can be some serious consequences to playing in the mountains. But one thing that seems to stay consistent, is that no matter how traumatic the injury, how devastating the loss, we are always finding our way back to the mountains. Why is that? What calls us back to the activity and environment that caused the pain in the first place? Our guest today is Steph Abegg. Climber—Photographer—Adventurer— and Math&Data Nerd. For as long as she can remember, she...
Published 06/19/23
Have you ever walked up to a route saying “I can’t do this' ' or “I am going to fall, I just know it”. What happens? Chances are your prediction of the future comes true. Our own internal dialogue, whether negative or positive, shapes our reality. But how do we change our perception of ourselves, become aware of our internal dialogue, and learn to climb psychologically unencumbered? Our guest today is Kevin Roet; climber, coach, founder of Rise & Summit outdoor education,  and the author...
Published 06/05/23
In today’s episode we sit down with Jacob Urban. Mountain athlete and Founder of The Jackson Hole Outdoor Leadership Institute. Climbing put Jacob on a path and in his words climbing is what “led him to himself”. Now with over 30 years in the industry of Outdoor Education he is here to teach us not only how to survive in the mountains, but how we view ourselves and our relationship with the world around us. We hear about Jacob’s story…. cover topics such as Risk and Ethics….and finally...
Published 05/22/23
As an amateur alpinist I love climbing ice, it is such a foreboding medium to climb on. Here one day and gone the next, it is ephemeral in nature. But for anyone who has swung an ice axe into a beautiful line of frozen water, you know the satisfaction that the sport of ice climbing can provide. Our guest today is Philip Setter, Philip is an avid ice climber who has had the opportunity to climb with one of the best Ice climbers on the planet, Stas Baskin. Phil is the owner and operator of the...
Published 05/08/23
In our last conversation we sat down with a gentleman by the name of Mike Tagg where talked about the ethics behind climbing on wet rocks and provided a way for us, The Majority, to make better, well informed decisions on when we can climb after a a rain. But, we did not have the chance to do what we normally do on this show, hear Mike’s story, because I don’t know about you but we are always interested in hearing all the vastly different ways people find this magical sport, and how it...
Published 04/24/23
I don’t know about you, but this winter has been insane for us on the west coast. Record snowfall, rainfall, and constant cold weather. While it does seem like we are finally coming to a close of this long winter as temps are warming up, one thing in my mind that has stuck out the most, and that is the debate of climbing on wet rocks. Wet rocks are a part of nature…but certain kinds of rock become brittle and fragile after considerable saturation. With a season as wet as 2023, this topic sits...
Published 04/10/23
 Most of the time we come across successful climbers after their massive accomplishments…the climbs, first ascents, and daring projects that put their name on the map. But rarely do we get to meet or hear about these people before their time. Before their groundbreaking achievements that cast them into the limelight.  Today is one of those days. We get to sit down with a young crusher by the name of Joey Latina who is a local here in Las Vegas, NV. At the remarkably young age of 16 Joey is...
Published 03/27/23
Everyone in their lives experiences suffering, trauma, depressed states and difficult times. Some people experience these events early in life and some later on. But ultimately, suffering and loss are both tragic and a natural part of the human experience. Our guest today reached out to Kyle and I. He is Ben Levoie. Ben had a traumatic car accident which left him badly injured and severely concussed. This incident resulted in Ben losing 10 years of memory and living with PTSD. Ben wants to...
Published 03/13/23
As we are sure most of you know accidents happen to the best of us and when you spend enough time in places with severe hazards it's not a question of if, but when. Nevertheless, it is easy to get complacent, and comfortable and that's when things go wrong.  Today, we sit down with IFMGA certified mountain guide Dale Remsberg. We connected with Dale after hearing about an accident he had while leading ice that almost took his life. With some luck and a badass mentality he was back top-roping...
Published 02/27/23
Recently I've been seeking mentorship and guidance to help improve my climbing. This can be a tricky endeavor, finding someone you trust and respect can be challenging. With this in mind, I reached out to a local Ice climbing group in search of such a person. With some amazing luck, I connected with Callum Nelson. Through our conversation, I quickly realized that Callum was an accomplished climber and UK Certified Rock Guide who has climbed all over the world. Callum and I climbed a beautiful...
Published 02/13/23
One thing I’ve learned about climbing over the years is that you never really know when something might go wrong, that human error and the randomness of nature are something we as climbers can’t really avoid. So instead we prepare ourselves to deal with the unknown, to come equipped with the tools necessary both physical and mental to rescue either ourselves or others when things go wrong. Remember that story that was all over the news a few months ago, about a climber who had rescued a base...
Published 01/30/23