On July 30, 2022, Austin suffered a heat illness that could have cost him his life. He was climbing on the Olympic Peninsula with two of his friends. They set out to climb ‘The Brothers,’ which are the two highest mountains in that range that you can see from miles and miles away. Due to his heat illness, he ultimately pressed the SOS button to get rescued. Listen to this episode to hear what happened during this specific event and how this event led him to finding out he actually had undiagnose...
Jun 01, 2023•53 min
I recently interviewed Christian Beckwith who is (among many additional pursuits) the founder of The Teton Climbers’ Coalition, co-founder of the Alpinist Magazine, founder of the non-profit SHIFT, a skilled alpinist, and most recently, creator and host of the podcast, Ninety-Pound Rucksack. Ninety-Pound Rucksack is a podcast dedicated to retracing the journey of America’s original mountain warriors, the 10th Mountain Division. I am so stoked to share this special bonus episode with all of my li...
May 24, 2023•1 hr
Last spring in May of 2022, Matt Randall took a 1,000 foot fall from the top of South Maroon Bell, one that he undoubtedly shouldn't have survived. He was solo ski mountaineering just outside of Aspen Colorado and Matt somehow got lucky and walked away with zero injuries and one broken ski. He wants to share his experience because he believes it would be beneficial for others to hear since he’s convinced there are lots of other people out there with similar human traits. Listen to this episode t...
May 01, 2023•49 min
On June 3, 2020, two good friends, Kat and Amy, set out to climb the North Twin Sister in the North Cascades in Washington State. They initially had a beautiful weather window so they went for it. They were having a great time when the weather started to move in, visibility got low and they decided to turn around. On the descent, Amy accidentally dislodged a microwave sized rock that tumbled down hitting Kat, shattering most of her hand and breaking through her radius and ulna. Listen into this ...
Apr 02, 2023•42 min
Gabs was coming down the Athabasca Glacier after spending nine days winter camping up on the Columbia Ice-Fields. Her crew had just re-supplied two days prior with another ten days worth of food/fuel, and soon after, her ski went parallel to a narrow crevasse and her pulk (a snow sled she was towing behind her) lined up with her body. She then broke through a snow bridge, falling ten meters down into the icy, freezing cold crevasse! Listen into this episode to hear what happened, what she learne...
Mar 01, 2023•34 min
On November 22, 2022, just two days after Thanksgiving, River Barry was gearing up to go mountain biking in Kings Creek, Moab, Utah. Things quickly changed when all of a sudden, a base jumper crashed into the sandstone rock and was dangling ever so delicately 80-100 feet above the ground. River soon found herself in the middle of a rescue. Listen into this episode to hear what happened and what she learned from being at the right place at the right time. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe....
Feb 01, 2023•36 min
On Tuesday, July 26, 2022, Taylor Fields needed to release some school stress so he chose to go rock climbing. He went out with his best friend to climb "The Odyssey" on the Sun Wall at Looking Glass Rock in North Carolina. The Odyssey is a 5 pitch traditional route that is rated 5.11- on Mountain Project. Let's just say Taylor didn't walk back to the car after this. Listen in to this episode to hear what happened and what Taylor learned from his accident. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saup...
Jan 01, 2023•40 min
On October 6, 2021, Ryan and his climbing partner headed out to climb at a crag in North Conway, New Hampshire called Whitehorse Ledge. This climbing area is known for runout slab climbing. They had their eyes set on a nine pitch trad route rated 5.9. They loaded up their climbing racks and went for it. On pitch five of the climb, Ryan slipped. Listen to this episode to hear more. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe. Rocky Talkies is the sole sponsor of this episode. Thank you to the Americ...
Dec 01, 2022•31 min
Aavron was on Mt Rainier when he slipped and fell, pulling his climbing partner down a slippery slope with him. During the fall, he was impaled by his ice ax. The surgeons said that packing the wound with snow saved his life. Using that resource was life or death to Aavron. By packing snow in his open chest wound, he was able to see his two boys and girlfriend again. Listen into this episode to hear what happened and what Aavron learned from this accident. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saup...
Nov 01, 2022•57 min
Andrew has been sport climbing for around 10 years and wanted to get some alpine/mountaineering experience under his belt. He did a handful of mountaineering climbs leading up to this particular climb (one being Mt Whitney) and then he and his climbing partner set their eyes on Mount Baldy (aka Mount San Antonio), the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains in California, sitting at 10,064 feet. On January 19, 2019 he set out to climb this peak with his climbing partner and his Golden Retrieve...
Oct 01, 2022•41 min
In today’s episode, I talk with Enji Cooper about what happened on Oval Peak with Glenn Block on the 8,800-foot mountain in the North Cascades of Washington state. This episode is a follow up from last month’s episode number 79. (Make sure to listen to episode 79 before listening to this one!) There were many questions that listeners had about some of the finer details of Glenn’s account. Tune in to hear Enji share their perspective of what happened and why. This podcast is produced by Ashley Sa...
Sep 01, 2022•40 min
Glenn Block and his friend Enji set out to climb Oval Peak, an 8,800-foot mountain in the North Cascades of Washington state. At the time, Glenn was a novice hiker and admits he didn’t fully understand what he was getting himself into. As a result, he has many learnings from this experience. Being prepared and prepping for a hike like this is extremely important. What I admire about Glenn is that he’s humble enough in his personal mountaineering journey to share these learnings with you to minim...
Aug 01, 2022•44 min
Rachel Pisula set out on July 29, 2020 on a pretty nice, mostly sunny day in Colorado to climb two fourteeners in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains about 3 hours from her home in Golden, Colorado. By this point in the summer, Rachel thinks she already hiked ten fourteeners with her dog, Emmett. She was feeling strong and confident. Her objective on this particular day was to climb Challenger Point and Kit Carson Peak in a day. Unfortunately, she got turned around on a tricky part of the hike and en...
Jul 01, 2022•38 min
Clara was climbing at a local crag in Tennessee called King’s Bluff where she witnessed a free solo accident & was heavily involved in the rescue. The climber was out alone on a weekday, and her and her partner were the only other people at the crag. The climber that fell was climbing on an unestablished route and ended up being rescued via boat on the Cumberland River. A pretty interesting story and Clara definitely has some key takeaways to share with Sharp End listeners. Tune here to hear...
Jun 01, 2022•35 min
On January 10th, 2020 Adam Campbell and his wife, Laura Kosakoski were skiing with their friend Kevin in the Mount Hector area of Banff National Park. Laura skied first, Kevin followed, as Adam approached the slope, he triggered a size 2.5 avalanche that pushed Laura into a terrain trap and buried her with over 12 feet of snow. Although Adam and Kevin were able to get to her, she never regained consciousness. She passed away from her injuries the next day. Adam has had to live with the grief and...
May 01, 2022•52 min
Tune in to episode 75 of the Sharp End Podcast to hear Joe Lovin share his story about a climbing fall he took in Clear Creek Canyon outside of Denver, Colorado. He talks about what went wrong and the important lessons he learned from his fall. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe. Episode sponsors include Rocky Talkie and the American Alpine Club. --> 10% off Rocky Talkie radios at www.rockytalkie.com with code SHARPEND —> 20% off First Aid contents at MyMedic.com with code SHARPEND20...
Apr 01, 2022•32 min
Bad fall, Broken face (Ep. 75) Tune in to episode 75 of the Sharp End Podcast to hear Joe Lovin share his story about a climbing fall he took in Clear Creek Canyon outside of Denver, Colorado. He talks about what went wrong and the important lessons he learned from his fall. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe. Episode sponsors include Rocky Talkie and the American Alpine Club. --> 10% off Rocky Talkie radios at www.rockytalkie.com with code SHARPEND —> 20% off First Aid contents at M...
Mar 16, 2022•28 sec
In this episode, Ken Wylie, author of the book “Buried,” recounts the horrific accident of La Traviata in Revelstoke, British Columbia. On January 20, 2003, thirteen people were caught in an avalanche while ascending the La Traviata West Couloir. Seven people died. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe. Episode sponsors include Rocky Talkie and the American Alpine Club. --> 10% off Rocky Talkie radios at www.rockytalkie.com with code SHARPEND —> 20% off First Aid contents at MyMedic.com...
Mar 01, 2022•59 min
Mount Emerson is located in the Sierra Nevada in eastern California. It’s the 116th highest mountain in California. Christian and a friend set out to climb it and ended up spending an extremely cold and uncomfortable night out on the mountain side at 13,000 feet. Listen in to hear Christian’s learning from the unplanned bivvy. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe. Episode sponsors include Rocky Talkie and the American Alpine Club. --> 10% off Rocky Talkie radios at www.rockytalkie.com wit...
Feb 01, 2022•38 min
Kyle Broxterman was consistently climbing strong. He was stoked on pushing himself physically and to continue to push the grades. Kyle and a couple of friends went out to a new crag on Donner Summit outside of Lake Tahoe, California. It was a beautiful day, they climbed a few routes and then Kyle decided to attempt to onsite a slightly overhanging, lightening bolt crack. Listen in to hear why Kyle is taking a step back from letting his ego drive his climbing and how he is managing his recovery f...
Jan 01, 2022•42 min
In late July 2016, Ed and three other climbers in his group were caught in a sudden storm on top of 180 foot, two pitch climb called ”Waves" in the Black Hills behind Rushmore. With estimated 50 mph winds, a dangerous plunging temperature, and golf-ball-sized hail, getting off the climb was a test of experience, concentration, and teamwork. Listen to the end of this episode to hear Desert Mountain Medicine’s Program Director Morgan Matthews (RN, CEN, WFR) talk about why Hypothermia is no joke. T...
Dec 23, 2021•38 min
Aaron and Ian are a father / son climbing team. Aaron is a teacher and Ian is a student and they both had summer break off. In June of 2021, they decided to take advantage of their summer break and head to Zion National Park, a climbing destination they try and go to at least once a year. Listen in to episode 71 to hear what went wrong and how they were rescued off this multi-pitch climb. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe and backed by the American Alpine Club. Episode sponsors include Ro...
Dec 01, 2021•37 min
Nick, owner of Beta, wanted to learn how to multi pitch climb. He’d been climbing in a local indoor gym on a pretty regular basis for about three years. He went out with his climbing partner and someone they recently met who said he’d teach them how to multi-pitch climb. The three of them went out to Clarks Canyon to learn the basics. This is where the trip goes south. Listen into this episode to hear what went wrong and what Nick learned from this incident. This podcast is produced by Ashley Sa...
Nov 01, 2021•35 min
Foster and his two best friends were in the sport multi pitch climbing paradise that is El Potrero Chico in north eastern Mexico. It was their fourth visit to that climbing area and they had their eyes on a 15 pitch climb called ‘Devotion 5.11d.’ It’s a lesser known climb that is notorious for being a bit run out, hard for the grade, and chossy. Listen in to this episode to hear Foster’s account of his huge fall that resulted in a remote helicopter rescue. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saup...
Oct 01, 2021•30 min
On June 26th, 2021, Tori and a few of her friends were feeling strong and decided to climb Ellingwood Ridge on La Plata in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness in Colorado. The weather was forecasting classic Rocky Mountain afternoon thunderstorms so they got an early start. Knowing that this route was well in their ability level, they decided to go light and fast. Tune in to episode 67 to hear Tori tell her story of finding her edge on Ellingwood Ridge. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe and b...
Aug 01, 2021•37 min
Four friends set off to climb Mount Rae. A 4.9 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Kananaskis Improvement in Alberta, Canada that features a beautiful forest setting and is only recommended for very experienced adventurers. On the descent, one women slipped and fell and wasn’t able to self arrest in the snow. Ultimately, she pressed the SOS on her Garmin InReach and what ensued was a heroic heli rescue. Listen in to all four perspectives of this accident. Two of the women ...
Jul 01, 2021•58 min
Matt and Trevor had plenty of experience hiking 14ers in Colorado, so when Matt's Dad was in Colorado visiting they decided to take him up Mt. Bierstadt so he could check off his first 14er to celebrate turning 70. On May 8, 2021 the group was nearing the top when weather changed dramatically from what the forecast had informed them of earlier. They suddenly found themselves (along with another group of hikers) caught in a lightning storm with extremely low visibility and rapidly dropping temper...
Jun 01, 2021•53 min
Jes Scott and Erica Ellefsen set out to travel 80km from Mt. Washington to Flower Ridge over eight days. Their goal was to climb eight of Strathcona Park’s tallest and most remote mountains. Strathcona Provincial Park is the oldest provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, and the largest on Vancouver Island. They wanted a trip that was physically demanding but less scary than their usual mountaineering trips. Listen in to this episode to hear what went wrong during their traverse and how the...
May 01, 2021•40 min
Jean and Ken summited Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental US, on what they thought would be their last day of the trip. On the summit they were caught in a severe snow and lightning storm. Using their ice axes, they began to descend via the north face in full self-arrest position. Ken fell 800 feet down the mountain while Jean, not knowing his fate, continued down slowly and methodically towards him. Then, at one point during her descent, Jean fell 165 feet bouncing on rocks throu...
Apr 01, 2021•50 min
Near-misses are greatly under-reported in general, yet they are plentiful. What leads them to be under-reported? Joel Reid, the Washington Program Director at the Northwest Outward Bound School and Steve Smith, from Experiential Consulting, chat with Ashley about why near-misses matter and the importance of reporting near misses in an institutional setting. You don’t want to miss this informative chat. This podcast is produced by Ashley Saupe and supported by the American Alpine Club. Episode sp...
Mar 01, 2021•51 min
