The Climbing Majority

Picking right up where we left off in the previous episode with Myles and Harry. If you haven't listened to episode 125 be sure to go back before continuing here.
The Central Tower of Torres del Paine in Patagonia has been on the radar of many elite climbers ever since Tyler Karow's viral YouTube vlog documenting his ascent of the South African Route during an unprecedented long weather window. This past winter, several teams from around the world came down to test themselves on the slightly overhanging 4,000ft thumb of granite. You've probably heard of Tommy Caldwell and Siebe Vanhee's remarkable 24-hour free ascent of the South African Route, or the first all-female ascent by Belen Prados, Caro North, Amelie Kühne, and Julia Cassou. While climbing icons were making headlines, Myles Moser and his team were just around the corner making history of their own.
In this part of the conversation we dive deeper into what happened on the first expedition including a flash freeze the forced the entire team into a e-bivy. We explore how they managed resources on the wall, how a death block that Myles had found on the first expedition almost took out the entire team on trip two, and we go into the summit bid and descent. 
This team is not sponsored. Every person on this expedition contributed their own money, gear, and time to make it happen. Which is exactly why this route — and their remarkable collective effort — has gone largely unnoticed in the wider climbing community, overshadowed by the catchy headlines of sponsored athletes. In alignment with the purpose of this podcast, I'm here to tell their story.
This is part 2 of 2 of my conversation with Myles Moser and Harry Kinnard.
#patagonia #firstascent #bigwall
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Both Myles and Harry have written remarkable journals from their time on the wall — filled with personal anecdotes and intimate moments not fully shared in this podcast. If you'd like to read them, they're available to Patreon subscribers.
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Myles' IG

Harry's IG

Trevor's IG

Kellen McGrath's IG

Cover Photo Credit: Trevor Anthes

The Central Tower of Torres del Paine in Patagonia has been on the radar of many elite climbers ever since Tyler Karow's viral YouTube vlog documenting his ascent of the South African Route during an unprecedented long weather window. This past winter, several teams from around the world came down to test themselves on the slightly overhanging 4,000ft thumb of granite. You've probably heard of Tommy Caldwell and Siebe Vanhee's remarkable 24-hour free ascent of the South African Route, or the first all-female ascent by Belen Prados, Caro North, Amelie Kühne, and Julia Cassou. While climbing icons were making headlines, Myles Moser and his team were just around the corner making history of their own.
Nearly 15 years ago, Myles and Amy Ness established Plate Tectonics, a grueling 3,300ft Grade VI 5.12 C1 on the East Face of the North Tower — a route they were both lucky to survive. The North Tower offers a remarkable view of the Central Tower, and it was from that vantage point that Myles first began imagining a new line up its unclimbed east face. That vision finally came true this past winter.
Myles approaches new routes with a very specific style: ground up, capsule style. Once they leave the ground, they does everything possible to never come back until the route is finished — bringing everything they needs to live on the wall for up to a month, dedicating every waking second to pioneering a masterful, safe, repeatable, and free-climbable route up an unclimbed tower of granite. It's an approach that reflects Myles' blue-collar work ethic and a depth of passion for route development that's only found in the most elite climbers in the world. It took two expeditions over two years, $60K of personal funds, and a cumulative 71 days on the wall to establish his new route up the Central Tower. Together with Hugo Perez, Kellen McGrath, Trevor Anthes, and Harry Kinnard, Myles successfully completed the first ascent of Paradigm Shift — Grade VII 5.12+ A2, 4,000ft.
This team is not sponsored. Every person on this expedition contributed their own money, gear, and time to make it happen. Which is exactly why this route — and their remarkable collective effort — has gone largely unnoticed in the wider climbing community, overshadowed by the catchy headlines of sponsored athletes. In alignment with the purpose of this podcast, I'm here to tell their story.
If you've been following the show for a while, you'll remember episodes 67 and 68 where I last spoke with Myles. If you haven't heard those, I highly encourage you to go back and check them out — they add real context to who Myles is and the depth of experience he brings to Patagonia's big walls.
This is part 1 of 2 of my conversation with Myles Moser and Harry Kinnard.
#patagonia #firstascent #bigwall
Thanks to our sponsors!

LIVSN Designs

Checkout Their Ecotrek Trail Pants HERE

Use Code "TCM15" At Checkout for an extra 15% OFF Your Order
Both Myles and Harry have written remarkable journals from their time on the wall — filled with personal anecdotes and intimate moments not fully shared in this podcast. If you'd like to read them, they're available to Patreon subscribers.
Help Support The Show & Unlock The Ad-Free Podcast

Resources

Myles' IG

Harry's IG

Trevor's IG

Kellen McGrath's IG

Cover Photo Credit: Trevor Anthes

The Southern Sierra is the quieter, less-traveled tail end of California's Sierra Nevada range — running from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks down through the Kern River drainage to where the range finally peters out into the Tehachapi Mountains. It's a land of dense pine forests, hidden granite formations, deep river canyons, and small mountain towns like Kernville, Springville, and Porterville tucked into its foothills.
For climbers, this region is a genuine treasure trove that remains largely under the radar. The Needles are the crown jewel — a cluster of striking granite spires rising out of pine forest above the Kern River, home to some of the finest crack climbing in California. Dome Rock offers accessible multi-pitch classics. Deeper into the range you find places like The Fin at Castle Rock, Homer's Nose, Hermit Spire, and countless other obscure formations that have been quietly developed over decades by small groups of locals. The rock is high-quality granite, often steep, often demanding, and almost always uncrowded.
Culturally, the Southern Sierra has always attracted a specific kind of climber — someone drawn to first ascents, comfortable with long approaches, willing to work for solitude, and less interested in the spray culture of more famous destinations. The area saw a renaissance in the late 1970s and early 1980s when climbers from Los Angeles started making pilgrimages up to Kernville and Porterville, discovering that the Needles and surrounding formations offered climbing that rivaled anything in Yosemite — just without the crowds. Patrick Paul found himself right in the middle of this renaissance and became a pioneer in his own right, establishing 54 first ascents across the Southern Sierra over his 50 year career.
In this conversation we go back to Patrick's tumultuous upbringing and how a single trip to Joshua Tree became the catalyst for an entire life pivot — one he's convinced saved his life. We dig into stories from his years on the rock, including run-ins with icons like Randy Leavitt, Lynn Hill, and Fred Beckey, and several close calls: an earthquake mid-approach, expanding flakes on Homer's Nose, and a moment when his main partner Richard Leversee saved Patrick from certain death when Patrick leaned back away from an anchor without being tied in.
#livinglegend #firstascents
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Some of Patrick's stories can be found in this book:

Patrick's Facebook

Mark Hudon is a Yosemite legend whose work in the late 1970s and early 1980s helped push big wall climbing into a new free climbing era. Often partnered with the equally groundbreaking Max Jones, Mark became known for his bold, ground-up style—blending meticulous preparation with a willingness to test the limits of free climbing on terrain that had previously only been aided. Few climbers have shaped as many eras of the sport as Mark Hudon.

Mark was born three years before El Capitan was first climbed. That kind of historical proximity gives him a perspective on climbing's evolution that almost nobody else alive can offer—and that's exactly where this conversation starts. We dig into what the lives of Royal Robbins and Warren Harding actually represented, why their conflict mirrors the tensions we still see in climbing today, and why Mark thinks ego is at the root of most of it.

We talk about how ego in climbing has evolved—for the sport and for Mark personally—why partnerships have been the single most important element of his climbing life, and what it actually looks like to build a life around climbing without letting climbing become your entire identity. Mark built a coffee roasting company from scratch, lived in a van for ten years, spent winters in Baja, and at 70 years old remains fit, healthy, and largely injury free. He values experiences over trophies and partnerships over pride.

We also explore his remarkable relationship with Jordan Cannon—how they met, what they gave each other, and why Mark considers Jordan as close as family. And we close out talking about Mark's recent pivot to public speaking and his desire to help people acquire more agency over their own lives—a philosophy that, it turns out, he's been living since he was a teenager in New Hampshire learning to climb on granite.
#livinglegend
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Mark's Website

Mark's Instagram

Mark's Youtube

This article by Mark Hudon "Long, Hard and Free" inspired a whole generation of climbers, including Todd Skinner and Paul Piana, and laid the groundwork for the game that is Yosemite big wall free climbing.
Long Hard & Free