122 | Bryce Ungersma: A Debrief of The Nose on El Cap - Systems, Gear Beta, & What's Next

On May 12th, 2026, Bryce and I took our first steps onto the most iconic big wall route in the world—The Nose on El Capitan. Three days later we woke up on the summit of 3,000 feet of vertical granite after a clean, smooth, and successful ascent. This conversation is our debrief. Bryce has done the Nose twice now. I had never set foot on El Cap. The experience gap between us was real, and we talk openly about how that shaped the dynamic—how Bryce became my cheat code for this objective and how I showed up as prepared as I could be without ever having practiced the systems in a real setting. We cover where we each were in our lives leading into the climb, what preparation actually looked like with two weeks of limited communication. We get into the practical stuff; how much water and food we brought, portaledge decisions, hauling systems, and how we chose to break up the wall across three days. We walk through navigating other parties on route, the King Swing, Changing Corners, and the moments that tested us most. And we close out talking about how we are going to approach our NIAD (Nose in a Day) attempt in the fall of 2026.

#aidclimbing #bigwall #yosemite

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Transcript

00:00:00:02 - 00:00:08:28
Kyle
How have things been since the nose man?

00:00:09:01 - 00:00:31:27
Bryce
I was like, man, I'm like, nine, ten hours away out here. I was actually, like, more than anything, I was like, bummed to be out here in

00:00:32:00 - 00:00:37:15
Bryce
because I just like, really wanted to go back and do Naiad like now and,

00:00:37:18 - 00:00:50:06
Kyle
How much were you scheming? Like, how many people did you hit up for the.

00:00:50:08 - 00:00:50:24
Kyle
It's funny.

00:00:50:24 - 00:00:51:08
Bryce
about you?

00:00:51:08 - 00:01:06:00
Kyle
like. Oh, man. Like I told you on the way back, I like fucking. I was weeping on the way back. It was like such a such an emotional release. And then. Yeah, man, I don't know. Just like everything I shared about with like, work and everything, it just like I came crashing back to reality in a way.

00:01:06:04 - 00:01:28:04
Kyle
There's like, you know, everything that I had left is the same when I got back. And so it's just been a lot of like, reprioritize certain things, reframing some mental frameworks about like how I'm viewing work. And I did, I tell you, like, I have a lot of things like hinging on like after El Cap happening, like there's all these lifestyle changes.

00:01:28:04 - 00:01:48:03
Kyle
I was like putting on the back burner, like waiting. Yeah. And so like that part, that whole chapter that I was talking about is actually finally coming to fruition. And I'm like able to make some of the changes, like, like my hand and I like, track our drinking days on the calendar and in the kitchen. And so like every time we don't drink, we have a little square that we color in.

00:01:48:03 - 00:02:08:24
Kyle
And so we track it. So we have like visual representation of our of our drinking habits. And so I've like stopped drinking during the week like I had one drink in the last 14 days. And so like that that has been really helpful. Get back in the gym. I've been like CrossFit three days a week. I'm starting with the like a personal trainer specifically for climbing.

00:02:08:26 - 00:02:32:21
Kyle
So I start that program on Monday and then yeah, just some. No. So it's a it's like a digital online coach. And so I had like a meeting with him and he's going to try to program certain climbing specific workouts at a climbing gym. It's like finger boarding campuses and kind of like some boulder circuits and stuff. I've got like a 12 a project up at Charleston that I want to try to send in this summer.

00:02:32:22 - 00:02:44:24
Kyle
That's kind of like my my project this summer is to read point to 12 because I've never done that yet. So yeah, just like getting a lot of stuff in motion, that feels good.

00:02:44:26 - 00:03:05:25
Kyle
A red point. No, I don't think I've ever read pointed 512. I think I've on sighted 11 plus, you know, that's what I joke on. Like when anybody talks to me about my climbing performance, I say that my red point, my on site are like essentially the same grade.

00:03:05:28 - 00:03:09:24
Bryce
did you like red pointing? One of the pitches on OG

00:03:09:26 - 00:03:30:06
Kyle
Like I, I didn't I didn't read any of those pitches, the 12 pitches. I remember the 12 crux dyno pitch. I fucking my foot slipped right before I pulled off the dino move. And so that was a that wasn't a red point. And then I don't I don't consider following a red point. Yeah I have to lead it.

00:03:30:08 - 00:03:43:28
Kyle
So yeah. Like I have yet to actually like legitimately red point a 12. So I'm trying to put that behind me this summer because we got Moonlight Butchers in the spring, dude. So I'm trying to get bit.

00:03:44:01 - 00:03:49:04
Kyle
Yeah, Red Rock, Triple Naiad and Moonlight Buttress. It's a hell of a fucking 12 months.

00:03:49:06 - 00:04:05:12
Bryce
I've been climbing with this kid at the gym. He's, like, 17. He's built like a truck, dude. Like a linebacker. He's definitely not the climber build, but he was just telling me when I climbed with him yesterday that he did this, like Memorial Day military challenge thing. And

00:04:05:15 - 00:04:11:22
Bryce
did a one mile run with a 25 pound vest and then like 100 pull ups, 100 like

00:04:11:26 - 00:04:18:22
Kyle
Push ups at 100 squats it's. Yeah, 300 air squats.

00:04:18:24 - 00:04:24:12
Kyle
Yep.

00:04:24:15 - 00:04:41:04
Kyle
Yeah. It's a it's like a CrossFit thing they do every, every year on Memorial Day. It's called Murph. Yeah. That was like a big thing in CrossFit. Yeah. It's it's a it's a hard one for sure. I remember doing that. And you have like at least for me, I had to break the push ups into two, like two reps.

00:04:41:04 - 00:04:46:08
Kyle
It was like two knees. Two knees. And you just like, do that for a long time. It's pretty devastating.

00:04:46:09 - 00:04:49:09
Kyle
What's his name?

00:04:49:12 - 00:04:54:03
Kyle
Kade. Or that guy? Sounds like a truck.

00:04:54:06 - 00:04:58:22
Bryce
He was like, yeah, pretty, pretty pretty fun kid

00:04:58:25 - 00:05:06:01
Kyle
That's cool.

00:05:06:03 - 00:05:07:25
Kyle
Yeah. For sure.

00:05:07:28 - 00:05:13:01
Bryce
Dude, I've been crushing it at my gym, man. I just read point another 12

00:05:13:04 - 00:05:20:29
Kyle
Damn nice. That's sick dude.

00:05:21:01 - 00:05:22:16
Kyle
Yeah.

00:05:22:18 - 00:05:26:03
Bryce
gym's going good. I just need to get outside

00:05:26:05 - 00:05:53:21
Kyle
That's rad man. That's super cool. I miss those days, man. Every time I hear about people coming in the gym, I'm just like, man, I miss that so much. Yeah, they're opening a new gym in Vegas. Should be open by the end of the 26th. Yep, yep. Like big super close. It's in Summerlin. Yeah. So that'll be a big turning point in my training for sure.

00:05:53:23 - 00:05:58:07
Kyle
You have a like a you have a major project at your gym that you've got your eyes on.

00:05:58:10 - 00:06:12:18
Bryce
I mean, I've almost climbed it out, like. I mean, they've been they've they've rotated the setting since I've been there, but, like, there's only this 12 d that I just started. I like two hung at my first

00:06:12:21 - 00:06:17:03
Bryce
me three sessions and then there's a 13 A and a 13 B and that's it.

00:06:17:03 - 00:06:19:10
Bryce
So I have three climbs

00:06:19:12 - 00:06:27:13
Kyle
Wow.

00:06:27:15 - 00:06:30:26
Kyle
What kind of climbing is a 12?

00:06:30:28 - 00:06:38:23
Bryce
I mean it's in the cave like they it's it's kind of lame. They don't have they only let

00:06:38:26 - 00:06:42:07
Kyle
Okay.

00:06:42:10 - 00:07:04:14
Bryce
drawers. So most of the lead stuff is all steeper or like at definitely like slightly overhanging. But

00:07:04:17 - 00:07:23:05
Kyle
Okay. Nice. Yeah. I was going to ask like you, you're not like a big trainer. You know, I wouldn't say you have, like, a large amount of muscle mass. Have you run into a climb where you're like, man, I'm just, like, not strong enough to pull through this, or I could be run into a barrier like that. Bouldering.

00:07:23:07 - 00:07:28:07
Bryce
is any boulder V5 or harder is. Yeah. I'm just not strong.

00:07:28:10 - 00:07:43:04
Kyle
yeah. I wonder how much of that. What do you think? Is that just like body strength or finger strength? Both. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Me too man.

00:07:43:06 - 00:07:54:12
Kyle
For sure. I'm glad that we're in the same boat stylistically that way. Yeah.

00:07:54:14 - 00:08:18:08
Kyle
If it should, I think I'll take the. What's the the rocker blocker. I can take the rocker blocker, since it'll probably be a static move for me. Oh, yeah. And then we'll go from there. But yeah, the fact that it, you know, that it seems like the crack itself is starting to undulate a little bit, and where you can kind of get away with some finger locks is extremely inspiring to me.

00:08:18:11 - 00:08:26:08
Kyle
it's like a, it's a root is like aging, like fine wine.

00:08:26:10 - 00:08:51:05
Kyle
Yeah. Softies are like, hell yeah. Yeah. Oh nice dude. But yeah, I mean, I think like objective wise, I think, you know, we just talked a little bit about like where we are now. I think it'd be cool to talk about like where we were, I guess in our lives, whether it's training or prepping or circumstances like as we were coming up to the objective, if that makes sense.

00:08:51:11 - 00:09:03:08
Kyle
So like what what what was kind of going on in your life, like, how were you prepping for it? Like was there? What was your schedule like? You know, what was the kind of vibe of your life as you were approaching the objective that we were going for?

00:09:03:10 - 00:09:28:17
Bryce
Yeah. My prepping was just telling you what to expect. Because I feel like two years ago when I did it the first time I did all my prepping and I had, I mean, with just recently moving and everything changed and I really didn't have like any ability to go train specifically for this, like last time. But I also don't feel like I really needed to do any more technical training.

00:09:28:17 - 00:09:53:23
Bryce
I wish I had more like physical endurance training this go around, because I definitely was more out of shape this time, which I really felt that on that first day getting up to dolt. But yeah, training. I unfortunately didn't really get to do much leading up to it. I was like, oh, I'm going to start running and I'm going to start, you know, getting in shape and then just didn't

00:09:53:26 - 00:09:58:21
Kyle
Yeah. How soon did you move from like, it was pretty close. Like the year move.

00:09:58:26 - 00:10:02:13
Kyle
Yeah. Okay.

00:10:02:15 - 00:10:09:08
Kyle
Yeah. And this isn't like, this is a move from San Diego to Idaho. Just to be clear. Yeah.

00:10:09:10 - 00:10:23:22
Bryce
with the whole family. Recent job change to remote, more stress. But yeah, I don't I say my training was adequate. We made

00:10:23:25 - 00:10:42:28
Kyle
So I mean, there was definitely brought it up a little bit. There's definitely a disparity between like your knowledge like coming to this in mind for sure. And I like I jokingly said to you on the chat, like I used my Bryce cheat code for this objective. How like was there? What was your level of concern for?

00:10:42:29 - 00:10:47:25
Kyle
Like, my level of preparedness for the objective before I showed up?

00:10:47:28 - 00:11:17:17
Bryce
mean, when you signed up for the objective, I wasn't really concerned at all. But leading up to it, I was a little more concerned because you were. You're like, you were out of, you know, this country. And like, during that was like two weeks before or something. And like up to that point I was getting like very little interaction and response as far as like I was shooting your videos, like, here's the diff, here's whatever Mark crude on, here's all these resources, you know, like and I was getting like very little response.

00:11:17:17 - 00:11:37:07
Bryce
And I even told Mandy I'm like, oh gosh. Like I hope I don't think Kyle's that stoke. Like he's not, you know, really like going through the material or like providing feedback or asking questions. So I was that was the only point I was concerned. And then obviously you got back into the States and immediately it was like, all right, my mind's on the nose.

00:11:37:07 - 00:11:41:17
Bryce
And I just I saw that and I was like, okay, I'm not worried

00:11:41:20 - 00:11:46:28
Kyle
Okay, cool.

00:11:47:01 - 00:12:08:28
Kyle
Physical? Yeah. Physical fitness. I feel like I was fine. I knew I was physically fit enough to complete it. Like, endurance wise, climbing ability wise. Like, I knew that wasn't going to be an issue just because of how much volume like I had done in the months prior. To me. It was like all the novelty with the systems, like, am I going to be a freaking faff fest up this wall?

00:12:08:29 - 00:12:32:13
Kyle
Like, I do not want to just be crushing at the blaze, not being able to haul or slowing everything down, not being able to lower out like those were all the things that I wanted to make sure that I, I at least, you know, out of respect for you. Out of respect for the partnership and out of just like not wanting to be slow for myself, just like making sure I knew enough without the ability to actually go practice the systems.

00:12:32:13 - 00:12:37:21
Kyle
But like in real life, before being on the wall, that was I make my crux. I just

00:12:37:21 - 00:12:47:28
Kyle
me, with my schedule. Like like you said, I was shooting the documentary out in the Virgin Islands and I had a big work week before, and I just didn't have time to get out to like, go eight, climb something.

00:12:47:28 - 00:13:01:08
Kyle
So, yeah, I set up like a hall system in my backyard and hauled, like a gallon water jug across the backyard. That was like the closest I did to setting up some sort of system.

00:13:01:10 - 00:13:17:14
Kyle
But it was nice. I mean, it was Jerry, like, all jerry rigged and all that, but it was just even just going through the little systems of that, of just, oh, like, this gets clipped here. Oh, like, fuck, this is all tangled, like immediately running into just like the fact that, like, wow, I need to pay attention to what's ropes going through.

00:13:17:15 - 00:13:33:26
Kyle
Which just like it showed me immediately what I needed to pay attention to. And so I think that even that just that little practice, I watched all the videos you sent me multiple times, just to be familiar with it, so that when I actually tried to apply it, I could get it like first or second try.

00:13:33:29 - 00:13:34:28
Bryce
Totally.

00:13:35:01 - 00:13:42:13
Kyle
And I think the way we approached it to like fixing the sickle the first day, that was really nice too, because it was low pressure.

00:13:42:13 - 00:13:44:27
Kyle
It was just like, hey, we got I got like a day to figure it out

00:13:45:00 - 00:13:46:09
Kyle
and I'm.

00:13:46:12 - 00:14:02:08
Bryce
it if it's your first time. I think that, like, I remember for our first time to. Same thing as, like, oh, dude, we're just going to sickle. Like, we're going to climb the circle and wrap off. That's it. And then that's like step one and you're like, we're going to haul the circle and that's it.

00:14:02:09 - 00:14:12:22
Bryce
Step two. And then step three. And the rest is all like one big blur. But yeah, at least that part I think that alleviates a lot of pressure for sure.

00:14:12:25 - 00:14:13:24
Kyle
For sure.

00:14:13:26 - 00:14:43:01
Bryce
Cool. I mean if if I can provide my feedback that I already have. But I feel like you, it took you like one pitch for all of your systems, like whether it was jumping or hauling or aiding or whatever

00:14:43:04 - 00:14:44:08
Kyle
Yeah.

00:14:44:10 - 00:15:03:16
Kyle
No. And I think I knew that about myself. And so that was why I was willing to kind of take that gamble a little bit, because I definitely think it was a little bit of gamble. But yeah, I'm glad it worked out and I'm stoked that I didn't end up causing any issues because I think one of the I told you this, I interviewed Mark on and that was like one of the things he said.

00:15:03:18 - 00:15:19:25
Kyle
I was like, you know, what should I know about going on the nose? Like it shouldn't be your first aid climb, like it shouldn't be if you're going to learn those systems, that's not the place to do it. And I was just like, oh, I'm kind of like breaking the rules there. But like I said, I think since it wasn't like a team first ascent, you know what I mean?

00:15:19:25 - 00:15:27:12
Kyle
Like, it wasn't both of us trying to figure it out on the fly. I had some some clearance there.

00:15:27:15 - 00:15:50:02
Kyle
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00:15:50:04 - 00:16:10:27
Kyle
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00:16:10:28 - 00:16:34:14
Kyle
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Kyle
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00:17:02:29 - 00:17:27:02
Kyle
I think a lot of people are interested in like gear preparation. I think this is a little bit more of your specialty, at least because you've done it before. And I definitely leaned on you for how to pack the whole bag, all the nuances on like how to prep the water, how much water to bring, like, I guess, walk us through that thought process of what you were doing in preparation for our whole bag and what we were bringing.

00:17:27:04 - 00:17:53:15
Bryce
Yeah. I mean, I would say just start with like the Super Topo guide to the nose or what's the other one, the Eric Sloan Big Wall guidebook. I mean, they lay out, you know, water requirements and gear requirements and, and all that. And then it just comes down to, you know, fine tuning. You do it once and you kind of learn what you liked and didn't like that you brought.

00:17:53:15 - 00:18:15:09
Bryce
And so you can get rid of some things, add some things. But, you know, you and I, we brought over four liters a day and we ended up drinking all of it. So, you know, the guidebook says 3 to 4l a day, but if you're camels like Kyle and I, it wasn't even that hot either. But we still just, like, went through a lot of water.

00:18:15:11 - 00:18:19:04
Kyle
I can confidently say I would rather run out of food than water.

00:18:19:07 - 00:18:29:06
Bryce
for sure. And the first time I did it, I brought way too much food. So this time I tried to bring less food and I still had extra food. You had like

00:18:29:09 - 00:18:38:16
Kyle
I had like, I still have it in the bags. It's all like just climbing speed stuff like beef sticks and gel packs and all that jazz. But yeah, I mean.

00:18:38:19 - 00:19:01:12
Bryce
you just learned what you personally need and don't need, but you can get like a good gear list for like a rack list from most resources. The guidebook got it pretty covered, but you can go ask some people that have done it or look on Mountain Project comments, and I'm sure you can find even more resources there.

00:19:01:15 - 00:19:18:19
Bryce
Yeah. And then just try to adhere to like I think 90 pounds is like what I've heard before of like keep your haul bag under 90 pounds and when and we had like 50 pounds of water. So that gave us 40 pounds to work with. And I'd say we were probably pretty close to that. So.

00:19:18:22 - 00:19:25:01
Kyle
What about like, so obviously like, in terms of, like the that's like macro, right? Like that's. Okay. What do I need to bring on the nose?

00:19:25:01 - 00:19:42:29
Kyle
There's a lot of resources for that. What about like, the nuanced stuff like, I saw you tie all the water bottles together? You know, the swivel on the whole bag. Like, what are those key items that, like, really make or break the ascent?

00:19:43:01 - 00:20:24:00
Bryce
Well good question for the water bottles. If that's something I picking the size of your water bottles is important. Like you don't want to bring up gallon square jugs that are going to be super bulky and not fit in your haul bag. So we brought a mix of I actually have some right here, but just like this one liter size, this is just like Walmart seltzer water bottles, but these are pretty light still and a nice size where you can just I would clove hitch or, you know, tie some kind of, paracord lightweight paracord on the bottle on the top of each one.

00:20:24:00 - 00:20:44:23
Bryce
So every time you grab one out, you just clip your carabiner to it and it's boom, goes right on your harness. So you're not having to, like, fill up your water bladder, do any like, shenanigans like that, and you're not going to drop it. And then for a lot of the other water bottles, we just brought the little Costco 500ml water bottles because those are super easy to just smash when you're done with them.

00:20:44:23 - 00:20:51:16
Bryce
So for the little ones, you can just smash them, throw them back in the bag, and they kind of disappear for these bigger ones.

00:20:51:19 - 00:21:00:08
Kyle
the small ones are good for cooking. And then also for just like, I'm so thirsty, I just need to crush one of these and then throw it in the bag. Yeah.

00:21:00:11 - 00:21:20:29
Bryce
like refillable water bottle, like a, you know, vest harness with some up here or something. But the nice thing about those bigger ones is they double as your poop tube afterwards. So if you just slice slice around here really straight, throw your wag bag in here, duct tape it really good.

00:21:21:06 - 00:21:46:26
Bryce
You're not going to smell it at all like we never smelled poop. Once on our ascent, we didn't bring a poop tube or any kind of separate apparatus for that. I just brought, like, a, like a little stuff sack, nylon heavy duty stuff sack that we trailed underneath the bag and yeah, that so that, you know, using using stuff for more than one purpose that you're saving weight.

00:21:46:28 - 00:21:50:11
Bryce
That's good.

00:21:50:13 - 00:21:53:14
Bryce
Yeah. And then what was what was

00:21:53:17 - 00:21:55:05
Kyle
I had mentioned the swivel.

00:21:55:07 - 00:22:04:10
Bryce
Oh, this the foreign hauling is kind of what it's called like foreign hauling, I guess with the micro tracks we didn't actually far end haul, but that's how you would set

00:22:04:12 - 00:22:05:25
Kyle
Okay.

00:22:05:28 - 00:22:13:24
Bryce
using a bottle protector or a knot protector on your not, you just use a micro traction.

00:22:13:26 - 00:22:26:07
Bryce
I don't know, just different styles. It's kind of more complicated, but it's kind of easier. You probably if you if you're if you've never used either, you might want to practice with both and just see what you

00:22:26:10 - 00:22:32:28
Bryce
two different options. You can either flip your haul line and switch the nose in the tail every time, like we did.

00:22:32:28 - 00:22:55:06
Bryce
Or you could just leave it as it is and like replay it every time. So I mean, there's lots of nuanced strategies. And I think those two, it's just you got to find what you like. I don't even think going and doing it twice as enough to really know what the best like what my favorite option is, you know, so little, little things like that

00:22:55:08 - 00:22:56:04
Kyle
Yeah.

00:22:56:06 - 00:22:58:16
Bryce
you're never going to figure that out before your first

00:22:58:18 - 00:23:10:10
Kyle
yeah. One of the, one of the things that was super clutch for me was that speed bag on my back with the vest that I mean, gosh, that thing was so critical. Yeah.

00:23:10:12 - 00:23:32:25
Bryce
I don't think I had one the first time I did it, but it just frees up your harness so much for all of your other shenanigans that you have on there. And like, you can put your water, your snacks, a windbreaker, your walkie talkie, your rocky talkie. What else is in there? You clipped your cell phone in there?

00:23:32:28 - 00:23:34:22
Bryce
Yeah. Have an extra wag bag

00:23:34:29 - 00:23:51:13
Kyle
That's all here. That's all here. That's not even considering what's inside to, Yeah. It was just rad to have all that attached to you. I found that, like, so valuable.

00:23:51:16 - 00:24:21:05
Kyle
I'll definitely bring it on Nyad. For sure. Did you hear what, Brant?

00:24:21:07 - 00:24:22:20
Kyle
Interesting.

00:24:22:23 - 00:24:33:00
Bryce
is jogging. So assuming you're not similar climbing, but I'm sure 90% of people are fixing following so or fixing jogging.

00:24:33:02 - 00:24:37:08
Kyle
yeah. Did you hear Brent's recommendation on start time?

00:24:37:11 - 00:24:38:01
Bryce
Yeah.

00:24:38:08 - 00:24:45:01
Bryce
I made it that far. That's a I did get to that part. I honestly for us I can't do that. I'll

00:24:45:02 - 00:24:53:08
Kyle
Oh, no. Okay. Got it.

00:24:53:11 - 00:25:07:20
Kyle
Through the night? Yeah.

00:25:07:23 - 00:25:09:11
Kyle
Fair enough.

00:25:09:13 - 00:25:27:07
Kyle
Yeah, yeah, I thought it was. I thought I thought nice. It's. I mean, it's a long ass one. The stuff about Black Diamond was so cool. Yeah, it was wild. All the. Yeah. For sure.

00:25:27:10 - 00:25:40:19
Kyle
Yeah. Nice. Anything else on gear? I mean, there's like, it's so funny. There's like, so much that goes into it. It's hard to like, pick a specific thing that's like, this is what we have to bring.

00:25:40:22 - 00:25:46:25
Bryce
your side of the story on not having a ledge. So

00:25:46:28 - 00:25:57:01
Kyle
Yeah. That's true. I mean, I think in retrospect I would have I would have wanted one because I don't think it would have been that much more effort to haul.

00:25:57:04 - 00:26:00:16
Kyle
And.

00:26:00:18 - 00:26:05:28
Kyle
Yeah, I mean.

00:26:06:00 - 00:26:25:17
Kyle
Yeah. Either way, either way that I mean, oh that's true, that's true. Yeah. Like that, that giant ass portal edge that Sam had above us.

00:26:25:19 - 00:26:59:17
Kyle
Okay. Yeah. Because like, that was bougie as hell. I was like, damn, that thing is massive. But yeah, carrying it down, I think. I mean, to answer your question. Sure. I think that two G7, I would have wanted a portal edge of some kind. Just because I think, like, we got lucky.

00:26:59:19 - 00:27:00:11
Kyle
Yeah.

00:27:00:14 - 00:27:06:11
Bryce
when the guidebook says or for two, it's a terrible busy for even

00:27:06:13 - 00:27:29:02
Kyle
Yeah. I mean, even Dolt Tower. Like, I feel like I would have been more comfortable on a flat surface because, like, I was angled like this, and so I kept sliding. And so it's just like not having a flat, a perfectly flat surface definitely kills your sleep. And so I think that. Yeah. In retrospect, I would have, I would have brought a G7 if I had one.

00:27:29:05 - 00:27:56:10
Kyle
Yeah, but it does work. You know, I was going you said we got screwed. I thought we got lucky. I feel like it could have been worse because, like, I guess, like, I mean, your idea of putting the whole bag down as, like, an extension. That was genius. That, like. Yeah, that made that possible. I think other outside of that, it would have been pretty abysmal.

00:27:56:12 - 00:28:00:25
Kyle
Yeah. Yeah, it would have been bad. It would have been bad.

00:28:00:28 - 00:28:24:29
Bryce
The nice thing just to compare, the first time I did it, we brought two haul bags because we had two G7 and we brought the rain flies, even though the forecast here's like a micro gear note. But the first time we had two G7 and two rain flies and the weather forecast was clear. So I definitely this time with the forecast being clear, did not bring the rain fly.

00:28:25:05 - 00:28:50:01
Bryce
Call me risky, but and then so because we didn't want to like drag the G7 behind the hall bags and they're pretty bulky, we brought a second hall bag for the G7 and just extra stuff. And I think we just had more stuff at that time too. And it's definitely more work hauling to haul bags. So if you can stick to one, definitely do

00:28:50:04 - 00:29:02:08
Kyle
You're hauling two of them at the same time, side by side.

00:29:02:11 - 00:29:17:24
Kyle
Yeah. That that would be that would be tough. How so? If I were to have brought G7 on that ascent, could we have still done one whole bag?

00:29:17:27 - 00:29:34:28
Bryce
micro gear. I brought my like 30 degree down ultralight sleeping bag instead of the last time I did it. I brought my 20 degree synthetic and so my sleeping bag took up like half the space of my as as the first time.

00:29:34:28 - 00:29:58:02
Bryce
This, you know, this second time. So that was like a lot of space saving. I think we just had less food. I think I was the water was like super packed and compact. How I had it. You yeah. You not having a ledge saved a lot of space in the bag. I think we could have put another G7 in there.

00:29:58:02 - 00:29:59:23
Bryce
It would have been tight, though.

00:29:59:25 - 00:30:30:04
Kyle
Back on the food real quick. I think we, we had said like 3000 calories a day. That was kind of like our goal for consumption. At least

00:30:30:06 - 00:30:54:02
Kyle
Yeah. I don't know how I don't know how I would have done it. I don't like I didn't see any opportunity to like, eat more than I already did. Yep, yep. Yeah. Just make sure I think also to that beta of skipping breakfast like don't bring freeze dried breakfast. You don't need it. Like just get up, drink your coffee.

00:30:54:05 - 00:31:24:08
Kyle
Yeah.

00:31:24:11 - 00:31:34:20
Kyle
Yeah, yeah. There was never a moment, at least for you or I were I felt like we were bonking on, like, calories or energy or anything like that.

00:31:34:23 - 00:32:08:11
Kyle
Oh that's true. Yep, yep.

00:32:08:13 - 00:32:11:19
Kyle
Yeah yeah. You did. Yeah

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00:33:20:08 - 00:33:33:23
Bryce
I is crazy to think about from when I did it the first time and like my mentality how it was then to doing it this time, and the mentality that I had my second go, like, for better or worse, I'm not sure.

00:33:33:23 - 00:33:51:11
Bryce
But like, yeah, I could have, I could have bailed adult if you were like, oh, this sucks. So I'm really glad that I led all the way to dolt, because I think you might

00:33:51:14 - 00:34:03:08
Bryce
parties right in front of us, and it just seemed like it wasn't in our favor at that moment. And like the the coming nights and days was like uncertain of, like, what ledge are we going to sleep on?

00:34:03:08 - 00:34:18:20
Bryce
Who can we pass? Are we going to like it just. And then having done all the work that day and not being in very good shape, I was like, yeah, if he's over it, I'm over

00:34:18:22 - 00:34:23:20
Kyle
That would be I mean, I'm sure that would be a decision that you would have regretted after the fact, right?

00:34:23:27 - 00:34:25:00
Bryce
yeah.

00:34:25:03 - 00:34:44:23
Bryce
No, that was the only moment at all. And then and I understand now where the parties that bail like how they feel because it was just to me it wasn't. It was the first time I did it. The thought of bailing was like so far from any place in my mind. Like, I just there's I was so stoked on it.

00:34:44:23 - 00:35:06:16
Bryce
I had trained so hard for it. Like that was my everything the first time I did it, and I couldn't have imagined why people would want to bail and like this go around my second time I got two kids. I'm like, not in shape. I was just like, I've done, you know, I've it just wasn't as important feeling.

00:35:06:18 - 00:35:30:21
Bryce
But I totally would have regretted it. And I feel like this ascent was just as, like, enjoyable, if not even more. It was definitely more enjoyable, to be honest, because the first time was way more stressful this time. Like beyond that first day. And like some of that uncertainty, like it was like, who cares that there's two parties in front of us, like we got water, we'll get to the top.

00:35:30:26 - 00:35:46:29
Bryce
Like, who cares where we sleep? Like we'll figure it out. Whereas the first time it was like, we got to get to Sichel and we got to sleep there. So we're the first party on. So there's nobody in front of us because we got to get to El Cap Tower and we got to get to, you know, it was so like set in stone of what we were going to do.

00:35:46:29 - 00:35:56:10
Bryce
And we had no margin for error, like in my mind, whereas this time it was just a very casual ascent, I

00:35:56:12 - 00:36:25:02
Kyle
Isn't that funny how we can, like, shape our own experience just by the way we're, like, thinking of the things that are happening. So interesting. And I think that, like, obviously, you know, my, like, I had a sense of I had a sense of chill, like the whole, the whole objective. There was never a moment where I was like, because, I mean, you know, me, I get like pretty nervous sometimes about like a sense or like getting up hard, free climbs.

00:36:25:03 - 00:36:43:12
Kyle
Like I get kind of wigged out a little bit sometimes. And something about this one, I was just like, chill is a cucumber, man. Like, there was like, something about the fact that you could just ate everything. I was just like, there's no pressure, you know? It's just like you just pull on gear. The eight climbing thing was such a strange thing for me.

00:36:43:14 - 00:37:02:27
Kyle
I was like, it almost like. Yeah, just it didn't feel like climbing in a way. It was like, so foreign to to my normal, the free climbing. Try not to fall like, try to perform like that whole mentality. It's like climbing takes that, that whole part of climbing away. It was so interesting.

00:37:02:29 - 00:37:59:15
Bryce
a lot of the fear, like the the risk. While your lead climbing on aid is so different too, because there's tons of times I'm sure you've felt this too, where I'm like leading 18. Like, let's say the Great Roof is a good example and

00:37:59:17 - 00:38:14:24
Kyle
Exactly.

00:38:14:27 - 00:38:17:03
Bryce
as there's not a ledge below me, I'm good.

00:38:17:05 - 00:38:35:14
Kyle
I think that's the one thing about the eight climbing that was like a curse and a and a blessing. It's like, because you're so locked in on those cams, you almost feel like you could just daisy solo, you know what I mean? Like, you could just you could just walk on cams without placing any pro and still feel pretty good.

00:38:35:14 - 00:38:59:05
Kyle
And I definitely got my got to a point where I was like, feeling myself get a little too comfortable. And I was like, okay, I need to like I need to start leaving pieces behind, you know, like I need to start leaving pieces behind because there when you're when you're standing on a piece on a cam and you're reaching down and you're cleaning your last piece and moving it up above you, like if that cam were to rip while you were moving, you're fucking taking the ride.

00:38:59:05 - 00:39:19:23
Kyle
And it was like important, at least for me. I remember this mostly on changing corners where I was just like, okay, you need to remember like there is a line where like this cam could explode on you for some random reason, and you need to be prepared to not like, at least not kill yourself or something. Yeah. You you had.

00:39:19:24 - 00:39:51:21
Kyle
So I have so basically what I'm trying to say here is I have yet to have that experience actually happen where a cam or a piece that I thought was good, like blue on me while I was aiding. And so I don't have that, like, rooted experience in my nervous system to, like, remind me. I think you had something close like to that happen before.

00:39:51:24 - 00:40:02:16
Bryce
when I was free climbing. I just was like standing on some sloppy layback ledge thing and it just slipped off, like, super unexpectedly.

00:40:02:18 - 00:40:24:16
Bryce
But the first time was aid fall. It was actually I had like placed I was, I was doing the Linn Hill traverse and you did this section free. So you're a stronger man than I am. I tried to like, look again, like when I was there this time to see, like what exactly I did. To remember it better when I was cleaning it.

00:40:24:17 - 00:40:43:15
Bryce
But essentially, like, as you're exiting the bolts, I had placed this cam and it was like high, so I couldn't quite see in where I was placing it, but I was putting it behind like a flake. It was like a black totem, I think. And I put it and I waited it and tested it and it held me.

00:40:43:15 - 00:41:09:05
Bryce
But it was a totally blind placement, just based on like going it. And below that I had a .1.2 offset, and I was still attached to it with my Daisy. And so I waited. The black totem that I couldn't see, it held me. So I started walking up my ladder. But by the time I got to the top of my ladder so that I could see inside the flake that I placed it, I was like, oh gosh, that's a terrible placement.

00:41:09:06 - 00:41:30:24
Bryce
It was just like, why? The cam was super wide open. And as I started climbing back down, it blew like because I was going to down climb and then grab like a blue totem or something else. And I started climbing down my ladder and that's when it blew. And so I Daisy whipped onto the .1.2 below me. And that kind of sucked for sure.

00:41:30:27 - 00:41:50:10
Kyle
That. That sensation of the cam ripping under your weight in a ladder. Was that like, is that like a visceral experience that you remember when you're leading in the future where you're like, okay, I know how you know. You don't remember it.

00:41:50:12 - 00:42:09:06
Kyle
Also expected.

00:42:09:09 - 00:42:26:14
Kyle
Yeah, I guess also, I'm not trying to fish for like a negative effect. It could even be a positive effect of just like, oh, I need to like, this stuff can rip. Like I need to place a little bit more often now. No.

00:42:26:16 - 00:42:51:05
Kyle
That was hard, man. I remember looking out like, left. I mean, like, what the fuck? The bolts are pretty far out. Like, you are not a one going through that lineage traverse. Like you are forced to do the free moves. And there is like definitely some mantles and some sloppy holds. Like it was it was physical. I was probably the most physical section of the entire route for me.

00:42:51:08 - 00:43:09:05
Kyle
Yeah, for free climbing. And it was like forced upon you. Yeah, but it was cool. I was like talking to Brant about that because he did the rope solo Naiad, and I was like, how the hell did you back clean the Lynn Hill two verse? Yeah.

00:43:09:08 - 00:43:40:18
Kyle
Which I still am confused about because the bolts are so spaced apart and there's no pro in between. So are you just swinging from bolt to bolt and then how are you getting back. Like I'm so confused at that.

00:43:40:21 - 00:43:48:15
Kyle
Yes, yes.

00:43:48:17 - 00:43:53:21
Bryce
backwards, but he's basically just follow

00:43:53:23 - 00:44:03:21
Kyle
so. He's probably free climbing it backwards. Okay.

00:44:03:23 - 00:44:05:22
Kyle
Yeah okay.

00:44:05:23 - 00:44:38:08
Kyle
Yeah. But that one was really hard for me to visualize even after he explained it. I'm just like, I still can't see how you would do that. That'd be crazy. Like, but the great roof makes sense. Like there's a crack. You just back the crack.

00:44:38:11 - 00:44:43:03
Bryce
Right? Or if he's wrapping the other line, you could just pull

00:44:43:05 - 00:44:49:02
Bryce
Kind of like when we wrapped from great roof back to camp for. And you like, can, like, pull yourself back over to the

00:44:49:04 - 00:44:49:25
Kyle
Got it.

00:44:49:27 - 00:44:54:19
Kyle
Shenanigans.

00:44:54:21 - 00:44:59:29
Kyle
Postulating here. Yeah.

00:45:00:02 - 00:45:05:15
Kyle
Let's see what other logistical stuff I think people are interested in. Like how we approach the King swing.

00:45:05:17 - 00:45:24:25
Bryce
Oh, yeah. Well, that was that was like, unknown for even even having done it the first time. And I can say how we did it the first time we I led Texas Flake and then I led up to the top of the boot, and I hauled the bag all the way to the top of the boot, and my partner followed to the top of the boot.

00:45:24:25 - 00:45:34:07
Bryce
And then I lowered and did the king swing. He. And so I was at the belay. I don't know if that's Eagle Ledge or the

00:45:34:09 - 00:45:36:23
Kyle
Eagle edge. It's eagle edge. Yeah.

00:45:36:23 - 00:45:42:03
Bryce
and then he lowered himself.

00:45:42:05 - 00:45:51:03
Bryce
See, even now I can't remember because we, I what I do remember is we hauled the bag from the top of the boot,

00:45:51:05 - 00:45:57:17
Kyle
Was he still at the top of the boot when you guys switched the hall? He had to have.

00:45:57:20 - 00:46:11:17
Bryce
Dude, I'd have to ask him because even talking about it right now, it's not making sense. But what I'm pretty sure I did was I soloed from eagle to the

00:46:11:20 - 00:46:19:04
Kyle
Could lower the bag out to you.

00:46:19:07 - 00:46:20:27
Kyle
Got it.

00:46:21:00 - 00:46:41:11
Bryce
we did. But you and I, then Sam, who was in front of us, we were asking him and he's like, oh, we're just going to double king swing and leave the bag at the top of Texas Flake. We're like, oh, cool, let's try that. So that's what we did. So you led Pancake Flake got to the top.

00:46:41:13 - 00:46:47:03
Bryce
You did the King swing or sorry you led to Pancake flake. You lowered yourself

00:46:47:05 - 00:46:59:13
Kyle
Pancake flake is a pancake, like, is above the great roof boot. Yeah.

00:46:59:15 - 00:47:06:04
Kyle
Which, by the way, was the final bolt on the ladder? Yep. And

00:47:06:04 - 00:47:27:07
Bryce
you did the king swing. And then once you got to Eagle, you fixed it. I jogged up to. I let the bag out from there, and then I jumped up to where you. That same bolt you're talking about to where you cleaned to. I cleaned all that. And then I did the king swing also.

00:47:27:10 - 00:47:34:26
Bryce
And that was the way to do it for sure, because then both people get to do the king swing, and you don't have to haul to the top of the

00:47:34:28 - 00:47:52:14
Kyle
Yep, yep. And then sneaky, sneaky surprise for everybody who hasn't done the king swing. Once you grab those little chips in the crack, it's not over. You still have to mantle around there. Rhett to your left. And I had a I had a couple.

00:47:52:16 - 00:48:14:07
Kyle
Yeah, yeah. For sure. I mean, you're hanging on the rope, but that rope is, man. It wants you to go flying back the other way. I had somebody reach out and said, yeah, I before that move and or my buddy before that move, and lost his footing and slammed his chest against the wall, flying back across the way and said he like, you know, tore a muscle or like fractured a rib or something like that.

00:48:14:10 - 00:48:31:07
Kyle
Like, definitely. I think it's kind of high consequence. Like you definitely do not want to biff that, that mantle around the red. But yeah, I was just like so caught off guard by that. I thought it was over. When I grabbed the crimps, I was like, yeah, I nailed the king swing. And I'm like, where the fuck are the acres?

00:48:31:09 - 00:48:36:14
Kyle
And the other? Yeah, exactly, exactly. I thought this was over,

00:48:36:17 - 00:48:58:02
Kyle
Let's be real for a second. The blueprint for a successful climbing podcast is simple. Interview the most famous climbers in the world. Big names mean big followings. Lots of SEO power and a built in audience that helps promote every episode. But this show, this show has never been about that. From the beginning, it has been my mission to bring you stories from the climbing majority.

00:48:58:02 - 00:49:16:29
Kyle
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00:49:17:01 - 00:49:38:09
Kyle
Word of Mouth is the single most powerful way to help the show share an episode with a friend. Post about us on social media. Jump on to Reddit threads and Mountain project forums and tell people what you've been listening to. Also, I am on a mission to beat Climbing Gold Spotify review account. If you haven't already left the show a review, please head on over to Spotify to give this show five stars.

00:49:38:10 - 00:49:40:11
Kyle
We only have 1000 more ratings to go.

00:49:40:18 - 00:49:49:25
Bryce
Speaking of high

00:49:49:27 - 00:49:56:00
Kyle
Poof! Highest consequence.

00:49:56:02 - 00:50:21:09
Kyle
I mean, I yeah, I guess Texas flake but I don't know, that's a hard one because in a chimney. In a chimney, the only way you're falling down to the bottom of the chimney is if like you give up or you have a heart attack or something, you know what I mean? It's not like you can have a foot slip and then you're just going to fall like you would catch yourself with your arms.

00:50:21:12 - 00:50:32:26
Kyle
You would have to really fuck up to mess up the Texas flake, in my opinion. But I mean low probability, high consequence, low probability for the Texas flake.

00:50:32:28 - 00:50:35:01
Bryce
What were some what were some of the

00:50:35:03 - 00:50:37:20
Kyle
I.

00:50:37:22 - 00:50:44:20
Kyle
Yeah.

00:50:44:22 - 00:50:48:28
Kyle
I was, I was.

00:50:49:01 - 00:51:09:21
Kyle
Yeah, I think like I'm struggling to come up with like a high consequence. I think I felt the most gripped on the line Hill traverse. But that wasn't necessarily because like I was like I thought I was in danger. It was just like, I like the chances of me whipping here are, like, pretty high. And so I just like, I didn't want to have to backtrack and whip on the bolts because it would have been a pretty good swing.

00:51:09:22 - 00:51:30:02
Kyle
And so I was just like, was hyper vigilant about trying not to let that happen, but I didn't feel like I was in danger. Wasn't high consequence. But yeah, changing corners was probably where I felt the most high consequence because I just like, man, that that was the sharpest corner. Yeah. I have never seen how sharp that corner was.

00:51:30:04 - 00:51:58:08
Kyle
And like, so I've, I've never I've for one I've never seen a sharp corner as sharp as that, that I can remember to. I've never had a rope go over a corner that was that sharp, that was mandatory, that it was going over. And so, like, obviously I was concerned for my safety because if I whipped in that corner, you're grinding down that whole thing and that's not good.

00:51:58:08 - 00:52:20:09
Kyle
And then also for fixing, having that rope go right over the edge to that's not good for the leader or the, the follower. And I don't know if you saw in my stories. Remember earlier on in my stories, I had that video of I were doing her such an injustice by not knowing her name. Sam's. Sam's girl.

00:52:20:11 - 00:52:25:27
Kyle
Did you? I think you snagged her Instagram, right?

00:52:26:00 - 00:52:34:02
Kyle
I don't know if she accepted my friend request.

00:52:34:05 - 00:52:51:27
Kyle
Shots fired, a neck, a neck. Okay. Sorry. And we got there. We got there. I had a video of a jogging, and I was, like, watching. So there jug line was like, walk, like, right past me. And I was sitting there taking a video of the rope and it was just like.

00:52:52:00 - 00:53:11:26
Kyle
And it was like under tension. I was like, this is how ropes get cut over edges. And sure enough, I'm up in changing corners three days later and I'm just like, I have this visual in my mind. I'm like that on this. That's not good. And so yeah, I just I just ended up taping it because I didn't know what else to fuck to do, and I was comfortable with that.

00:53:11:26 - 00:53:16:19
Kyle
I think it looked okay. Some people said duct tape would have been better, which I think, yes, but

00:53:16:21 - 00:53:18:17
Bryce
had it on, you had it in the

00:53:18:19 - 00:53:30:11
Kyle
I had it in the bag. I just like I thought climbing tape would have been fine, but I think after looking at all the responses and everything, I think the answer is just to back clean until you get to the top.

00:53:30:13 - 00:53:43:17
Bryce
And then. But then as you the leader, you. If you're falling, you would have to like, jump out of the corner and take a huge whip. But at least the rope wouldn't rub the corner. You would have to like, really try to get yourself away

00:53:43:19 - 00:53:58:17
Kyle
If you were to fall as the leader and I think other people are like, you leave the gear, but then you get to the anchor, you fix it real quick, you wrap back down, you back clean, and then you jug back up.

00:53:58:19 - 00:54:11:24
Kyle
I think that was like the. So it's so funny how everybody has like these different responses. And it's all based on like risk tolerance. Like you can just back clean and aid solo all the way up to the anchor and then you're good. Or you could leave the gear wrap back down, clean the gear and then go back up.

00:54:11:25 - 00:54:14:20
Kyle
I think that was like the one of the main responses I got.

00:54:14:23 - 00:55:06:06
Bryce
I was trying to yell at you, you can kind of, kind of hear it in the video. But I was in my mind I was thinking because you were worried, like the the ropes coming from across from the bolt

00:55:06:09 - 00:55:32:19
Kyle
So as long as you fully extend the next few pieces after you get into the corner, when you pull the rope tight. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:55:32:22 - 00:55:50:27
Kyle
Yeah. Okay. That's pretty smart. I think you could even take the rope and probably, like, whip it out onto the face. So that's that's really smart. I think that's probably the best way to do it. I wish I had I mean, even if I, even if I had understood you, I had not the ability to pull that off because I had just burned all my alpine drawers below.

00:55:50:29 - 00:56:06:06
Kyle
So that's another thing to if you're leading changing corners, like you don't need to extend anything with a alpine drawer until you get to the last bolt on the ladder.

00:56:06:09 - 00:56:14:19
Kyle
Yeah, yeah.

00:56:14:22 - 00:56:35:10
Kyle
Yep, yep. How do you want to. So I was thinking about like, our Naiad. And there are so many pitches on the upper headwall that would be so sick to free. Like, that whole section after changing corners would be so sick to free. Like how? I mean, we haven't really talked about how we're splitting it up, but.

00:56:35:12 - 00:56:41:23
Bryce
I mean, you had said you would prefer the bottom half, which is good with me. I think I'm the stronger.

00:56:41:25 - 00:56:43:01
Kyle
Climber? Climber.

00:56:43:07 - 00:56:51:09
Bryce
Aid climber. I think I could acclaim faster, so it would make sense to if I'm on the top half. And that works for

00:56:51:11 - 00:56:53:24
Kyle
Okay. As long as that's what you're stoked on.

00:56:53:27 - 00:56:54:18
Bryce
Yeah.

00:56:54:21 - 00:57:13:09
Bryce
Dude, I, I was stoked on doing the leading the note or the great roof and like under 40 minutes without really trying to do it

00:57:13:11 - 00:57:19:17
Kyle
Yeah, yeah.

00:57:19:19 - 00:57:21:28
Kyle
Yeah, yeah. You were cruising up that thing,

00:57:22:03 - 00:57:22:22
Bryce
But yeah.

00:57:22:23 - 00:57:23:06
Bryce
I'm.

00:57:23:11 - 00:57:24:22
Bryce
I'm good with the top half.

00:57:24:28 - 00:57:36:25
Kyle
What? So, like, what sections of the aid pitches would you free? Like, at least I was thinking of that. Like pancake flake would be sick to free.

00:57:36:28 - 00:57:38:23
Bryce
Sick but hard.

00:57:38:25 - 00:57:44:10
Kyle
You think so? Isn't a ten a?

00:57:44:12 - 00:57:50:00
Kyle
I thought it was ten a.

00:57:50:03 - 00:57:54:05
Kyle
Oh.

00:57:54:08 - 00:58:04:23
Bryce
Remember I like stopped there and took a took a snack break or I took like a chill break because I was waiting for Sam and I need to clear the way

00:58:04:26 - 00:58:32:12
Kyle
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's right. So I mean, even that like the. Yeah. And then free climb like would you free climb after getting into the changing corners. When it opens up to that dual cracks, it's like it's like double ly backing like after after so before for sure. And then after two like once you get past the .1.2 offset and then you get like a black totem once it widens out, you have like these.

00:58:32:18 - 00:58:36:17
Kyle
Yeah. Like you have these two cracks. I was like, man, this would be so sick to free climb.

00:58:36:20 - 00:58:51:18
Bryce
Yeah. I mean it would probably be like in the moment, just try to do whatever feels best. But it's kind of like the rule. The rule is always like, get back to free climbing as soon as you can, like get up, you know?

00:58:51:21 - 00:59:03:12
Kyle
It's hard though, once you like, once you get into that aid mode, it's hard to convince yourself to get out of it because it's like such a rhythmic motion.

00:59:03:15 - 00:59:05:08
Kyle
Yeah.

00:59:05:11 - 00:59:20:27
Bryce
just super hard and you got to clean your gear. So a lot of it has to do with like having that one foothold that you can really like, just stand on, put your ladders back together, put, you know, package everything back up, put it on your harness and then start free climbing again

00:59:21:00 - 00:59:42:16
Kyle
Before we get back to it, if you've been listening to the show, you probably know how much time and effort and love I put into this project. The research, the conversations, the production, the editing, all of it. And while it might seem like I've got a team of people on this project, I don't. It's just me. And even with sponsors, I spend a large amount of my own personal money on this project simply because I love it.

00:59:42:18 - 01:00:06:21
Kyle
If you are a listener that's looking for a way to give back to the show in a meaningful way. Please become a Patreon subscriber. Once you become a supporting member of the Climbing Majority, not only will you feel really good about yourself, but you'll also get access to the ad free version of the show and exclusive content. If this speaks to you, click the link in the description or go to Patreon.com Slash the Climbing Majority podcast to become a supporting member of the show today.

01:00:06:23 - 01:00:07:05
Bryce
yeah.

01:00:07:05 - 01:00:28:27
Bryce
What's funny? Like to backtrack a tad bit when we going back to my moment on Dole, I was like, I don't think I want to even do Naiad. Like, I'm just not at that point at a place in my life to even want to, like, do it anymore. Like, just felt like the risk outweighed the reward. And like, I wasn't that, like, stoked to be in that exposure.

01:00:28:28 - 01:00:50:16
Bryce
Like, it was like I had to reacquaint myself. But man, by the end of the ascent, I was just like, on fire again. And like, this is the best thing ever. And like, this exposure is so rad. And like, it's so funny how quickly your mind can, like, readjust to, like, the risks and and like reevaluate everything and be like, oh, this is familiar.

01:00:50:17 - 01:00:57:22
Bryce
Oh yeah. Like I am comfortable here and like, oh yeah, like I'm super stoked to

01:00:57:24 - 01:00:58:23
Kyle
Yeah,

01:00:58:26 - 01:01:17:29
Kyle
yeah. It's especially like yourself with the family and work and like, a full time job and stuff. Like, we're not living in a van. We're not climbing all the time. We're not constantly like getting mileage. And so, like doing these objectives off the couch like that can be that psychological aspect to it. You have to like shake that off and like get yourself back into it.

01:01:17:29 - 01:01:26:10
Kyle
It can be can be hard.

01:01:26:13 - 01:01:47:11
Kyle
Yeah. I think the bottom half will be good. I think I can cruise it. It's all the way to camp for. Right. Okay. Yeah. It's wild that that's halfway. It's probably like just shot. It's like just passed. But then the top half is like so much more technical that

01:01:47:14 - 01:01:50:02
Bryce
Distance wise, it's way more than halfway

01:01:50:04 - 01:02:08:23
Kyle
Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

01:02:08:26 - 01:02:36:23
Kyle
Yeah yeah. What what do you think. So we're going back in September to do a couple dull runs, right. Yeah. Cool. I think that's the smart move. Like people were saying. They're getting to Sichel in like 15 minutes. That's crazy.

01:02:36:26 - 01:02:54:28
Kyle
Okay, okay.

01:02:55:01 - 01:03:13:07
Kyle
I think I mean I think 12 hours is considered fast for normies. Yeah I think 12 hours is like a, like a normie standard. Respectable. Yeah. Respectable. We're trying to be respectable here.

01:03:13:09 - 01:03:22:14
Kyle
What do you think about, like, Alex and Tommy Cornwell's speed ascent of that route? I don't I don't understand how it's possible.

01:03:22:16 - 01:03:24:09
Bryce
I think you have to watch the time lapse.

01:03:24:14 - 01:03:28:15
Bryce
like you just they just never stop climbing.

01:03:28:17 - 01:03:52:04
Kyle
Wow.

01:03:52:06 - 01:04:14:04
Kyle
Yeah, he's probably just free soloing. Pretty much the whole thing. Yeah. I mean, even the great. How the hell are they getting through the great roof like, that is like a sustained ass pitch. Like I'm just so blown away.

01:04:14:06 - 01:04:21:28
Kyle
Yeah.

01:04:22:00 - 01:04:30:02
Kyle
My.

01:04:30:04 - 01:04:38:11
Kyle
Is that documented in their style of The Ascent?

01:04:38:14 - 01:04:47:18
Kyle
That would be that would be funny. Like. Yeah. Because that would be. Yeah.

01:04:47:21 - 01:04:49:02
Kyle
Wow.

01:04:49:04 - 01:04:53:05
Kyle
Yeah. Did you get to the point where Brant was talking about the difference between style and ethics yet?

01:04:53:08 - 01:04:53:28
Bryce


01:04:54:00 - 01:05:06:08
Bryce
I got to the point where he was talking about the culture of Naiad, and it being like the risk not being appetizing to him of like taking

01:05:06:10 - 01:05:08:22
Kyle
Faster? Yeah.

01:05:08:24 - 01:05:26:12
Bryce
he I know he said that for Alex and Tommy, like if you're trying to do a world record, then yeah, sure that the risk calculus might be a little different, but for the like other people that are just trying to get like an eight hour or a 4 or 6 hour or whatever, you know, even four is probably insane.

01:05:26:12 - 01:05:29:08
Bryce
But,

01:05:29:10 - 01:05:52:21
Kyle
He he said style is like how we choose, like the nuances and how we choose to, like, tackle an objective in regards to performance. So, like, did I pull on gear? Did I pull on other people's gear? And then ethics is how I impacted other climbers. So like the ethics of the ethics of pulling on other people's gear would be like, did I have to make them stop leading?

01:05:52:22 - 01:06:01:17
Kyle
Like, how many minutes of time did I affect on their their climb, their ascent? And so that's what he defines as ethics, as like our effect on other parties

01:06:01:20 - 01:06:11:05
Bryce
Well, we definitely saw other

01:06:11:08 - 01:06:15:17
Kyle
That's true. That's true.

01:06:15:20 - 01:06:21:02
Bryce
massive of and I don't even, I don't know where it begins and

01:06:21:04 - 01:06:37:00
Kyle
I mean, I think the biggest thing with the ethics thing is just like time, like limit the amount of exposure of time. You are like as naiad party like, don't just be hanging out, you know, next to a big wall. Like, just keep moving. Just try to keep that going. And I feel like everybody was pretty respectful about that.

01:06:37:03 - 01:06:53:21
Bryce
I mean we had to wait for Naiad parties, but I feel like that's a big party. That's just what you have to do. And it was never I mean, yeah, sure. Some that one day there was like three in a row that passed. So it, you know, that slows everyone down. But

01:06:53:23 - 01:06:54:11
Kyle
Yeah.

01:06:54:15 - 01:06:59:14
Kyle
And we weren't really stressed about it. We were sitting on Lab Tower having a lunch break. It was pretty awesome.

01:06:59:17 - 01:07:17:16
Kyle
Yeah, well nice dude. I don't think I have like any other. That was it like before. Like our life now, life before preparation and then just kind of breaking down the the ascent as it was. I feel like we kind of covered most of the nuances that we experienced.

01:07:17:19 - 01:07:45:29
Bryce
can think of that I would suggest is Vivi at the top. Like if you're ending, if you're worried about ending later in the day, like, unless you're on some kind of crazy time crunch or like, us, and you were completely out of water the first time we did it at the top is like not only just one of the best places to Bibi, but it's just, like so much better for your mental game as you're finishing the pitches.

01:07:45:29 - 01:07:53:14
Bryce
It's so much better for just your like physical, like walking off afterwards. That was a game changer.

01:07:53:17 - 01:08:02:00
Kyle
And then I think we had enough water to allow that. Like you said, you got to the top and you didn't have enough water. And so that like, would pressure you to get down, right?

01:08:02:03 - 01:08:11:07
Bryce
Oh yeah. Also, dude, I don't know why I didn't bring this the second time, but bring just a super lightweight water filter

01:08:11:09 - 01:08:12:15
Kyle
Oh yeah.

01:08:12:21 - 01:08:23:15
Bryce
and be free and it takes up. It's like one, two, three ounces. It takes up no space. And then you don't have to bring an extra for two liters or whatever you want for your walk off.

01:08:23:19 - 01:08:46:00
Bryce
You just assuming it's spring, and I don't know how long the the creek is running up there, but, both times I did the nose. There's tons of water up there. So. Yeah. Why bring why haul five extra pounds of water for the the entire way when you could just bring a three ounce water filter and go grab water out of the creek for your walk

01:08:46:02 - 01:08:50:11
Kyle
Yeah yeah.

01:08:50:13 - 01:08:51:12
Kyle
Yeah.

01:08:51:14 - 01:09:03:21
Kyle
It's just that much less water we have to bring.

01:09:03:24 - 01:09:10:15
Kyle
That is good beta to know. Yeah. We get up there and we're just like fuck, we're on the water.

01:09:10:18 - 01:09:11:19
Kyle
Yeah. And then.

01:09:11:21 - 01:09:25:00
Kyle
I think the other thing is like, I don't know what you believe, but manifests man. What was his name? Steve. Alex. John. The guy who. The truck. The truck guy.

01:09:25:02 - 01:09:36:06
Kyle
And whatever his name was. Manifest a manifest, a ride out of that parking lot hits your way out of there. That was such a blessing to not have to walk back to the parking lot.

01:09:36:09 - 01:09:48:02
Bryce
first car we saw. The first guy we asked, I saw a pickup truck pulling out right as we were like, getting close. I'm like, that's our

01:09:48:04 - 01:10:04:24
Kyle
Yeah. Yeah. And.

01:10:04:26 - 01:10:08:29
Kyle
Yeah. Exactly. Cool.

01:10:09:01 - 01:10:09:07
Kyle
yeah.

01:10:09:07 - 01:10:11:02
Kyle
It's a cool feeling, man.

01:10:11:05 - 01:10:40:00
Kyle
Like you said, it's like one of those things you get. It's such a difference experience looking at something like that, having known that you've done it not only not only because of, like that mental plaque in your mind that you've hung up in, in your trophy case, in your mind of just like ticks that you've done, but also just like you look at it and all that emotion and all those memories just come flying back and you have such a deeper connection to like what that route is to you.

01:10:40:02 - 01:11:00:11
Kyle
And yeah, it's just it was really cool to add that to the to the memory banks along with Half Dome and yeah, it's just rad, man. This is places of the world that not many people, when you look at a global population, get to even experience or see or know exist, it's a it's a special life that we live.

01:11:00:14 - 01:11:09:24
Bryce
dude. It's awesome. Rolling in the valley and looking scene Half Dome going yep. I climb that and looking at El Cap. Yep, I climb that. It's pretty cool.

01:11:09:27 - 01:11:11:00
Kyle
yeah.

01:11:11:02 - 01:11:13:11
Kyle
Sweet man. Yeah. If everybody's.

01:11:13:12 - 01:11:33:27
Kyle
If anybody is interested hasn't seen it already, I put like a YouTube video up of our ascent. It's like a little mini vlog. It's probably like an hour and a half. Just like showing our story, our adventure. There's like some, some gear specific stuff. Like, system wise, I didn't really explain anything, but you could at least, like, look at it and kind of see what I did.

01:11:33:29 - 01:11:54:29
Kyle
Not necessarily saying it's exactly what you should do, but at least it gives you some context on kind of what to expect. But yeah, that's I think that's it. I appreciate you sitting down, Bryce. As always, I think this is number five for the podcast now, right? Yeah. Well yeah dude. Sweet man. Hell yeah.