Episode 63 opens with Adrian and Sam's conversation on the devastating Nepal-China border flood at Gyirong Port, and a nod to Laura Rogora's blazing six-day ascent of Bibliographie, before settling into a wide-ranging interview with viral Minecraft-YouTuber-turned-mountaineer Ryan Mitchell.

Ryan built a following of millions making Minecraft videos before walking away to chase Mount Everest — a goal he set purely because he thought it would make a good video title. 

• With no outdoor background and guidance from Everest expert Alan Arnette, he trained for a year and a half and summited in 2024. 
• He quickly found himself hooked and a brutal, storm-battered K2 season in 2025 left him hungry to go bigger.
• This spring he set out to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen, but a botched tonsil infection and a rushed return to altitude triggered HAPE at base camp, ending the attempt and sparking a season-long debate over what counts as a "legitimate" no-oxygen ascent. 
• Ryan talks candidly about getting rescued, tuning out online criticism, and the hard lesson that ego, not fitness, is usually what gets climbers killed.

He's already looking ahead: Ryan is currently attempting Manaslu, aiming for another no-oxygen summit with a snowboard descent, and lays out a longer-term goal of climbing all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen.

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The Duffel Shuffle Podcast is supported by Alpenglow Expeditions, an internationally renowned mountain guide service based in Lake Tahoe, California. Visit https://alpenglowexpeditions.com/ or follow @alpenglowexpeditions on Instagram to learn more.