New Episodes Every Other Tuesday

Few endurance challenges rival the infamous Yosemite Triple Crown — a mega link-up of three iconic big walls in Yosemite National Park: the Nose on El Capitan, the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome, and the South Face of Mount Watkins. Since its first completion in 2001, no women had managed to complete the feat... That is, until Kate Kelleghan and Laura Pineau showed up. With impressive climbing résumés built in very different corners of the sport, Laura and Kate connected via a simple Ins...

In today's episode, we sit down with legendary climber, author, and coach Eric Hörst—an East Coast pioneer whose nearly five decades of climbing and route development have left an indelible mark on American climbing culture. Eric takes us back to the 1970s Gunks scene, where he cut his teeth on steep trad climbs before importing sport climbing ethics to the New River Gorge, helping transform it into the world-class crag it is today. We rewind the tape back to the ‘golden age’ of development at ...

In this episode, we sit down with Boone local Sam Dospoy—woodworker, van builder, and climber deeply rooted in North Carolina’s High Country. Sam shares how a two-year stint dirtbagging in a minivan sparked both his love of climbing and his custom van build business, Stand-Up Vans. We dig into his early days of bouldering over couch cushions at Blowing Rock, the tight-knit and low-beta climbing scene in Boone, and his progression into bold trad climbing and first ascents. Sam reflects on mentor...

Boone, North Carolina is where photographer Drew Mercer first discovered his passion for rock climbing, so it’s no surprise that his new coffee table book, In Season , is a love letter to the High Country. A modern champion of Southeastern climbing, Drew uses his lens to share the story of days spent at some of his favorite local, and arguably underappreciated, crags like Ship Rock, Grandmother Boulders, and The Dump. We also cover Drew's dirtbag days in the Buttermilks and Hueco Tanks, an ep...

Training for trad climbing isn’t something most climbers think about—but Project Direct coach Dana Taylor is here to change that. Originally from Chicago, Dana spent years sport climbing at the Red River Gorge before catching the trad bug on a trip to Wadi Rum. In this episode, she takes us through her journey into the world of limit trad climbing, what inspired her to pursue coaching, and how she’s helping clients take their trad climbing to the next level. We also dive into some epic multi-p...

Whether you know him as the Vampire Professor, the Banjo Man, or the founding president of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition (SWPACC), you know that Joel Brady has the undeniable ability to crush nails hard rock climbs. Coming to us live from the Keystone State, Joel recalls his early days competing against legends like Chris Sharma, Dave Graham, and Tommy Caldwell in some of America's first major climbing competitions. We then get into some of his milestone contributions to the s...

Speed climbing is the ultimate culmination of dozens, if not hundreds, of hours spent dialing in beta, trimming the rack, and pushing the body to move as quickly up the wall as possible. Few do it better than today's guest, Joe Kennedy, a speed climbing phenom who holds the record for the fastest bridge to bridge ascent of the legendary Naked Edge in Eldorado Canyon. He’s also known for blazing through the Flatirons, either solo or with Satan's Minions, and holds the fastest known times on "Roac...

Finding first ascents and new potential link-ups in Yosemite Valley is a rare opportunity these days, especially when they're as monumental as the QUAD! In a mind-blowingly short one year between his first NIAD (Nose in a Day), Tanner Wanish and his partner Michael Vail not only broke the speed record on the infamous Yosemite Triple Crown, but also established the Quad, a mega link-up of El Capitan, Half Dome, Mount Watkins and Washington Column. As a former Navy Seal, Tanner is no stranger to p...

While most climbers gravitate to El Potrero Chico when visiting Nuevo León, Karly Rager has spent the past five winter seasons learning the dark arts of kneebars in El Salto's tufa filled playgrounds. Fresh off her all female team's First Free Ascent of Guerreras on La Gloria, Karly reflects on what it took to achieve their FFA in the demanding Mexican alpine desert, her early years as a climber in Boulder, Colorado, and lessons learned from training hundreds of other climbers through her coachi...

If you've pulled onto the perfect Nuttall Sandstone of the New River Gorge, odds are you've climbed a Doug Reed route. Boasting one of the most impressive list's of first ascents in Southeastern, and perhaps national climbing history, Doug was a true pioneer of pushing the standards for both difficult and high-quality climbing during the 80's and 90's. A true legend of the steep, Doug takes us through his journey putting up an almost unfathomable 600+ combined routes at the NRG, Little River Can...

The Western North Carolina climbing scene has been experiencing a recent flurry of hard ascents and Zack Mintz is certainly someone who's been at the heart of it all. A true guru of granite, Zack joins the Ground Up to cover everything from his rapid progression as a climbing guide, how "learning to fail" has helped him succeed, and his passion for capturing other climbers through the lens of his camera. He also walks us through his process for the first ascent of Invisible Brailleways, an appro...

Hailing from the great state of Georgia, our guest for this episode is the Southeast's latest climbing phenom, Armand La Douceur. It was only 18 months ago that Armand first tied into a rope, but he's since taken the climbing scene by storm, putting down many of the areas hardest test-pieces, including Western North Carolina's most iconic 5.13 multipitch, the Glass Menagerie at Looking Glass Rock. The boys dive into his wild introduction to climbing following Groover, a 900 ft 5.8 on Laurel Knob...

If you tuned into the HBO reality series, The Climb, with Chris Sharma, Megan Martin and Jason Momoa, you probably recognize our next guest, Mario Stanley. A Texas based climber, Mario's impact on the local scene as a coach, guide, route developer and fellow podcast host can't be overstated. A wide ranging episode, we cover outdoor access in the Lone Star State, annual trips to Last Chance Canyon, deep water soloing in Mallorca and Mario's recent transition into documentary filmmaking. Mario the...

You may have heard of Dad Strength before, but Erica Lineberry is making sure that you know all about Mom Strength. Better known as Cragmama, Erica is one of the Southeast's elite weekend warriors and has sent well over 100 routes of 5.12 or higher, all after having her first child! Whether she's pulling through roofs at Hidden Valley, jug bashing at the Red River Gorge or working her way down Endless Wall, it's always a family affair with Cragmama and her blog details exactly how she and her hu...

This one is for all the local North Carolina hardmen, the lovers of steep & spicy trad climbing, and anyone looking for a classic ground up adventure. The Mayor of Moore's himself, Tim Fisher, takes us through his 40+ year climbing career developing some of the region's best and boldest test pieces. We talk ground up ethics, adventures with other local legends like Doug Reed, Tim's shortlist of classic routes for the Southeast trad climber and route development at Moore's, Rumbling Bald, Linvill...

One of only three participants to ever climb 300+ pitches during the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell, Genevive Walker is a true legend of the competition. Her commitment to performance is rivaled only by her involvement in the community and she's always the first one to bring the energy to the afterparty. Join The Ground Up crew for Episode 8 as Genevive walks us through her unexpected introduction to Hell, her impressive year over year progression and the astounding culmination of her efforts as she...

They may not have the speed record on El Capitan, but Rob D'Anastasio and Vasya Vorotnikov have the arguably more coveted achievement of holding almost every team and individual record at 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell. For Episode 7 of The Ground Up, The Goatbusters dive deep into their record smashing accomplishments at the Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, the tactics and strategy that went into each one and what other outrageous ideas they're cooking up for this year at Hell. Hard to not walk away inspire...

Every year as the temps begin to drop and the leaves begin to change color, the Ground Up crew heads down to Jasper, Arkansas for the greatest climbing competition on the planet, 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell. An annual affair that injects stoke into the veins of those that have participated, and bewilders those that haven't, this is truly an event worthy of the show's first miniseries. No guests this time, just Ari and Rob talking everything 24HHH, sharing their own own experiences at Horseshoe Ca...

One of North Carolina's most prolific route developers, Nathan Brown, sits down with The Ground Up crew to share stories from developing crags all across the country and the inevitable shenanigans he's encountered bolting new lines on the sharp end. Nathan's interview takes us through his early climbing days at Stone Mountain, his vision for establishing hundreds of first ascents at Laurel Knob, the Linville Gorge, Rumbling Bald, and Looking Glass Rock, and his new projects in the front range of...

Ari and Robert take a few minutes to introduce themselves and set the stage for what to expect from the Ground Up podcast and its guests in the episodes to come.

On Episode 4 the team welcomes notorious Gunks headpointer Eric Marx to the podcast. A regular in the New York climbing scene, Eric offers insight into his process of headpointing dangerous and difficult trad routes, what drew him to this unique climbing style and how he uses the Moon Board, bouldering and other techniques to to train when he's not plugging gear.

In Episode 3 of the Ground Up Podcast, the crew sits down with a true veteran and living legend of the North Carolina climbing scene, Bennett Harris. The closest thing you might find to a walking guidebook, Bennett has spent decades climbing at crags up and down the East Coast and shares endless stories from his time at the New River Gorge, the Obed and the Red River Gorge before opening up about a brutal climbing accident and how he was able to overcome his injury.

Western North Carolina's Jacob Ward joins the show for Episode 2 of the podcast to chat about his recent efforts to repeat some of the state's king lines. The boys dive deep to cover some of Jacob's favorite routes at Looking Glass and the Red River Gorge, how his crew has helped revitalize the trad climbing community in the Southeast, a unique father son belaytionship and a little extra beta for Ari's favorite project, the Glass Menagerie.

In the their inaugural episode, the Ground Up crew sits down to speak with Mike Palmer, long time friend and climbing partner of Ari, about his climbing exploits across the continent. From cutting his teeth out in California, to exploring North Carolina's finest crags in his new backyard, the conversation covers classic Yosemite epics, bottomless margaritas in El Potrero Chico, cleaning new projects at Whiteside Mountain and much, much more.