Brent Barghahn has rope soloed ‘The Nose’ in a day, freed multiple routes on El Cap, and is a former engineer at Black Diamond. We talked about how Brent combined van life and “house hacking” to effectively retire at 28-years-old, about motocross and extreme unicycling, cutting his teeth on hard trad routes in LCC, and his setup for redpoint rope soloing.
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Show Notes:
thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/brent-barghahn
Nuggets:
0:05:41 – Living in the BD parking lot, using van life as a way to save money, and a snapshot of Brent’s life 2.5 years ago
0:09:40 – My (Steven’s) stint living in a van in my employer’s parking lot
0:10:59 – Brent’s urban van life tips, stealth camping, and choosing van life as a financial tool
0:16:27 – Two different van life ethos
0:17:16 – What Brent’s life looks like now, house hacking, and how Brent “retired” at 28-years-old
0:35:21 – Extreme Unicycling, welding, and his charge account at the local hardware store
0:43:37 – Motocross, and similarities between action sports and trad climbing
0:46:01 – How dangerous climbing stacks up to motocross, and rope soloing The Nose in a day
0:49:04 – Getting hurt every year, quitting motocross, and discovering climbing
0:51:58 – How Brent improved so quickly in climbing, and why he loves technical granite climbing
0:57:38 – Patron question from Christoph: How do you train for hard trad climbing specifically?
0:58:50 – Patron question from Christoph: How does his preparation for hard trad redpoints differ from sport?
1:00:11 – Finishing climbs after a failed flash/onsight attempt
1:01:08 – Brent’s formative years trad climbing in LCC
1:05:48 – Why Brent chooses rope solo free climbing for some of his ascents, and his first rope solo NIAD (Nose in a day)
1:13:27 – Brent’s rope solo free climbing setup, and freeing ‘Father Time’ on Middle Cathedral via rope solo
1:23:31 – Brent’s take on big wall free climbing ethics, groud up ascents, his stance to stance philosophy, and the “Affect Minimal Parties” ethos
1:33:39 – Brent’s biggest aspirations in the Valley
1:34:46 – Brent’s go-to shoes for technical granite, and how he is training for ‘Magic Line’
1:42:24 – Choosing Flagstaff as a home base
1:45:15 – How Brent decides when to go on trips vs. stay local, and finding meaningful “work” now that he is “retired”
1:49:21 – Brent’s blog and other sedentary rest day activities
1:54:22 – What’s next
EP 108: John Sherman — Hueco Tanks in the 80s, Highballing Before Crash Pads, and Adding Layers to the Bouldering Experience
EP 107: Tim Emmett — How to Climb Harder After 40, The Magic Formula for Climbing 9a, and Life Philosophies
Follow-Up: Tom Randall — How to Program Your Training Like a Pro (Teaser)
EP 106: Hans Florine — Speed Climbing on ‘The Nose’, Big Wall Tips, and the Evolution of Speed Climbing Competitions
EP 104: Amity Warme — Crushing in Yosemite, Growing up in Gymnastics, and Eating More to Do More
Follow-Up: Tyler Nelson — How to Train Based on Your Finger Anatomy (Teaser)
EP 103: Mina Leslie-Wujastyk — Chasing Flow State, The Role of Cleverness in Climbing, and Becoming a Mom
EP 102: Matty Hong — The History of ‘Flex Luthor’, Climbing Waterfalls in Japan, and the Camera as a Gift
EP 101: Nina Caprez — Being a Swiss Machine, Leaning into Womanness, and a Beautiful Story of Failing on ‘The Nose’
Follow-Up: Steve Maisch — My Training Plan for Hueco Round 2 (Teaser)
EP 100: Ben Moon — How Ben Moon Uses the MoonBoard, and the Evolution of Sport Climbing
Follow-Up: Paige Claassen — Dreamcatching, and Learning to Celebrate (Teaser)
EP 99: Q&A 4 — Goals for 2022, Dating on the Road, and What I’ve Learned from Nearly 100 Episodes
Follow-Up: Tyson Schoene — Building Champions, and Keeping Things Simple (Teaser)
EP 98: Kyra Condie — The Olympic Experience, Training With a Fused Spine, and Thriving in Organized Chaos
EP 97: Austin Hoyt — Favorite Zones in the Northeast, Rediscovering Old Projects, and Being a GUNKaholic
EP 96: Joe Kinder — The Love of Projecting, Leaving a Legacy, and the Other Side of Cancellation
EP 95: Tyler Algeo — Starting a Climbing Gym in Africa, Climb Malawi, and Raising Black Sons as a White Dad
Follow-Up: Steve Bechtel — When to Stick With It, and Climbing His First 5.14 at Age 47 (Teaser)
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