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 220: Alannah Yip (Olympian) — Alopecia, Finding Power Beyond Hair Loss, and Her Fight Against Disordered Eating
EP 219: Fitz Cahall (The Dirtbag Diaries, Climbing Gold) — A Lifetime of Storytelling, Taking Authorship of Your Time, and Being Pro But Not Fancy
EP 218: Mat Wright — Sending One of the World's Hardest Trad Climbs, 'Rhapsody' E11
EP 217: A Masterclass in Relieving Stress, Sleeping Better, & Improving Focus Using Self-Hypnosis — Dr. David Spiegel (Stanford Psychiatrist)
EXTRA: Maddy Cope — A Masterclass in Endurance Training
EP 216: Maddy Cope — Erase Your Bucket List, Embrace Discomfort, and Discover the Joy of Missing Out
EP 215: Nathan Williams — Lessons From 100+ Days on a V17, the Simplest Way to Get Strong Fingers, and Static Shenanigans
EP 214: How to Find Contentment in Your Climbing, Banish Shame, and Send Harder Than Ever — Neely Quinn (TrainingBeta, Life Coach)
EP 213: Simon Lorenzi — Three V17s, the Fascinating Story Behind ‘Soudain Seul’, and Dream V18 Projects
EP 212: Filmmaker Carlos Mason on Creating SENDING — A Look Behind the Scenes at One of My Favorite Climbing Films
EP 211: Davis Ngo (dr.climb) — Blowing Up on Instagram, Why Pro Climbers Deserve to Get Paid, and Overcoming Fear After Injury
EP 210: Stefano Ghisolfi — Chasing the Impossible, Using Humor to Send, and Two Drills for Legendary Endurance
EP 209: Graham Zimmerman — Going to the Mountains to Learn, the 100-Year Plan, and Imperfect Advocacy
EP 208: Jesse Grupper — Optimistic Training, Last Place to Olympian, and Leveling Up His Bouldering
SEND ALERT: Will Bosi — ‘Return of the Sleepwalker’ V17, and What He Plans to Try Next!
EP 207: How to Rehab Finger Injuries, Build Bulletproof Wrists & Elbows, and Never Get Injured Again — Paul Houghoughi (The Climbing Physio)
EP 206: Building a Perfect Replica of ‘The Big Island’ V15, Training on Your Projects, and the Ideal Circuit — Charlie Schreiber Returns
SEND ALERT: Kai Lightner — ‘Life of Villains’ 9a, Not Rushing the Process, and Building Jamaica’s First Climbing Wall
EP 205: Adrian Vanoni — Finger Crack Wizardry, Blue Collar Sending, and Lucid Dreams About Beta
EP 204: Anak Verhoeven — How to Build 9a Endurance, Why Motivation Trumps Fancy Facilities, and Being Public About Her Faith
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