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
Follow-Up: Emil Abrahamsson — Gaining Weight to Climb His First V15, Overhauling His Training, and Thinking Long-Term With Projects (Teaser)
EP 161: Sam Stroh — Botching It and Sending Anyway, and Biggest Lessons from Hard Boulders to Free Climbs on El Cap
EP 160: Fundamentals — How to Pick a Project
EP 159: Tom Randall & Sam Van Boxtel — Why YouTube is the Future of Climbing Media, and How Much $$ YouTubers Make
EP 158: Fundamentals — How to Improve Your Technique
Follow-Up: Tim Emmett — Lessons From 80+ Days on Era Vella 9a, and Changing His Diet to Thrive at Age 48 (Teaser)
EP 157: Jeannie Wall — Getting Stronger in Her 50s, the Value of Doing Challenging Things, and Slowing Down to Go Fast
EP 156: Fundamentals — How to Go on a Sport Climbing Trip
EP 155: Caleb Robinson — Reaching V13 in Four Years, Biggest Lessons From Competitive Soccer, and the Power of Consistency
Follow-Up: Aidan Roberts — Sending Alphane, Training for V18 Projects, and Listener Q&A (Teaser)
Announcing YouTube + Win a Training Bundle!
EP 154: Fundamentals — How to Go on a Bouldering Trip
EP 153: Ollie Torr — The Secret to Finger Strength, How to Climb Like Aidan Roberts, and Staying on the Bus
Follow-Up: Jordan Cannon — Sending ‘Wet Lycra Nightmare’ on the Leaning Tower (Teaser)
EP 152: Fundamentals — How to Go on a Climbing Trip
Announcing Fundamentals!
EP 151: Anna Hazelnutt — Toe Training for the World’s Hardest Slabs, and Giving Others Permission to Be Real
Follow-Up: Tyler Nelson — Cutting Edge Finger Training Ideas, and the Difference Between Active Recruitment vs. Passive Tension (Teaser)
EP 150: Luke Mehall — How Climbing Gave Him His Life, Creating The Climbing Zine, and Sustaining Creative Work
EP 149: Steven on Kegels and Coffee — We Are Not Robots, As It Turns Out
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