Coldfear

Meet Ryan Vachon, a seasoned climate scientist and geochemist with a Ph.D. earned in 2006. For over 15 years, Ryan's research has taken him across Greenland, Alaska, the Andes, and the Himalayas, studying the impacts of climate change.
Beyond his academic achievements, Ryan is an accomplished climber across all disciplines, known for putting up numerous first ascents. A reliable partner for tackling challenging projects, he's the go-to person when it's time to achieve something significant.

In this episode, Ryan opens up about dealing with a challenging injury and the mental resilience required during recovery. Additionally, he sheds light on how individuals can truly make a difference in combating climate change. The insights shared might just surprise you!

If you spend enough time in the mountains, you’re bound to come across things that leave you scratching your head, wondering, how did this happen? Nature is breathtakingly beautiful, yet also unforgiving. In this episode, I share the story of a massive bull elk I discovered above an icefall—a find that will forever leave me questioning how he got there while also inspiring dreams of the incredible life he must have lived. This elk was undoubtedly the king of the mountain. You can find videos of this discovery on my social media, but after listening to this episode, you’ll know the full story—more than just the speculation in the comments!

Thanks to Dan Vastyan, Chris Guyer and Christian Baumeister for joining the conversation.

We all view and react to risk in different ways. I sit down with friends Dan Vastayn, Chris Guyer, and Christian Baumeister to discuss how we deal with Risk. I like to view Risk Tolerance like a bank account, It constantly moves up and down depending on what is going on in your life. After this conversation, it became obvious to me that we all manage and react to risk in different ways. What works for me may not work for you. We have to find our own path and willingness to engage in risk. But the most dangerous risk tolerance is the one attached to running away from something in your life. Is risk your drug?

No matter where you are at in your climbing career this conversation will resonate with you. Doug Shepherd has been a long-time friend, mentor, and climbing partner. He was always my first call for taking on big objectives in the mountains. I learned a ton from Doug about climbing when I needed his mentorship the most. Doug was always the most comfortable committed on a big face in the mountains. Doug made a name for himself scratching around Rocky Mountain National Park in the early 2000s while going to school and doing his Postdoc. After losing several close friends to the mountains, Doug decided to take a pause to evaluate his relationship with climbing. After nearly 3 years of not climbing he made a trip to visit me to throw his tools and sink his toes into the ice. We talk about how it feels to be back climbing and what he learned from taking a step back from his climbing career.

Episode 18 is a fun conversation with Alpinist contributor and author Christian Kiefer. He talks about what it's like to be middle-aged and an intermediate climber. His goals and risk tolerance look very different than others. Is he too focused on grades and not the experience? I think he is finding that balance like many others. But we also talk about poop, books, mediocrity, and a ton of other subjects. This is a fun one!