EP 105: Brent Barghahn
February 7, 2022
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. You can learn more about Brent at brentbarghahn.com/bio
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Show Notes:
Extreme Unicycling:
Brent's "Extreme Unicycling" video from 2012
What the kids are doing on unicycles these days
Videos:
Brent climbing ‘Ring That Bell’ 5.13d (R)
Podcasts Mentioned:
Mr. Money Mustache on Tim Ferriss
EP 30: Conner Herson (The Nugget)
Books:
Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas
Brent’s Blog:
Brent’s Links:
Route’s Mentioned:
‘The Nose’ 5.9 C2 (31 pitches), El Cap, Yosemite, CA
‘Freerider’ 5.13a free (30 pitches), El Cap, Yosemite, CA
‘Golden Gate’ 5.13a (36 pitches), El Cap, Yosemite, CA
‘Father Time’ 5.13 (20 pitches), Middle Cathedral, Yosemite, CA
‘Magic Line’ 5.14c, Yosemite, CA
‘Ring That Bell’ 5.13 (R), W Bell Tower, Central Wasatch, Utah
‘Stranger Than Fiction’ 5.14-, Bartlett Wash, Southeast Utah
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