EP 283: Adrian Ballinger
September 15, 2025
Photo by Griffin Mims
Adrian Ballinger is a renowned alpinist and mountain guide, and has summited Mt. Everest and K2 without supplemental oxygen. We talked about his childhood, misconceptions about what he does, what climbing Everest is actually like, skiing above 8,000 meters, risking his life to send K2, sending Fall of Man 5.13b, how mountaineering compares to projecting 5.13, meeting his wife Emily Harrington, how performance changes with age, lessons everyone should know, and much more. You can learn more about Adrian at adrianballinger.com
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Show Notes:
Related Episodes:
Adrian’s Links:
Nuggets:
00:00:00 – Intro
00:03:06 – Growing up
00:06:08 – Connecting with adventure as a kid
00:16:08 – Misconceptions about what Adrian does
00:22:04 – Tech breakthroughs in mountaineering
00:26:04 – Client pressure around summits
00:30:04 – Alpenglow Expeditions
00:33:09 – Regulations on Everest
00:35:08 – What climbing Everest is really like
00:41:04 – Climbing Everest without oxygen
00:49:57 – Preparing for Everest without oxygen
00:58:56 – Skiing accolades
01:01:59 – Skiing above 8,000 meters
01:05:00 – Skiing down vs. rappelling massive peaks
01:08:58 – Fall of Man
01:11:01 – Physically hardest climb
01:12:56 – Mental hardest climb
01:14:57 – Most dangerous climb
01:18:01 – Why Adrian took a risk on K2
01:21:01 – Meeting Emily
01:32:45 – What’s left for Adrian in alpinism
01:34:43 – Switching to hard sport climbing
01:46:43 – Bouldering in Rocklands
01:54:42 – Performance changes with age
01:59:42 – Athletes Adrian looks up to
02:02:40 – Lessons everyone should know
02:05:40 – Adrian’s podcast