Vitaliy is one of the most prolific and respected alpinists of his generation. Known for his quiet humility, obsessive work ethic, and deep commitment to adventure, he's carved out a reputation as a master of long, complex alpine objectives—including becoming the first person to complete The Goliath Traverse in the Eastern Sierra…which might be the longest ridge traverse in the western hemisphere…if not the world.. He's established more first ascents in the Eastern Sierra than any other person, authored a three-volume guidebook series to the Eastern Sierra, and spent years developing new routes around the world. He's summited all the peaks in the Fitz Skyline and only has one summit left to complete the Torre Skyline: the infamous Cerro Torre. Even with such an astounding list of achievements, Vitaliy's deep sense of empathy, humility, and curiosity keep him grounded, thoughtful, and heartfelt.
Sean McLane is an American climber and alpinist with a knack for hard ice climbing. He blends curiosity, adventure, and a commitment to exploring terrain that few others pursue. One of his life goals is to complete Guy Lacelle's Favorite 135 Ice Climbs—a notorious list of iconic, hard, and bold routes. Sean has currently completed 71 of the 135 and soloed 61 of them. That's an insane amount of soloing on hard ice routes. Along with several other first ascents, Sean recently put up The Penitent Path, a 12-pitch M9 considered one of the longest routes at the grade in the U.S. Beyond his technical prowess, Sean is a deeply thoughtful and introspective human—and this is his first time ever sharing his story.
In our four-and-a-half-hour conversation, we start with Sean's background and how he was introduced to climbing while living abroad in China. We then explore a deeply personal and traumatic story from Sean's past involving a tragic ice climbing accident that took the life of Meg O'Neill and left Sean with a broken back. We use this story to expand on grief and loss, and learn how Sean processed these deep emotions and reintroduced climbing into his life. We then pivot to Vitaliy's background—a wildly unique story checkered with unbelievable suffering, uncertainty, and struggle, but also resilience, empathy, grit, and growth. Next, we dive into Vitaliy and Sean's recent climbing trip to India—an adventure that tested their commitment, focus, determination, and humility. I really commend both of them for being open about this story, since they ultimately didn't reach the summit or achieve what they came for. Being honest and transparent about something that could be labeled as a failure was honorably human and a breath of fresh air in today's success-only media landscape. We then contrast their India trip with a wildly successful and spontaneous trip to Patagonia. Finally, we close by diving into deeper topics around work-life balance, the sacrifices we make for success, unmitigatable risk justification, the concepts of faith, luck and self-reliance, and mastery versus complacency.
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
11:56 - Sean's Background & Ice Climbing Accident
1:08:00 - Vitaliy's Background
1:41:24 - India Trip
2:48:22 - Patagonia Trip
3:22:02 - Deeper Questions
#alpinism #mountaineering #podcast #climbingpodcast #rockclimbing
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Resources
Meg O'Niell & The Shooting Star Scholarship
https://outwardboundcalifornia.org/do...
Guy Lacelle's 135 Ice Climbs
https://gripped.com/profiles/guy-lace...
Vitaliy's IG
https://www.instagram.com/mtngangsta/...
Seans's IG
https://www.instagram.com/seanmshan/?...
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