The RunOut Podcast

Tag: Honnold

  • The RunOut #163: Connor Herson continues to crush everything

    The RunOut #163: Connor Herson continues to crush everything

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    Connor Herson is back. He needs no introduction, but he’s easily one of, if not the best, trad climber in the world at the moment. We talk about his 2025 climbing season in Yosemite, when he ticked the free Nose in a day, got a first free ascent of Triple Direct, and climbed many other major notable routes all while going to school.

    But first, what’s next for Alex Honnold? We have some ideas.

    Today’s final bit is from photographer and musician Cliff Ritchey, with the song “Patagonia.” Cliff teamed up with writer Kelsey Timmerman on a book called “Regenerating Earth,” by Patagonia Books, that documents regenerative farming practices around the world. During their travels, they visited Patagonia, and Cliff fell in love with the place, the people, and the culture. The result is this song, titled “Patagonia.”

    Show Notes

    Follow Connor Herson on IG: https://www.instagram.com/connor.herson

    Did Connor Herson Just Have the Best 3 Days in Yosemite Climbing History? – via Climbing.com: https://www.climbing.com/news/connor-herson-nose-in-a-day-and-triple-direct/

    Connor’s latest news: https://www.instagram.com/p/DUqlp18j6vL/?img_index=1

    Follow Cliff Ritchey on IG: https://www.instagram.com/cliffritcheyart/

    Cliff Ritchey photography / music: https://cliffritchey.com

    “Regenerating Earth”: https://www.patagonia.com/product/regenerating-earth-farmers-working-with-nature-to-feed-our-future/BK935.html

    Listen to “Patagonia” on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7FI7MHOVpU75neTEUC3JIn?si=df8c08fae8c6469a

    Become a RunOut Rope Gun! Support our podcast and increase your RunOut runtime. Bonus episodes, AMA, and more will be available to our Rope Guns. Thank you for your support! http://patreon.com/runoutpodcast

  • RunOut #34: Yosemite Is Still the Center of the Universe

    RunOut #34: Yosemite Is Still the Center of the Universe

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    The very first time I drove into Yosemite, I almost couldn’t wait to lay eyes on El Cap and Half Dome after so much time spent dreaming about one day climbing these formations. I paid my entrance fee and hit the gas on my Nissan Sentra, sputtering ahead until I found myself soon stuck behind a slow-moving rental RV, which was one of those RVs with a cheesy depiction of Yosemite’s famous tunnel view plastered across the back of the rig.

    The irony of the moment was not lost on me, nor did it ultimately detract from the moment when El Cap finally came into view. It literally took my breath away.

    Yosemite is the center of the climbing universe. It’s the place where style, ethics, rules, techniques, gear, myths, stories, and legends were born. And even after all these years, Yosemite is still very much where it’s at. What happens here is almost automatically interesting.

    Which is why Chris and I are talking about what went down in Yosemite this past season. Big sends, grand failures, and run-of-the-mill world-class climbing on the best granite in America.

    This is Andrew Bisharat, and I’m here with Chris Kalous and you’re listening to The RunOut. And today we’re geeking out on Yosemite and all the rad people doing rad things there. And before we begin the episode, I must include a serious shout out to one of the stories we missed, that of big-wall climbing pioneer Mark Hudon returning, at age 63, to Freerider, and damn near sending. He free-climbed all but 15 feet of the Freerider, which is definitely one of the best efforts of the year.

    Hudon, of course, was one of the first people even to consider El Cap as a free-climbing project, exactly 40 years ago when he and his partner Max Jones made an audacious bid at free climbing the Salathe wall. The fact that he returned 40 years later and almost sent the Freerider Variation, is just awesome.

    What an incredible story. What an incredible sport we have here. Gives me the all the feels.

    OK, hope you enjoy this episode. On with the show.

    PHOTO: Tara Kerzhner

  • RunOut #7: Free Solo Film and the Sweaty Palm.

    RunOut #7: Free Solo Film and the Sweaty Palm.

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    It was only a few weeks ago that the Dawn Wall seized the Mylar Throne as best climbing movie ever and thrust a misunderstood Kevin Jorgeson deeply into our hearts.   Incidentally, the Mylar Throne is made from melted down Masters of Stone VCR cassettes.

    But like a resplendent child emperor, the Dawn Wall, though magnificent, has been cleanly eviscerated after its very brief reign by this week’s release of Free Solo.  Jimmy Chin, Chai Vasarhelyi, and Alex Honnold’s film of Honnold’s incredible free solo of the Free Rider on El Cap has delivered an awesome portrait of obsession, dedication, and accomplishment. And simply put, the most astounding climbing footage ever filmed.

    Andrew Bisharat and I finally gave up on receiving our invitations to any of the premiers and bought tickets for a showing in Aspen, Colorado at the historic Wheeler Opera House. The raucous crowd (often too raucous for our tastes) was comprised mostly of outdoor enthusiasts likely very familiar with Alex Honnold and Jimmy Chin, and no doubt, the entire local climbing community was there.

    On today’s show, we give you our thoughts on Free Solo, the climbing film that crushes all other climbing films like Alex crushed the Free Rider. And of course, spoiler alert. We all know that Alex free soloed the Free Rider without plummeting to his death, but we also reveal a few other twists and turns of the film, like the fact that Alex Honnold is the only one alive, and we’ve all been dead the whole time.