On Episode 64 of the Enormocast, I sit down will friends Bill Ramsey and Dan Mirsky. Bill is a climber who cut his teeth during the pre-sport days at Smith Rock, went on to develop the early hard climbing in the Red, and now tics routes at will in Vegas. Dan is an up and coming sport climber and at times, serious road dog. Together, they form the book ends of 25 years of sport climbing. Dan’s Grasshopper to Bill’s Master Po, the two met a decade ago in Rifle and formed a bond that crossed generations and inspired each other. Mentoring, trying hard, dealing with failure, climbing into old age, and more is covered in this serious climbing conversation. Strap in for deep thoughts and good laughs.
NRG Craggin’ Classic Sept 19-21.
Forks Fest Sept 27-28.
Idaho Mountain Fest Sept. 25-28
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I was really stoked on this podcast! You guys seemed to articulate what I didn’t fully realize but kinda knew in the back of my mind.
Climbing is a great teacher in that it teaches us to try hard and strive to find our limits as Bill accurately said. Whether its keeping your mental game down on a trad route or pushing past your physical limits on sport climbs, this desire to find your limits is crucial and really gives back to you in a big way. This concept easily translates to everything else in life. Careers, relationships and so on.
Bills closing comments on no longer trying as hard and working 5.11s and 12s really reminded me of this trite but still true quote: Someone once told me the definition of Hell: The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.
Thanks for the awesome podcast, more of these philosophical ones would be awesome!
I wish I could just line up a “Bill Ramsey” for every show. I’ll try to steer things to the philosophical as much as I can.
Thanks for another great episode. Is it possible for you to suck at producing these? Might not be possible.
Some really great conversation and insights.
One thought that stood out was the idea of working/trying a route yet not really being sure that you can even do the moves. There is definitely something that resonates there. Pushing into the unknown, exploring the dark reaches both of the physical and of one’s inner world—there’s something about that seems primordially wired in. At least for climbers and other “adventure” ilk. This comment (by Bill Ramsey, I think), reminded me of my dream as a self-doubting teenager to run the NYC marathon. I trained diligently for months but never had run further than 20 miles in my life. But from deep within came a yearning need to run the marathon. So there I was, 15 years old, with my mom dropping me off literally on the freeway that runs up to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Twenty-six plus miles away lay Central Park and the end of the journey. Could I do it? I thought I could, but I couldn’t know for sure. I just had to go out there and see what I had in me. And I did it. It is one of the defining experiences of my life (the race but also importantly, the training). Thanks for stirring the thought process for a reflective journey down memory lane.
The other great line Bill had (if I recall correctly) was referring to the climbing and associated communities as “the island of misfit athletes.” Love that… spot on!
Bill has a way with words and there is a whole community in Vegas that looks to the guy for guidance. It was a real pleasure to sit down and listen to him even though I’ve known the guy for a decade. Just being around him makes you want to be smarter and more dedicated to whatever it is you do.