[OCEAN WAVES]
Oh my gosh.
It's kind of big, huh?
OK, I need to go.
Good luck, brother.
There really is nothing like being on a huge wall
just with your climbing shoes, your chalk bag,
and dangling by your fingertips.
The waves are smashing into the wall.
You can actually feel the vibrations in the cliff,
and the reverberation in your ears.
Looking around, being in the most spectacular place,
and feeling like the power of the position that I'm in.
There is this moment of truth where you make a decision.
You either go or you don't go.
[SCREAMING]
[YELLING]
When you commit to that move, it's
pretty freaking spectacular.
For me, one of the most special places on the planet
is this island, Mallorca.
It's this plug of limestone in the Mediterranean Sea.
And it's just surrounded by overhanging cliffs
on all sides.
All of these beautiful, sweeping walls,
rounded and sculpted by the sea.
There's just limitless possibilities
for deep water soloing.
When I first came out here, it was this very intense moment
in my life.
My mom had just passed away.
Climbing here opened my eyes to a whole new world
and helped me move forward.
I found this amazing arch and it became an all consuming
project.
[YELLING]
When I finally did Es Pontás, it was a really powerful
experience.
Ever since then, there is like this very special place
in my life for this island.
10 years have passed now.
My life has changed a lot.
I have a family now.
I have a daughter.
But I still come back here, year after year.
I still have that fire and the passion
for climbing ropeless above the sea.
I think the freedom that you could have climbing here
is unparalleled anywhere else.
When you come to these cliffs and they're just
this big blank canvas, if you want to climb in a circle,
you can climb in a circle.
You're not trying to stay in the lines.
You're not thinking about grades, just total freedom
of expression and creativity.
One of the coolest things is arriving
at the base of a virgin cliff and on site free soloing,
first ascent, up a wall.
You're always looking for really solid rock
and overhanging walls.
If it was less than overhanging, then
you'd just kind of like bounce your way down.
[YELLING]
Having a project over the water adds a lot of complexity
to the whole process.
[YELLING]
Falling into the sea hundreds of times.
[YELLING]
If you don't fall right from 60 feet up, could be really bad.
[YELLING]
Oh man.
It's hard to push yourself to the absolute limit
when you're really high up.
[YELLING]
It's not just about being a strong climber,
you also have to be a strong swimmer.
You have to be knowledgeable of the sea, currents,
the wind, the waves.
Really important to figure out how you're going
to get back out of the water.
Deal with being wet and drying off, having multiple chalk
bags, different pairs of shoes.
Trying these big projects, you have to enjoy that process.
It's few and far between when they come together
but it's pretty special when they do.
[YELLING]
Sometimes the way I scope out these new areas, just
go swim section of the coastline.
A couple of years ago I swam for miles
and ended up along this really wild coastline
that I had never been to before.
The water was really deep and really dark.
It's an ominous place.
I saw this one wall, it's this beautiful piece of stone,
with these orange and red and gray streaks.
It was everything I could hope for and dream for in a project.
You start with really fun 5.12 climbing, flowing
through these big moves.
But around 50 feet, it quickly becomes this shear wall
with barely anything to hang onto.
You enter the crux.
And it's basically 12 moves of just super gnarly bouldering.
In it started off by getting to this sloping under cling rail,
trusting your feet on these friction bumps.
Get this crimpy pocket.
This super big reach.
[YELLING]
I have like one or two good tries and then need
two rest days because it's so powerful, it's so fingery.
[YELLING]
Some of the hardest moves I have tried over the water.
[YELLING]
I started working out the minute details of the sequence.
You have to get this delicate heel hook,
release your right hand, and grab this horrible hold that's
facing the wrong way.
[YELLING]
After a lot of tries, I realized this could be the next step
in deepwater soloing after Es Pontás.
I've come back here 10 times over the years
to work on this thing, spent over 30 days,
falling hundreds of times into the ocean.
Trying things that are at your limit, most of the time
you're just failing.
I'm 35 now.
I live in Barcelona.
I own a climbing gym.
I started a series of deepwater soloing competitions.
Thanks to everyone.
Thanks to all of the competitors.
Having a business.
Having a family.
Life is busy.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Coming back to Mallorca year after year grounds me.
These big projects are like monuments,
markers for important moments in my life.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[YELLING]
Good job, dude.
After all this effort it was just an amazing feeling
to bring this thing to life.
I decided to call it Alasha, dedicated to my daughter.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[YELLING]
The grade of 5.15 is the trophy grade.
It's just a number, but in some way
it represents the unattainable.
The top end of the game.
5.15, honestly, I don't know exactly what that
is because I haven't done it.
It's kind of like breaking the four minute mile.
It's this magical barrier.
Having that number in front of you
creates this anxious feeling.
It takes so much work and so much talent.
You have to be an Olympic athlete, essentially.
5.15 has been a goal of mine for years now.
It's not easy, man.
I don't know anything about 5.15.
I've never climbed a 5.15.
I've never even tried--
I've never even touched the holds on a 5.15.
Only a few male climbers have achieved the grade.
And we've still been waiting for that first 5.15 ascent
by a woman.
Today, there's definitely an evolution
of more women climbing.
Pushing in every discipline.
Training really, really hard.
This is a huge moment in our sport.
The girls are catching up to the guys.
Right now what we're looking at is this big number of 5.15.
And there's a handful of women gunning for it.
We're all sort of sitting at the edge of our chairs saying,
who's going to do it?
But I don't think Margo Hayes was really
on anyone's short list.
Why is it that I'm a person and I'm not a toad?
Goodnight.
My name's Margo Hayes and I'm--
have a cough.
OK, wait, start over.
As far as climbing 15a, Margo just wasn't on my radar.
I didn't hear anyone talking about Margo trying 5.15.
Smile, Margo.
No.
Head up a tiny bit.
Be a little more fierce.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
If you want to climb 5.15, there's
no greater concentration on earth than in northern Spain.
Spain is the mecca for hard sport climbing.
The amount of quality test pieces is mind blowing.
Of all the 5.15's La Rambla,
is one of the most iconic routes.
La Rambla has been talked about as long as I've been a climber.
It's an Alex Huber route, rarely climbed.
Super long, giant moves, like a really harder style
of climbing.
Jon Cardwell and I had made these plans to go to Spain
and try La Rambla.
Margo was living in Europe at the time.
We know Margo from climbing in Colorado.
I was her coach when she was a kid.
She wanted to join us, but we had no idea what her goal was.
We certainly didn't think that it was La Rambla.
We walk up to the crag in Siurana. It's pretty intense,
there's all these world class climbers.
Margo walks straight over to La Rambla and started tying in.
She was this unknown 19-year-old getting
on one of the hardest routes in Siurana.
And a lot of people at the crag were skeptical
in the beginning, kind of like, why is she trying it?
Why is she up there?
Matty and I definitely had our doubts.
We had trained our ass off for this route.
We were like, are you sure?
Are you sure you're ready?
When I can sense others doubting what I can do,
it's only more motivating.
My determination triples.
I've been thinking about La Rambla for quite some time.
I had watched countless videos, visualized
the sequences and the moves.
And I came here to climb my first 5.15.
Come on, Margo.
The men who have climbed it tend to use brute strength
to get through the moves.
[YELLING]
I have quite a bit of flexibility.
My feet can go above my head.
My hips can stay pretty close to the wall.
Come on, Margo.
It was pretty clear that she had done her homework.
She was ready for the fight.
It's like [HISS].
We were all working together on the route, trading burns.
That's everything I have.
We started to realize that she could send this route.
And she's probably going to send it before both of us.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Most people only can try it one or two times
before they're just exhausted.
But Margo, she would try it 3 times, 4 times a day.
Oh, I blew it.
Come on, come on.
Come on.
Your hands, huh, did you survive?
I was bleeding so bad, you should see those holds.
Wow, they do look pretty ravaged.
Usually before the last try she would look to Matty
and I with like bleeding fingertips and tape everywhere
and asked, should I try it again?
Like, I wouldn't, but if you want to, I'll belay you.
She was relentless.
She was focused.
But I've known Margo since she was little.
She has been like that her entire life.
Oh, and who's this?
Margo.
How are you feeling, Margo?
I'm feeling fine.
After falling in the river.
As soon as she could walk, she was a very active kid,
climbing up on top of the chicken coop
and climbing up in trees.
Instantly, she was a very competitive individual.
I competed as a gymnast.
I always wanted to challenge myself and get better.
I've been setting goals since I can remember.
We find little pieces of paper sitting around the house that
have Margo's goals.
I mean, those aren't simple goals.
You know, gold medal in the Olympics.
I would maybe push it a little too fast
and go for skills that maybe I wasn't quite ready for.
She ended up breaking bones in her feet seven times.
At one point, I'd broke a bone in my foot at the gym.
I knew that it would mean I had to take time off.
And I just didn't want to tell my coach.
I just wanted to keep doing gymnastics.
I went into the bathroom.
I'm thinking, why does she keep going in the bathroom?
And it turns out that she fractured her foot,
and she was putting her foot in the toilet
to ice it and not tell me.
During that time, I decided I wanted to cut my hair short.
Number two buzz cut on her head.
And I remember saying, I'm going to be
able to do more pull ups now cause I'm lighter.
She had a lot of personality.
You could just sense that drive in somebody
who just, wow, this person is willing to do anything
and willing to try hard, and is a perfectionist.
And Margo had the wow factor.
You see somebody do a skill, and you go, wow.
We selected her as very talented,
and we started developing her for the Talent Opportunity
Program, the Olympic selection committee.
I qualified for the National Testing,
which was in Texas at Bela Karolyi's ranch.
And I remember my mom picking me up from school
and she said, you qualified.
And I was like, a team or b team?
And she was like, b team.
And I remember just crying.
Ever since I was little, I've always
wanted to be the best in things that I tried.
Cats Gymnastics where Margo trained as a gymnast
also doubles as a climbing gym.
Being in Boulder, Colorado, you have
some of the best in the world training there.
I remember watching the climbers on the wall,
like Robyn Erbesfield and Lynn Hill.
She would watch people climbing and training.
And she was kind of curious about it.
I did some top roping and I ended up liking climbing.
She came to team ABC with really high expectations
and goals for herself.
I would show up at practice and Margo would already
be there, ready to go.
And all the other kids would be kind
of running around goofing off.
And she was different, very driven, very focused.
And it really struck me as quite unusual
that such a young girl was so serious
and so willing to push herself.
The first time that I went to a competition
and I got butterflies in my stomach, I was like, OK.
I like this.
I can do this sport, you know?
She did her first 5.12, and then her first 5.13, and then
her first 5.14.
That's when we first started to get wind of,
what's this girl capable of?
I think I started believing in my own ability more and more.
And there was no stopping that kid.
You know, I see Margo come to Rifle
and do Bad Girls Club, that route is really thuggy,
mean, one of the hardest ascents in the US.
To see her do that, I was just like, whoa.
After I graduated from high school,
I decided to move to Europe, learn another language,
challenge myself and climb hard.
Europe, it's a really great place
to be based if you want to push yourself in the sport.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
In 1990, I moved to France and I lived there for five years.
It's a little bit like if you're a surfer you go move to Hawaii.
My goal was to be the first woman to climb 5.14.
There were people like JB Tribout who said,
oh, a woman will never do 5.14.
Oh, really?
I'm going to find a way to do it.
And so I ended up doing a route that he had put up,
first female ascent of a 5.14.
I knew it was possible and it was really important to me
to actually prove that it was.
That's the same thing that Margo's doing.
There's an objective out there.
She knows it's possible and she's
going to find a way to do it.
If you have any doubt and you're right at that threshold,
and you think that 5.15 belongs to men or only
these people can do it, then that little bit of weakness
can cause you to fail.
Come on, Margo.
What is the 5.15 barrier?
Good.
Is it that women haven't tried it?
Do we not believe we can do it?
Is Margo going to change that?
Come on, Margo.
You can do this.
Come on.
Good.
Yes.
Good.
Come on.
Come on, come on, come on.
Let's go, Margo.
Yes.
Squeeze, Margo.
Come on.
Yes.
Breathe, Margo.
You get to this point where you know it's possible for you
and you know you can do it.
It's important to stay in the moment, breathe, relax.
On the last two moves, my breathing started to change.
I felt like I was shaking.
Oh my god.
Take.
[CHEERING]
Oh my god.
I'm crying.
I feel like I'm dreaming.
Nice job.
Thanks.
Yeah.
It was a big deal for the climbing community,
for women, for all of us.
I was like, oh man, go Margo.
Thank you.
She sends La Rambla.
It's this incredible experience.
And then she's already writing down new goals.
It's like La Rambla was just the stepping stone for something
bigger.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
After climbing the La Rambla, I was
ready for the new challenge.
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
I've been living in the South of France, just a short drive
away from the legendary climbing spot, Ceuse.
Biographie is such a historic line, one of the most beautiful
if not the most beautiful in the world.
It's on a long crag at the top of a hill with an open view
on the south of France.
So the place is beautiful.
I was three years old when Chris Sharma climbed Biographie.
It was a huge deal, the first 5.15,
the hardest climb in the world.
Biographie was this futuristic project.
You know, I wanted to try the next level up
and see what I was capable of.
Even Chris, he spent four summers to climb that route.
And after Chris, it's a lot of long stories.
The French guy, Sylvain Millet, he spent on it
30 tries and eight years only focusing on that.
A lot of very strong climbers spend a lot of time.
It's such a challenge for so many climbers.
You know with all of the history behind the line,
it comes with a lot of weight.
I was back in the states.
Margo was already starting to try Biographie.
And she convinced Daniel Woods and I
to come project it with her.
Wow.
When Matty and I got there, Margo
was going in deep with Biographie,
already making good links.
I was impressed.
I mean, she was able to climb the first half
of the route pretty easy.
There are difficult sections throughout the route.
It has all different aspects of sport climbing.
Endurance is important but power is also important.
It's powerful and delicate.
It was impressive watching Margo on Biographie.
She would fall on a section and immediately
pull back up, latch onto the wall,
and just rehearse the section.
Take, lower, rehearse the same section again,
until she just had every move ingrained into her system.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
At the top, that's when it's the make or break.
You've already climbed 75, 80 feet.
I go up right hand to a little crimp.
Then I go left hand to a foot hold.
Then I reach straight up.
And I go out right to a pocket, which I really love, actually.
And I reach out far left hand.
The little bowling ball, the pocket with a thumb.
This hold shuts down a lot of climbers.
When Sharma was trying the first ascent,
he fell here dozens of times, year after year.
One time I actually got that left hand.
Come on.
Yes.
Come on, Margo.
I was so excited and then I was off.
[YELLING]
No.
God, I was bleeding so bad.
My hold was so good.
That was it.
She was bleeding all over the holds.
I literally slipped on my own blood.
But Margo, she never wants to rest.
And she kept throwing herself at it.
Take.
I think I should rest my tendon.
Does it hurt?
Yeah.
I'm just going to do this part and then be done.
Matty and I tried to get Margo to slow down so she wouldn't
get a long term injury.
But she wouldn't listen.
She just kept raging on the route.
And could tell that just the way she was climbing on it,
her finger was affecting her a lot.
What the heck.
Wait, you're lowering me?
Yeah, I'm pulling rank.
That was a winner.
All of us worked Biographie for a month.
Come on, Daniel.
Try hard.
Daniel and I got shut down, and we had to go home empty handed.
But Margo, she just kept working it.
Time went by and I took so many trips up to Ceuse
that it's hard for me to count.
Biographie.
Good luck.
It's much more difficult for me than La Rambla was.
Physically, but mostly mentally.
No.
Shit.
I think that this period for Margo
was a period of exploration.
OK, I've done 5.15, but then questioning where her limit is.
To her, it's not about the great 5.15,
not about being the first woman.
It's just about pushing herself.
[YELLING]
Some days I'm at home and then I have the telescope.
When someone try Biographie, I go and see.
When Margo come for this, I'm very curious.
I was fortunate enough with Biographie
to have a really great mentor, Arnaud
Petit, a legendary climber here in France.
I've not seen someone walking that hard a route.
She's inspiring.
She's really focused on what she does.
But she gives a lot, maybe too much some times.
It's raining out there right now.
I mean, it's definitely-- it's not ideal
but that doesn't mean it can't happen.
The route's wet, it's dripping down the wall.
If the route's wet, that just doesn't really--
you can't really climb hard when it's wet.
But yeah, she's psyched.
I don't get it.
No, it's OK.
I tried.
I don't know, I'm glad I came up today.
We'll see.
Margo's biggest weakness is she just
has a hard time turning the light out.
The biggest wish and the biggest hope
I'll always have for Margo is that she
can find a balance between being so driven and having fun.
I learned a lot from Margo, a way to be positive,
to be better for the next days.
And this state of mind she has is quite incredible, I think.
Margo, she has no limit.
She's training like a beast, like training, training.
People say, who's she?
Who is this girl?
I guess this climb means a lot to me.
I think that Biographie is kind of a metaphor for life.
But the climb doesn't come easily
and you have to put the work in.
You have to stay present and in the moment.
It's definitely teaching me patience and letting go.
And coming back fearless.
[WIND BLOWING]
Come on, Margo.
Yes, come on.
Come on.
Come on, get it right.
Come on, nice.
Yes.
Come on.
Nice.
Come on, do it!
Come on.
Come on, do it.
Yes, come on.
Come on.
Concentrate.
When you break through and when you do make it happen.
Come on.
Yes, come on.
[CHEERING]
It's this feeling that you can't really describe,
like kind of getting emotional.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHEERING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, I'm going for it.
Climbing.
Fuck.
Antoine, I've been better.
I'm calling because I took a little fall climbing.
I'm in the hospital.
I'm not going to make it to work.
I got kind of banged up.
I don't know how serious it is.
Climbing sucks.
I have to get an x-ray.
But I'll keep you updated for sure.
But you know, obviously I can't come in today.
OK, thank you.
Bye.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Yeah, I know this makes it look really, really serious.
No, that does make it look really bad.
I'm gonna die!
Oh, man, dude.
Yeah, it was a bummer, the cam blew.
Fucking, dude, two cams--
Just one cam.
I don't know, like mostly the back's kind of what I'm worried
about the most, probably.
Brad has been on my radar for a long time, really good rock
climber, really strong.
But I think what makes him unique
is his boldness and commitment, kind of this lost
world of dangerous climbing.
My name's Brad Gobright.
I'm 27 years old.
I started climbing when I was seven years old.
I dropped out of college my first year and sort of just
been a dirt bag, traveling dirt bag ever since.
Oh, glory!
I mean, I wouldn't be where I am with climbing today, you know,
if I hadn't done that.
I lived in the boulders up in Yosemite for months at a time.
Wait, do you want to drink lighter fluid, though?
Brad had like two shirts when we met him.
And then Christmas came and he got another shirt.
I was like, oh, whoa.
It's a third shirt.
His car is not what I would call nice or even good.
His car is a piece of shit, but it gets him around.
I didn't have a lot of money.
My goal is to work as little as possible
and climb as much as I could.
It looks so good.
It's just calling to me.
Brad was getting really good but he was also sketchy.
I have not seen that many climbers like Brad.
He's a freaking strong climber and has
an amazing head for climbing.
All right, this is a bad idea.
Brad definitely qualifies into that category
of one of those people you've never
heard of that's stronger than all the people
that you have heard of.
Dude, it's so wet.
Oh, man, that would have been big.
All right, yeah, grab your shit.
Why are we up so early, Cedar?
We're up so early because Brad is what I call over stoker.
Yeah, I sort of just zone out on everything except for climbing.
Yeah, Brad's over stoker.
Some link ups, do a lot of climbing.
Got to get ready for the spring.
Yeah, I got to get ready for sleep.
Brad's beyond stoked, for sure.
He has these big goals and he really wants to do them.
So he puts a lot of pressure on himself to make that happen.
Goes out to Eldo and dispatches every single one
of the scariest, hardest routes on the Rincon wall.
Most climbers are really psyched to send
one of those routes in a day.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The routes are R rated.
You can break your legs on some of them.
Not most people's idea of a fun day out at the crag.
All right, up here with the Brad Gobright,
doing what I like to do most, hanging out with men
in their underwear at the crag.
Brad freaking forgot his shorts.
But he wasn't going to let that stop him.
He just like stripped down to his skivvies,
put his knee pad on, and got on the most dangerous route
of the day.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Come on, get it.
Oh, fuck.
Dude, that was so nasty.
Oh, that wouldn't have held.
Shit, dude.
Nice, dude.
You didn't break your leg.
Psyched.
It's not over.
Nice, dude, but don't fuck it up.
Sweet.
Yeah.
All right.
Yeah, trendsetter.
You wear boxers, too, not even boxer briefs.
Right, they make my balls itch.
I like to just kind of let it hang.
That guy has climbed so many impressive climbs.
But even more impressive is his ropeless climbing.
Brad's a full solo climber.
I mean, he's been soloing for years.
I mean, there's just very clear, obvious consequences
if you mess up on a solo.
It's pretty clear cut.
You either send or you die.
I do experience fear.
But I've learned to deal with it when I'm up there.
Getting to the point where I'm like 100%
certain I can do it without falling,
that's very satisfying.
How do you feel, Brad?
Oh, such a good climb.
This is what climbing is all about.
Doesn't get much better than that.
The only other person out there that's doing the solos like him
is Alex Honnold.
If I was on a deserted island with Brad Gobright,
I would let him have sex with me, yes.
Everybody knows who Honnold, Yosemite's best free soloist.
Probably the most famous climber in the world.
Brad, on the other hand, not famous, poor,
and solos in a scrappy little climbing area
called Eldorado canyon.
Which is funny because it's like a climbing area
that a lot of people hate.
[YELLING]
It is scary.
I hit my head.
It's run out.
It's sandbagged.
You go there thinking you can climb 5.11
and then you can barely get up 5.9.
Holy fuck.
I don't look at Eldo and think, like,
that's a place I want to go soloing.
It's not like Yosemite where it's like a splitter crack,
you know, and you're locked in on every move.
You're on these faces, exposed, doing hard moves
that are irreversible.
Once you do a section, you're not going to down climb anymore.
It gives you the heebie jeebies, doesn't it?
It's like, my hands are sweating thinking about it.
One of the reasons I like Eldo, it's a little exciting.
There's just an element of insecurity
that makes the soloing a lot more serious and therefore
a lot more impressive.
I mean, to me, they seem pretty hard and pretty scary.
And I find Eldo in general to feel
really slippery and insecure.
For many years, the hardest solo in Eldo was The Naked Edge.
And for Brad, it's an afternoon romp.
You know, I can do The Naked Edge house
to house in under an hour.
He's like soloed The Edge over 25 times.
He's soloed The Naked Edge 25 times?
Are you for real?
Yeah.
That's fucked up.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Almost like a playground, you know, you can go from one route
to the next.
Brad is the best soloist in the history of Eldo.
Why haven't most people have heard of Brad Gobright?
I would say most people haven't heard of Brad.
He's definitely a bit of a dark horse, kind of underdog.
You know, like he barely has any sponsors.
Nobody knows who he is, really.
I mean, even though he's definitely
one of the more talented climbers in the country.
It's like rock climbing is becoming an actual sport.
Like Honnold's got his own book.
There it is.
That's pretty pro right there.
I don't want to pay for it, so I'm just reading it
here in the bookstore.
If I didn't exist it would be like,
oh, rad, like nobody else is really soloing hard
like that in the US right now.
Like that's pretty cool.
But it's just sort of unlucky for him
that I've already kind of stolen some of that.
Yeah.
I'll give him a free pair of shoes as a consolation prize.
Honnold doesn't feel feelings as far as I'm concerned.
But maybe Brad's similar, actually.
Maybe they're just two and the same.
I mean, there's at least some chance
that most higher end soloists have some kind of personality
disorder.
But the thing is, everybody has quirks.
Like everyone has something going on with their life.
Brad is a quirky guy.
He's not what I would call pro climber material.
My name's, uh, Brad Gobright.
I'm a Blue Water athlete.
I was using the 9.7 Lighting--
[BLEEP]
He's short, goofy looking.
I wouldn't call him wildly handsome.
Oh, pink is my favorite color, so--
He's no Sharma, you know?
There there's no, like, waving glorious hair
in the perfect light as he like, dah-dah!
I would call him socially awkward.
Totally destroyed Cedar's toilet.
I would call his eating habits poor.
Fruit loop donuts, have you seen those?
He ate an entire apple pie one time.
I watched him devour an entire apple pie
in like a matter of 10 minutes.
He's the kind of guy that shows up to the crag with a donut.
Old fashioned glazed, they didn't have sprinkles.
I'm like, dude, that's gnarly.
I forgot my glazed croissant.
Brad is climbing at a super high level, whereas, you know,
his life situation, not so much.
I got to be at work at 4:00 to bus tables.
Putting table cloths on tables for rich people.
Oh yeah, he's a great climber.
But then it's like everything else, you're like,
dude, what are you doing?
Oh, how did I forget that?
Man.
Oh man, you forgot the rack or you tied the rope in a knot
again.
It's like, what the heck, dude?
It's like I just put it in my pack.
I must have put it on top of my jacket.
How can you be such a Space Cadet?
Like, what is wrong with you?
This is what Honnold's talking about, Brad.
Oh, I've got to get it together.
Yeah, this is not the mark of a professional, dude.
It's actually a good argument for soloing.
You just have to remember your shoes and your chalk bag.
There's so much less to remember.
So I am going to rappel down the Doub-Griffith.
Thought I'd rap down, rope solo it a bit, see how it feels.
There's a reason that the Doub-Griffith has never
been soloed.
It's really technical and powerful.
There's like thin, thin holds.
And there's like parts the climb where you can't really
back off.
I'm not going to deny that it's not a dangerous activity.
It is.
But I love free soloing.
And it's just kind of about the beauty and simplicity of moving
up a rock wall all by yourself.
I think in the beginning there's always kind of the butterflies,
and then they kind of just go away.
By the time I'm like in the middle of it all, I'm just 100%
focused and into that little bubble.
You're not really being distracted by anything
else other than like the few moves in front of you.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Occasionally there are these like harder climbs,
like the Doub-Griffith.
Those aren't routes I'd be soloing all the time or even
a second time.
It's a next level solo for Eldorado Canyon, and really
a next level solo for soloing in general.
Brad had started reading the comments,
you know, on Facebook.
That's always a mistake.
Can't read that shit.
I think what a lot of people don't
see is all the time and dedication and mileage
it took to get to this point.
I personally feel like Brad falls
closer to my end of the spectrum,
where he is just sort of rational about it
like, oh, I can do this.
I feel comfortable.
So I'll just do it.
A lot of people don't really get the whole free soloing thing.
But all I can say is that I feel really solid up there.
You know, you're 100% focused.
But I think a lot of times when people get on a rope,
they let their guard down.
Come on.
That's liked a fucked up fall.
Brad had been trying this 5.14r called Viceroy on Top Rope,
probably one of the most difficult and dangerous trad
climbs in the country.
Basically, there's just one more day
to climb it before a huge storm was
going to come in and shut down the route
for the entire season.
But I just figured, you know, what the hell.
I'll go for it.
Fuck.
Oh.
There was like 20 minutes of panic.
I'd never broken my back before, but I knew right away.
I was like, oh yeah, it broke.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Yeah.
Just got hasty and I just went for it.
We brought you chocolate covered peanut butter things.
I don't know if you're allowed to have any.
When Brad broke his back, it was shocking.
My first concern was, you know, is he going to recover from it?
Like how serious is the damage?
Brad had two compression fractures in his back,
broke his ankle.
You know, before the accident, Brad
was at the top of his game.
Yeah.
As it turns out, crutches and a back brace are not a fun combo.
Oh yeah.
Climbing is the most important thing in my life.
So when I got injured, it was tough.
There wasn't much for me to do because rock climbing was
really all that I did.
So here we are.
Brad's, like, unbridled enthusiasm
is what makes him a great climber.
But it's also, I think, why he sometimes injures himself.
He just gets so stoked that maybe he doesn't think things
through enough.
And that's definitely what happened on Viceroy.
Damn, should have backed up that cam.
Or I should have just stuck the move and sent the route.
That would have been better.
Being so stoked that you do something stupid
is one of the dangers of loving climbing that much.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I would say in the last 12 years,
climbing and climbers have changed a lot.
I think that nowadays you're getting these really strong,
really timid climbers.
People are afraid to run it out.
They're afraid to take risks because they learn
to climb in a climbing gym where everything is super safe
and Brad Gobright is the antidote
to that in a lot of ways.
Let's do it.
I've definitely been getting weird looks in the gym.
You know, like, oh man, what happened to that guy?
He didn't just break his back, he
broke his ankle and his back.
[BLEEP]
See, this is what sucks about having a back brace
and crutches.
I just like picturing him, you know, just
hanging from like a little crimp.
And all the sudden, click, and he's like paralyzed for life.
Good news is like in a month from now,
my fingers will be the strongest they've ever been.
The bad news is that I'll be terrified to rock climb.
Trad climbing will be way scary.
When you have an accident like Brad had,
it's really hard, not only just to recover
physically but mentally.
You know, especially someone like Brad
who was really at this outer level in boldness.
I was still like a little nervous about tweaking my back.
And I felt very mentally out of shape.
But it was really important to me
that I made a full recovery because I still
had some big goals in climbing.
I mean, that's the thing I love about Brad is his commitment.
He's more committed than any other climber
I know of right now.
He's more obsessed than anybody.
At that point in time, coming back from my injury,
the thought of soloing something hard in Eldo
seemed very unlikely.
I went up there by myself.
There was like pretty much no one in the canyon that day.
Then I kind of started to think about it again.
Right at the top of the Bastille is Hairstyles and Attitudes,
one of the most exposed and difficult lines in the canyon.
A few years ago I led Hairstyles and Attitudes
and afterward I just thought about how amazing
it would feel to be up there with just a chalk bag.
Every solo Brad had done in Eldo so far felt
like an incremental step in his progression.
But to me, Hairstyles felt like a whole new level.
It's balanc-y style of climbing.
It's very thin edges.
It's a little slippery.
But mostly it's just super exposed.
It's so high off the ground.
I've climbed Hairstyles and Attitude
and I couldn't imagine soloing that route, especially
with how short he is.
You have to really stand on your feet
and just get fully stretched out.
Yeah, soloing something like Hairstyles is definitely hard.
But I feel like Brad is actually surprisingly
conservative in his approach.
I'd climb it so many times where I got to that point
where I was like, I know I'm going to be OK.
I've probably climbed this about 50 times, no joke,
over the past few years.
And in the last month, I've actually
been climbing it more and more.
I'm going to go ahead and do this little sequence again.
Of course, people are going to say
that soloing something like Hairstyles
is reckless or totally insane, but it's his dream.
And you've just got to respect that.
It's not just some sport hobby, you know, it's my passion.
It's my life.
I want to look back on these years and be super proud.
Hairstyles and Attitudes was the hardest solo to commit to.
I was concerned that maybe I would be a little more
tense than I should be and it might make
the climbing feel different.
You get to that rest, you're shaken out,
you're thinking about it.
But once you move up past that ledge, it's 100% on.
There's no down climbing.
You're either going to be coming off the wall
or you're going to be going to the top.
Filming someone hanging from like a couple millimeters
of rock, it's nerve wracking filming that kind of stuff,
you know, it's intense.
Once I watched Brad climb the first bit of hard climbing,
I knew he was 100% committed.
He was climbing super deliberately and in control.
You know, then Brad came to the crux, the hardest and most
insecure moves in the entire route.
You know, it wasn't like, oh my god.
I'm falling off.
I'm going to die.
But it was like, oh, this feels a little bit
different than usual.
There was still a lot of hard climbing to do
and I just had to forget it and move on.
Yeah, I'm like kind of overgripping, I think.
After that sketchy moment, I can barely hold my camera still
to get a shot.
All I wanted to do the entire time
was like through him the fucking rope, you know?
But somehow he's able to dial everything back and focus.
For Brad, it was like that last 10 feet of climbing never
happened.
Watching Brad solo Hairstyles was
one of the most terrifying but most bad ass things
I've ever seen in climbing.
And I'm pretty sure that no one's ever
going to do it again.
I've been wanting to that for awhile.
One of the best, right?
So good.
[YELLING]
I had a small sense of relief coming over the top.
But mostly I just felt so stoked.
That was definitely one of the proudest climbs
of my life for sure.
You know, all the bold climbing Brad's been doing,
some people find it irresponsible.
But rock climbing, it's not golf, OK?
It's supposed to be dangerous.
I mean, people think climbing should be this safe sport
like gymnastics or something.
I say, screw that.
I'm all, climbing is supposed to be adventurous.
It's supposed to be a little dangerous.
It's supposed to be exciting, you know?
I mean, what the [BLEEP]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So how'd you lose your arm?
Someone took the guard off the wood chipper.
You're lucky, this could really--
I only stuck my arm out of the shark tank for a second.
I was trying to get the fork out of the garbage disposal.
Alligators don't belong at petting zoos.
I didn't eat my vegetables and it fell off.
When you get out of a helicopter, never wave.
I do have a friend who lost his hand to fireworks
so I won't make a fireworks joke.
That happens a lot.
I was born without my hand, and they're still not sure why.
My mom wasn't on drugs, so I'm told.
Sorry, mom.
I don't want to be known for being a one armed climber.
And it's tough, because, like, I get it.
That's what makes me special.
But I'd rather be just a good climber.
Like I don't want to be good for a girl.
I don't want to be good for just having one hand.
I just want to be a good climber, period.
[GRUNTING]
[YELLING]
Fucker, I was so close.
Stump dicks.
So weird.
Can't show that to my mom.
My name is James Scheri.
I climb stuff, all kinds of stuff.
Normally I wake up every morning and it's holy fuck,
I don't have a leg anymore.
Do you really?
No.
OK.
I've been climbing with Maureen for a little while now,
and there's pretty much three things
that you need to know about her.
One, animals.
I love animals so much.
Good, chickens.
Yeah, I do love my chickens.
They don't love me.
Two, junk food.
Oh my god, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, carbs
and cheese together.
She pretty much has the diet of a five-year-old kid.
And three, she is currently the best one armed female
climber in the world.
[CHEERING]
She also probably has the record for cupcakes
eaten on a climbing podium.
You know, losing your legs sucks.
It's not fun, right.
But like as climbers, we use our hands quite a bit.
And your feet, you can kind of fake it, right, like, I mean,
not that I'm saying it's easy.
But the thing with climbing with a stump,
it's just baffling to me.
I do a lot of matching.
I grab a lot of holds backwards because I'll just make it work.
I can side pull with it.
I can lay back with it.
I can jam it in a crack.
If there's a jug, I have to hook from above.
If I can get the right angle on crimps,
I can actually catch the edge of the crimp
if I'm really delicate.
Watching her clip doesn't ever look solid.
Take.
I'll get like toes to tits heel hook
to keep me on while I clip.
Sometime last summer I decided, you know,
I want to find something hard and I want to lead it.
And so a friend of mine recommended Reefer Madness,
which is an 11a, four star 11a in Clear Creek.
And I probably spent five or six days
on top rope, three of which I thought, this is impossible.
I can't do it.
And then on the fourth day, I unlocked some kind of sequence
where all of a sudden I thought, whoa, this is possible.
[GRUNTING]
You got this.
Yeah.
Not that long ago I would have just settled
for being a 5.8 top rope climber for the rest of my life.
And then I did Reefer Madness and it just
didn't seem that hard.
It was such an eye opening experience.
I was just like, I should be doing harder routes.
I don't get the impression that she has any intention
of stopping anytime soon.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
People come up to us in the gym and they're like,
we just saw you guys climbing and we're just really inspired.
And it's like, we're not doing anything inspiring.
We're just climbing in a gym like everyone else.
Like-- pretty sure I could like rapel
and you'd be inspired by it.
I don't want someone to look at me
and just focus on the one on the one arm.
I don't want someone to look at James and just be like,
he's good for one leg, or something.
I think climbing with disabled people
has come so far in the last few years.
Craig has climbed 5.13.
Ryan's climbed v10.
It's just like, I think we should all
be held to the same standard.
The perception in America, they're
so shocked that you're doing something.
And so they react one way, which is like,
oh my gosh, that's so inspiring.
When for the athlete, they definitely don't like that.
I don't mind inspiring other adaptive people
or disabled people, because I think they really
do have this barrier to entry, this barrier to thinking
of what's possible.
When you're ready.
But when someone from the abled community
comments on one of my photos, like, wow,
now I have no excuses.
I'm like, well, I never really had
an excuse in the first place.
I think it's cool to get recognized when
you go above and beyond or are trying hard and doing
cool shit, but I don't think we should be celebrated
just because we're disabled.
Just like bringing disabled people to a level lower than,
you know, able-bodied people.
It's like that question where, when you're climbing,
do you forget your disabled?
And I'm like, no.
Why would I want to forget I'm disabled?
I freaking love my life.
[CHATTER]
I think that the image of a disabled person in America
is built up to be helpless.
I understand the media is fascinated with telling
stories of disabled people.
But the way that they portray us is just comically bad.
Typing may not seem a difficult task to you and me.
It's very accurate.
Nor is it out of the ordinary for Maureen Beck.
Like typing, for real?
From birth, limits have tried to interfere with her life.
And since that day, she's shrugged those limits aside.
I think the worst one was when they
made us rope up on the second flatiron, which
is a 5.0 climb that people in Boulder
do in their Birkenstocks.
As the sun rises above the Flatirons,
James Scheri and Maureen Beck see a challenge on the horizon.
You know, it's a climb that everybody in our group
had soloed dozens of times.
These climbers with disabilities only
see opportunity at the base of this towering sandstone.
Whoa, look at this.
Like they can actually do it.
And the whole day we're just like,
this is kind of fucking boring.
To ascend a wall riddled with pitfalls,
the team works together.
You're good to climb.
They see ability in their disability.
On the mountain, this group showed
us there is no summit too high to reach,
giving those with disabilities a new view on life.
People have these falsely deflated expectations
of disabled athletes and it really does affect us.
I did a comp, a World Cup, actually,
we're all training really hard and we show up and the routes
are like 5.8, 5.9, and 5.10.
And I'm like, I flew to Europe for this?
I actually was like upset enough about it
that I spoke to one of the organizers
and was like, hey, like these routes were way too easy.
Like, it's not cool.
And the guy actually said, well oh, it just
makes the crowd feel really good when you guys top out.
And I was just like.
Makes me feel like shit.
We're real athletes just like the able-bodied team.
We don't claim to be special.
We don't plan to win some silly awards.
Like we just climb because we love climbing, just
like everybody else.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We go all the way up to Wyoming to climb in Vedauwoo.
I think that I'm going to be a nice person
and bring a cooler full of beer and ice
so we can have cold beer to drink all day.
And I hand the cooler to Mo for like two seconds
and the next thing I know.
The cooler broke and it's 10:00 AM and we're out of beer.
The beer is everywhere, all over the rocky ground, spraying.
Destroyed.
Pound it.
Come on.
There's still stuff in there.
10 o'clock in the morning in Vedauwoo.
Woo.
It's like breakfast beer.
Waste not want not.
There are sober children.
Luckily I'm like 10 pounds heavier
and I can just wedge my stomach into the off width.
That was the carbonation, too, I promise.
Want to go rock climbing?
I have to be burped first.
Yeah, Maureen can be a junk show every now and then.
We seriously got lost like eight times.
My groin!
But like once she is climbing, it
seems like the junk show kind of goes away.
Maybe it's just that whole, she's so excited
to climb she's not really worried
about the actual planning process.
We're not lost.
Are you sure?
We're totally lost.
I have no idea where we are.
This is unbelievable.
I'm a new boulderer.
Bouldering is really hard with one hand.
The fuck am I doing?
She'll fail.
She doesn't mind failing.
To me, I watch that and I'm like, that's bad ass.
It's pretty cool to see.
Shit.
Would it help if there was a cupcake at the top?
Probably.
One of the biggest things I've learned
in the last couple of years is when
it's OK to walk away and not be mad at yourself
because just not all climbs are meant to happen.
It's really sweet going on a climbing
trip with other adaptive climbers,
because no one's taking the time to say, oh, no.
You can't do that.
Or, oh, be careful there.
Oh, don't let Budget see this video.
The more I hang out with adaptive climbers,
the more I'm pushing myself.
I'm not giving them any slack and I fully
expect them to not give me slack.
Nice, Ryan, nice.
Seeing other adaptive athletes really push the limits
and see how hard they can go, it makes
me want to be less of a fat ass and see how hard I can go.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
5.12 is something that two years ago I'd tell you
you are absolutely bat shit for thinking I could do it.
I think for every climber their first 5.12 is that first, cool,
I'm a climber.
I mean, there's a book, How to Climb 5.12.
There's not a book that says how to climb 5.11 or 5.8, 5.9.
There's a friggin book called How to Climb 5.12.
Have you read it?
No.
Oh shit.
Oops.
Obviously, I failed miserably.
That's not the way to do it.
But it's 5.12, it's supposed to be hard.
So right now I'm working on Days of Future Past.
The crux is crossing over a greasy shallow offsize crack.
Most people can just reach over to the good hold.
But having a friggin negative 13 ape index
makes it a little hard.
And even when I get the good hold,
it's like, how am I going to match this?
Just grab it with my left hand?
[YELLING]
There were definitely moves on the route that seemed harder
than anything I had ever tried before.
But there was something about it that just clicked.
I thought, this could work.
This route is more technical than Burl, which
I think is her strong suit.
She is very precise.
And she's able to take her time.
And she's able to kind of sort it out.
I think if I just try really hard.
It wasn't long before I had the bottom climb completely
memorized.
The top section, you know it's hard.
It's pumpy.
It's steep.
But it's totally doable.
The biggest question mark for me was, was I
going to be able to do the crux, which starts on a ledge
and it isn't over until you grab a big chickenhead.
The hardest move is trying to get that freaking stump jam.
I must have gone up over a dozen times.
[YELLING]
So fucking close.
[YELLING]
Something wasn't connecting for me
to be able to just pull off this move.
It's 5.12, man.
I'm actually happy on the inside.
[YELLING]
Feels better every time.
We're out here for about the 15th or 16th time.
I need cheese and meat and crackers.
I'll bring some healthy snacks, but you always need Oreos.
I don't think you can climb without Oreos.
Just double stuff.
Like if you like single stuff, you hate America.
She knows, like, OK.
It might not happen this week.
It might not happen next month.
But I think in her head it will happen.
I spent a lot of time last night visualizing the send.
So maybe it will go.
Maybe it won't.
Probably won't.
But I think it's go time.
I think it's time to start.
I think I've turned into like a total projecting wanker.
Like I don't go climb for fun anymore.
Fucker.
I'm sick of walking up here three times a week.
I'll complain about having to go to do my project, kind of.
I'll be like, yeah, I'm going to go work the project again.
Or I'm getting sick and tired of it.
But I just, I love that process of taking something
that was impossible and then doing it,
even if there is some psycho insanity
time wasting in the middle.
What the fuck.
Bear is one of my tribe and I find it really motivating
that he still gets up and after it every day.
He could just give up on life but instead
he's out here chewing sticks.
That's one inspiring dog.
I just, never thought I'd be a projector.
Because before I did, I thought it was boring.
How could you do the same climb 100 times when there's so many
climbs out there.
But now that I'm kind of into it, it's kind of fun.
It's wet.
It's cold.
And I'm sick.
Shit.
I've always had this feeling I could do the climb, that's
why I started it.
But I haven't been able to do the crux move.
Like, it's still shutting me down.
And that's when I started to think,
maybe I just actually can't do it.
Maybe someone with my hand just can't do this route.
And so I went into this lead attempt being like,
I'm going to fall.
And then I stuck the crux.
And I thought, holy cow, this is it.
And I was like, oh shit.
I fell off after the crux.
Fuck.
I might be spent.
I realized it was going to be a really big challenge
to link it all together.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Pretty much I haven't really been projecting a whole route.
I've been projecting three feet of climbing for the last six
months.
And when I say that, it makes me feel insane.
Like, definition of an insane person
doing the same thing over and over
and expecting a different result,
my face is next to that definition in the dictionary.
I'm so close on this climb that the littlest things I think
will make a difference.
I don't think she's had to train that much up until now.
I think she's kind of just done her thing and ate cupcakes
and called it good.
Whereas now, it's like, if you want
to start climbing like a harder route, I mean,
you kind of do have to train.
I hate cardio.
I hate running.
I suck at it.
But I'm slowly getting convinced that it really
does help with like overall fitness, I guess.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
My name's Nellie.
I'm Mo's trainer.
I'm here to take her from 5.9 plus to 5.12.
Faster, harder.
Come on, Maureen.
5.12 doesn't climb itself.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Come on, Maureen.
Something is clicking and I'm getting
stronger and more confident.
I mean, I can ascend it whenever.
It's just this film is due.
It's like, fuck, it's due in five days to Reel Rock.
In Boulder Canyon one-armed climber, Maureen Beck,
attempts to inspire the world by being the first one-armed woman
to ascend the notorious difficulty score of 5.12a.
It's like toes to tits.
What to do.
Standing in the way of her most inspirational ascent
is one slippery, jengus crack.
[GRUNTING]
I [BLEEP] up.
Maureen has fallen from this crack on to her safety string
time and time again.
Or, as her partner James Scheri puts it.
She's whipped off of [BLEEP] a million times.
When Disabled News 7 got a hold of this story,
we searched for another amputee could
speak to the difficulties Maureen is facing
and possibly lend her a hand.
Meet Tommy, TC Pro Caldwell, the world's most talented
disabled climber.
In 2008, Caldwell severed his index finger
in a tragic home improvement accident.
[YELLING]
After the accident, my life completely changed.
We sat Tommy down for an exclusive interview.
Everywhere I went there was a reminder
of my crippling disability.
My gloves don't fit anymore.
I couldn't go bowling.
If I went to cup a big handful of M&M's, like half of them
would just fall on the ground.
Like [BLEEP],, there goes half my M&M's.
Disabled News 7 arranged for Tommy
to surprise Maureen back in Boulder canyon.
When I heard that Maureen Beck was going to try and climb 5.12
with one arm, I thought to myself,
here's a girl that's going to face a challenge
almost as big as mine.
We brought you a surprise.
OK, I hope it's cupcakes.
OK, what do you think the surprise is?
Probably cupcakes.
Though initially disappointed about the cupcakes,
Maureen was shocked to meet her real surprise
right around the corner.
Because of their disabilities, a friendship bonds
quickly between the two.
Oh hey, it's one of the tribe.
I came out to Boulder canyon to inspire Maureen
to achieve the impossible.
This is your moment, Maureen.
When I was up on the Dawn Wall, I looked at my stump,
and I was like, we can do this little buddy.
Just think like that.
These horrifically disabled, yet totally inspiring athletes
are setting the bar quite high, making all of us
normal people be like, what the [BLEEP]..
I believe in you, Maureen.
Come on.
Could it be possible that disabled athletes are just
regular athletes, and the rest of us who
find this so inspiring are just boring [BLEEP] holes
with no [BLEEP] clue.
It's now or never.
You've got to shove that stump in
deeper than you've ever shoved it before.
Come on, Maureen, this is your Dawn Wall!
With Tommy's support, Maureen finally proves, she's
not that inspiring after all.
I just like, couldn't pull.
One, two.
We're all pretty curious to see what
would happen if we tie Tommy's arm back
and he could try it one handed.
Feels impossible.
Part of me was hoping he'd unleash some of his Dawn Wall
on that shit and just figure it out.
Fuck.
That's impossible.
Turns out, even a 5.15 climber can't climb 5.12 with one hand.
Yeah, I have no idea how you do that.
OK, good.
Good.
I'd be a little said if you like flashed
my project with one arm.
I was like, this is impossible.
It's easy to let a project like this stress you to death.
But I think if you just remember why you went up
there the very first time to try it, eventually, maybe,
you'll send.
I tried to really quiet my mind.
And I just think, don't screw up.
Stay focused.
Breathe deep.
I finally get the crux and I'm just pumped out of my mind.
I was definitely thinking, this is my chance
to never have to come up here again.
Somehow, I got the jug and just, I couldn't believe it.
It was definitely just like, don't screw up.
Don't screw up.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh my god.
Holy shit.
I just did it.
James, I just climbed 5.12.
Ow.
Do you need cupcakes for that?
Yeah, I could force down a cupcake.
We've got Oscar--
I think if it hadn't been for the 50 tries leading up
to the send, it wouldn't have felt as good.
It wouldn't have meant as much.
It would've just been another rock climb.
Like this thing was my best friend and worst
enemy for five months.
And now it's over.
This is my 8:30 in the morning send beer.
It's delicious.
Hey, Tommy Caldwell couldn't do this route.
Hey, Tommy Caldwell, suck my stump.
[MUSIC PLAYING]