Mtnmeister

Major Rob Marshall is a Reserve C-17 pilot in the Seattle area, co-founder of the USAF 7 Summits Challenge, and the director of the USAF 50 summits challenge. In the 7 Summits Challenge, Rob led the climb of Mt. Everest (and other mountains) in the process of fundraising for the families of fallen soldiers. On the summit of each mountain, Rob does pushups to honor his fellow veterans.

Brian Warren is a year-round professional mountain guide based out of Jackson, WY. He guides in various parts of the world including Jackson Hole, the Pacific Northwest, and the European Alps. He has also climbed and guided in Alaska, Canada, South America and the Himalaya. Brian presently holds IFMGA and AMGA Aspirant status and an Avalanche level III certification.

Kalen Thorien is a professional skier, adventurer, writer, and photographer based out of Salt Lake City, UT. She has been placed on the covers of Ski Magazine and Powder Magazine among many other publications. Until recently, to support her skiing, Kalen held jobs in construction, as a dock hand, and as a firefighter. Contrary to what some might think, Kalen didn't start seriously skiing until 16. 

Casey Greene is based in the mountains of western Montana and is a long time cartographer of Adventure Cycling Association. He has been labeled a pioneer by Sierra Magazine for his numerous bikepacking trips and by BIKE magazine for his numerous packbiking trips. Casey's maps have also been featured in many publications including the New York Times. During his time at Adventure Cycling Association, he has spearheaded a diverse array of projects including the research, design, and mapping of the Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route.

  Daren Wendell puts himself through extreme physical and mental hardship in order to save lives. On April 10th, he completed his most recent endeavor: running 100 marathons in 100 days across the entire united states to raise $140,000. The funds are enough to provide 3,500 people in Africa with clean drinking water for the rest of their lives.

Brad Ludden is a professional kayaker who began traveling internationally at the ripe age of 12. He has completed over 100 first descents. "First Descents" is also the name of the non-profit he founded in 1999 to offer young adult cancer fighters a free outdoor experience to reclaim their lives and connect with others doing the same. Quite possibly his most prestigious accolade is Cosmopolitan Magazine’s hottest Bachelor in America in 2008.

On Saturday, April 25th, a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Kathmandu and caused multiple avalanches on Mt. Everest. At the time of this recording, 22 climbers are reported dead and over 3500 people total. These numbers will almost certainly rise. In this time of crisis, donations are needed to help in the recovery effort. Coincidentally, we at MTNmeister were planning on launching a "support" page for the podcast's benefit that we had been planning for the last couple of months. Asking for listener donations seems wrong when we compare it to donations to Nepal. Should we still do it? How should we think about charitable giving? This episode addresses these difficult questions.

Shelton Johnson is a ranger with the National Park Service and has worked for the National Parks for 28 years. After growing up in inner-city Detroit, he found his way to Yellowstone and now Yosemite, where he has been for the past 22 years. He is the author of Gloryland and has shaken hands with both Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama.

  Andy Kirkpatrick is a British mountaineer, author, speaker, and comedian at times. Some of his more notable climbs include the Reticent Wall on El Cap, the first winter ascent on the Troll Wall, and the South Ridge of Ultevanna in Antarctica. He is the author of Psychovertical and Cold Wars, which both won the Boardman Tasker award for climbing literature in 2008 and 2012 respectively.

Shawn Forry may in fact be the most interesting man in the world. As an Outward Bound wilderness instructor, he takes both children and adults on backpacking and climbing expeditions. During the winter, he runs scenic interpretive tours with 10 dog sled teams. He’s also a hiker. This past winter he and Justin Lichter became the first people ever to thru hike the Pacific Crest Trail in the winter.

Doug Bishop is the general manager of Newschoolers, an online community with some of the most passionate freeskiers out there. Doug was an aspiring professional skier for six years and joined Newschoolers in the early, early days. Some fellow Newschoolers contributors describe Doug as "Old. Nice. Nerdy. The face of NS" and say "Damn, I wish I could count as high as his Karma (NS forum point system)." 

Renan Ozturk does a lot of different things. He’s an artist, cinematographer, professional athlete, high altitude mountaineer, explorer, entrepreneur, and probably many other things. If he was a podcast host, he’d have it all. Renan is the co-founder of Camp4Collective, an adventure film and commercial production company. He is a 2013 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and a 2015 MTNmeister.

Faith Dickey is a professional slackliner who specializes in highlining, longlining, and free soloing. She set the female world record for Highlining length at 345ft (105m) in Moab, Utah. She is also the first female to surpass the 100 meter mark in highlining. Her record for height was in the Swiss Alps at 4000ft (1200m) from the valley. Faith has more than 30 free solos (walking without a safety leash), the longest of which is 28m, also a female world record.

Jason Haas is a math teacher, co-owner of Fixed Pin Publishing, and a rock climber (free solo climbing on occasion). He has done climbing in Alaska, Africa, Asia, South America and all over the continental US. Jason has completed over 550 first ascents, many of which are done to create guidebooks for Fixed Pin.

Roy Tuscany is the founder of High Fives Foundation, which works to provide grants and recovery options to injured athletes from the action sports world. To date, they have helped raise funds, secure treatments, and aid in the recover of 70 athletes. In 2006, Roy was aspiring to be a professional skier but became paralyzed from the waist down after overshooting a jump. In less than two years after the accident, Roy was back on skis.

Lynn Hill is a legendary American rock climber. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, she was widely regarded as one of the best sport climbers in the world, and in 1993 she became the first person ever to free-climb The Nose on El Cap. The following year, she did it again in less than 24 hours. She is the author of Climbing Free: My Life in the Vertical World.

Jeffrey James Binney is currently training for the Leadville 100 on Saturday, August 22, 2015. On MTNmeister, this is typically something that we’d expect to hear, but Jeffrey’s background is anything but typical. Jeffrey grew up on a pig farm in Missouri and is now a comedian based out of Los Angeles. A little more than three years ago, he lost his mom to obesity, and he himself weighed 340 lbs at his heaviest. He has lost over 100 lbs and is in the process of creating a hybrid comedy/documentary called Once Is Enough.

Ueli Steck is a Swiss mountaineer who is well known for his speed ascents in the alps and Himalaya. He climbs mountains that normally take skilled climbers days in a few hours, like the Eiger North Face, which he climbed in 2 hours and 47 minutes. "The Swiss Machine" has been awarded the Piolet d’Or, one of climbings highest honors, twice. 

Colin Arisman is a storyteller and a long distance hiker. Occasionally he kills those two birds with one stone, like the time when he hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail: Mexico to Canada, 2668 miles, five months. He created a film to share the story called Only The Essential.

Mountain Accord has a proposed blueprint for the future of the Central Wasatch Mountains. They are soliciting public feedback on this document from now until March 16. In this live debate, various stakeholders will provide an overview of the proposed blueprint. In the first 30 minutes, the representatives discuss the project’s impact on four main systems: environment, recreation, transportation, and economy. In the second half, we run an audience Q&A. Questions can be submitted before or during the live discussion on the discussion forum below or by using #MountainAccord on social media.