In episode 67, Sam and Adrian open with quick hits on Nick Russell, Adam Fabricant, and Billy Haas's clean first descent of Dorje Lakpa's south face and Jonathan Siegrist's 100th route of 5.14d or harder, before sitting down with longtime North Face athlete Matt Segal, just eleven weeks into fatherhood.
Matt traces a career Adrian calls the ultimate blue-collar pro: a Miami gym kid turned competition climber, then a Boulder-based trad specialist putting up hard single-pitch gear routes, then expeditions from China to Pakistan.
- A paragliding crash outside Bishop eight years ago broke a dozen bones and forced a restart, and from that hospital bed came a vow to climb 5.14 again before flying. He never flew again, but went on to tick his two childhood dreams: 5.14d and the summit of Nameless Tower.
- Now 42, with a son and a lot of lost friends behind him, Matt says he no longer accepts dying in the mountains. His focus is a short, safe Boulder Canyon crack he first tried 15 years ago that would be his hardest trad route ever, chosen because it's close to home.
- The crew also gets into the controversy over his winter free ascent of D7 on the Diamond, how he thinks about risk for the next generation, and his plans to blend climbing and food through Alpine Start, coaching, and Never Skip Dinner retreats.
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The Duffel Shuffle Podcast is supported by Alpenglow Expeditions, an internationally renowned mountain guide service based in Lake Tahoe, California. Visit https://alpenglowexpeditions.com/ or follow @alpenglowexpeditions on Instagram to learn more.
