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Man: Hello, boys and girls.

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This is Tim ferriss,
and welcome to "the Tim ferriss show".

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In this episode, we have one of the
most recognized climbers in the world,

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Alex honnold.

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- Welcome to the show.
- Alex: Thanks for having me.

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Tim: Alex, who impresses you right now?

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Alex: This kid Marc-andré leclerc.
This Canadian guy.

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Hardly anyone has heard of him
because he's so under the radar.

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He's been doing, like, all kinds
of crazy alpine soloing.

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- Tim: What makes it so crazy?
- Alex: He just goes out and climbs

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some of the most difficult walls
and alpine faces in the world.

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The most challenging things
that anyone's ever climbed, really.

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Tim: So he's just next level?

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Alex: Yeah, it's, like, so crazy.
Like, [don't know.

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Tim: And for those people
who want to see visuals on this stuff,

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we'll grab some video and links...

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Alex: An interesting thing
about Marc-andré

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is I don't know if there is video
of most of the stuff he's doing.

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Tim: Oh, really?

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Alex: Yeah, he's just going out
and climbing for himself

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in such a pure style.
It's pretty full on.

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(Breathing heavily)

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(Wind whistles)

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Narrator: At 23 years old,
Marc-andré leclerc

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was already one of the boldest
alpinists of his generation.

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But he was almost completely unknown.

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Narrator: I spent two years
following this elusive climber,

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trying to document his ascents,

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and understand
his wild vision of adventure.

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Narrator:
Throughout my journey with Marc,

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I kept coming back to these mysteries
at the heart of climbing

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that have gripped me since I was a kid.

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Growing up
as a young climber in Colorado,

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I idolized the legendary free-soloist
Derek hersey,

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scaling the cliffs above town
with no rope.

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Just a chalk bag
and a pair of old climbing shoes.

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Narrator: But one day,
Derek was out soloing

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and he fell.

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Man: Derek hersey
was killed last week.

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Some people thought
he had a death wish, but he said,

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"there's nothing else
that makes me feel so alive."

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Peter: Ever since then,
I've been fascinated

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by these larger-than-life figures...

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Getting ready.

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Who push the limits
of adventure in the mountains.

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(Grunts)

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Narrator:
I've seen some amazing things...

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Woman 1: Tommy Caldwell attempting
to free climb the dawn wall.

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Narrator: And been left to grieve...

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Woman: Dean Potter lost his life.

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Narrator: When friends died
pursuing their passion

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woman 2: One of the world's
best-known mountaineers

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ueli steck has died in an accident.

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Narrator: After 20 years of filming,

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I'm not sure I've gotten any closer
to understanding at all.

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Fucking hell.

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Check out the no-hands knee bar, baby.

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Narrator: Alex, why take the risk?

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- Why not use a rope?
- Uh...

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Those are just dumb questions. (Laughs)

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(Cheering)

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Narrator: Meanwhile, the sport
of climbing has changed a lot.

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Let's head to the gym! Boom!

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Narrator:
What was once a rogue activity

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for misfits and vagabonds
has hit the big time.

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Man: Rock climbing
makes its olympic debut.

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Narrator: Climbers have become
superstar athletes...

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It's raised my profile a little bit,
for sure.

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With armies
of social media followers.

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And their ascents
are celebrated and hyped.

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Woman: Professional climbers are
sharing Snapchat videos from Everest.

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This is hair by Everest.
It's a new hashtag, it's a thing.

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- Hair by Everest.
- It's a thing.

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So I was surprised
to come across an obscure blog post

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about an unknown
young Canadian climber

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by the name of Marc-Andre' leclerc.

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He had climbed
a 4, goo-foot route of rock and ice

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in one of the harshest environments
on earth.

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And all by himself.

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This was a monumental feat,

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but it was just a handful of close
observers freaking out about it online.

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So, who was this guy?

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To find out, I headed up
to squamish, British Columbia,

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the heart
of the Canadian climbing scene.

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(Strums guitar)

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Weird-looking donuts, guys

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we got some fresh bites for you.

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- You wanna buy a donut?
- Yeah, sure.

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Full donut's two bucks.

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(Quiet chatter)

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(Laughter)

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Peter: When I first met Marc,
I didn't know what to make of him.

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This is called
“a sky hump into a front flip...

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(Laughs)

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Man: Wow.

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You want one?

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All right.

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Peter: He was clearly unaccustomed
to being in front of the camera.

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Whoa. That's a crazy light.

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Peter: Clap in front of your face.

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Cool. So tell us how old you are,
where you're from, and what you do.

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Cool. I'm Marc-andré leclerc

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and I'm from the Fraser valley,
British Columbia,

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lived in bc my whole life.

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I'm 23 years old

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and I'm a climber, generally speaking.

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Yeah, as a young climber
growing up in western Canada,

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squamish was, like, the place to go.

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The most accessible big steep cliff
with super-rad hard routes,

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the center of the climbing universe,
I guess.

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Peter: Marc had moved to squamish,
fresh out of high school,

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eager to join the ranks
of the hard-core local climbers.

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Right away, as soon as he moved to town,
he was pretty hard to miss

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because of his crazy,
youthful exuberance and stoke.

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Come down and switch the rope.

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Marc: I think I was, like, pretty dorky.

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(Laughs) Like, super psyched.

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And I was always
sort of chomping at the bit,

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like, gotta get up early,

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like, climb
until my fingertips are bleeding.

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(Groans)

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He was not afraid to jump
right into the deep end.

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(Grunts)

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Oh, no! Oh, shit.

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Man 1: Crazy.

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Man 2: He came in just all guns blazing.

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I was like, "this kid's
a really special breed."

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Man: He was a bit young and brash.

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You know, it's like, "I'm here,"
you know what I mean?

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But if you're not young and brash
between 17 and about 24,

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you might as well shoot yourself,

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cos that's
when people are young and brash.

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Will: Marc was just a true dirtbag.
Like, seriously broke.

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He didn't have a car,
he didn't even have a phone.

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Marc: I had a phone for a while.

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Left it in a stuff sack
with some smoked salmon

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and then the phone was stolen
by a wild fox.

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Peter: No way!

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I feel like maybe
I'm just better off without one.

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For a couple of summers there,
he was, like, living in a stairwell.

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It was surprising when he managed
to find a cute blonde girl

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to live in the stairwell with him.
(Laughs)

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His stairwell
was just, like, a small futon

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at the bottom of the stairwell,
like, an entryway.

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The longer time I spent there,
the more it became decorated.

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So then, like, he had tapestries
and pictures.

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His stairwell became, like, the lounge.

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There was no need to live luxuriously,

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because we have what we want,
which is climbing.

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It was easiest just to live
as cheaply as we could.

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And then we decided
to just move into a tent in the forest.

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I was attracted to him

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because he was so different
than anyone I'd ever met.

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He was also super socially awkward.

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But I didn't care,
cos, like, that's who he is

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and I love him for that.

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- Going on?
- Look, there he is.

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Your timing's perfect, guys.
You nearly missed me.

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They call me hevy duty.

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It's a nickname that's been with me
since the early '703.

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I'm more like light duty now
than hevy duty. Or old duty.

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Hevy is kind of, like, the mayor
of squamish rock climbing.

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He's also, like, a hula hoop expert.

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(Dance music plays)

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I am the hoop guy.

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Peter: Yeah, tell me about Marc-Andre'.

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I can tell Marc-Andre stories all day.

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Peter: Please do, yeah.

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My first memories of Marc-andré

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was seeing him come running out
of the forest in squamish,

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barefoot with no shirt.

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He just broke my speed record
on the grand wall

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and I was just like, "who is that guy?"

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The grand wall might be
the most iconic route in squamish.

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I'd climbed it the fastest
bottom to top.

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Speed records are a game.

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They're not the most important thing in
climbing, but I do love speed records.

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And then this local kid,
who I'd never heard of, did it faster.

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Marc: I was soloing the route
quite regularly,

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and one time, I just decided
to see how long it would take me.

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I got to the top and checked the time,

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I was, like, two or three minutes faster
than the established record.

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00:13:08,538 --> 00:13:11,541
And suddenly,
Alex honnold came back to squamish

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to get his record back on the grand wall

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that I had kind of, like,
unintentionally broken.

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I was like,
"oh, man, I'm gonna go fast."

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He totally destroyed it.
He cut my time in half.

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Alex: I think I did quite a bit faster.

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Enough so that it discouraged Marc
from ever wanting to try again. (Laughs)

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Marc is a very, very driven climber,
but he doesn't care about accolades.

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He doesn't even care
if anybody knows what he's climbing.

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I've always approach climbing
from an athletic background.

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I grew up climbing in the gym
and I think of it more as a sport.

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But he cares about, I don't wanna say
the spiritual component,

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but he cares about the experience
in the mountains, and the journey,

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and just wants to have a good time
while he's out there.

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And I really respect that. It's a...

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I mean, obviously, it contributes to him
performing at such a crazy level.

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00:14:10,475 --> 00:14:12,977
Peter: The first climb
we filmed with Marc

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00:14:13,102 --> 00:14:16,314
was a solo ascent
of the grand wall.

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00:14:16,397 --> 00:14:17,648
(Birds sing)

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00:14:24,572 --> 00:14:29,243
It's always nerve-racking
to film someone climbing without a rope.

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00:14:30,870 --> 00:14:34,457
But for Marc,
this was just part of his daily routine.

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00:14:35,875 --> 00:14:38,336
Marc: When I'm soloing rock climbs,

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00:14:38,419 --> 00:14:41,089
I don't really like
to feel like I'm pushing myself.

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00:14:41,214 --> 00:14:44,384
That's not the reason
for soloing rock for me.

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00:14:44,509 --> 00:14:48,388
I don't like to feel like I'm doing
something intense and scary or...

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00:14:48,471 --> 00:14:49,514
Peter: So then why do it?

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00:14:50,723 --> 00:14:54,977
Like, more just
to have a casual fun adventure

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00:14:55,103 --> 00:14:58,898
and... cruise around.

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00:15:18,418 --> 00:15:21,462
Hevy: And when you watch him climb,
he's just magic on the rock.

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00:15:25,550 --> 00:15:29,762
He's got style, he doesn't lunge,
he's very precise.

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00:15:31,431 --> 00:15:33,433
There's not the slightest margin
for error

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00:15:33,516 --> 00:15:35,685
from the minute you set off, is there?

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00:16:09,510 --> 00:16:13,514
Peter: Watching Marc move
so beautifully up the wall,

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00:16:14,724 --> 00:16:18,728
it was clear this goofy, unassuming kid

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was a master of his craft.

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00:16:47,006 --> 00:16:49,800
Brette: I really love
just watching him climbing.

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00:16:52,637 --> 00:16:57,225
Marc is a very calm
and, like, steady, controlled climber.

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00:16:57,350 --> 00:17:00,186
Hey, Marco, I missed you.

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00:17:00,311 --> 00:17:03,314
Marc: Yeah, I missed you, too.

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00:17:03,439 --> 00:17:04,439
(They laugh)

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00:17:04,482 --> 00:17:07,485
Brette: I get the fact that he wants
to solo, because I love it, too.

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00:17:07,568 --> 00:17:10,780
I'm feeling really, like, calm
and good with soloing, too,

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00:17:10,905 --> 00:17:13,908
so I would be psyched
on going and climbing...

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00:17:15,159 --> 00:17:17,662
It puts you directly in the present.

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00:17:17,787 --> 00:17:20,331
You can't be thinking
about anything else.

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00:17:22,667 --> 00:17:26,254
And you're interacting
and improvising in the moment.

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00:17:27,797 --> 00:17:30,633
And you're just in control.

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Marc: When I first met brette,

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00:17:41,269 --> 00:17:43,980
she definitely had
a pretty big impact on me.

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00:17:45,314 --> 00:17:49,819
At that time, I'd lost touch with the
whole climbing portion of my life.

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There is a really lively party scene
in squamish.

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00:17:55,992 --> 00:17:58,744
Definitely got hard into the partying.

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00:17:58,869 --> 00:18:02,999
At the beginning, it was pretty, like,
basic experimentation,

236
00:18:03,165 --> 00:18:08,713
like, it was really fun to experience
all these different states of mind.

237
00:18:10,172 --> 00:18:12,633
It's almost like a parallel to climbing.

238
00:18:12,758 --> 00:18:16,929
My friends like to explore a little bit,
and sometimes I like to explore a lot,

239
00:18:17,096 --> 00:18:19,640
and it was the same with the partying.

240
00:18:19,765 --> 00:18:24,812
Everyone would wanna take a tab of acid
and hang out and have a good time,

241
00:18:24,937 --> 00:18:29,025
and I'd wanna take six tabs of acid
and disappear for 20 hours.

242
00:18:29,191 --> 00:18:30,318
(Laughs)

243
00:18:32,862 --> 00:18:35,591
But I got to the point where I felt
like I couldn't really do anything

244
00:18:35,615 --> 00:18:37,283
without taking drugs.

245
00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:42,580
Which isn't a healthy place to be.

246
00:18:43,664 --> 00:18:44,957
I remember that.

247
00:18:45,124 --> 00:18:47,627
Marc: When brette and I started
climbing together,

248
00:18:48,336 --> 00:18:49,962
she was just totally going for it.

249
00:18:51,213 --> 00:18:55,009
Hanging out with her
reminded me of what I'd lost,

250
00:18:55,176 --> 00:18:58,888
what it was like to be... spirited.

251
00:19:03,267 --> 00:19:05,645
- Brette: Fun.
- Marc: Yeah, super fun, hey?

252
00:19:05,770 --> 00:19:07,021
Brette: Yeah.

253
00:19:07,855 --> 00:19:12,610
I could see how Marc could
have easily slid down that path,

254
00:19:12,693 --> 00:19:15,071
the dark side of drug life.

255
00:19:17,198 --> 00:19:18,824
(Indistinct conversation)

256
00:19:19,742 --> 00:19:22,495
- Man: Have a good day, guys.
- Marc: Thanks, guys.

257
00:19:24,997 --> 00:19:28,793
Brette: Marc is interested
in intense experiences

258
00:19:28,918 --> 00:19:30,461
and living to the fullest.

259
00:19:31,587 --> 00:19:36,217
Drugs can provide some version of that,
but it's not genuine.

260
00:19:36,342 --> 00:19:41,222
And I think he recognized
that climbing is the real experience.

261
00:19:41,847 --> 00:19:44,016
- Marc: Nice, brette.
- Brette: It's so cool.

262
00:19:44,183 --> 00:19:45,935
Marc: I know, isn't it beautiful?

263
00:19:46,060 --> 00:19:47,478
(Laughs)

264
00:19:47,603 --> 00:19:49,980
- What a fun route.
- See?

265
00:19:50,648 --> 00:19:52,191
Brette: I know for Marc,

266
00:19:52,316 --> 00:19:55,986
rock climbing in squamish
is all about having fun.

267
00:19:57,780 --> 00:20:03,619
But Marc's vision is more towards
soloing big alpine faces

268
00:20:03,703 --> 00:20:05,871
on beautiful mountains.

269
00:20:05,996 --> 00:20:10,376
He loves the mountains
and he is definitely ambitious.

270
00:20:11,043 --> 00:20:14,380
He wants to improve upon
what's been done before

271
00:20:14,505 --> 00:20:18,217
to make his contribution
to the history of alpinism.

272
00:20:24,223 --> 00:20:29,520
Peter: Alpinism, the discipline
of climbing big technical mountains,

273
00:20:29,645 --> 00:20:31,355
is more than just a sport.

274
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,568
It's an ideal
that has evolved over generations.

275
00:20:35,693 --> 00:20:37,653
(Pipes blare)

276
00:20:38,738 --> 00:20:40,823
In the first half of the 20th century,

277
00:20:40,948 --> 00:20:46,412
large-scale expeditions
used lots of equipment and manpower

278
00:20:46,537 --> 00:20:48,748
to conquer the world's highest peaks.

279
00:20:48,831 --> 00:20:52,877
News reel: They stand victorious
on the windswept roof of the world.

280
00:20:53,002 --> 00:20:54,754
(Applause)

281
00:20:55,171 --> 00:20:56,756
Peter: By the 1950s,

282
00:20:56,839 --> 00:21:00,760
it was no longer about getting
to the top of the mountain,

283
00:21:00,843 --> 00:21:02,720
but how you got there.

284
00:21:04,346 --> 00:21:05,848
In the European alps,

285
00:21:05,973 --> 00:21:11,562
there was a revolution
in climbing technique and philosophy.

286
00:21:11,687 --> 00:21:14,690
Smaller teams using less gear

287
00:21:14,774 --> 00:21:18,486
tackled steeper
and more dangerous faces.

288
00:21:18,611 --> 00:21:22,323
Man: That was the next step
in the evolution of alpinism.

289
00:21:22,448 --> 00:21:26,327
Climbing harder, climbing faster
and climbing in better style.

290
00:21:26,452 --> 00:21:30,790
A rope, a rack, and the pack
on your back, that's all you get

291
00:21:30,915 --> 00:21:33,167
and you have to make it work with that.

292
00:21:35,127 --> 00:21:37,588
Woman: When you look
through the history of alpinism,

293
00:21:37,713 --> 00:21:40,299
climbing was a form of freedom.

294
00:21:42,802 --> 00:21:47,348
It was physical freedom,
but it was also a philosophical freedom.

295
00:21:48,015 --> 00:21:52,978
And the ultimate experience of freedom
was to climb alone.

296
00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:58,692
Unfettered, unleashed, absolutely solo.

297
00:22:00,528 --> 00:22:04,907
Solo climbing on a high level
is an expression of art.

298
00:22:05,032 --> 00:22:09,537
The art of surviving
in the most crazy situations.

299
00:22:10,955 --> 00:22:14,583
Peter: While solo alpinism
may be the purest,

300
00:22:14,708 --> 00:22:17,002
most adventurous form
of climbing,

301
00:22:18,337 --> 00:22:20,589
it's also the deadliest.

302
00:22:20,714 --> 00:22:27,179
Maybe half of the leading solo climbers
of all times died in the mountains,

303
00:22:27,346 --> 00:22:32,726
and this is tragic
and it's difficult to defend.

304
00:22:35,187 --> 00:22:37,648
But this is the philosophy.

305
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:40,943
If you're going in an adventure,
you need difficulties.

306
00:22:41,777 --> 00:22:43,654
You need danger.

307
00:22:43,779 --> 00:22:49,118
If death was not a possibility,
coming out would be nothing.

308
00:22:49,243 --> 00:22:51,203
It would be kindergarten.

309
00:22:52,413 --> 00:22:56,375
But not an adventure and not an art.

310
00:22:56,500 --> 00:22:57,877
(Wind whistles)

311
00:23:05,885 --> 00:23:08,929
Peter: A few months
after our shoot in squamish,

312
00:23:10,139 --> 00:23:12,725
we followed Marc to the Canadian rockies

313
00:23:14,184 --> 00:23:17,771
where he'd come
for the world-renowned ice climbing.

314
00:23:18,898 --> 00:23:20,065
Marc: There's always a point

315
00:23:20,190 --> 00:23:22,818
where I just cannot wait
for ice-climbing season.

316
00:23:23,319 --> 00:23:26,488
I'm just ready
to go climb frozen waterfalls.

317
00:23:27,907 --> 00:23:32,411
Peter: Ice climbing
is a crucial skill in alpinism.

318
00:23:32,536 --> 00:23:37,708
Over the years, it's developed
into its own highly technical sport

319
00:23:37,833 --> 00:23:41,253
and the ice in canmore
is a proving ground.

320
00:23:43,088 --> 00:23:44,757
By the time we arrived,

321
00:23:44,882 --> 00:23:47,718
Marc had already been there
for a few weeks,

322
00:23:47,843 --> 00:23:50,012
camping outside of town

323
00:23:50,137 --> 00:23:53,223
and climbing things
that had the locals talking.

324
00:23:53,349 --> 00:23:55,267
Man: First time I heard
about Marc-andré,

325
00:23:55,434 --> 00:23:58,270
he was living in a snow cave
on the parkway or something. (Laughs)

326
00:23:59,271 --> 00:24:02,274
And he was, like, soloing
all these ice routes all day long.

327
00:24:03,484 --> 00:24:06,987
I was like, "here's somebody who's
just going after it and pushing things

328
00:24:07,112 --> 00:24:10,032
that is pretty much unknown."

329
00:24:17,873 --> 00:24:22,753
Man: Ice climbing, solo,
it's not something many people do.

330
00:24:24,588 --> 00:24:26,507
You're climbing frozen water

331
00:24:28,717 --> 00:24:31,011
with just a few centimeters
of your ice tools

332
00:24:31,136 --> 00:24:33,472
and crampons in the ice.

333
00:24:39,812 --> 00:24:41,730
It's a very ephemeral medium.

334
00:24:46,276 --> 00:24:49,488
Climbing something that wasn't there
maybe a few weeks earlier

335
00:24:49,613 --> 00:24:52,282
and that might not be there
the next day

336
00:24:52,408 --> 00:24:54,827
if the thing you're climbing on
decides to collapse.

337
00:25:00,332 --> 00:25:02,812
Alex: People think the free soloing
that I'm doing seems crazy,

338
00:25:02,876 --> 00:25:04,253
but what I'm doing is on rock.

339
00:25:04,378 --> 00:25:07,047
It's safe in a lot of ways.
The medium is super solid.

340
00:25:08,298 --> 00:25:11,510
And then I see Marc-andré
free soloing on ice and snow.

341
00:25:12,636 --> 00:25:16,348
It just shows so much experience
on such different kinds of terrain.

342
00:25:22,396 --> 00:25:24,690
Man: In all my years of climbing,

343
00:25:24,815 --> 00:25:31,405
I don't think I've seen another climber
quite as hungry for it as Marc-Andre.

344
00:25:35,993 --> 00:25:39,538
He's got this headspace
that nobody else seems to have.

345
00:25:43,459 --> 00:25:45,294
Nothing fazes him.

346
00:26:11,403 --> 00:26:16,450
Marc doesn't just solo the ice,
he goes out and solos mixed routes.

347
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:21,288
Marc: With mixed climbing,
it's the whole mentality

348
00:26:21,413 --> 00:26:25,459
of the ice doesn't have to be
fully formed to be climbed.

349
00:26:26,835 --> 00:26:30,130
Raphael: Instead of embedding
your picks in the ice,

350
00:26:30,255 --> 00:26:33,175
you're just kind of placing them
on these little rock edges.

351
00:26:34,426 --> 00:26:37,304
That adds another dimension
of insecurity.

352
00:26:59,743 --> 00:27:05,290
Peter: Filming Marc on this
insecure terrain was terrifying.

353
00:27:09,711 --> 00:27:12,881
But he couldn't have been more relaxed.

354
00:27:13,006 --> 00:27:14,800
Peter: Holy shit, dude.

355
00:27:15,926 --> 00:27:18,387
Then he took it up a notch

356
00:27:18,512 --> 00:27:23,100
by climbing solo
on the notorious Stanley headwall.

357
00:27:24,434 --> 00:27:28,564
Marc: The Stanley headwall is the
centerpiece of rockies mixed climbing.

358
00:27:29,648 --> 00:27:32,067
None of the ice
is a hundred percent continuous.

359
00:27:32,151 --> 00:27:36,405
It forms in blobs,
and pillars and hanging daggers.

360
00:27:36,530 --> 00:27:41,118
You have to climb steep, overhanging
rock just to get to the ice.

361
00:27:43,036 --> 00:27:46,165
And so it makes for really good,
engaging climbing.

362
00:27:52,087 --> 00:27:54,298
Barry: There's a high degree
of craftsmanship

363
00:27:54,423 --> 00:27:59,178
that has to go
into the mixed-climbing equation.

364
00:27:59,303 --> 00:28:03,432
The pick of an ice ax can hang on
to just the smallest of edges.

365
00:28:10,772 --> 00:28:13,901
But you don't have nerves
going to the end of the ice ax.

366
00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:18,947
You have to evaluate and test.

367
00:28:22,576 --> 00:28:26,622
Raphael: The difference between having
your pick solidly seated on a hold

368
00:28:26,788 --> 00:28:31,877
and having that pick
explode off of it is very, very small.

369
00:28:42,137 --> 00:28:45,933
Alex: I don't know if I've seen someone
climb bare-handed with ice tools

370
00:28:47,851 --> 00:28:49,978
in the freezing temps,
being able to improvise

371
00:28:50,103 --> 00:28:53,315
between pulling on the rock
and pulling on ice tools.

372
00:28:54,942 --> 00:28:57,819
He's just combining all these
unconventional tactics.

373
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:01,693
(Ice crunches)

374
00:31:28,136 --> 00:31:32,391
Barry: Marc soloing the
Stanley headwall, it's just like, "wow!

375
00:31:32,474 --> 00:31:35,685
I never thought of that
in my wildest dreams."

376
00:31:37,437 --> 00:31:41,316
- Peter: How was it?
- It was super fun. Yeah.

377
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,985
- Peter: Scary?
- No, not particularly.

378
00:31:46,154 --> 00:31:51,368
- Peter: Just another day out?
- A really good day out. Yeah.

379
00:31:51,451 --> 00:31:53,995
Definitely a memorable day out.

380
00:31:54,121 --> 00:31:58,750
Raphael: Marc-andré soloing
those routes was pretty stunning.

381
00:31:58,917 --> 00:32:01,420
I think right there
that made me sit up and go, "wow!

382
00:32:02,087 --> 00:32:03,922
Who is this guy?"

383
00:32:09,219 --> 00:32:10,720
(Train bell clangs)

384
00:32:15,725 --> 00:32:18,353
Marc: I grew up
near a town called chilliwack.

385
00:32:19,729 --> 00:32:22,357
In chilliwack, you become
completely desensitized

386
00:32:22,441 --> 00:32:25,068
to the smell of cow manure,

387
00:32:25,193 --> 00:32:27,696
but it's surrounded
by beautiful mountains.

388
00:32:28,655 --> 00:32:31,867
When we were growing up,
my dad was doing construction jobs

389
00:32:32,033 --> 00:32:34,828
and my mom was serving in restaurants.

390
00:32:34,995 --> 00:32:36,715
Peter: Aren't you and your mom
really close?

391
00:32:36,830 --> 00:32:37,830
Yeah.

392
00:32:37,873 --> 00:32:42,586
My mom, she's definitely been
a big influence on me.

393
00:32:42,711 --> 00:32:44,004
It's kind of hard to explain.

394
00:32:44,129 --> 00:32:47,757
We've just been really good friends
my whole life.

395
00:32:47,883 --> 00:32:50,552
Marc-Andre did have
some challenges as a kid.

396
00:32:50,677 --> 00:32:53,638
He certainly didn't come into this world

397
00:32:53,763 --> 00:32:55,807
as a square peg
ready to fit into a square hole.

398
00:32:56,475 --> 00:32:59,728
And he had a diagnosis of adhd.

399
00:32:59,853 --> 00:33:02,063
So, he didn't sit still for very long

400
00:33:02,189 --> 00:33:07,736
and he didn't fit easily into
the typical educational environment.

401
00:33:07,861 --> 00:33:10,864
Kindergarten was awesome,
like, that first year.

402
00:33:11,031 --> 00:33:16,495
You build things out of blocks,
and do art, and that kind of stuff.

403
00:33:16,620 --> 00:33:20,499
When it started into actual first grade,
and we had to sit at our desks,

404
00:33:20,624 --> 00:33:24,085
it turned into hell for me. (Laughs)

405
00:33:24,211 --> 00:33:27,130
For a kid who had a ton of energy,
who loved to learn,

406
00:33:27,255 --> 00:33:31,801
he was losing his, his joy in learning,
you know, to be in school,

407
00:33:31,927 --> 00:33:36,389
so I made the leap
and I schooled him at home for a while.

408
00:33:36,515 --> 00:33:41,269
We'd do some schoolwork for a while.
Usually it would finish at lunchtime.

409
00:33:41,394 --> 00:33:43,522
And we would do cool things together

410
00:33:43,605 --> 00:33:46,733
like go explore the forest
and identify plants,

411
00:33:46,858 --> 00:33:49,611
instead of just always sitting
at your desk.

412
00:33:49,736 --> 00:33:53,365
Michelle: If you're never given free
rein to have little adventures as a kid,

413
00:33:53,490 --> 00:33:55,867
you never really learn who you are,

414
00:33:56,034 --> 00:33:58,620
you don't learn what your strengths
or your weaknesses are,

415
00:33:58,745 --> 00:34:01,581
and you never learn that you're capable.

416
00:34:02,541 --> 00:34:06,169
Marc: She wanted me to discover
what I wanted to do

417
00:34:06,294 --> 00:34:10,590
rather than pick out what she thought
I should do with my life.

418
00:34:10,715 --> 00:34:12,860
Michelle: We may not have had
two cents to rub together,

419
00:34:12,884 --> 00:34:16,763
but we always had books
and Marc-Andre was a voracious reader.

420
00:34:18,306 --> 00:34:21,643
He was really captured by adventure,

421
00:34:21,768 --> 00:34:24,354
so we had a house
full of those kind of books.

422
00:34:24,479 --> 00:34:27,439
And the more interest he showed in them,
the more books I provided for him.

423
00:34:27,482 --> 00:34:29,734
I must have been, like, eight years old.

424
00:34:29,859 --> 00:34:34,906
It was this big, awesome picture book
with stories from all these expeditions.

425
00:34:36,908 --> 00:34:40,287
And the ones about mountains
always really captured my attention.

426
00:34:40,412 --> 00:34:41,955
(Wind whistles)

427
00:34:42,122 --> 00:34:45,208
Looking at pictures of big snowy peaks,

428
00:34:45,333 --> 00:34:48,253
guys with ice axes
trying to climb these things,

429
00:34:48,378 --> 00:34:49,698
I don't know, it seemed really...

430
00:34:50,839 --> 00:34:52,173
Brave.

431
00:34:52,299 --> 00:34:56,803
I was so inspired
by all of these climbers of the past

432
00:34:56,928 --> 00:34:58,597
and I wanted to be a part of it.

433
00:34:59,973 --> 00:35:02,726
Like, carrying on the tradition
or something.

434
00:35:06,646 --> 00:35:09,316
At first, it was
justjeans, running shoes,

435
00:35:09,441 --> 00:35:11,526
a few granola bars in the pocket.

436
00:35:11,610 --> 00:35:15,322
Always off trail,
never had a rope or anything.

437
00:35:16,781 --> 00:35:20,660
Michelle: At times, I was concerned
something could happen to him out there,

438
00:35:20,785 --> 00:35:23,121
but he had a great sense of direction,

439
00:35:23,246 --> 00:35:26,166
and he was very confident
when he was out and about.

440
00:35:27,417 --> 00:35:31,046
Marc: After, like, a couple of years
of scrambling around by myself,

441
00:35:31,212 --> 00:35:34,507
it just naturally progressed
to technical climbing.

442
00:35:35,300 --> 00:35:37,677
When I'm in the mountains
on a big adventure,

443
00:35:37,802 --> 00:35:39,638
life is so incredibly simple.

444
00:35:41,264 --> 00:35:42,849
I'm, like, totally focused.

445
00:35:42,974 --> 00:35:47,270
I don't feel that squirrel-brained,
twitchy sort of stuff.

446
00:35:49,356 --> 00:35:54,069
And I have the feeling of clarity
and calmness and control.

447
00:35:55,779 --> 00:36:00,158
The whole climbing part of my life,
everything was falling into place.

448
00:36:00,283 --> 00:36:03,286
But then, like, I went back to school
for high school.

449
00:36:04,871 --> 00:36:08,750
Michelle: He eventually had to go back
to the standard curriculum at school.

450
00:36:08,875 --> 00:36:11,002
I think to him it was
like a form of incarceration.

451
00:36:11,628 --> 00:36:12,629
Help me!

452
00:36:12,712 --> 00:36:14,714
Michelle: He was never looking
for trouble,

453
00:36:14,839 --> 00:36:17,801
but he certainly seemed to find it.

454
00:36:17,926 --> 00:36:19,552
Firecrackers explode!

455
00:36:19,678 --> 00:36:20,970
(Yelps)

456
00:36:22,972 --> 00:36:23,972
(Laughs)

457
00:36:25,225 --> 00:36:27,644
- (Firecracker explodes)
- (Laughs)

458
00:36:31,022 --> 00:36:32,022
(Grunts)

459
00:36:32,857 --> 00:36:35,402
Michelle: It was clear
he was never going to get

460
00:36:35,527 --> 00:36:37,737
a standard nine-to-five job or life.

461
00:36:37,862 --> 00:36:40,198
He was never wired that way.

462
00:36:40,323 --> 00:36:44,661
Hi, I'm Marc-Andre Joseph leclerc.
You might have heard of me.

463
00:36:44,744 --> 00:36:47,664
I am doing some
of the biggest walls in the world.

464
00:36:47,747 --> 00:36:52,377
Michelle: When he graduated at 16,
he was doing drywall, making some money.

465
00:36:52,502 --> 00:36:56,548
He didn't have a real clear purpose
or plan at that point.

466
00:36:56,673 --> 00:37:00,093
I told him, "if you want
to do this climbing thing,

467
00:37:00,260 --> 00:37:01,720
what are you waiting for?"

468
00:37:02,929 --> 00:37:07,267
And off he went.
Marc-andré found freedom to be himself.

469
00:37:07,392 --> 00:37:11,146
He's going to go
as far as he can take it.

470
00:37:12,981 --> 00:37:15,775
- We got it!
- Yeah, yeah.

471
00:37:16,317 --> 00:37:18,879
- Can you just do a kind of blank...?
- I'm gonna look like an idiot.

472
00:37:18,903 --> 00:37:20,029
Smile.

473
00:37:20,155 --> 00:37:21,406
(Laughter)

474
00:37:22,532 --> 00:37:26,119
Peter: Marc's plan
to become a full-time climber

475
00:37:26,286 --> 00:37:28,288
certainly seemed to be working out.

476
00:37:29,330 --> 00:37:32,417
He 'd recently landed
his first sponsorship.

477
00:37:33,585 --> 00:37:37,005
And here we were making a film
about him.

478
00:37:37,130 --> 00:37:38,965
- Peter: Serious.
- Really serious?

479
00:37:39,090 --> 00:37:41,009
Peter: Really serious,
like your passport.

480
00:37:41,134 --> 00:37:42,134
(Laughter)

481
00:37:42,177 --> 00:37:45,555
Peter: But Marc had little Patience
for posing.

482
00:37:46,681 --> 00:37:48,558
And he was getting restless.

483
00:37:50,018 --> 00:37:54,564
As we were planning the next shoot,
Marc just suddenly dropped off the radar

484
00:37:56,983 --> 00:37:58,902
to who knows where.

485
00:38:00,779 --> 00:38:02,447
(Phone rings)

486
00:38:03,072 --> 00:38:06,701
We'd even bought him a phone
to keep in contact...

487
00:38:06,785 --> 00:38:08,763
- Voicemail: I'm sorry.
- But he wasn't picking up.

488
00:38:08,787 --> 00:38:11,640
Voicemail: The person you called has a
voicemail box that has not been set up.

489
00:38:11,664 --> 00:38:14,793
Peter: It's just
a frustrating situation.

490
00:38:14,918 --> 00:38:17,062
Man on speaker: You've got Marc
somewhere in the backwoods.

491
00:38:17,086 --> 00:38:19,839
Peter: He just disappears
and doesn't call us for months on end,

492
00:38:19,964 --> 00:38:22,675
having all of us waiting and on hold.

493
00:38:22,801 --> 00:38:24,969
Man: My bags are packed.
Everyone's bags are packed.

494
00:38:25,094 --> 00:38:27,305
If we don't hear from Marc,
we might not do the shoot.

495
00:38:27,847 --> 00:38:31,309
Peter: We started seeing him
in other climbers' social media posts.

496
00:38:33,102 --> 00:38:37,023
It's day six on the wall
and day five of the storm.

497
00:38:37,148 --> 00:38:39,192
Peter: Brette was posting these videos.

498
00:38:39,359 --> 00:38:42,821
- Brette: What are you doing, Marc?
- I'll just get a t-slot my for skis

499
00:38:42,946 --> 00:38:45,156
so I can lower brette over this cliff.

500
00:38:45,323 --> 00:38:46,449
Brette: Oh, man.

501
00:38:47,408 --> 00:38:50,620
Peter: We saw they'd gone
all the way out to baffin island.

502
00:38:50,745 --> 00:38:53,081
- Brette: This is so awesome.
- Marc: Whoo!

503
00:38:54,374 --> 00:38:56,835
Peter: Then Marc was in Scotland

504
00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:01,256
where he knocked off a string of solos
like they were nine holes of golf.

505
00:39:01,422 --> 00:39:03,132
- All righty.
- All righty, then.

506
00:39:08,304 --> 00:39:10,557
(Marc yells)

507
00:39:17,188 --> 00:39:19,816
Alex: At one point,
I was climbing in South America,

508
00:39:19,899 --> 00:39:23,820
we could see this tiny, tiny speck
on this 4,000-foot wall.

509
00:39:23,903 --> 00:39:27,198
We could look over and be like,
"that is Marc-Andre, by himself,

510
00:39:27,365 --> 00:39:29,158
on this fricking journey to the gods."

511
00:39:29,284 --> 00:39:32,412
I was like, "this is messed up.
I cannot believe he's soloing that."

512
00:39:35,039 --> 00:39:38,167
Peter: Finally,
we heard Marc was back in Canada,

513
00:39:38,293 --> 00:39:40,837
climbing in the remote ghost wilderness.

514
00:39:42,255 --> 00:39:45,675
In an act of desperation,
I called a filmmaker from the area

515
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:49,387
to go into the backcountry
and track Marc down.

516
00:40:06,279 --> 00:40:11,576
Peter: He shows up, and Marc
is out there with brette and a friend,

517
00:40:11,701 --> 00:40:14,954
and they're putting up
hard first ascents

518
00:40:15,079 --> 00:40:17,040
on these huge walls,

519
00:40:18,958 --> 00:40:21,544
having the time of their lives.

520
00:40:22,420 --> 00:40:23,421
(Marc grunts)

521
00:40:24,464 --> 00:40:25,965
Nice, brette.

522
00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:30,720
(Grunts)

523
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:34,766
Falling!

524
00:40:35,767 --> 00:40:36,601
Whoo!

525
00:40:36,726 --> 00:40:38,853
Brette: Hey, Marco,
how is it down there?

526
00:40:39,854 --> 00:40:41,105
It's great.

527
00:40:43,441 --> 00:40:44,442
Brette: Here we go.

528
00:40:44,567 --> 00:40:45,693
(Marc laughs)

529
00:40:48,738 --> 00:40:51,658
Brette: I think it's so cool
that you're making a movie about Marc.

530
00:40:52,784 --> 00:40:56,996
But honestly,
he doesn't care about movies.

531
00:40:57,121 --> 00:40:59,457
He's not gonna put
the time and energy

532
00:41:00,500 --> 00:41:04,170
into making his own climb
significant to the world.

533
00:41:06,005 --> 00:41:08,216
He's out climbing,
he's too busy climbing.

534
00:41:12,804 --> 00:41:14,639
Pretty incredible, the weather.

535
00:41:15,932 --> 00:41:19,477
Nick: He's different than any climber
we've ever dealt with.

536
00:41:20,687 --> 00:41:23,314
He doesn't share
any information with us.

537
00:41:23,982 --> 00:41:28,111
It's frustrating,
but at the same, it's pretty noble.

538
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:33,825
Marcjust kind of follows his own path.
He's a free spirit.

539
00:41:33,950 --> 00:41:36,577
And that can be difficult
to plan around.

540
00:41:36,703 --> 00:41:39,706
Kind of makes him lovable
in this weird way, you know?

541
00:41:39,831 --> 00:41:41,499
He doesn't give a fuck.

542
00:41:43,126 --> 00:41:46,254
Peter: This whole time,
chasing Marc around,

543
00:41:46,379 --> 00:41:50,008
it was clear he was building up
to something big.

544
00:41:51,342 --> 00:41:54,178
But we had no idea what it would be.

545
00:41:55,513 --> 00:41:57,515
Then the news broke.

546
00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:06,024
He had made the first-ever solo
of the emperor face on mount Robson.

547
00:42:06,149 --> 00:42:09,569
And it sent shockwaves
through the climbing world.

548
00:42:09,694 --> 00:42:12,238
Man: When I heard
that Marc had soloed the emperor face,

549
00:42:12,363 --> 00:42:17,368
it was one of those like, "holy shit!
Marc soloed the emperor face."

550
00:42:17,535 --> 00:42:21,414
That is absolutely outstanding
and probably the greatest solo ascent

551
00:42:21,581 --> 00:42:24,542
of anything
that's been done in North America.

552
00:42:28,212 --> 00:42:31,132
Barry: Robson is the king.

553
00:42:31,257 --> 00:42:34,177
It's the highest mountain
in the Canadian rockies.

554
00:42:36,262 --> 00:42:39,849
It's like three El caps.

555
00:42:39,974 --> 00:42:42,268
But Robson is not yosemite.
(Laughs)

556
00:42:43,436 --> 00:42:48,107
It's got glaciation, it's got crevasses,
it's got avalanche.

557
00:42:49,067 --> 00:42:53,404
You're climbing rock, ice and snow
all at the same time.

558
00:42:54,072 --> 00:42:58,910
It's a legendary, mythical objective,
even with a rope.

559
00:43:02,121 --> 00:43:06,876
Peter: I was frustrated
that Marc had made this historic ascent

560
00:43:07,001 --> 00:43:09,879
and he hadn't even let us in
on his plan.

561
00:43:12,173 --> 00:43:16,636
Eventually, we reached Marc
and asked him why.

562
00:43:16,761 --> 00:43:19,013
Marc: When you guys approached me
about doing a film,

563
00:43:19,097 --> 00:43:20,765
it seemed like a cool experience,

564
00:43:20,890 --> 00:43:25,103
but I've never let you guys
come and shoot one of my real solos.

565
00:43:25,228 --> 00:43:26,229
Peter: Why not?

566
00:43:26,354 --> 00:43:30,233
Marc: Because it wouldn't be a solo
to me if somebody was there.

567
00:43:31,859 --> 00:43:36,364
Yeah, I mean, I guess that's true.

568
00:43:36,489 --> 00:43:40,493
Marc: It's just a completely different
experience if somebody comes with you.

569
00:43:40,660 --> 00:43:42,662
Yeah, even if they don't help you.

570
00:43:44,163 --> 00:43:48,793
It just wouldn't even be remotely close
to the adventure that I was looking for.

571
00:43:48,918 --> 00:43:52,046
The only way I was interested
was actually doing it fully by myself.

572
00:43:52,130 --> 00:43:55,466
And if that happened,
I'd be ok to go back and film.

573
00:43:57,009 --> 00:43:59,887
I had this really awesome experience.

574
00:44:00,012 --> 00:44:02,849
Now, I'm actually ready
to share it with people.

575
00:44:05,977 --> 00:44:10,148
Peter: So Marc invited us back up
to film on mount Robson

576
00:44:11,899 --> 00:44:17,697
so we could see first-hand
his approach to solo alpinism.

577
00:44:22,535 --> 00:44:25,246
Marc: For me, the very best climbs

578
00:44:25,371 --> 00:44:28,457
are when you can walk up to a mountain
with nothing

579
00:44:28,583 --> 00:44:32,128
except for your ability to climb,
and that's it.

580
00:44:36,716 --> 00:44:41,053
Being by yourself out there,
immersed in your environment,

581
00:44:42,471 --> 00:44:45,308
tuning in to the rustle of the leaves...

582
00:44:45,433 --> 00:44:46,726
(Wind blows)

583
00:44:46,851 --> 00:44:49,187
The sound of the wind
across the Ridge,

584
00:44:51,272 --> 00:44:54,192
the aura that the mountain has.

585
00:44:56,903 --> 00:45:01,324
Peter: On his big mountain solos,
Marc follows a simple set of rules.

586
00:45:02,825 --> 00:45:05,578
He carries no communication device

587
00:45:05,745 --> 00:45:09,707
that could be used as a lifeline
if things go wrong.

588
00:45:11,709 --> 00:45:13,628
And he climbs on sight,

589
00:45:13,794 --> 00:45:16,756
meaning he's never been
on the mountain before,

590
00:45:16,881 --> 00:45:19,217
never rehearsed the route.

591
00:45:21,052 --> 00:45:23,971
He has to figure it out on the fly.

592
00:45:27,475 --> 00:45:31,854
Barry: The gold standard of alpinism
is the on-sight solo.

593
00:45:31,979 --> 00:45:37,318
A climber approaches a mountain
without any prior knowledge

594
00:45:37,443 --> 00:45:41,030
and just climbs it. (Laughs)

595
00:45:44,367 --> 00:45:48,371
But it's only for the very best climbers
on their very best days.

596
00:45:48,496 --> 00:45:49,956
You know, it's such a deadly game.

597
00:45:52,541 --> 00:45:55,253
Marc: The goal is
to climb as safely as possible.

598
00:45:56,337 --> 00:45:58,547
But when you step into the mountains,

599
00:46:00,633 --> 00:46:02,843
and there's stuff
that's beyond your control.

600
00:46:05,888 --> 00:46:07,682
You control what you're doing,

601
00:46:07,848 --> 00:46:09,976
but you can't control
what the mountain's doing,

602
00:46:10,101 --> 00:46:13,271
and that's by far
the biggest danger in my mind.

603
00:46:13,354 --> 00:46:16,941
The mountains are alive all around you
and you're kind of at their mercy.

604
00:46:18,859 --> 00:46:20,945
You have to think about avalanches,

605
00:46:21,904 --> 00:46:24,365
seracs that can collapse at any time.

606
00:46:25,324 --> 00:46:29,578
You have to learn to read the signals
that the mountains are sending you.

607
00:46:31,330 --> 00:46:36,335
The conditions of the snow, the ice,
what time of day is it gonna get sun,

608
00:46:36,460 --> 00:46:40,172
what the weather's gonna do.
It's like a game of chess.

609
00:46:41,924 --> 00:46:43,634
You have this ultimate goal,

610
00:46:43,801 --> 00:46:47,221
but then unpredictable things
are going to happen.

611
00:46:55,813 --> 00:47:00,568
I think that interaction with
the environment, with the mountain,

612
00:47:00,693 --> 00:47:05,072
is, like, a huge part of what makes
alpine climbing so interesting.

613
00:47:07,199 --> 00:47:10,745
And if you're smart
and you, like, make the right moves,

614
00:47:10,911 --> 00:47:16,375
you can, sometimes against the odds,
pull off a great climb.

615
00:47:17,293 --> 00:47:19,086
(Wind blows)

616
00:47:26,177 --> 00:47:27,636
One of the coolest feelings

617
00:47:27,762 --> 00:47:31,349
that a human can experience
is, like, to feel so small

618
00:47:32,475 --> 00:47:34,518
in a world that's so big.

619
00:47:49,909 --> 00:47:53,371
Barry: Moving over the mountain
unencumbered

620
00:47:53,496 --> 00:47:56,165
is about as close
as you're gonna come as a climber

621
00:47:56,290 --> 00:48:00,336
to sprouting wings
and being totally free.

622
00:48:04,090 --> 00:48:07,468
Absolutely awake, absolutely alive.

623
00:48:08,344 --> 00:48:12,181
Receiving any kind of impulse
that's coming in

624
00:48:12,306 --> 00:48:15,059
and reacting to it almost instinctively.

625
00:48:17,395 --> 00:48:19,105
It's a great dance.

626
00:48:41,293 --> 00:48:45,589
Jim: Marc is doing things
that people thought could never be done.

627
00:48:45,714 --> 00:48:48,467
He's redefining what's possible.

628
00:48:48,592 --> 00:48:50,970
This is the evolution of alpinism,

629
00:48:51,095 --> 00:48:53,139
and it's happening right now
in our backyard,

630
00:48:53,264 --> 00:48:55,266
and it's happening with that young guy.

631
00:49:03,357 --> 00:49:05,151
(Wind whistles)

632
00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:10,990
But I am definitely concerned
for Marc-Andre

633
00:49:11,115 --> 00:49:15,453
and anyone else pushing the limit
of what's been accomplished soloing.

634
00:49:15,536 --> 00:49:20,458
The place he is in
is such a special, finite place,

635
00:49:20,583 --> 00:49:22,751
and such an incredibly risky place.

636
00:49:24,044 --> 00:49:27,506
Marc-Andre is playing
with a pretty heavy deck right now.

637
00:49:27,631 --> 00:49:32,887
He is walking relatively close
to the edge in big environments.

638
00:49:33,053 --> 00:49:36,056
And I think he can do a fair amount
of that and get away with it,

639
00:49:36,182 --> 00:49:37,766
but sooner or later,

640
00:49:38,893 --> 00:49:40,227
it's gonna bite him.

641
00:49:40,352 --> 00:49:43,898
He is gaining recognition
because of his solo climbing,

642
00:49:44,064 --> 00:49:48,027
and all of this is wonderful for him,
and it's exciting to hear about,

643
00:49:48,152 --> 00:49:50,237
and read about and watch.

644
00:49:52,281 --> 00:49:56,243
But... I mean,
maybe it's just an age thing,

645
00:49:56,368 --> 00:49:59,205
but I find it a little bit scary.

646
00:49:59,330 --> 00:50:01,624
I just... you know,
I just hope he's careful.

647
00:50:01,749 --> 00:50:06,587
He's really comfortable
in mountainous terrain.

648
00:50:06,712 --> 00:50:11,509
Sometimes I wonder
if he's just almost too comfortable.

649
00:50:11,592 --> 00:50:15,638
One could say
that it's crazy and irresponsible

650
00:50:15,763 --> 00:50:20,893
to place yourself in that kind of danger
for what?

651
00:50:21,060 --> 00:50:22,686
Kicks, glory?

652
00:50:22,811 --> 00:50:25,606
I think that free soloing
is a very emotionally charged subject

653
00:50:25,731 --> 00:50:27,816
and so it draws strong reactions
from everybody.

654
00:50:27,942 --> 00:50:30,402
If you fall and die,
everybody thinks you're an idiot,

655
00:50:30,528 --> 00:50:33,948
you're a risk-taker, daredevil,
like, "what an idiot."

656
00:50:34,114 --> 00:50:36,617
If you succeed,
everyone celebrates you as a big hero.

657
00:50:36,742 --> 00:50:38,822
But the reality is you're
the same person either way.

658
00:50:42,665 --> 00:50:44,875
Marc: People are always freaking out
about soloing,

659
00:50:45,042 --> 00:50:47,962
"it's such an unacceptable risk.
People shouldn't be doing this.

660
00:50:48,128 --> 00:50:50,047
What kind of example does this set?"

661
00:50:50,714 --> 00:50:52,883
I mean, I know it's dangerous.

662
00:50:53,050 --> 00:50:57,096
I'm not, like, deluding myself
that it's not dangerous to go soloing,

663
00:50:57,221 --> 00:51:02,601
but I probably just have
a different view of everything, I guess.

664
00:51:02,726 --> 00:51:06,564
You know, like, to me,
it's not really an unacceptable risk.

665
00:51:07,481 --> 00:51:10,568
I'm still so young.
There are so many things I wanna do.

666
00:51:12,152 --> 00:51:14,989
I've really had to think about it
within our own lives,

667
00:51:15,155 --> 00:51:17,116
because we do put ourselves
in situations

668
00:51:17,241 --> 00:51:19,451
that anything could happen.

669
00:51:19,577 --> 00:51:21,996
Like, an avalanche
could take you out randomly.

670
00:51:22,162 --> 00:51:24,122
The more times
you put yourself in that situation,

671
00:51:24,206 --> 00:51:26,500
the more likely it's gonna happen.

672
00:51:26,584 --> 00:51:32,298
And yeah, sometimes it's concerning
the amount of soloing he wants to do.

673
00:51:33,215 --> 00:51:37,720
He has an insatiable desire
to do more at an extreme level.

674
00:51:38,929 --> 00:51:42,391
I worry for him, of course.

675
00:51:54,236 --> 00:51:58,407
Peter: A few months after Robson,
Marc set off for patagonia

676
00:51:59,116 --> 00:52:02,119
at the far southern tip
of South America.

677
00:52:03,412 --> 00:52:07,416
His objective was a climb
that had never been attempted.

678
00:52:07,541 --> 00:52:14,214
A winter solo ascent of torre egger,
the most difficult peak in the range.

679
00:52:15,382 --> 00:52:17,635
Patagonia's jagged summits

680
00:52:17,718 --> 00:52:21,430
are a proving ground
for serious alpinists,

681
00:52:21,555 --> 00:52:24,642
who gather each summer
in the village of El chaltén.

682
00:52:26,435 --> 00:52:31,231
But in the winter, the mountains
are lashed by vicious storms

683
00:52:31,357 --> 00:52:34,068
and El chaltén is a ghost town.

684
00:52:40,366 --> 00:52:44,745
Jon: To go winter climbing
in patagonia solo,

685
00:52:44,870 --> 00:52:46,914
he's definitely upping the game
by a lot.

686
00:52:47,039 --> 00:52:51,043
Going to patagonia in the winter!
It's just mind boggling.

687
00:52:51,210 --> 00:52:52,878
Jon: The weather is horrific.

688
00:52:53,587 --> 00:52:55,839
Barry: Avalanche hazards
can be extremely high.

689
00:52:55,964 --> 00:52:58,467
Jon: And trying to solo torre egger
on sight.

690
00:52:58,592 --> 00:53:01,679
I mean, torre egger is a coveted peak.

691
00:53:01,804 --> 00:53:05,099
Some people consider it
the hardest peak in the Americas.

692
00:53:06,308 --> 00:53:08,620
Hevy: People ask me,
"don't you worry he's not coming back?"

693
00:53:08,644 --> 00:53:09,937
I just shake my head,

694
00:53:10,688 --> 00:53:13,732
"Marc will be coming back.
He's got this sixth sense."

695
00:53:18,946 --> 00:53:23,492
Peter: Soloing torre egger
had long been a dream of Marc's.

696
00:53:23,617 --> 00:53:26,412
So he obviously didn't want
a big film crew.

697
00:53:27,454 --> 00:53:31,291
But this time,
he was willing to bring one cameraman,

698
00:53:31,417 --> 00:53:34,420
his climbing buddy, Austin siadak.

699
00:53:34,545 --> 00:53:36,672
I'm gonna basicallyjust try to keep up,

700
00:53:36,755 --> 00:53:39,091
tag along, and document
as best as I can along the way.

701
00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:42,302
I don't wanna, like,
impose on his experience.

702
00:53:43,554 --> 00:53:46,640
Peter: Austin would hang with Marc
in town

703
00:53:46,724 --> 00:53:50,227
and shoot some climbing
on the lower sections of the route.

704
00:53:52,646 --> 00:53:56,567
But for the summit push,
Marc would climb alone

705
00:53:56,692 --> 00:54:01,321
and bring a small camera
to capture what he could in real time.

706
00:54:02,239 --> 00:54:04,491
Yeah, this is torre egger.

707
00:54:06,910 --> 00:54:12,249
I've been thinking about this climb
for the better part of a year.

708
00:54:12,916 --> 00:54:15,085
If there's ice, it might be quick

709
00:54:15,252 --> 00:54:18,547
to go straight up this ice gully
under the serac and then...

710
00:54:18,672 --> 00:54:22,176
Torre egger
is this 1,000-meter rock pillar

711
00:54:22,342 --> 00:54:26,305
rising up out of the glacier
with an ice aréte in the middle.

712
00:54:26,430 --> 00:54:32,519
You know, not always perfect rock
and capped with ice mushrooms.

713
00:54:33,353 --> 00:54:35,564
I could look at it on paper and be like,

714
00:54:35,689 --> 00:54:39,777
"ok, like, this is
totally mathematically, like, feasible."

715
00:54:40,903 --> 00:54:43,739
But at the same time,
it still seems a little bit out there,

716
00:54:43,822 --> 00:54:47,117
like, "whoa, this is the next step
for me."

717
00:54:48,285 --> 00:54:51,497
I spent the majority
of the last year doing things

718
00:54:51,622 --> 00:54:53,457
that would prepare me for this climb.

719
00:54:53,582 --> 00:54:56,835
A ton of mixed climbing,
and a ton of ice climbing,

720
00:54:56,960 --> 00:54:59,129
and then the emperor face.

721
00:54:59,296 --> 00:55:04,218
It was all sort of preparation
with egger in mind.

722
00:55:08,138 --> 00:55:10,808
Just gonna check weather models.

723
00:55:10,891 --> 00:55:13,977
I check all these models
multiple times a day.

724
00:55:14,102 --> 00:55:17,648
Friday morning, the wind rolls in,
with precip.

725
00:55:19,817 --> 00:55:23,904
When the lines are close together,
that means a lot of wind.

726
00:55:24,029 --> 00:55:25,364
(Wind gusts)

727
00:55:25,489 --> 00:55:28,158
The peaks right now
are just getting nuked.

728
00:55:28,325 --> 00:55:31,912
We have to hang out in town
and wait for a weather window.

729
00:55:34,039 --> 00:55:36,625
Coming down here by yourself
in the winter time...

730
00:55:36,750 --> 00:55:38,210
(Speaks Spanish)

731
00:55:38,377 --> 00:55:41,630
You become immersed
in the El chaltén life.

732
00:55:44,341 --> 00:55:46,218
Hanging out with the locals.

733
00:55:46,385 --> 00:55:49,388
And they're making you
part of the family.

734
00:55:51,682 --> 00:55:53,016
(Speaks Spanish)

735
00:55:53,141 --> 00:55:56,937
Yeah, it's actually like
a big part of the whole experience.

736
00:55:57,062 --> 00:56:00,482
(Conversation in Spanish)

737
00:56:05,946 --> 00:56:07,239
(Laughs)

738
00:56:08,574 --> 00:56:12,744
(They laugh)

739
00:56:27,676 --> 00:56:31,471
(Rock music)

740
00:56:50,324 --> 00:56:52,451
(Marc and Hugo laugh)

741
00:57:00,667 --> 00:57:02,920
Marc: Just checking
the latest meteogram.

742
00:57:03,837 --> 00:57:06,840
Looks good, like, Tuesday, Wednesday.

743
00:57:06,924 --> 00:57:09,760
- Austin: What does that mean?
- Means we're going climbing.

744
00:57:16,141 --> 00:57:18,352
Part of the crux of soloing
in these mountains

745
00:57:18,518 --> 00:57:20,646
is the amount of stuff
that you have to carry.

746
00:57:20,771 --> 00:57:22,147
It's pretty heavy.

747
00:57:22,272 --> 00:57:24,232
Like, when you have
to put everything on your back

748
00:57:24,316 --> 00:57:26,109
and just, like, solo with the pack on.

749
00:57:26,234 --> 00:57:30,197
This bag, like, ripped open.
I've taped it shut.

750
00:57:30,322 --> 00:57:33,784
It's lost half its insulation.
It just means it's even lighter.

751
00:57:34,952 --> 00:57:36,954
It's even more super light.

752
00:57:43,043 --> 00:57:48,048
Well, I don't wanna sound grim
or fatalistic,

753
00:57:48,173 --> 00:57:53,220
but it's, you know, undeniable
that every time you go to the mountains,

754
00:57:53,345 --> 00:57:55,806
it could be your last time,

755
00:57:55,931 --> 00:57:59,977
so all these things that you love
you have to appreciate.

756
00:58:04,064 --> 00:58:06,650
Whatever dinner you'd want
to possibly be your last dinner,

757
00:58:06,775 --> 00:58:08,235
you have to eat it.

758
00:58:09,861 --> 00:58:13,365
Cos you're going to the mountains.
(Laughs)

759
00:58:15,659 --> 00:58:17,035
Yeah.

760
00:58:19,705 --> 00:58:20,914
(Birds sing)

761
00:58:37,723 --> 00:58:40,058
Reinhold: The whole game
is very simple.

762
00:58:46,940 --> 00:58:50,027
We go somewhere that we should not go.

763
00:58:52,612 --> 00:58:56,992
Where our own instinct is telling us,
"do not go there."

764
00:59:02,539 --> 00:59:03,957
Many things can happen.

765
00:59:06,626 --> 00:59:08,253
We can fall.

766
00:59:09,629 --> 00:59:11,757
The storm can take me away.

767
00:59:12,549 --> 00:59:15,052
We know that we could die up there.

768
00:59:21,099 --> 00:59:24,019
But still, we go there.

769
00:59:26,063 --> 00:59:30,025
We try to make real our dreams.

770
00:59:31,193 --> 00:59:32,861
Our visions.

771
00:59:36,448 --> 00:59:39,785
Marc: I had spent a whole year
imagining this climb,

772
00:59:39,910 --> 00:59:43,080
and I felt
like I had the skills to do it,

773
00:59:43,163 --> 00:59:45,082
and it would require all of them.

774
00:59:45,832 --> 00:59:48,335
But I don't know the route whatsoever.

775
00:59:48,460 --> 00:59:53,465
No idea how this is gonna go.
Like, no idea what to expect.

776
00:59:55,675 --> 00:59:59,012
Conditions
are definitely tough right now.

777
00:59:59,096 --> 01:00:00,176
You can see my trail there.

778
01:00:00,263 --> 01:00:03,100
I was literally
digging through a trench,

779
01:00:03,183 --> 01:00:06,103
through chest-deep snow
with wind slab on top,

780
01:00:06,186 --> 01:00:10,982
and I think there could be
a lot of this kind of snow

781
01:00:11,108 --> 01:00:12,901
on the hanging glacier in the gully.

782
01:00:13,026 --> 01:00:14,903
And not only is it really hard work,

783
01:00:15,028 --> 01:00:18,740
I think avalanche conditions
could be quite dangerous.

784
01:00:18,865 --> 01:00:23,120
So I'm gonna go over
and see how the rock is

785
01:00:23,203 --> 01:00:25,122
and see if that goes.

786
01:00:26,706 --> 01:00:31,002
I started on really snowed-up rock,
which took quite a long time.

787
01:00:31,128 --> 01:00:36,883
Well, two pitches of climbing
and it's kind of heinous, actually.

788
01:00:37,008 --> 01:00:38,135
Here's my tracks.

789
01:00:40,345 --> 01:00:42,305
I have to go tack
along the edge of that serac

790
01:00:42,430 --> 01:00:44,683
and bivvy on top of it.

791
01:00:44,808 --> 01:00:49,062
The climbing was hard and slow.
Conditions were awful.

792
01:00:49,146 --> 01:00:51,273
I think the route goes up there.

793
01:00:55,527 --> 01:00:57,904
I had to keep taking my gloves off.

794
01:00:58,029 --> 01:01:00,782
My hands were numb because of the cold.

795
01:01:02,492 --> 01:01:04,661
Almost on top of the glacier.

796
01:01:04,786 --> 01:01:06,079
(Exhales)

797
01:01:06,163 --> 01:01:08,832
Definitely challenging so far.

798
01:01:09,749 --> 01:01:12,169
There's my backpack that I'm hauling up.

799
01:01:12,252 --> 01:01:13,461
Check out my hands.

800
01:01:13,587 --> 01:01:18,466
My fingers were bleeding
and everything was just kind of gnarly.

801
01:01:19,217 --> 01:01:22,804
Well, here I am at the top
of the hanging glacier

802
01:01:22,929 --> 01:01:25,265
and I'm settled in for the night.

803
01:01:25,390 --> 01:01:28,393
I originally hoped to be
six pitches higher than this

804
01:01:28,518 --> 01:01:32,189
on the snow aréte.
Not going as fast as I wanted to.

805
01:01:39,404 --> 01:01:42,240
You split left
off of that hanging glacier

806
01:01:42,365 --> 01:01:46,203
and that brings you to the snow aréte
in the middle of the east pillar.

807
01:01:48,288 --> 01:01:49,831
I've come a good ways now.

808
01:01:49,956 --> 01:01:53,627
Here's the snow aréte
that I wanted to make it to yesterday,

809
01:01:53,793 --> 01:01:55,837
but, you know, it just goes how it goes.

810
01:01:55,962 --> 01:01:58,548
There's the upper headwall,
so we'll see.

811
01:01:58,715 --> 01:02:01,927
I might be able to keep going
even if I have to make one extra bivvy,

812
01:02:02,052 --> 01:02:03,303
one more than planned.

813
01:02:04,846 --> 01:02:09,059
You're switching constantly
between boots, crampons and rock shoes.

814
01:02:10,560 --> 01:02:12,270
You'll climb an ice pitch

815
01:02:12,395 --> 01:02:16,650
and then all of a sudden,
you're on a rock pillar climbing 5.10.

816
01:02:20,153 --> 01:02:22,989
Or mixed climbing

817
01:02:23,114 --> 01:02:26,243
through some narrow gully
filled with ice.

818
01:02:34,209 --> 01:02:37,337
It's just, like, everything
in the repertoire.

819
01:03:19,379 --> 01:03:21,548
Well, I'm in the upper ramp,

820
01:03:21,673 --> 01:03:24,050
looking down the route.

821
01:03:24,175 --> 01:03:25,218
Whoo!

822
01:04:09,429 --> 01:04:14,351
When you encounter a situation
where you're like, "ok, this is real.

823
01:04:18,688 --> 01:04:22,359
I can either keep it together
and do this

824
01:04:22,484 --> 01:04:25,320
or I can, like, fall apart
and have a meltdown."

825
01:04:29,115 --> 01:04:31,034
You gotta do one or the other.

826
01:04:41,252 --> 01:04:44,756
And that process
of evaluating the situation,

827
01:04:44,923 --> 01:04:48,218
and then getting it together,
and carrying on,

828
01:04:51,262 --> 01:04:53,390
it's a challenge every time.

829
01:05:12,617 --> 01:05:16,663
Well, persevering,
and things are working out.

830
01:05:17,330 --> 01:05:18,706
Quite the view.

831
01:05:18,832 --> 01:05:21,709
I'm literally in the middle
of the headwall.

832
01:05:22,210 --> 01:05:26,172
I'm stomping out
this sick little platform to sleep on,

833
01:05:26,297 --> 01:05:29,509
the only place I could find to bivvy,
which is super cool.

834
01:05:29,634 --> 01:05:33,346
I'm gonna freeze my ass off tonight,
that's for sure, but that's ok.

835
01:05:34,264 --> 01:05:37,308
Yesterday,
progress was so slow and difficult

836
01:05:37,434 --> 01:05:41,229
that it was kind of discouraging,
but now I'm in a really good position

837
01:05:41,354 --> 01:05:45,108
to go for the summit tomorrow morning.
I'm only a few pitches away.

838
01:05:45,817 --> 01:05:48,778
So as long as the weather holds,
I'm psyched.

839
01:05:50,530 --> 01:05:52,532
(Wind whistles)

840
01:06:01,708 --> 01:06:05,462
Hey, brette, this video's for you.

841
01:06:05,545 --> 01:06:07,422
I just wanted to, uh...

842
01:06:08,631 --> 01:06:12,302
Let you know that when I'm out here
in these mountains by myself,

843
01:06:12,427 --> 01:06:13,595
I really miss you.

844
01:06:14,721 --> 01:06:19,058
And I'm thinking about you a lot,

845
01:06:19,184 --> 01:06:23,188
and there's a part of me that...

846
01:06:24,230 --> 01:06:28,193
Wishes I could just quickly rap
to the ground,

847
01:06:28,318 --> 01:06:31,029
and get out of here,
and change my flights,

848
01:06:31,154 --> 01:06:35,492
and come back and see you,
cos I'd love to...

849
01:06:37,035 --> 01:06:40,455
Just... yeah, see you.

850
01:06:44,042 --> 01:06:45,752
I love you.

851
01:06:45,877 --> 01:06:47,712
(Wind whistles)

852
01:06:53,843 --> 01:06:56,054
I woke up at around five in the morning,

853
01:06:56,179 --> 01:06:59,641
peeked outside my sleeping bag.
A full snowstorm was starting.

854
01:07:01,434 --> 01:07:03,728
Now, I just have to pack up
as quick as I can

855
01:07:03,853 --> 01:07:08,107
and rappel the whole mountain
in blizzard conditions.

856
01:07:11,110 --> 01:07:15,657
I hope it goes well, cos it's a long
and complicated way down.

857
01:07:20,370 --> 01:07:21,496
Holy shit!

858
01:07:39,347 --> 01:07:42,183
Well, I'm back in my tent.

859
01:07:43,226 --> 01:07:47,313
I am sorry to say
that I did not reach the summit.

860
01:07:48,356 --> 01:07:51,484
But... I survived,

861
01:07:51,568 --> 01:07:54,404
which I think counts for a lot.

862
01:07:55,822 --> 01:07:58,700
Kind of a bummer, cos I made it
within four pitches of the top.

863
01:07:59,826 --> 01:08:04,497
It was still probably one of my very
best solo efforts in the mountains,

864
01:08:04,581 --> 01:08:08,835
just in terms of sticking with it
and coming really close, and...

865
01:08:08,960 --> 01:08:12,130
And, you know I always said...

866
01:08:12,255 --> 01:08:14,591
Cos I've always dreamed
of trying to solo egger

867
01:08:14,674 --> 01:08:16,718
and I always said

868
01:08:16,843 --> 01:08:20,805
that if you got caught in bad weather
near the top of egger by yourself,

869
01:08:20,930 --> 01:08:26,603
that's the ultimate nightmare,
and it actually happened to me,

870
01:08:26,728 --> 01:08:33,026
and I made it down just fine, so...
That's kind of... that's cool, I guess.

871
01:08:37,947 --> 01:08:42,368
Peter: I was relieved to hear
that Marc had made it back down.

872
01:08:43,494 --> 01:08:45,246
(Indistinct conversation)

873
01:08:45,371 --> 01:08:50,960
And after such a close scrape,
I figured he would just fly home,

874
01:08:51,127 --> 01:08:53,630
unsuccessful, but safe.

875
01:08:54,922 --> 01:09:01,346
Well, it's amazing just feeling
how tired I am from that climb.

876
01:09:03,389 --> 01:09:07,435
(Conversation in Spanish)

877
01:09:07,560 --> 01:09:10,813
Peter: But Marc couldn't let it go.

878
01:09:11,689 --> 01:09:15,276
He saw another weather window
in the forecast,

879
01:09:15,401 --> 01:09:17,987
this one even shorter than the last.

880
01:09:18,154 --> 01:09:20,740
Marc: And on Friday,
you have half of a good day,

881
01:09:20,865 --> 01:09:22,659
and overnight's good.

882
01:09:23,701 --> 01:09:27,372
Peter: And he decided to go for it,
again.

883
01:09:27,497 --> 01:09:30,375
This time, he was raising the stakes.

884
01:09:30,500 --> 01:09:34,212
Marc: Because I already know the route,
I decided I could do the route in a day

885
01:09:34,337 --> 01:09:36,339
without carrying any bivvy equipment.

886
01:09:37,674 --> 01:09:41,052
But I won't have the option
of sleeping up there on the mountain.

887
01:09:41,219 --> 01:09:44,681
I have to go really light and move fast
in order to get it done.

888
01:09:47,016 --> 01:09:48,393
Here we go.

889
01:09:50,853 --> 01:09:55,358
Peter: For his second attempt,
Marc would carry just a small pack

890
01:09:55,483 --> 01:09:59,028
with no sleeping bag, no extra food.

891
01:09:59,570 --> 01:10:03,032
Just the basic tools
to climb light and fast.

892
01:10:05,993 --> 01:10:08,371
Starting the climb that night,

893
01:10:08,496 --> 01:10:12,667
he hoped he could get
to the summit and back down

894
01:10:12,750 --> 01:10:15,211
before the next storm crashed in.

895
01:10:19,257 --> 01:10:20,550
Austin: Good luck, Marc!

896
01:10:39,736 --> 01:10:45,158
Marc: Well, it's 5:45 in the morning
and I'm back at my first bivvy site

897
01:10:45,324 --> 01:10:46,743
on top of the hanging glacier.

898
01:10:46,826 --> 01:10:48,953
It's only taken me a couple of hours
to get here.

899
01:10:50,288 --> 01:10:52,665
So, yeah, off to a good start.

900
01:11:00,882 --> 01:11:03,342
I'm just going for it,

901
01:11:03,468 --> 01:11:08,264
just this tiny little adventure
on this huge mountain.

902
01:11:11,768 --> 01:11:14,395
Well, the sun's rising.

903
01:11:14,520 --> 01:11:17,440
Check out how incredible this is.

904
01:11:18,149 --> 01:11:20,485
I'm more than halfway
up the route already.

905
01:11:29,702 --> 01:11:31,370
Well, I'm in the upper ramp.

906
01:11:36,334 --> 01:11:37,794
Things are working out.

907
01:11:50,181 --> 01:11:52,099
I'm on the summit of egger!

908
01:11:52,850 --> 01:11:54,310
Super psyched!

909
01:11:54,936 --> 01:11:56,145
Whoo!

910
01:11:56,896 --> 01:11:59,565
Yeah, look at this!

911
01:12:00,441 --> 01:12:01,943
Holy smokes!

912
01:12:02,944 --> 01:12:04,529
To solo torre egger

913
01:12:05,363 --> 01:12:09,659
seemed like the perfect combination
of everything I'd learned how to do.

914
01:12:13,746 --> 01:12:19,001
It's almost like my whole life
leading me to a certain place.

915
01:12:31,681 --> 01:12:32,807
Austin: Nice work, dude.

916
01:12:32,890 --> 01:12:35,059
(Exhales) Yo.

917
01:12:36,143 --> 01:12:38,396
- How's it going, dude?
- Austin: How do you feel?

918
01:12:38,521 --> 01:12:39,647
(Laughs)

919
01:12:39,772 --> 01:12:42,441
- Austin: Perfect.
- Dude, yeah, things are awesome.

920
01:12:42,567 --> 01:12:46,028
No alpine ascent is truly complete
until the beers go clink.

921
01:12:46,863 --> 01:12:48,990
- Cheers.
- Cheers, man.

922
01:12:56,455 --> 01:12:58,791
- Si.
- Si.

923
01:12:59,375 --> 01:13:01,252
(In Spanish) When you grow up,

924
01:13:04,881 --> 01:13:06,048
(laughs)

925
01:13:12,555 --> 01:13:15,516
(Conversation in Spanish)

926
01:13:17,393 --> 01:13:19,478
Austin: Psyched to be going back
to states?

927
01:13:19,604 --> 01:13:21,856
Yeah, I'm super stoked to see brette

928
01:13:21,939 --> 01:13:25,693
and eventually see the family
back up in Canada.

929
01:13:25,818 --> 01:13:27,320
There's the taxi.

930
01:13:27,486 --> 01:13:30,656
I have to negotiate,
cos I don't have pesos. (Laughs)

931
01:13:48,007 --> 01:13:50,927
Brette: When Marc comes out
of the mountains,

932
01:13:51,052 --> 01:13:54,013
he has this, like, radiating energy.

933
01:13:54,138 --> 01:13:58,017
He's had some sort of extreme experience

934
01:13:58,142 --> 01:14:01,646
that had moved him deeper
than anything else could have.

935
01:14:03,022 --> 01:14:06,025
Marc: When you're in the mountains
with a mission,

936
01:14:06,150 --> 01:14:10,154
it's like all the superficialities
of life just sort of evaporate,

937
01:14:10,279 --> 01:14:13,658
and you can often find yourself
in a deeper state of mind,

938
01:14:13,783 --> 01:14:16,786
and that can stick with you
for a while after a big climb.

939
01:14:16,911 --> 01:14:18,162
(Indistinct conversation)

940
01:14:18,287 --> 01:14:21,666
You appreciate everything so much

941
01:14:21,791 --> 01:14:24,085
that you take for granted
most of the time.

942
01:14:27,964 --> 01:14:29,006
It's kind of funny.

943
01:14:30,341 --> 01:14:32,969
The actual achievement
doesn't really change your life

944
01:14:33,094 --> 01:14:36,180
like you think it might,
when you're building up to it,

945
01:14:36,305 --> 01:14:40,184
but what you're left with is the journey
that got you to that point

946
01:14:40,309 --> 01:14:42,979
and if you have this big journey

947
01:14:43,104 --> 01:14:44,814
where you had
to figure a lot of stuff out,

948
01:14:44,939 --> 01:14:48,067
and you had to plan,
and it was more immersive,

949
01:14:48,192 --> 01:14:51,070
and then you were somewhere
really beautiful for a long time,

950
01:14:51,195 --> 01:14:53,364
and then had to work really hard,

951
01:14:53,531 --> 01:14:55,950
and overcome
some kind of mental barrier,

952
01:14:56,033 --> 01:14:59,328
you're left with so much more
of a story

953
01:14:59,495 --> 01:15:02,289
or, like, a memory and an experience.

954
01:15:02,415 --> 01:15:05,126
And that's what I find
is the most important.

955
01:15:10,923 --> 01:15:14,010
Peter: For two years
filming Marc's climbs,

956
01:15:14,677 --> 01:15:17,680
it was like trying
to capture lightning in a bottle.

957
01:15:22,727 --> 01:15:29,734
Now, it was time to assemble the film
and release Marc back into the wild.

958
01:15:30,234 --> 01:15:33,738
He still had so many mountains to climb.

959
01:15:35,614 --> 01:15:37,783
Ok, brette, I'm secure!

960
01:15:40,578 --> 01:15:41,871
Hey, dude.

961
01:15:42,288 --> 01:15:46,917
Peter: And that is where
I thought this story would end.

962
01:15:48,419 --> 01:15:49,837
But while we were editing,

963
01:15:49,962 --> 01:15:54,759
Marc chased a weather window
up to Juneau, Alaska,

964
01:15:54,884 --> 01:15:57,803
where he met up with
a strong local climber,

965
01:15:58,262 --> 01:15:59,764
Ryan Johnson.

966
01:16:01,015 --> 01:16:04,935
Climbing as a team, with a rope,
they made a first ascent

967
01:16:05,061 --> 01:16:08,439
on the north face
of the mendenhall towers.

968
01:16:09,774 --> 01:16:12,985
At the summit, there was cell reception.

969
01:16:13,069 --> 01:16:18,574
So Marc sent text messages
to his mom and to brette.

970
01:16:21,660 --> 01:16:24,872
And Ryan sent a video message
to his girlfriend.

971
01:16:24,997 --> 01:16:27,083
Hey, babe, figured why not
be up here with me?

972
01:16:27,166 --> 01:16:30,086
- Marc, right there.
- Yeah.

973
01:16:30,461 --> 01:16:31,879
Ryan: Pretty amazing up here.

974
01:16:32,004 --> 01:16:34,465
We've got a long way to get down,
so we're gonna get to it.

975
01:16:34,632 --> 01:16:37,093
Marc: The descent
does not look straightforward.

976
01:16:41,680 --> 01:16:45,601
Peter: But by the next morning,
nobody had heard from them.

977
01:16:48,312 --> 01:16:52,900
Brette was on a sailboat
off the coast of tasmania.

978
01:16:53,025 --> 01:16:57,655
She was the first to realize
they were late to check in.

979
01:16:58,322 --> 01:17:02,618
She contacted search and rescue,
took the next flight out,

980
01:17:02,743 --> 01:17:05,955
and called us
when she landed in Alaska.

981
01:17:08,541 --> 01:17:12,086
- Peter: Fuck!
- Yeah, so I don't know, Pete.

982
01:17:12,128 --> 01:17:15,506
- I'm so sorry.
- I don't know what to do.

983
01:17:15,673 --> 01:17:20,970
I don't know what's gonna happen
or what would happen if...

984
01:17:23,097 --> 01:17:26,392
A climber from squamish
has gone missing in Alaska.

985
01:17:26,517 --> 01:17:31,105
Marc-Andre leclerc and another climber
were last seen on march 4th.

986
01:17:31,188 --> 01:17:33,816
Peter: We followed brette up to Juneau

987
01:17:33,941 --> 01:17:37,736
and met Marc's family
at the search and rescue office.

988
01:17:40,781 --> 01:17:45,661
Some of Marc's friends from squamish
had come along to help with the search.

989
01:17:46,537 --> 01:17:48,122
But a storm had rolled in,

990
01:17:48,205 --> 01:17:50,749
so nobody could get
a helicopter in there.

991
01:17:52,918 --> 01:17:57,173
All we could do was wait
for the weather to break

992
01:17:58,716 --> 01:18:03,888
and hope that somehow,
they were still alive up there.

993
01:18:12,104 --> 01:18:17,067
After four agonizing days,
the weather finally cleared enough

994
01:18:17,193 --> 01:18:23,490
for search and rescue
to fly a helicopter into that zone

995
01:18:23,616 --> 01:18:26,702
and get visuals of their descent route.

996
01:18:28,370 --> 01:18:32,583
With all the new snow, conditions
were too dangerous to land there,

997
01:18:33,542 --> 01:18:36,212
but they spotted a rope.

998
01:18:39,381 --> 01:18:42,927
It was covered in avalanche debris

999
01:18:43,052 --> 01:18:49,225
and it was clear that Marc and Ryan
were buried there.

1000
01:18:51,727 --> 01:18:54,855
There was no chance of survival.

1001
01:19:18,629 --> 01:19:22,925
Brette: We were hoping
to do a recovery of their bodies but...

1002
01:19:23,884 --> 01:19:26,929
It didn't happen.
They just disappeared into the glacier.

1003
01:19:33,185 --> 01:19:38,274
I remember sitting out there
on the ice field and wondering, like,

1004
01:19:39,650 --> 01:19:42,403
"why wasn't I with him?"

1005
01:19:43,862 --> 01:19:46,323
Like, I felt I should've been there.

1006
01:19:48,242 --> 01:19:52,288
I didn't even know
that life could be that painful.

1007
01:19:52,371 --> 01:19:55,332
I didn't even know it existed
until you experience it.

1008
01:19:55,457 --> 01:20:00,671
It's like we're kind of living
in this blissful magical life,

1009
01:20:00,838 --> 01:20:03,173
and then you're hit
with this shockwave of pain,

1010
01:20:03,299 --> 01:20:05,217
and you'll never be the same.

1011
01:20:11,432 --> 01:20:14,810
After he died,
I just didn't care about anything.

1012
01:20:16,645 --> 01:20:17,813
Nothing mattered.

1013
01:20:19,690 --> 01:20:22,818
Maybe I would just disappear also.

1014
01:20:27,448 --> 01:20:31,452
But then I remembered this conversation
that I had with Marc.

1015
01:20:32,661 --> 01:20:35,164
Marc said
that if something happened to him,

1016
01:20:35,289 --> 01:20:37,541
he wants me to keep going.

1017
01:20:40,753 --> 01:20:42,421
He didn't want me to lose my spirit.

1018
01:20:43,922 --> 01:20:47,301
He just wanted me
to keep climbing, keep loving life,

1019
01:20:48,510 --> 01:20:51,847
and be happy. Yeah.

1020
01:20:53,349 --> 01:20:54,933
You have no idea how hard it is.

1021
01:20:55,059 --> 01:20:58,020
In theory you can say it,
but to actually be living that...

1022
01:21:03,567 --> 01:21:05,569
I went back to Alaska.

1023
01:21:06,528 --> 01:21:08,614
It's so beautiful there,

1024
01:21:08,739 --> 01:21:13,577
but being there without him
felt so awful.

1025
01:21:19,917 --> 01:21:23,253
I was in so much pain

1026
01:21:23,379 --> 01:21:27,216
and the only time
I could feel an escape from that

1027
01:21:27,341 --> 01:21:28,884
was being in the mountains.

1028
01:21:31,929 --> 01:21:35,391
I keep returning to these places
we climbed together.

1029
01:21:38,477 --> 01:21:41,146
They are infused with him.

1030
01:21:43,148 --> 01:21:47,236
I came upon this piton
and I'm certain it's Marc's.

1031
01:21:49,321 --> 01:21:50,906
I feel like you're here, Marc.

1032
01:21:52,324 --> 01:21:55,536
I just miss him so much,
like, I miss our adventures together.

1033
01:22:04,670 --> 01:22:07,423
But I know that you'd want me to be here

1034
01:22:07,548 --> 01:22:09,466
and I know that you'd be proud.

1035
01:22:15,431 --> 01:22:17,307
(Wind gusts)

1036
01:22:28,777 --> 01:22:30,237
Just his typical smile.

1037
01:22:31,864 --> 01:22:33,449
(Sighs) Yeah.

1038
01:22:37,035 --> 01:22:39,955
Peter: You guys have a similar smile.
(Laughs)

1039
01:22:42,791 --> 01:22:44,793
Michelle: How I'm doing
is a day-to-day thing.

1040
01:22:47,212 --> 01:22:50,382
Without Marc-Andre, yeah,

1041
01:22:50,466 --> 01:22:56,805
it was like something was suddenly
and irrevocably wrong with the universe.

1042
01:22:56,972 --> 01:23:01,602
It was, like,
that's just not how it should be.

1043
01:23:11,528 --> 01:23:13,030
I'm sorry.

1044
01:23:16,408 --> 01:23:22,498
In some indefinable way,
you've moved to another place

1045
01:23:22,623 --> 01:23:25,000
and you have to learn how to live there.

1046
01:23:38,555 --> 01:23:40,891
Peter: A few months after the accident,

1047
01:23:41,391 --> 01:23:47,022
friends came to squamish from
all over the world to celebrate Marc.

1048
01:23:47,147 --> 01:23:49,816
(Chatter)

1049
01:24:07,417 --> 01:24:09,795
He was one of a kind.

1050
01:24:09,920 --> 01:24:11,797
He was an individual individual.

1051
01:24:13,048 --> 01:24:14,841
He just burned very bright

1052
01:24:14,967 --> 01:24:19,179
and he left an indelible Mark on a lot
of people in a short time, didn't he?

1053
01:24:23,892 --> 01:24:25,602
Wow, there's a lot of you.

1054
01:24:27,521 --> 01:24:31,149
As any parent knows,
raising children is a tough job,

1055
01:24:31,275 --> 01:24:32,734
but I am thankful

1056
01:24:32,859 --> 01:24:36,780
that at least god granted me the grace
to understand this about my son,

1057
01:24:36,905 --> 01:24:40,117
to not stand in the way of his passion
for the mountains.

1058
01:24:53,839 --> 01:24:55,079
Michelle: Of course, I worried.

1059
01:24:56,341 --> 01:24:58,802
What mother doesn't worry
about the children she's raised

1060
01:24:58,927 --> 01:25:00,095
to leave her and go out

1061
01:25:00,220 --> 01:25:03,724
into this beautiful
but dangerous and broken world?

1062
01:25:03,849 --> 01:25:05,976
(Laughs) It's so exposed.

1063
01:25:07,102 --> 01:25:10,439
Michelle: I believe Marc-Andre
lived the life he was intended to live.

1064
01:25:11,565 --> 01:25:14,276
That he was meant to scale mountains,

1065
01:25:14,401 --> 01:25:17,946
stand on summits,
find his way into lonely valleys...

1066
01:25:18,113 --> 01:25:19,323
Super happy.

1067
01:25:19,448 --> 01:25:22,008
Michelle: And love one woman
with all his heart, his little b.

1068
01:25:22,117 --> 01:25:26,455
- How are you, brette?
- It's pretty chilly. (Laughs)

1069
01:25:28,248 --> 01:25:29,750
Michelle: Tolkien in the hobbit says,

1070
01:25:29,875 --> 01:25:33,128
"there are no safe paths
in this part of the world.

1071
01:25:33,253 --> 01:25:35,547
You're over the edge of the wild now."

1072
01:25:35,631 --> 01:25:37,132
Marc: Oh, yeah, look at that.

1073
01:25:38,008 --> 01:25:40,848
Michelle: Well, Marc-Andre, you
are truly over the edge of the wild now.

1074
01:25:40,927 --> 01:25:43,347
Marc: The storm came in
with a strong north wind.

1075
01:25:43,472 --> 01:25:46,975
Michelle: I hope the mountains there are
amazing and the sunsets are beautiful.

1076
01:25:47,142 --> 01:25:50,812
Marc: And then it cleared for a bit
as the eye of the storm passed over us.

1077
01:25:50,937 --> 01:25:56,026
We are all richer for calling you son,
brother, partner and friend.

1078
01:25:56,193 --> 01:25:57,903
Whoo!

1079
01:25:58,028 --> 01:26:00,572
Michelle: Thank you for giving us
25 remarkable years.

1080
01:26:00,656 --> 01:26:02,491
Holy fuck!

1081
01:26:02,616 --> 01:26:04,660
(Applause)

1082
01:26:07,079 --> 01:26:08,664
Whoo!

1083
01:26:17,923 --> 01:26:22,636
Peter: Having come to know Marc
as a friend, as well as a climber...

1084
01:26:23,470 --> 01:26:24,680
(Laughs)

1085
01:26:25,430 --> 01:26:30,519
It's hard to reconcile
the idealism of his ascents

1086
01:26:30,644 --> 01:26:33,188
with the tragic consequences.

1087
01:26:37,317 --> 01:26:41,571
That's why alpinism remains
such a contradiction in my mind,

1088
01:26:41,697 --> 01:26:43,115
such a mystery.

1089
01:26:46,785 --> 01:26:50,831
But I believe what Marc did
with his time on earth was beautiful.

1090
01:26:54,710 --> 01:26:58,004
He followed
the course of his own dreams.

1091
01:27:02,342 --> 01:27:05,721
Michelle: A lot of us live our lives
thinking of the things we'd like to do

1092
01:27:05,804 --> 01:27:09,558
or the adventures we'd like to have,
but we hold back.

1093
01:27:12,310 --> 01:27:16,481
That's what really stands out to me
about Marc-Andre's journey.

1094
01:27:18,233 --> 01:27:21,611
It's about what is it that you would do

1095
01:27:21,737 --> 01:27:26,950
if you were able to overcome
the things that you see as limitations

1096
01:27:27,075 --> 01:27:29,870
or the things that you're afraid of?

1097
01:27:29,995 --> 01:27:31,788
You know, what would you do?

1098
01:27:54,895 --> 01:27:56,772
(Wind whistles)

1099
01:28:29,805 --> 01:28:33,475
(I "Manchester" by kishi bashi)