The most terrifying moment I’ve ever had wasn’t while soloing, it was a long time ago on top of a building, while my mind fought to destroy me, as it had been doing since my earliest memoriesSome people call me suicidal because I solo, claim I have a death-wish. Well excuse me, but *fuck you*. I know exactly what a death wish feels like, and I’ll b…

Have you ever caught flak on the interwebs via the InstaGerm or the FaceTron? Well me to!!!! But at least it forces me to think, consider the process, and contemplate what horrible life choices have brought me to this point! So here’s answers to a few of the common and somewhat recent discussionsSome have come from trolls, others have come from wel…

Do you or someone you love suffer from Fear of Falling? Here’s a guide to mental practice that actually works!Ever noticed that some folks tend to regress after practicing falling, or that the so-called “whipper therapy” of taking long falls traumatizes some folks to the point where they’re not willing to fall at all? And become reluctant to lead?T…

How often do you think about danger? How in depth? Are you worried about copycats of the riskiest arts? Do you tell folks just how dangerous these things are, because you want to encourage them? Or have you failed to realize that this tactic truthfully has the opposite effect from what you want?We’ve had people fall off of buildings and die for *In…

Next time you need to Pile Ze Bags, remember instead to DOUBLE ZE POWWA AND UNLEASH THE BEAST, because we! don’t! fall!Austin Howell

Free soloing is sketchy as hell! At least it is if you do it wrong as hell… I figured it’s time to address that head-on, so this week is storytime about all the times I was sketchier than all get-out. I didn’t sit on a rock and meditate to generate the process, naw. I learned these ways through the school of hard-knocks.Two things you need to solo …

Onsight Free-Solo 5.12, does it get any more rowdy than that? This is the story of the single most intense experience of my entire lifeI don’t like lowball solos, where the crux is straight off the deck, at least not when searching for a “personal best” performance. If a route is V4 off the ground with a 5.10 finish, that’s 12a on a rope, but witho…

This episode is the play-by-play recap of every route during the Mile of Mojo! How many minutes did they take? Did anything feel sketchy? This one is for the nerds. It’s technical and detailed down to a route-per-route basisAustin Howell

I’d racked up 2500ft during a single afternoon, during an inspection mission, not even aiming for a goal, while hungover like Keith Richards after 1969’s Altamont Anarchy.An El Cap day wasn’t ambitious enough. But what was the next milestone? There isn’t much in the way of more massive walls against which to measure oneself, so my mind harkened bac…

Today’s episode is about The Progress, because everybody starts somewhere, and chronicles my progress from bumbling-gumby to bumbling-idiot-soloist! As an experiment on this episode, I recorded a lot of my own guitar for segues and such!PS: I downloaded a metronome app for my computer after this episode, and I promise to practice with it before the…

While I’ve been covering the process in specificity, with a play-by-play on a week-to-week basis, I haven’t covered the process generally. What am I thinking about *before* I go to think about individual climbs? What preparation goes into these things? How does that enrich my life off the wall? That’s what today’s episode is all about!…

For 18 months I lived in my Nissan Frontier, but I had a roof over my head thanks to the company putting me in a hotel all the time. One major perk of a traveling job!This is the story of that one time I had a one-way ticket to Vegas for Valentines day!Austin Howell

When onsighting, often the most efficient beta isn’t as valuable as the first beta that works. You’ve gotta get outta there, so you don’t pump out.After spending precious minutes of progressive fatigue faffing about, I chose my sequence and committed to the moves. Screaming, flailing, failing, I fell.…

I’m Building a new layer of technique, tactics, and ability on top of the fitness that Lattice’s training protocols had given me I had become a whole new machine. In the three years before this season I had only soloed seven 5.12’s, and then I turned around and soloed eight 5.12’s in two months. Two months to match what had happened in the previous…

Walking out to the Deep End alone felt empowering. While initially, I’d balked at needing a rope to lower-off of routes, I realized that having the cord allowed me to rope-solo the route to practice the movements so I could dial the climb and send same-day.Austin Howell

Being from Texas, a complete idiot, and having practiced at the most intimidating crag I’ve ever visited in the worst conditions I could’ve chosen short of freezing… the end of September at The Red looked mighty fine in my mind.Austin Howell

Recently I had the honor of giving a presentation for Member’s Night at my local climbing gym (Vertical Endeavors of Glendale Heights). It was a one hour presentation followed by a fun Q&A segment where the audience asked a good amount of questions which I really appreciatedTo understand where you’re going, you first must understand where you’ve be…

Welcome to The Process! I am your host, Austin Howell! Why am I making a podcast? Why does it matter that we talk about risk, and more in my first podcast episode ever! My only regrets so far? that I didn’t say “so” or “um” any more than I already didAustin Howell