Episodi

  • The Boot Below: Why a Climber Vanished Before the Serac Fell

    The Boot Below: Why a Climber Vanished Before the Serac Fell
    Oct 15 2026
    The Boot Below: Why a Climber Vanished Before the Serac Fell

    A lone climbing boot sat upright on a stone at 9,400 feet for six days before anyone noticed it - laced, buckled, and without its pair - while four climbers above had already died in a serac collapse. What did that boot, found 900 feet below the trailhead, prove about a man whose boots were later recovered still on his feet?

    In this episode, you will hear a factual account of the Mount Iverson expedition on November 8, 2019, the sequence of the summit push, and the puzzling physical and medical evidence that followed; how could Warren Slade’s solitary boot end up far below the route while his body’s boots remained in the debris field?

    Person: Warren Slade
    Date: November 8, 2019
    Location: Mount Iverson, Southeast Rib route
    Event: Serac collapse killing four climbers
    Status: Survivor walked out alone

    - A single climbing boot was found upright on a flat stone at 9,400 feet after six days.
    - The boot was located approximately 900 feet below the trailhead relative to the team's route.
    - The team left Camp Two at 2:17 AM on November 8 with five climbers on an 80-meter, 9 mm Beal rope.
    - Camp Two was located at 15,300 feet directly beneath a serac band; the route’s summit is 17,200 feet.
    - Warren Slade reported “the worst headache of his life” on the afternoon of November 7; Iris Fenn died the next morning.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    21 min
  • The Compass She Held: Why Angela Waited Alone in the Snow

    The Compass She Held: Why Angela Waited Alone in the Snow
    Oct 14 2026
    The Compass She Held: Why Angela Waited Alone in the Snow

    A quiet, controlled decision left Angela Weaver sitting upright in eighteen inches of snow, spine straight, holding a compass with a red lanyard whose needle lay still-she was facing northeast toward Hollow Creek and had been dead for hours. Four people would later be found alive because of actions she took alone; why did she take a summit team's baseplate compass, a non-official route card, and a jet-replacement wrench from camp and leave in the dark?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events on Haverford Peak in October 2011 from the perspective of who Angela Weaver was and what she did at high camp; the episode follows Angela’s preparations, the expedition decisions, the radio calls, and the fifty-six minutes that ended with her leaving camp-what do those choices reveal about her intent and plan?

    Person: Angela Weaver
    Event: Haverford Peak South Face expedition
    Date: October 14-15, 2011
    Location: High camp facing Hollow Creek
    Role: High-camp cook

    - Angela Weaver was twenty-eight years old and was sitting upright in eighteen inches of snow when found.
    - The compass she held had a red lanyard and the needle was still.
    - Angela made a log entry at 10:47 PM on October 14 reading: "Baseplate compass, red lanyard - taken for route verification."
    - The summit team called from the field at 2:19 PM on October 15 reporting they were off-route and in a full whiteout.
    - Angela served breakfast at 3:30 AM and watched the sky from camp alone for eleven hours before leaving; the team left camp at 4:00 AM.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    18 min
  • The Rope That Left a Man on the Headwall

    The Rope That Left a Man on the Headwall
    Oct 13 2026
    The Rope That Left a Man on the Headwall

    A single orange ascender and a fourteen-inch tail of eight-millimeter static line turned up four and a half miles from the mountain after a rope failure left a 37-year-old climber dead - and the cut end was unnaturally clean. What chain of ordinary decisions and one six-minute span on a rope led to a death on Warden's Tooth?

    In this episode, we present the sequence of events from the rope installation on September 10 to the discovery of an asymmetry in a September 11 photograph, and we follow how equipment, people, and timing converged on the headwall - could a routine rope inspection have changed everything?

    Date: September 13, 2019
    Location: Warden's Tooth, Southeast Ridge headwall
    Person: Sean Mercer, age 37
    Equipment: eight-millimeter orange static line, 400 meters, purchased July 2019
    Discovery: ascender found on county road with 14-inch tail of static line

    - The ascender was found upright in a drainage ditch beside a county road four and a half miles from the mountain.
    - The threaded tail through the ascender's cam measured fourteen inches and the cut end of the line was clean, not frayed.
    - The nearest fixed rope on the mountain was 4,200 vertical feet above, on the Warden's Tooth route called Warden's Tooth.
    - Sean Mercer fell 38 feet when a rope failed beneath the third anchor and was found deceased; eight other climbers had descended and left the trailhead earlier that evening.
    - A September 11 photograph, taken the morning after rope installation, later revealed an asymmetry roughly two meters below the third anchor when investigators enlarged the image.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    17 min
  • The Upright Boot: How a Mountain Vanished a Geology Student

    The Upright Boot: How a Mountain Vanished a Geology Student
    Oct 12 2026
    The Upright Boot: How a Mountain Vanished a Geology Student

    A single boot stood upright, laces tied, clean and leaning against a utility pole at 9,400 feet - three and a half miles from where a 22-year-old geology student vanished from a granite ledge at 10,900 feet. How did one boot, one sock liner, and no body end up posed like a display item so far from the last known location, and who can explain the gaps the evidence refuses to fill?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of physical facts left behind after Gordon Graham disappeared during a research expedition and trace the terrain, timing, and items investigators used to reconstruct the last hours. What do his field notes, missing crampons, and the upright boot reveal about what really happened?

    Person: Gordon Graham
    Age: 22
    Location: East Prow ledge at 10,900 feet; boot found at 9,400 feet
    Date: August 10-11, 2009
    Event: Summit attempt halted by storm; 14 inches of new snow

    - Boot found upright against a utility pole at 9,400 feet, three and a half miles from the mountain.
    - Graham was last seen on East Prow ledge at 10,900 feet writing in his field notebook at approximately 1:15 AM on August 11.
    - Temperature on the ledge that night was 19 degrees Fahrenheit with a northwest wind.
    - Team summit attempt lasted six hours and twenty minutes and was halted by a storm beginning at 11:20 AM on August 11.
    - After the storm passed at 6:15 PM, investigators recorded 14 inches of new snow covering the route.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 min
  • The Orange Tent at 21,300 Feet: Why Marie Never Came Down

    The Orange Tent at 21,300 Feet: Why Marie Never Came Down
    Oct 11 2026
    The Orange Tent at 21,300 Feet: Why Marie Never Came Down

    A lone orange tent stood upright at 21,300 feet after Meridian Peak endured a 61-hour assault with 40 mph winds and freefalling temperatures - and no one could explain how it remained intact. What did one decision on the descent leave behind, and who was still alive above the Peak?

    In this episode, we follow the July 2019 Meridian Peak expedition from base camp through summit and descent, tracking the team's timeline, gear, roles, and the single choice that left an orange tent alone on the mountain - could that decision explain what happened next?

    Date: July 14, 2019
    Location: Meridian Peak, Weyburn Mountains, south-central Montana
    Summit elevation: 22,140 feet
    Tent location elevation: 21,300 feet
    Storm duration: 61 hours

    - The team established Camp Three on the Meridian Peak at 20,800 feet on July 9.
    - All four climbers reached the summit at 8:44 AM on July 11; Long radioed base camp at 9:17 AM reporting everyone ambulatory.
    - The tent was more than 500 feet above the Meridian Peak and more than 1,300 feet inside the death zone.
    - Wind during the storm reached 40 miles per hour and lasted through a 61-hour sustained assault.
    - Ray Stout slipped when his crampon balled up at approximately 11:30 AM on the descent and fell 40 feet before self-arresting with his ice axe.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 min
  • The Regulator on the Gravel: How a Knot Kept Him Alive

    The Regulator on the Gravel: How a Knot Kept Him Alive
    Oct 10 2026
    The Regulator on the Gravel: How a Knot Kept Him Alive

    A single climbing oxygen regulator, tied to a truck door with a perfect figure-eight knot and left in a trailhead lot for nine days, turned out to be the first clue to a survival story more precise than chance. The owner had packed two full oxygen systems for a single solo traverse and reached the summit with two-thirds of the first cylinder used - but why did he leave two systems and how did that misplaced regulator become indispensable?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of actions and recordings that connect a photographed regulator, a permit decision, and a solo climb that succeeded where previous attempts had not; we follow the timeline from the rental desk to the fixed-rope log and ask how planning, habit, and a single knot intersected to keep one climber alive.

    Person: John Dalton
    Person: Frank Oler
    Person: Sandra Zimmerman
    Date: June 8
    Location: upper ice field / west ridge at approximately 3,800 meters

    - The regulator was photographed in the Drayfield Valley trailhead parking lot at 8:15 in the morning and the truck had been there for nine days.
    - Dalton turned sixty-two the winter before the climb and had been climbing since his mid-thirties with decades of high-altitude experience.
    - Frank Oler, Dalton’s climbing partner for eight years, was hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism four days before the planned traverse.
    - Dalton signed out two complete oxygen systems from Cascade Summit Expedition Company on June 3, despite planning to climb solo.
    - Dalton signed the fixed-rope log at the base of the upper ice field at 11:40 on June 8 and reached the summit via the west ridge at 14:20, having used approximately two-thirds of the first oxygen cylinder.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    16 min
  • Ice Axe on Main Street: What Took Neil Olsen From Fenwick Peak

    Ice Axe on Main Street: What Took Neil Olsen From Fenwick Peak
    Oct 9 2026
    Ice Axe on Main Street: What Took Neil Olsen From Fenwick Peak

    A single ice axe appeared upright against a parking lot wheel stop in Carvell, Montana - forty-one miles from Fenwick Peak and from the man who owned it. Neil Olsen, 25, walked east from a high camp after an avalanche and a broken climbing partner, and four days later his axe was found with no vehicle, no eyewitnesses, and no clear explanation: what happened between May 10 and May 14?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from summit to disappearance, moving through written weather observations, an avalanche that buried a lower basin, and a couloir fracture that produced a 220-foot descent for Neil's partner - and we ask whether Neil's careful notes hold the key to what went wrong.

    Person: Neil Olsen
    Age: 25
    Location: Fenwick Peak and Carvell, Montana
    Date: May 10-May 14
    Event: Avalanche and subsequent disappearance

    - Neil kept an operational spiral notebook with weather observations, snow conditions, and slope-angle estimates in his pack pocket.
    - On May 10 they summited at 11:22 AM and spent 11 minutes on the top before descending into the lower basin.
    - The lower basin was buried by an avalanche 6-8 feet deep across a roughly 300-foot-wide front on the descent.
    - At 40 feet into the couloir on May 11 a slab approximately 60 feet wide and 2 feet deep released, sending Curtis Simmons 220 feet down the chute.
    - Curtis transmitted a partial radio call mentioning "avalanche" that Phil Varga received in the afternoon of May 10; Neil transmitted clearly at 7:41 AM on May 11.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    17 min
  • He Made the Summit - Then Left His Crampons on Purpose

    He Made the Summit - Then Left His Crampons on Purpose
    Oct 8 2026
    He Made the Summit - Then Left His Crampons on Purpose

    Cold, precise details-two crampons buckled and points down on an eight‑inch granite shelf at 11,200 feet, left there for four days-make the calmest conclusion feel like a lie. Glenn Phillips reached the Verada summit, left a neat trail of evidence, and then vanished; what private decision and unread message changed everything?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the signed trail register to the stalled rescue: the route Glenn planned, the items left in a sealed high camp, the single fragmented satellite message, and the storm that arrived early-how did a methodical climber end up overtaken on a descent?

    Person: Glenn Phillips
    Age: 48
    Location: Verada Range central peak and slope
    Date: signed April 12, missing April 17, search began April 18
    Coordinator: Alice Lane

    - Two crampons were found buckled together on an eight‑inch granite shelf at 11,200 feet and had sat there for four days.
    - Glenn signed the trail register on April 12 at 5:15 AM listing North Prow and return date April 17.
    - High camp tent was closed and intact with sleeping bag, stove, two days of food, and a fuel canister undisturbed.
    - A satellite communicator with a cracked screen sent one partial message on April 15 at 11:41 AM reading "weather shifted early, going for -".
    - A forty‑meter dynamic rope remained coiled and clipped to the tent’s external gear loop though the North Prow requires fixed lines on three upper technical pitches.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    16 min