The Season

We've reached the end.  It's with mixed emotions that Bryan and I have decided that this will be the final episode of this experiment in grassroots storytelling. It's been an incredible adventure for us. The athletes left us inspired.  The community reaction humbled us.  Thank you.  A few things I will never forget:Spending New Years Eve in a no name town on Vancouver island inside Jonaven's airstream. Rain pelted the aluminum.  Watching the cable cam first take flight. The resulting look of glee on Matt's face. Sunset at the mouth of the Klamath. Realizing that I still have the same enthusiasm for traveling the American West as I did when I was 21. Watching the light fade from the top of Cheop's. I could go on and on.  It has been a memorable experience. Thanks for watching.   

Dawn breaks on Mount Rainier and it's time for the 6,000-foot climb from base camp to the summit. This is the chance for Greg Hill to summit the mountain that launched him on his skiing career.  Now, if only the weather will window will hold long enough.

Craig and Jarem launch off on Lurking Fear. If they are successful this will be the first all disabled ascent of Yosemite's iconic El Capitan and a landmark achievement in Craig's climbing career.  Hang on.

Rising 14,000 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier is where many aspiring mountaineers go to test their skills. Crevasses, hanging glaciers, weather that's not always predictable. At 19, Greg had the climbing bug and set his sights on Rainier. But summiting is not a gimme by any means. When he first saw Rainier, Greg "saw an amazing mountain that scared the crap out of me. There was a lot of fear but no understanding." After years spent honing skills in the mountains, Greg views Rainier as a mountain of potential. Now, he's set his sights on two routes in two days.

"Am I disaster prone?" asks Ryan Peterson. After nine days on the river, the search for the Ghost Run isn't going well. We see fish, but catching them is a different story. We have a big foot encounter. A big low is screaming towards the coast. The water is rising and this last effort in terrible weather might make or break Ryan's goal for the season.  Ryan is going to give it his all.

The season is coming to a close in Squamish. Thomo's attempts on The Method (v12) are numbered before setting out on another year of road tripping across North America.  

Winter came early and shut down Kevin and Jeremy's work in the burn.  The coldest season overstayed its welcome well into May. By the time the ground had dried enough to return to work, the access road into the forest suddenly sprouted a gate with a lock.  With a little ingenuity, the boys gained access and got back after it.  After eight months of shaping, honing, and waiting, it is about to go down.

Spread across Greg Hill's downstairs man cave are a series of maps stitched together. The Purcells. Monashees. Selkirks. Adamants. Valhallas. British Columbia's ranges extend outward from the hub of Revelstoke. Meticulous pencil lines are drawn to mark each route traveled, each successful peak.  When we saw it, we wondered what we had just signed up for.  After his successful two million vertical feet year, Greg had another idea altogether.  This season, Greg wanted to return to the mountain where his career began when he was 18 years old -- Mount Rainier. 

"The LIst is this ongoing process in my head," says climber Craig DeMartino. Each season, his mind wanders over past climbs. They bubble to the surface and Craig makes it a point to go out and repeat them, but over the years a funny thing happened. The List became less about looking backward then as a means for looking forward. Craig climbs as hard, if not harder than he did before his accident and amputation, so it would only make sense that he would add new, more challenging routes to The List. For traditional climbers, El Capitan is near the top of every tick list.

“It's sort of a cliché, but there is this fishing joke that says – there is only one other sensation that can compare,” says Ryan Peterson. “I'll leave it at that.” After days without landing a fish and living on the river, our fishing lives are as active as e local night life. The gang starts to wonder if landing one of these ghost run steelheads will ever happen. Everywhere there are signs of the fish, but when it comes to taking a fly, they remain elusive. We follow one California's wildest rivers down to the mouth and back again. 

In 2010, Greg Hill achieved the unthinkable. He ski toured two million vertical feet. He'd spent the prior decade prior shaping his body into a powder slaying weapon, sharpening his understanding of British Columbia's sometimes dangerous snow pack and refining his mountain sense in order to travel safely, even on days when the avalanche danger crept into the red. Or as Greg puts it, "I used to be a mountain boy, but now I can grow a pretty decent mustache and I think of myself as a mountain man." When he crossed the mark on the final day of 2010, everyone was curious– what's next? Three million?  Maybe not, but Greg has a few ideas.

Craig DeMartino barely survived his 100 foot fall.  After three months in the ER, critical care and rehabilitation centers, he was able to return home to his family and something that resembled his life before the accident. His frail body made living difficult and a rare nerve disorder brought on by the trauma only worsened the situation.  Craig was faced with a decision. His right foot would never heal. He would never chase his kids across the backyard or climb again.  But there was an option -- amputation.  It was a risk, but it seemed no foot might be better than a bad foot.  Craig thought long and hard. In an attempt to get his life back, Craig decided he would rather be an amputee than spend the rest of his life regretting.

The Ghost Run exists. Top Dog proved it. The pictures taped to wall of the Salmon River Outpost are worth a thousand words. With the rising water from recent snow and rain, the fish are moving up river and Ryan goes to work floating and fishing the Klamath River and its tributaries.  It's said that steelhead are the fish of a thousand casts, but on a river that has felt the hand of man so powerfully -- through dams, agriculture and overfishing -- it might just take a few more casts.  

After Cedar was born, Thomasina moved back home and tried to make a go of settling down. Newfoundland provided a sense of home. It was a place where store owners knew locals' names and people helped one another. She managed it for a few months, but after a while the nomadic climber in her needed to leave.   For Thomasina, the only thing that could rival the Newfoundland community was the climbing community.

We've got a ghost story for you. The Klamath River, running through the rugged Northern California mountains, used to hold the fourth largest population of salmon and steelhead in the world. Every year millions of fish would surge up stream. Now, over fishing, agriculture, and bad politics have taken their toll, and the once great runs are not only diminished, they are mostly gone. To many fly fisherman, the Klamath might as well be dead.  But angler Ryan Peterson has heard rumors that during the winter, a run of massive steelhead creep upstream unnoticed. Is it a good yarn or is it real? This season Ryan wants to find out. The search for the ghost run begins.

Jeremy and Kevin have spent the whole summer digging, building, riding and then refining the trails through the Burn. It's consumed the summer months and headed right into fall. Linking up the series of gaps, rock drops and step downs has come with its share of near season ending crashes, and a true complete descent has remained elusive.  Neither one of them wants to spend the winter thinking about their lines in the Burn. It's time to move on.

In 2002, Craig DeMartino's life should have ended. Craig took a 100-foot ground  fall after a miscommunication with his climbing partner. The accident left Craig in a wheelchair and a slew of medical problems. Thankful to be alive, Craig still struggled to redefine himself after the accident.  His lifestyle had changed forever. He struggled to play with his kids. The outdoors were no longer a part of his life. After being diagnosed with a neurological condition, Craig reached a turning point. He could amputate his slow-healing foot to stem his nerve condition and gamble that he could get his life back or he could stick with the obvious outcome -- stay in a wheelchair and grapple with pain for the rest of his life.

Spring rains and warmer temps in the south signal Thomasina Pidgeon's annual return to Squamish. For the last decade, the collection of granite eggs stacked beneath the Chief's looming walls have been a touchstone. Each year welcomes a variety of attempts, new discoveries and sends. Tall and proud, The Method is one of Squamish's most difficult boulder problems. It's incredible how 12 feet of stone can define a season.  But the conditions can be difficult-- exposed to the sun, the micro crimps and delicate foot smears are next to impossible. It's a finicky creature.

No one is quite sure how the fire above Brittania Beach started, but it revealed a mountain biking playground. In Spring of 2010, Jeremy and Kevin eyed up The Burn and started building trail through the granite out crops and mangled downed logs. It's dirty work.

Over the last 10 years, Thomasina Pigeon rose to the top of female bouldering. With multiple V12 ascents to her name, she spend most of her life on the road searching out the next project. Her traveling companion and sometimes climbing partner is her four-year-old daughter Cedar. How do you balance pursuit of world class boulder problems, life on the road and motherhood? Watch.

Kevin Landry and Jeremy Norris both moved west to the mountain biking mecca of Squamish with the same goal in mind -- ride as much as possible and create their own vision of mountain biking. As luck would have it, they would move into home right across the street from one another, forge a friend ship and begin sniffing around for new lines and trails. Curiosity powers mountain biking's evolution, so Kevin and Jeremy went looking.

It's been said that stories are like rivers. Bryan and I specialize in following them to their conclusion. We are very proud to present The Season 2. This year we picked five new athletes each with their own unique storyline. An amputee climber sets his sights on becoming whole again by returning to Yosemite to realize a lifelong dream. A conservationist and angler searches for a fabled ghost run of wild steelhead on one of California's most troubled rivers. One of the world's best boulderers struggles to balance her career as a boulder with raising her daughter. From a burned forest, a vision of an incredible mountain bike trail emerges from the ashes into reality. In the wake of achieving an unthinkable goal, a ski mountaineer returns to the peak where he first met failure.

Rise up. Become legend. Welcome to The Season 2. A 22-episode web TV series following five athletes through the course of a single season. Available first at arcteryx.com and as a download from iTunes. Visit theseasontv.com for more information.

That's it. That's all.  After a year of following these athletes, our stories come to a conclusion, but not before Matt gives his year long project one last go and puts a whole lot of faith in the anti-cam.

It's come down to the wire. Matt's foot and ankle took longer than the expected to heel. He couldn't climb again until this winter, but in his free time he went to work redesigning the anti cam. Now he's got three shiny pieces of gear, a renewed enthusiasm and a date with the guillotine flake.

The race is finally here. The countdown has started and it's time to see how Scott Petett is going to do against some serious talent.

Paul Kuthe and co have a decision to make. Stay or Bail?  After the flood wiped out their camp it would be easy to give up on their season's goal.

Anya Miller tackles some of Gold Bar's tallest problems.  Her goal this  season was to stay healthy and start sending, move to the big city, get  married. It's time to send.

Jonaven's season is nearing its conclusion, but before that happens he's got a statement to make. An unexpected window of weather and avalanche stability allows a trip to the Tantalus where Jonaven and snowboarder Jeremy Jones put their "climb what you ride" mentality into action.

Dr. Scott Petett is on the move. After a season of dialing it, it's time for the race up in Whistler. The backyard trails lead straight to mountain biking's main stage.

The Anti Cam is ready for testing.  Matt is about to find out whether his vision is pipe dream or possibility.  Shot in Squamish at the Smoke Bluffs. 

Anya Miller was desperate for answers. What caused her to hurt herself? Was there even a reason? A year after her last surgery, Anya is back in form, sending hard, tall and proud problems.

Winter arrived like it was pissed off.  November in Whistler was one of the best months of skiing ever, yet Jonaven Moore was no where to be found.  The caboose was for sale.  He had moved to a trailed on Vancouver Island's lonely coast. Jonaven put his heart into the ocean and surfing    

An abnormally high tide nearly washes away the teams camp and derails Paul and company's mission to explore the Butze Tidal rapids.

Bryan and I took a little break from releasing new episodes last week. The newest episode is available at arcteryx.com right now and will be available for download later this week, but in the meantime we thought we would do an audio show with some of our favorite cuts from the Season and also some behind the scenes stories. Enjoy.

Dr. Scott Petett came to downhill mountain biking later in life, but he's got a teenager's drive and stoke for the sport. In this episode, he hits his local trail and reflects on the importance of the sport in his life. It's a way to stay healthy, a way to sane and a way to keep challenging himself.

Jonaven Moore reflects back on his years filming in Alaska and how his approach to snowboarding has changed.

Matt Maddaloni goes to work on the anti cam. First he's got to go inspect the guillotine flake on the chief.

Paul Kuthe and friends arrive at the Butze tidal rapids and discover what it's like to ride the largest tidal rapid in on the West Coast. 

Matt Maddaloni used climbing as a vehicle to explore the world, but found there was a limit to his body.  He could only climb so hard. To maintain his passion he had to find new ways to push himself.  This season, Matt decided to create a new experimental piece of climbing gear and put it into action.

Dr. Scott Petett is a family man. He's worked long hours to build an incredible practice and care for his wife and daughter, but strip away the lab coat and he flies through the air like Superman. This season, Scott Petett has decided to head to Whistler to race.

After going against his better instincts, pro-snowboarder Jonaven Moore takes a look at himself and how his sport does business.

Anya Miller recovered from nine surgeries on her left knee. This season she is not only trying to stay healthy, she is trying to figure out the reason for her injuries.

Paul Kuthe sets out to reshape sea kayaking.

Welcome to the Season.

-undefined-