57 | "Yer Gonna Die" - Elitism In Climbing w/ Landon McDowell

The Climbing Majority

I would argue that our climbing community is mostly open, kind, and understanding. But I am sure we all have our own experiences with people who are not. The silent judgy squad that think they own the crag. The keyboard warrior that spreads hate, judgment, and negativity behind the protection of a screen.

Today we sit down with Landon McDowell, a self proclaimed “Reformed Elitist”. Having started climbing at the age of 14 he quickly noticed a natural proclivity towards the sport. Climbing soon became the source for Landon's identity, ego, and happiness. He noticed this and its effect on the people around him and quit rock climbing to work on himself and pursue his new passion of flight sports. Landon now has a calm, collected and positive outlook on life and is aiming to push the boundaries of alpine flight sports.
In our conversation, we chat about Landons rapid progression from a gym sport climber to projecting Desert Reality, an iconic and imposing roof crack in Red Rock Canyon. We get to hear what it might be like to be on the other side of the keyboard to the “yer gonna die” comment we all see online. And finally, we chat about Landons new passion of base jumping and speed flying and how he envisions mixing these disciplines with climbing and taking them into the mountains…
Please rate, review the show, and share this podcast with your friends. Word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools to help us out.
Contact us:
IG: @the.climbing.majority
Email: [email protected]

Chapters

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Who Is Landon? (00:01:50)

3. Learning To Trad Climb (00:13:20)

4. Elitism in Climbing (00:21:01)

5. Mental Health & Climbing (00:47:20)