To Infinity

Chad Kellogg. September 22nd, 1971 to February 14th, 2014. Seattle climbing community legend. Dear friend to many. And the toughest guy around.

“For Chad, not eating and shivering on ledges–that was like skiing powder for him. It was just that fun,” remembers Jens Holsten.

Today, we take a look at what gets left behind when someone like Chad leaves us, and what grows in the vacant space.

In part one, we hear from Jens, Chad’s climbing partner, good friend and mentee during the final years of his life.

In part two, we follow Ras Vaughan and Gavin Woody as they pick up the torch on a project Chad dreamed up, but never completed: the Rainier Infinity Loop. An idea so grand, it seemed almost inhuman.

This episode contains adult language–if that offends you, you’ll want to skip this one.

Hear more of Chad Kellogg’s story in the 2009 Diaries episode, The Cowboy and the Maiden.

Read more from Jens Holsten at Always Upwards.

Find more of Ras Vaughan’s musings and adventures at UltraPedestrian.com

Follow Gavin Woody’s adventures on Facebook or Instagram.

Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto    •    Modulation of the Spirit by Little Glass Men    •    Liar, Liar by Vienna Ditto    •    Something by Kai Engel    •    Everest by Scott Holmes    •    The Undefeated by Vienna Ditto    •    Clover by Little Glass Men    •    Night Without Sleep by David Mumford    •    Falling into You by Little Glass Men    •    Firediary5 by Ken Christianson    •    Your Pulse by Little Glass Men    •    A Language of Its Own by Publish the Quest    •    Falling Into You by Little Glass Men    •    A Finer Line by Jason Tyler Burton

Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and with permission from the artists.