RunOut #63: Alex Johnson Wins the War with the Swarm

Alex Johnson opens up about sieging her 10+ year project: The Swarm (V13/14) in Bishop, California. Her successful ascent earlier this year coincided with her 32nd birthday, and she first tried The Swarm as a 21 year old. This isn’t a story about how better training programs and more regimented diets pay dividends. For AJ, it took a lot of life and learning for her to summit this boulder. And now, she’s free. But first, we get ourselves into more trouble by revisiting the new Yosemite wilderness climbing permit regulations. As we hear from climbers in Yosemite facing this new reality, the regulations are revealing themselves to be more half-baked than we originally thought. So, where do we go from here? For today’s final bit, ever wonder what the world’s best alpinists talk about after getting done with a 30-hour push and drinking a beer? Jesse Huey and Quentin Roberts got you covered. SHOW NOTES Alex Johnson’s send post on Instagram. Follow: Jesse Huey and Quentin Roberts Access Fund’s post about the Wilderness Climbing Permits.