Pete Whittaker: Beyond Wide
6/26/202645 min
Pete Whittaker may have captured climbing’s hearts through his and fellow Wide Boy Tom Randall’s quest to complete the hardest offwidth on the planet, but he’s also quietly become one of the best traditional climbers of his generation. After the offwidth roundtable, we knew we had more to talk about with Pete.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsFitz Cahall· Host0:00
Alex, like, how do you feel about being cold?
Alex Honnold· Host0:02
I prefer to not be cold.
Fitz Cahall· Host0:04
[laughs] Me too.
Alex Honnold· Host0:05
I mean, I, I can obviously handle some cold, but- Yeah.
Fitz Cahall· Host0:08
Do you, uh, throw in the extra layer?
Alex Honnold· Host0:11
Uh, I don't normally throw in the extra layer. I mean, I'd say I don't like being cold, but at the same time I also hate carrying extra stuff.
Fitz Cahall· Host0:17
[laughs] How does the Summit Series fit into this all? Does it give you, uh, the biggest buffer you can get?
Alex Honnold· Host0:21
Yeah. Summit Series gives you the absolute best bang for the buck in terms of weight to warmth to comfort, and it's just such an easy modular kit. It's like you just know which layers to have in, in which order. You don't have to think about your packing that much.
Fitz Cahall· Host0:34
Mm-hmm.
Alex Honnold· Host0:34
So every mission I've done in the mountains with Tommy, I'm always wearing one layer more than him. [laughs] It's like there's always, like, one extra layer somewhere in the kit where I'm like, "Wow, you're not wearing long johns right now? Like, really?" But of course, he's a real mountain man that grew up in- [laughs] ... you know, Estes Park, like 8,000 feet.
Fitz Cahall· Host0:49
Oh. California climber through and through.
Alex Honnold· Host0:53
The North Face has you covered with Summit Series. Discover gear designed to take you to new heights at thenorthface.com.
Fitz Cahall· Host0:59
Alex, have you ever heard, uh, the concept a climber's climber? Like, someone will say, "So-and-so is a climber's climber."
Alex Honnold· Host1:06
Yeah, I've certainly heard that. I mean, I think that's anybody that just loves climbing and climbs anything and everything at a high level, and just... You know, I don't know. Someone who's just a climber's climber.
Fitz Cahall· Host1:19
[laughs] Yeah. It's someone who, like, embodies the ethos of our sport. Like, they are typically, like, well-rounded, maybe not the most gifted, but... I don't even think that's necessarily the case, but they, they try as hard