38 | Sky Diving, Climbing, and a Fatal Stabbing w/ Mike Tagg

The Climbing Majority

In our last conversation we sat down with a gentleman by the name of Mike Tagg where talked about the ethics behind climbing on wet rocks and provided a way for us, The Majority, to make better, well informed decisions on when we can climb after a a rain. But, we did not have the chance to do what we normally do on this show, hear Mike’s story, because I don’t know about you but we are always interested in hearing all the vastly different ways people find this magical sport, and how it impacts each individual's life so differently. Mike’s story is a bit different than most, rather than having climbing be the source of a traumatic injury, like Max and I, Mike found climbing after a life changing injury he sustained while sky diving. This shocking injury and the ultimate path towards climbing it put Mike on was all for a reason it seems. Because only a year or two after he found climbing, he woke up one night to find himself standing in a stairwell, with a gun in his face, while his good friend and roommate was being horrifically murdered only 20ft away. Mike says without the sport of climbing to give his life purpose, and a way to deal with the PTSD caused by the event.. he is not so sure he would be sitting in his chair telling this story today.
I must warn you that later in this episode, around an hour in, Mike will be sharing his detailed account of that tragic night. It contains graphic details that may not be suitable for younger audiences, so we suggest listening to this episode later if you have children around.
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Resources:
News Article About The Thousand Oaks Killer

Kapitler

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. A Skydiving Accident (00:03:49)

3. El Cap's Inspiration (00:34:29)

4. The Death of a Friend (01:01:49)