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  • Why Did the Camp Cook Walk Out With a 60m Rope?

    Why Did the Camp Cook Walk Out With a 60m Rope?
    2026/09/10
    Why Did the Camp Cook Walk Out With a 60m Rope?

    A still-burning stove, a compass pointing true north, and a woman found dead facing the wrong way-what forced a seasoned high-camp cook to leave camp at 11,200 ft alone with a sixty-meter rope and an untouched GPS? The scene is full of precise, unsettling details that refuse easy explanation; who decided compass over GPS, rope over radio, and why did the rope vanish?

    In this episode, we lay out the chronological facts recorded at Camp Cook and on the summit: the radio logs, the barometric drop, the timing of the summit party, and the condition in which Donna Padgett found Amanda Berry. We follow the decision trail Berry left behind to ask whether one call she made that night can explain everything found at the scene.

    Person: Amanda Berry
    Date: October 14
    Location: Camp Cook, Fenwick north face, 11,200 ft
    Event: Stove burning unattended for roughly ten hours
    Status: Rope (60 meters) taken from camp and never recovered

    - Berry logged an 8-millibar pressure drop between 18:52 and 22:47 on October 13.
    - The summit party reached the summit at 03:17 on October 14.
    - Berry’s last full log entry was at 22:47; a relay came down at 23:22.
    - The stove at Camp Cook had been running for roughly ten hours and the pot boiled dry by ~09:30 on October 14.
    - Donna Padgett found Berry at 06:52 on October 14, sitting in snow, legs crossed, holding a working compass pointing magnetic north.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    15 分
  • The Rope That Silently Failed: Nine Climbers, One Near-Disaster

    The Rope That Silently Failed: Nine Climbers, One Near-Disaster
    2026/09/09
    The Rope That Silently Failed: Nine Climbers, One Near-Disaster

    A single forty-centimeter loop of rope, sheared clean through, swung from a padlocked equipment cage gate six minutes past six on September 14, 2019 - photographed and reported by a pump service technician who knew what it meant before rescuers arrived. Nine climbers had been on the North Face above, one woman with laminated gear checklists was the first to weight a rope that had been quietly failing for three days; how did a cut invisible from above nearly become fatal?

    In this episode, we walk through the sequence of events recorded from base camp to the Orvallo North Face to reconstruct what went wrong and why cumulative assumption failure became the official finding; was this a single missed check or a chain of small, verifiable mistakes?

    Person: Linda Adams
    Person: Denise Slater
    Person: Rob Elias
    Date: September 14, 2019
    Location: Orvallo North Face, summit at 11,800 feet

    - A yellow-handled ascender and a 40-centimeter loop of rope, sheared clean through, were found hanging from a padlocked equipment cage gate on September 14, 2019.
    - The cut in fixed line two was approximately 18 inches from the upper anchor and had severed roughly half the rope’s cross-section.
    - The inReach satellite communicator was found in the base camp tent with battery at 63% and no outbound messages since September 8.
    - Nine climbers used the fixed lines multiple times on September 9 and 10 without noticing the damage, and the rope held under ascending loads during that period.
    - The fixed lines began above the bergschrund at roughly 10,200 feet on terrain pitched between 50 and 60 degrees.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    14 分
  • The Yellow Boot on Creston Horn: Eleven Thousand Feet of Silence

    The Yellow Boot on Creston Horn: Eleven Thousand Feet of Silence
    2026/09/08
    The Yellow Boot on Creston Horn: Eleven Thousand Feet of Silence

    A single yellow boot appeared on a ledge nine hundred feet above a glacier where no trail or climber could reach it, and Kathleen Novak’s archive shows that same ledge bare in two previous summers - so how did a boot get there three days after eight climbers went missing? The photograph was taken at first light on August 14, 2009, and a deputy logged the object as windblown debris; but the ledge sits over eleven thousand feet on an inaccessible face - what really happened up there?

    In this episode, we follow the recorded timeline from the summit push to the moment radios picked up eleven seconds of silence and a boot striking rock. The episode covers the climbers, the weather data from the Fenwick Ranger District, and the oddities in the descent protocol that preceded the disappearance - could a half-battery rule or a false spur note have mattered?

    Person: Kathleen Novak
    Date: August 14, 2009
    Location: Fenwick Ranger, Creston Horn summit and a ledge over eleven thousand feet
    Event: Eight climbers three days overdue; single yellow boot found on ledge
    Time: Summit reached at 7:08 AM on August 12; summit-to-descent call at 7:17 AM

    - Kathleen Novak photographed the yellow boot at first light while birding with a telephoto lens.
    - Novak had eleven years of alpine bird photography and showed the same ledge bare in two previous summers.
    - The summit push began at 2:45 AM on August 12 and all eight climbers stood on the summit at 7:08 AM.
    - The leader called the descent nine minutes after the summit (at 7:17 AM), shorter than the standard 15-20 minute observation period.
    - Visibility dropped to thirty feet and temperature fell 11°C in forty minutes, as recorded by the Fenwick Ranger District weather station.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    15 分
  • The Yellow Tent at 3,900m: How a Paper Girl Found Him Alive

    The Yellow Tent at 3,900m: How a Paper Girl Found Him Alive
    2026/09/07
    The Yellow Tent at 3,900m: How a Paper Girl Found Him Alive

    A fourteen-year-old paper delivery girl became the reason anyone climbed Dunbar Peak after a yellow tent at 3,900 meters suggested a body and a closed case. The tent was intact, sleeping bags unslept, a meal prepared, a radio at 61% battery switched off - yet the man who pitched it was missing; how did he leave supplies behind and vanish without a trace?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from Gregory Barnes’s summit attempt to the discovery that followed, laying out the timeline, the gear left at Camp Spur, and the small clues that redirected the rescue - could those four objects explain what happened in three days of silence?

    Person: Gregory Barnes
    Date: June 30, 2011
    Location: Camp Spur, 3,600 meters / Yellow tent at 3,900 meters
    Person: Scott Renner
    Event: Permit signed June 26, planned return July 4

    - Barnes made his last radio contact on June 30 from Camp Spur at 3,600 meters.
    - The yellow tent was found intact at 3,900 meters with sleeping bags unslept.
    - A radio at the tent showed 61% battery and had been switched off deliberately.
    - A cache at Camp Spur contained two liters of fuel, one day of food rations, and a pair of crampons.
    - The pair of crampons found at Camp Spur belonged to Scott Renner, indicating someone walked down without them.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    16 分
  • Left Boot on the Road: How Two Women Vanished from the Summit

    Left Boot on the Road: How Two Women Vanished from the Summit
    2026/09/06
    Left Boot on the Road: How Two Women Vanished from the Summit

    Cold, precise details - a single right women's size seven boot with a crampon and a double-knot lace found upright on a gravel access road, and a guide returning incoherent to Camp Three with both oxygen cylinders empty - set a quiet, mounting dread: what happened above twenty-three thousand feet that left one woman saved and the other vanished? Which moment between a regulator seal failing and a "logistical adjustment" became the hinge between survival and disappearance?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline from basecamp calls in early June 2009 through the summit push and the eleven hours of silence that followed, laying out the equipment, roles, and decisions on the mountain and asking how a near-invisible equipment fault and one split-second choice changed everything.

    Person: Jessica Perry
    Person: Connie Hicks
    Date: June 10-14, 2009
    Location: Kelner Massif, summit 23,800 ft
    Event: Regulator seal failure leading to empty oxygen cylinders

    - Jessica Perry was 28 years old and had summited Denali in 2006.
    - Connie Hicks was 44 and ran Ridgetop Alpine Services as a methodical high-altitude guide.
    - Two complete oxygen systems were carried: two masks, two regulators, two cylinder sets calibrated for 2 L/min each.
    - Connie and Jessica left Camp Three at 2:45 AM on June 10, roped together; Connie radioed "Conditions excellent" at 6:18 AM.
    - At 6:40 PM, Connie descended alone to Camp Three with both oxygen cylinders empty and was incoherent; Jessica did not return.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    14 分
  • Crampons on a Power Line: How Peggy Came Back Alive

    Crampons on a Power Line: How Peggy Came Back Alive
    2026/09/05
    Crampons on a Power Line: How Peggy Came Back Alive

    Fear and awe collide: a pair of crampons hung from a power line at twenty-two feet, dried blood on one bail, and a climber was nowhere to be found - Peggy Kowalski had just survived a slab avalanche that turned the Seaton Ramp into concrete-like debris. How did Peggy move through fractured blocks, a failing radio, and hours of night to end up with her crampons hooked on a power line - and what does that route tell us about the choices she made to survive?

    In this episode, we follow the documented timeline from base camp to radio silence and the recovery that followed, reconstructing the hours after the slab released and the moment the last transmission came through. What sequence of decisions and conditions explains how Peggy came back alive?

    Person: Peggy Kowalski
    Age: 54 years old
    Location: Mount Ardath, Seaton Ramp, Bride's Fork valley
    Date: May 14, 2019 (events from May 9-13, 2019)
    Companions: Ted Warzala (41) and Becky Suhr (37)

    - Peggy confirmed summit at 13,800 feet on the morning of May 13 at 10:04 AM.
    - A slab released between 11:15 AM and noon on May 13 measuring 40 meters wide and 200 meters long.
    - The fourth radio transmission at 12:31 PM included Peggy saying “buried” and Ted’s name.
    - At 3:47 PM three clicks were received on the radio after voice transmissions ceased.
    - Crampons were found hanging from a power line at 22 feet with dried blood on the left bail the morning of May 14.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    14 分
  • The Crampon on Harmon Road: Kerrigan's Missing Woman and One Survivor

    The Crampon on Harmon Road: Kerrigan's Missing Woman and One Survivor
    2026/09/04
    The Crampon on Harmon Road: Kerrigan's Missing Woman and One Survivor

    Fear tightens the throat: a left women's size 7 crampon, every point still sharp, was found on a fire road nine miles and ten thousand feet below Kerrigan Peak - and the woman it belonged to had been dead for about 120 hours. How did that crampon travel down from the summit area when three people went up and only one came down alive?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of events on Kerrigan Peak in April 2019 and the physical and testimonial record that shapes the official report. You will hear how timing, weather, an impaired climber, and a catastrophic injury converged - and why the crampon’s presence on Harmon Creek raises the unresolved question at the center of the case.

    Person: Vicki Rafferty
    Age: 22
    Person: Jean Fleming
    Age: 44
    Person: Dave Cort
    Age: 41

    - High camp was established at 11,600 feet on April 7.
    - Summit was reached at 1:17 p.m., 4 hours and 17 minutes later than planned.
    - Temperature dropped 22°F in 90 minutes around 4:00 p.m., visibility collapsing to 30 feet.
    - Cort slipped on a 50-degree slope; the rope arrested his fall.
    - Vicki sustained a comminuted proximal humerus fracture and continued to assist for 2.5 hours in 30-foot visibility.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    15 分
  • Left Foot Missing: The Crampon That Reappeared Sixteen Days Later

    Left Foot Missing: The Crampon That Reappeared Sixteen Days Later
    2026/09/03
    Left Foot Missing: The Crampon That Reappeared Sixteen Days Later

    A single left-foot, twelve-point steel crampon with one strap cut clean at the buckle appeared on the rescue depot locker sixteen days after Pamela Wagner fell through a glacier bridge; how did it move from a crevasse at 12,200 feet to a meter reader's monthly route in town? Who handled the gear, and what does that strap tell us about those missing thirty-one hours?

    In this episode, we walk through the timeline and the key witness notes from Pamela Wagner's March ninth ascent of Keldrath Peak, the rescue extraction, and the later discovery of her crampon - and we follow the unanswered question about the gap between the last radio check and the first hospital admission that still refuses to close.

    Person: Pamela Wagner
    Date: March 9 (fall), March 19 (crampon found), February 28 (briefing), March 3 (snowpack report)
    Location: Keldrath Peak glacier at 12,200 feet; Dunmore mountain rescue depot
    Status: Hospitalized with dislocated shoulder, two fractured ribs, and beginning frostbite on three left-hand fingers

    - The crampon found on March 19 was a left-foot, twelve-point steel model with one strap intact and one strap cut clean at the buckle.
    - Pamela Wagner fell through a crevasse at approximately 11:30 a.m. on March 9 at 12,200 feet, two hundred meters southeast of the summit ice field.
    - The rest of the team extracted Pamela from the crevasse in eleven minutes and radioed mountain rescue at 11:47 a.m.
    - No further communication was received from the team for thirty-one hours after the 6:15 a.m. radio check that morning.
    - The snowpack assessment used that day was generated on March 3; a warming trend of three to four degrees Celsius in the intervening days degraded crevasse bridges in the center of the glacier.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    14 分