The Season Fitz Cahall and Bryan Smith

We've reached the end.  It's with mixed emotions that Bryan and I have decided that this will be the final episode of this experiment in grassroots storytelling. It's been an incredible adventure for us. The athletes left us inspired.  The community reaction humbled us.  Thank you.  A few things I will never forget:

Spending New Years Eve in a no name town on Vancouver island inside Jonaven's airstream. Rain pelted the aluminum.  Watching the cable cam first take flight. The resulting look of glee on Matt's face. Sunset at the mouth of the Klamath. Realizing that I still have the same enthusiasm for traveling the American West as I did when I was 21. Watching the light fade from the top of Cheop's. I could go on and on.  It has been a memorable experience.

Thanks for watching.   

Dawn breaks on Mount Rainier and it's time for the 6,000-foot climb from base camp to the summit. This is the chance for Greg Hill to summit the mountain that launched him on his skiing career.  Now, if only the weather will window will hold long enough.

Craig and Jarem launch off on Lurking Fear. If they are successful this will be the first all disabled ascent of Yosemite's iconic El Capitan and a landmark achievement in Craig's climbing career.  Hang on.

Rising 14,000 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier is where many aspiring mountaineers go to test their skills. Crevasses, hanging glaciers, weather that's not always predictable. At 19, Greg had the climbing bug and set his sights on Rainier. But summiting is not a gimme by any means. When he first saw Rainier, Greg "saw an amazing mountain that scared the crap out of me. There was a lot of fear but no understanding." After years spent honing skills in the mountains, Greg views Rainier as a mountain of potential. Now, he's set his sights on two routes in two days.

"Am I disaster prone?" asks Ryan Peterson. After nine days on the river, the search for the Ghost Run isn't going well. We see fish, but catching them is a different story. We have a big foot encounter. A big low is screaming towards the coast. The water is rising and this last effort in terrible weather might make or break Ryan's goal for the season.  Ryan is going to give it his all.

The season is coming to a close in Squamish. Thomo's attempts on The Method (v12) are numbered before setting out on another year of road tripping across North America.