239: Dan slid over the edge

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media

True Crime, Documentary, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2025

⏱️ 86 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mountain climbing is safer when you do it with a climbing partner. If you want to see something really crazy, something that might even bring up some anxiety as you watch it, check out the documentary called Free Solo. This is a National Geographic documentary about a young rock climber named Alex Honnold. His dream was to climb this 3000 foot rock called El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park. Just climbing it is a great achievement for most rock climbers. But Alex Honnold is not like most rock climbers. He wanted to do it without any ropes, and without any safety equipment. That’s what “free solo” climbing is. Alex planned and trained extensively for it. And he was successful. My guest today is Dan. Dan loves to climb. One day he was out with his friend and long-time climbing partner, Jim. It was a beautiful day and they were having a great time. That was the day that Dan learned that when you’re on the mountain, having a partner there with you can mean the difference between life and death. If you’d like to contact Dan, all of his contact details are at his website – danwenker.com Dan’s Instagram – agelesshiker_danwenker Dan’s book – Staying on Guard https://www.amazon.com/Staying-Guard-Spiritual-Encounter-Gratitude/dp/1636183557/ref=sr_1_1 Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here: https://WhatWasThatLike.com/239 Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai. Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS. Try What Was That Like PLUS free: iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free” Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app Sponsor deals: If you’re 21 or older, get 25% OFF your first order + free shipping @IndaCloud with code [WHATWAS] at https://inda.shop/[WHATWAS]! #indacloudpod Go to ThriveMarket.com/WHATWAS to get 30% off your first order, plus a FREE $60 gift just for signing up. Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns! Get 15% off OneSkin with the code [WHATWAS] at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Mountain climbing is safer when you do it with a climbing partner.
0:07.0	If you want to see something really crazy, something that might even bring up some anxiety as you watch it,
0:14.0	check out the documentary called Free Solo.
0:18.0	This is a National Geographic documentary about a young rock climber named Alex Honnold.
0:24.7	His dream was to climb this 3,000 foot rock called El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
0:33.3	Just climbing it is a great achievement for most rock climbers.
0:38.0	But Alex Honnold is not like most rock climbers.
0:42.4	He wanted to do it without any ropes and without any safety equipment.
0:48.0	That's what free solo climbing is.
0:51.8	Alex planned and trained extensively for it, and he was successful.
0:59.2	My guest today is Dan. Dan loves to climb. One day he was out with his friend and long-time
1:07.4	climbing partner, Jim. It was a beautiful day.
1:11.3	They were having a great time.
1:14.6	That was the day that Dan learned that when you're on the mountain,
1:19.0	having a partner there with you can mean the difference between life and death.
1:33.3	Real people in unreal situations.
1:40.3	The eerie silence when I walked in, and he's just staring at me. I was like, hello, like, are you okay?
1:42.3	And then I had to tell him, it was me.
1:46.8	There was just blood everywhere.
1:49.5	They're shouting, they're screaming, they're being hit by bullets, they're hitting the ground.
1:53.5	And in that moment, I literally thought, this is how I die.
1:56.7	Everything changed then.
	...

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