Hello, Elizabeth Nakano, senior producer, back again. Today we've got a bonus episode. We'll be back soon with the final two chapters of the season.

In chapter six, we covered elements of the Stone Monkey era and the moment when many of the

leading climbers of the late 2000s got interested in wingsuit base jumping. It was a period of

wild innovation and incredible risk. While rarely in the spotlight, one of the most important

climbers of that era was Sean Stanley Leary. Stanley was never the center of attention in

climbing media during that area, but he was a driving force in the progression of the sport and

loved in the community. He owned the nose speed record with Dean Potter

for multiple years and teamed up with Alex for other lightning fast ascents in Yosemite, including

three routes in a day on L-Cap, which kind of blows my mind. He pioneered new cutting-edge

roots in places like Baffin Island and Antarctica, and he was also on the leading

edge of wingsuit flying.

In 2014, though, Stanley died in Zion National Park, base jumping.

While we were recording for Chapter 6, Alex shared some memories of climbing with Stanley with

me while we were on a short tangent, and I set them aside because, one, they made me laugh and reflect on that time in the valley.

And two, knowing it was a little bit of climbing history we'd unearthed.

So we'd figured we'd bring you a few memories of an incredible force during the moment when climbing took flight.

Thanks for listening to climbing gold.

So wait, you got to explain who Stanley is.

So Stanley was the nickname for Sean Leary, who was an incredible valley climber.

And kind of a good friend and just a a classic character sort of the the quintessential

non-professional elite climber because he was climbing better than than any of the rest

of us I mean he was an incredible climber and has many speed records and he's 70 still and just

...