Dave Rainey: [00:00:00] I got to the point on Lost River where I couldn't go, it was just... I didn't have a choice. My body was not taking any more steps. I had nothing in the tank. I had enough to get down the mountain, but I, saw them getting ahead of me, and Brian was like, "Hey, man, just stay where you are or make your way down. You don't need to make it up today. It'll be here next time." I'm like, "You're right. It will be." And it, it made me mad, you know, 'cause I'm competitive, and I
Riley: Yeah
Dave Rainey: of me. But, um, I'm like, "You know, I, I can't go." So physically, I was not able to go.
Speaker 5: You are listening to the Go Earn Your Salt podcast, brought to you by Salt Electrolytes. On this podcast, your host, Riley Rogers, explores the stories of people who get after it, get things done, and earn their salt. You will hear from high achievers who discuss what makes them tick, how they got to where they are today, and where they're headed tomorrow.
Perhaps this podcast will help you go earn your [00:01:00] salt
Riley: , Today we've got Dave and Halle Rainey on here. This is the daddy-daughter duo who, uh, been, gosh, friends of the family for a long time, especially Dave and I have had a, 15 years almost probably, Dave, huh?
Dave Rainey: Oh, wow.
Riley: It's been, been a while. We've known each other through another business and, uh, anyways, we got to know them and their family over the last, you know, four or five years and, and two have started this deal where they, they go together and they hike mountains, like big ones, like what, 12, 13, 14,000 feet?
W- what's your record so far?
Hallie: I'm at 14,505 feet. So I've climbed Whitney, which is as tall as you can get in the contiguous US
Riley: That's awesome. Where are you at, Dave? What's your record?
Dave Rainey: At, uh, which is 12 six, I think.
Hallie: 12662
Dave Rainey: Yeah, 12 six
Riley: So you,
Dave Rainey: so
Riley: guys do a lot of these [00:02:00] together, some solo. I, I've seen solo pictures of you, Allie, up
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: doing them on your own, huh?
Hallie: Some of the, some of the snowy ones.
Riley: Yeah. uh, I do wanna talk about that a bunch, but let's, let's do this. Um, let's start with you, Dave. Where, where are you from? Where'd you grow up? What, what did life look like as a kid?
Dave Rainey: Let's see. I grew up in Oregon, so I grew up in a little town called Molalla, which was a lumber town at the time. And I, uh, was there my entire never moved. Um, ended up coming to MMC at the time in Nampa in 1986, uh, from where I graduated in 1991. But, um, growing up was good. I mean, um, I loved the Oregon coast, and that's one of the places our family would always go to, for just about every... any and every, vacation that we took. I became very fond of that and just [00:03:00] being outdoors and being on the ocean and, um, doing a lot of, uh, exploring over on the western coast and looking for... Some of the, some of the hobbies I've picked up is looking for rocks and looking for agates and jasper and tumbling, those types of things.
But, um, you know, as I was younger, went through, um, Molalla Union High School and graduated from there. Played football, played baseball. Um, those are some of my favorite sports. Lifted weights also back then. So, but it was good. All I needed as a young kid was my, uh, BB gun and my bike. Didn't matter if the weather was bad.
I'd, I'd get out there and have fun on my own. I only had... I had two sisters, so didn't have any brothers. So, um, and we kind of lived a little bit out in the country. I just kinda created my own fun out there
Riley: Dude, a BB gun and a bicycle. That's, that's like, that's Gen X. That's the perfect description of Gen X, right? We're
Dave Rainey: Yep.
Riley: BB guns and bicycles. I love it. I love it. [00:04:00] doing that as a kid myself. We'd ride around and, and a big group of us would get together, and we would have BB gun fights, and that all ended one day when I shot and hit a friend of mine in the glasses and broke his glasses, and yep, cut his face, and this little... got a little cut on his cheek, and he held it up, his hand above his eye, and I thought I hit him in the eye, and then blood was coming out, so I really thought I was in trouble, and turned out he had this little tiny cut on his cheek right here from the glass, but it was, uh... Yeah, it looked way worse than it was, but man, other than that one, it was good memories for
Dave Rainey: That's good. That's good, yeah
Riley: us.
That was... Hallie, tell us about you. Where'd you grow up, and what did life
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: mean, you're, you're barely leaving now. I mean
Hallie: Yeah. Um, I grew up here, Idaho. Grew up in Kuna for about seven years, I think, and then we moved out to Nampa. But man, it was... I had two [00:05:00] older brothers, so I had a lot of sass as a child. Still do, as he would argue.
Dave Rainey: I mean, I think it's still there, yeah
Hallie: but yeah, I don't- I remember we were always super active, lots of... We'd go on, like, 14-mile bike rides on the Greenbelt, and then we'd go hike Table Rock, and yeah, lots of, lots of outdoor activities, all of that stuff.
And then, I mean, I'm just kinda getting started now, but growing up with two older brothers definitely shaped me to be where I'm at now, that's for sure.
Riley: Well, you, you, you say you're barely getting started now, but you've had a pretty, pretty long as young as you are. How old are you?
Hallie: 20. I'll be 21 in November
Riley: November. So, but you've been athletic your whole growing up,
Hallie: Yeah. I grew up in sports and track and volleyball, and I did basketball at one point. I remember I'd always be [00:06:00] out throwing the football or throwing the baseball with them and hiking, running, biking. Pretty much anything you could think of, we're probably doing
Riley: Yeah
Dave Rainey: a time where I actually had to pull her up the, uh, to Table Rock. And, and now it's kinda going the other way. She's
Riley: Kind of going the other way
Dave Rainey: helping me with, uh, some uh, moves to get up some mountains, so
Riley: That's funny, man. I, uh... Yeah, it's, it's interesting, huh, Dave, when your kids grow up, and then all of a sudden they start to outperform you, and you're like, "Man, I could kick your butt when you were eight, but I can't anymore."
Dave Rainey: Yeah. Yeah
Riley: Danny's getting to that point, my son Danny. Um, for listeners, my, my son Danny and Howie are about the same age, and they're with- within a year of each other, right?
And
Hallie: Yeah, I think so
Riley: he's gotten to be this just big physical brute, and he's out wildland firefighting right now, and, I remember the days when I could just outrun him doing whatever. But those [00:07:00] days are over. Those days are over.
Dave Rainey: and gone. Yeah
Riley: Yeah. So this, um, Dave, raising your family, and, you know, Howie's talking, and it sounds very fondly about these memories growing up of you, you guys being active, right? Um, what... Was that, was that something you did on purpose, or was it just something kinda who you were? Or just, was it something you felt like you had to, like, like manufacture and, and do because it was something you valued, or was it just kinda like, "This is just who we are, it's what we do"?
Dave Rainey: I would say it was very intentional. I was always trying to create memories for my family, and I think, we accomplished that to, to the main degree. Whether it was... And just being outside was a part of it. In Idaho, you have a lot of ability to get outside and enjoy the, just enjoy the outside, at least for six months of the year anyway. I mean, unless you're a really go at it, you [00:08:00] know, all season long. And you can do that too. You can ski and you can do all kinds of things, um, which we've done. But yeah, I would say it was very intentional in, in my thinking give them a good ex- good well-rounded experience and also to create memories as a family
Riley: Yeah. But I think that's so cool 'cause I think sometimes as dads, right, we, we do stuff, and you talked about dragging Hallie up the mountain, and you wonder, man, is this gonna be a fond memory for her or not, right, at the time. And what, what was that like for you? Do you remember that, Hallie?
Hallie: I mean, a little bit. I just kinda remember I was very... I've always been competitive. Like, I, I think I was b- literally born that way, and then I had two older brothers pushing me, and my dad. So I was always, always super competitive with myself, with others, just whatever it came to be. My-- I remember we'd go, we'd bike the Greenbelt.
Like, we'd always be like, "Oh, let's do it, like, four or five times this [00:09:00] summer." So we'd go bike the Boise Greenbelt, and we'd have a loop that we'd always do, and it was, like, 14 miles or something. And then by the time we'd get back, we'd be like, "All right, let's go hike Table Rock now." And I remember as a kid just being like, "Wow, this is gonna be a day."
But it was always, it was always like, "Okay, just keep going. Like, just, just keep going." And I don't, I don't really remember it being, like, awful. I mean, at the time I'm sure, I'm sure I was dying, but no, I just kinda, yeah, I don't know, I just remember it was kind of something we did, and I don't know, it was always like, "Well, I'm gonna get to the top."
Like, "I'm gonna finish it." So I just kinda kept pushing through, I guess
Riley: So even as a kid you had that mentality just like one more step, huh?
Hallie: Yeah. I mean, I, I always wanted to win, so if that meant getting to the top of the mountain, whatever the situation was, wherever the prize was, I was going there.
Riley: Good morning, Susie.
Dave Rainey: She's hiding in the box.
Riley: That's, uh... No, I think that is so cool 'cause [00:10:00] I, that thing can happen as a, as a kid, right? Where that gets ingrained in you that, I mean, Table Rock's not that big now, right?
Hallie: No. No, it's like a walk.
Riley: man, that thing looks huge,
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: And if you can get that, oh, that part of your brain that wants to quit stop, you know, stop wanting to quit as a little
Hallie: Mm-hmm
Riley: gosh, things as an adult become much, much more surmountable, right?
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: Yeah, I think that's so cool that you guys did that, Dave. Um, did the, did the whole family do this? Was there... Did you have any kids that were like, uh, like, um, well, didn't wanna participate?
Dave Rainey: Well, Bradley, Bradley was never super fond of it. I do remember, like, bribing him with Lemonheads. Like, "Come on, Bradley, we just got a little bit further to go," you know? In reality, we still had another 13 miles, but, you know, that Lemonhead just got him to keep going. So he, always [00:11:00] wasn't, you know, super thrilled, but he would do it. And, um ... But a lot of times it was, you know, if we could figure out a way to get all of our bikes down there to the Greenbelt, it was like a whole family adventure
Riley: That's awesome. I remember, so Danny was always our kid. Like, if, if, if he was in front, if we were on a bike ride or we were on a hike and he was in front, kid could go forever. But if he... If someone passed him, would just completely lose his mind, and he's like this six-year-old kid. And it was like he just could not take not being the leader in that.
And it was so funny to watch that personality, you know? uh, yeah, get a kick out of it. Fond memories for me and, and sometimes, I don't know, sometimes the kids remember him differently and I, I, yeah, certainly curious about that. Hallie, you, you play high, high school sports, right? And you said
Hallie: I did
Riley: were your two main ones.
Or did you-
Hallie: Mainly volleyball was pretty much... I did track like once or twice, but it was really volleyball[00:12:00]
Riley: That's funny 'cause I- we've been to your track meets, but I don't, I don't know if I've
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: your volleyball
Hallie: Yeah. Yep
Riley: Did, um, it, what was it about the different sports that, you know, what made you favor volleyball over, over track?
Hallie: I think I, I enjoy just, I don't know. I started out volleyball when I was younger, and I remember it was, like, seventh grade, and my parents were like, "Okay, you're, you're trying all the sports 'cause you're gonna figure it out now. Like, what one you're gonna do, what one you're gonna enjoy." And I just, I fell fond more of volleyball.
I don't know, there's something about the team and the just all my friends were there with me, I guess, and that was definitely a huge part. The reason why I did track was 'cause my entire pr- I mean, pretty much at my school, everyone did track, and so, like, all my friends were doing it, and it was like, you know, when you just missed two class periods earlier, like, you didn't wanna be the one sitting there till the end of the day.
So I was like, "All right, I guess I'm doing track with everyone." But [00:13:00] I don't know, I just kinda, volleyball kinda just was what I enjoyed doing more and kinda just stuck with that
Riley: Well, that's interesting to me because you've, y- you're doing CrossFit now these days, right? And
Hallie: Yeah. Oh, yeah
Riley: you mentioned the social aspect of volleyball is what you liked, right? It's, you know,
Hallie: I did
Riley: there, so... And CrossFit does that, right? It's, there's a, a
Hallie: Very much so
Riley: to that world, right?
Hallie: It's, yeah
Riley: do you feel like that, um, th- that apparently still motivates you, right?
Hallie: Oh, yeah. I, um, yeah, CrossFit right now, I mean, it's very big part of my life, and I think it's only gonna grow to be more. But I, like I, I've yet to even be there a year at my gym, and those people are like second family to me. Like, just the, the atmosphere of everyone and, I mean, it's like I even was like lifting in a regular gym prior to [00:14:00] that and not knowing like what I was missing out until I came to CrossFit, and it's like the way everyone supports each other, the way everyone's cheering everyone on, like everyone's showing up for everyone, and it's like you're showing up for yourself, and then you're showing up for others too, and it's just, it's really cool.
You really get like p- pretty much a second family out of it. Like those people, I love those people, so it's, it's pretty cool
Riley: Yeah, I think that's, um... And Dave, you've probably experienced the same thing, but if, jujitsu for me does that, right? It, like these people who if they're not there, you can't even train.
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: not even, there's not even weight- weights to lift. There's nothing to do if other people aren't there. And so yeah, you really become this, this family.
And, have you experienced that same thing with CrossFit, Dave?
Dave Rainey: Oh yeah, for sure. It's, it's be- it's, it's a community, and I've built friendships there that never would've been built outside of that. And, you know, you have people that, that you develop, um, know, friends outside of, of [00:15:00] CrossFit. I've gone, um, disc golfing with some friends outside of that. And so it's just kinda cool because...
And then, and then I play on the softball team for Snake River as well. So we're, we're out of season now, but it's something I look forward to every year, and I pitch on the team and I love it. I'm super competitive, so I kinda know where Hallie got that competitiveness. so I love it, you know, and it's, it's good.
It's, you know, when you get out and exercise, you know, I think most people find it's a mental stimulant, and it just makes your day better. And so, and then when you're doing it with friends, it's even a lot more fun, so
Riley: Talk about that, Dave, that mental stimulant part, because I, I think that is Sometimes people, especially if they haven't been physically active their whole life, can really... They just don't understand that part of what it does the rest of the day, you mentioned. It makes your day better, [00:16:00] talk about that more, Mike. What happens?
Dave Rainey: So at our gym, there's, um, a poster on the wall, and it says, "The best hour of their day or your day." And I think that's, um, somewhat true because that I go... And you can go at any time throughout the day. There's classes that go all the way to four thirty maybe, and beyond, actually.
Hallie: Six. Yeah
Dave Rainey: a five AM, a six AM, I go to the six AM class, and then I typically will, um, just go to work from there. Not all the time, but typically. So but what I think it does for me is it just sets my tone for the day. And like I, you know, I'm physically exerting myself, I'm doing something, um, phys-physical that has always been a good thing for me mentally. I think it just kinda boosts my... I know-- I don't know what all the things that are behind the scenes that are going on in your brain that, um, it does this, and it does that for your health.
But it really does. It does, it does boost your, um, mental [00:17:00] stability I think. Just makes you feel better, that's hard to understand for people that don't, that don't exercise regularly. But... And even if it begins with walking regularly, that can be a huge boost for you as well. It doesn't have to be get up and go hike a twelve thousand foot mountain. Um, it can be getting up and just walking or doing some exercises in the home. something to, boost your, your mindset for the day. I think it's super important. It has been for me.
Riley: Yeah, how about you, Howie?
Hallie: Oh, yeah. I mean, I don't know. I, even in today's workout, it's like, like you're in so much pain, and I don't know what's mentally wrong with me, but it's like, "Yeah, this is fun." Like, I enjoy it so much. But yeah, I remember even when I, my first week, like signed up for a pass at CrossFit, I was going, there's [00:18:00] like a three times a week, and then there's like the unlimited plan.
And so when I first started, I was like, "Oh yeah, I'll start with the three times a week." 'Cause like I wasn't fully sold on it yet. I was like, "Okay, like, I still kinda wanna do some of my stuff. I'm not sure." And, uh, I remember the f- the like days that I was going, that night I was like so excited. I was like, "Oh yeah, I get to go to CrossFit tomorrow."
Like I was so excited about it. And then the days that I wasn't going, I was like, "Oh, I ha- I have to wait a day until I get to go to CrossFit." The next week I ended up just signing up for the ultimate unlimited pass. But I just remember like it's so, it's very much like getting up, I go to the 5:00 AM most of the time, so you know, getting up at 4:30 in the morning, 4:15, 4:20 is definitely a commitment.
But it real- it does start your day. Like it starts my day off in the best way I could possibly start it. And lots of times it's like you're getting up that early and you're gonna go suffer through a workout, but you're not doing it alone, so I think that's something super cool. And it's [00:19:00] like even with my dad, it's like, "Oh, like how'd the workout go for you today?"
Or like, "What weights did you do?" Or like what, even like PRs or maxes or just whatever it is, it's, you get to share it with everyone else, so that's pretty cool. But it's definitely, I've just learned to, learned and grown to love it, love the people, love the community, love it all.
Riley: Yeah. Well, you, so you mentioned this, um, you were hesitant to, to jump on the unlimited plan, right, at
Hallie: Uh-huh
Riley: and you used the phrase, "I don't know what's wrong with me," but and I think did that... So did that take a while for you guys? When you, when you first get into CrossFit, right, sore as crap for
Hallie: Oh yeah.
Riley: the
Hallie: A long time
Riley: right?
'Cause, yeah, and I, I don't imagine that ever totally goes away, but it, it, there's a point when it, you sorta, I don't know how to, how to describe it, but there's a point when you kinda transition to where it's like, okay, I can do [00:20:00] these workouts, and yeah, they're challenging, but they're, they're challenging now.
They're not s- they're not scary like they are at
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: Did, do you remember that? How long did that take before you kinda mentally transitioned?
Hallie: Oh, man. I don't, it was ki- it was oddly fast for me. Um, he'll, he'll say it too. I picked up on a lot of things pretty quick for an average, average CrossFit person coming in for the first time. I don't, I don't remember quite, I just, I remember, like, there was a point where I would, like, almost, I didn't even realize it, but I'd look back and be like, "Oh," like, "I used to not be able to do that."
Or like, I couldn't do all the movements like prescribed or whatever. Or like even now, like I look back and I look at six months ago, like being able to do reps of things that I wasn't even close to being able to do one. So I think it, it was just kind of a transition that happened over time. I'm not, I'm not quite sure when, but [00:21:00] I just remember I d- I just kept showing up.
I kept putting in the work, I kept chasing after, and I still do. Like, those movements that are harder or that I don't have yet, or I don't have as much as I want, I'm always, I'm always kinda looking to improve in that sense
Riley: Well, I've seen you talk about those moves that are hard, right? I've Every once in a while, one of your videos will come across my feed in the Instagram, right? And it was part of what made me call you guys and say, "Hey, we need to get you on the podcast." But, and I can't remember, Holly, you were doing muscle ups though, and
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: I, I can't remember if the video, if you were still doing them assisted or you gotten those to where you
Hallie: I have. Mm-hmm
Riley: it, it kind of seemed like that's what was going on, but I, I hate
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: claim if you ... But
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: And muscle ups are like, those of you who don't know what that is, that's a pull-up where instead of bringing your chin above the bar, you actually go completely above the bar and push the bar down to your waist, [00:22:00] and only, I mean, the percentage of people who can pull that off is so small that, yeah, I'm impressed with that.
I, I think that's
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: and, and it's even less in the female world, right?
Hallie: Oh yeah, 100%. It's like I, I always come across things that's like how many women can do a pull-up, and it's like the average is like none. Like, not,
Riley: Yeah
Hallie: a lot, but it's pretty crazy
Riley: Yeah. Do, do you know the percentage?
Hallie: I'm not sure off the top of my head. It's very low, that's all I know.
Riley: Yeah.
Dave Rainey: say
Riley: Yeah, I know with guys it's really low, right? The amount of guys who can do more
Hallie: I think so, yeah
Riley: it's like 10 or 20%. It's, it's pretty low. That can do more than one, let alone
Hallie: Yeah. I, I remember seeing some sort of video and it was like out of like three women, how many can do a pull-up? And it was like zero. Like the answer is zero. So it's pretty crazy[00:23:00]
Riley: Yeah. Yeah, I'm impressed with that. Good work. Getting to
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: impressive. Dave, are you muscle-upping?
Dave Rainey: Not quite, no. I've got some, um, I've got some issues with my elbow that kinda hinder me. I had a broken elbow when I was five, so that's a struggle. But, um, I'm making progress. I, know, when I first went in there, I couldn't do a pull-up for my life and, you know, now I'm doing them throughout some of the workouts. So I've definitely made some progress, um, those
Riley: Yeah. about that injury, man. So you, you said you broke your elbow when you were five?
Dave Rainey: Yeah, I've got a little crooked elbow on my left side, and so it kinda messed me up. But, you know, five and monkey bars and, you know, happens when kids are messing around. So broke it in three places, and at the time they, they made a fix on it that, um... on my growth plate, so it was either fix it the way they fixed it or [00:24:00] surgery until I quit growing every year. they fixed it the way they fixed it, and, um, that was back in 1972 3, you know? So back then, technology wasn't what it is today. Um, it, it works good, but it gives me some issues, so
Riley: That's, um When you're, when you're... As a kid, you're, you're dealing with this, this, this elbow. Was it... Did it change things, like, the time? Do you remember it affecting
Dave Rainey: Oh
Riley: things you could or couldn't do?
Dave Rainey: I was left-handed, and so, um, I had to learn transition to right hand because I had a cast on my arm for several months, and it was like in that phase of life where you're learning how to write. so I taught myself how to write right-handed, and so today I'm fairly ambi- ambidextrous. Um, I can't write [00:25:00] left-handed very well, but, um, I do a lot of things naturally left-handed, like pool, shooting a gun. Everything is left-handed. so it's kinda weird.
Riley: Yeah, my wife is that way, not because of an injury, but she just, she'll do certain things left, she writes left-handed and certain things left-handed, but man, she hits a, swings a baseball bat right-handed, and she throws right-handed. It's, it's funny. Yeah, she's coming back and forth there. Um, so CrossFit now, you guys have both done this for what?
It's years, four years?
Dave Rainey: I've been in it for three years,
Hallie: I'm just about to hit my year mark. I haven't even hit it yet.
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Riley: Hallie, you mentioned in your bio that you going for your, a certification for CrossFit.
Hallie: Yes.
Riley: talk about that a little bit?
Hallie: Yeah, um, I'm working on, I'm gonna be getting my CFL1, which is called-- It's a CrossFit level one certification to be a trainer. So ever since I kinda, ever since I walked into that gym, I, I-- even back in high school, I had people tell me I'd be a good coach, and back then I would've never thought that it'd be for CrossFit, but that's, I'm working on getting that.
And in the CrossFit level world, that's, getting your certification is pretty big. It's pretty big accomplishment. I mean, you gotta go through courses and training and tests, and I'm, I'm pretty excited about it. It's definitely a, definitely a step in that career that I'm super excited to take
Riley: So describe in more detail what that entails.
Hallie: Yeah, so, um, I mean, each class, each [00:28:00] CrossFit class that anyone will go to has a coach, and I mean, they're, they're running the workout for you. So they're, they run through the warmup for you. They basically, as coach, you create your own warmup and then, I mean, you're, you're really one-on-one with all your athletes who are there, and you're, you're, you
They're like, without, without a coach there, we'd all be lost. I mean, especially , especially those who are first starting. But you, you set everything up, and you kinda help. You, you go over everything, and then it's ultimate- I mean, you're, you're coaching, so you're coaching form and you're technique, and you're helping athletes just kinda grow in that.
And it's a pretty cool position to be in, especially, especially being in CrossFit for a while. Um, it's kinda the other side of it, in a sense
Riley: How many, uh, how many hours are involved in the certification process?
Hallie: Um, the, [00:29:00] there's a class course which is two full days. It's like 7:00 AM or 8:00 AM until like 6:00 PM or something at night. It's two like, two full nine or 10-hour days, something like that. And then I know there's like coaching programs that I'll be going through too, which I'm not sure as far as those hours entail.
But then, um, there's onboarding and I mean, you're walking alongside other coaches and learning that. And then I'm not sure how long the exam takes, but there's that, and then there's also an entire book of studying which takes several hours, so
Riley: Oh, man So tell me this, what, what... To be a good coach, you said people mentioned that you, you could be a good coach. What, what do you think that in- What, what does it take to be a good coach?
Hallie: Um, I think, I think besides the obvious of being like, being a good people person, being loud, being expressive and stuff, I think [00:30:00] honestly it's a lot, a lot of character, a lot of, I mean, you, you wanna better other people and not just yourself. It's a lot of... Like, the way my coaches have showed up for me and have just, like, made me grow so much and are excited for you, excited for your little wins, even if it's something small, it's, it's pretty cool to see that.
And so showing up for people, loving people, I mean, really just wanting people to be their best and do their best. I mean, we're all, we're all in the gym to better ourselves in one way or the other, and when you have someone who's kind of above you in a level or, like, knows more than you cheering you on and excited for you, especially, like, from all my experience with all my coaches, it, it goes a long way
Riley: I think that's so cool, man. I, uh... Yeah, the, the coach is, can be so much, right? It's,
Hallie: Yep.
Riley: a [00:31:00] cheerleader. You
Hallie: It,
Riley: be...
Hallie: it is.
Riley: And then that, it's that encourager, cheerleader kind of part, but it's also that confrontational, kinda challenging part, right? How do you do when it comes to confronting an athlete who's kinda wimping out? Or you have to say, "Hey, man, you, you got this. What's, what's the deal?"
Hallie: Yeah, I think, I mean, especially CrossFit, everyone's gonna have their good days and bad days. Like, I mean, every week, every week you might be, you might be wrecked at the end of the week and you're just struggling. And lots of times my coaches will be like just telling me that, just being like, "Not every day is gonna be a great day.
Like, maybe you focus on something else like form, and you go lighter," or whatever that might be. Um, but really just the encouragement. Like, I remember one of my coaches, I had come back from climbing and my nervous system was pretty much wrecked, and I couldn't do much, and it was like really weird for me because I'm very [00:32:00] much like go, go, go.
Like, "All right, let's do this workout," and I just ... my, my body wouldn't, and that was frustrating because it wasn't like I didn't have the skill or I didn't have like the muscle. Like, it was just my nervous system wouldn't do it. But even when like you're-- even when a coach comes up to me and they're like, "You're good, just like, just move for the day," knowing that they know in a sense just helps and it's just like reassuring in a way
Riley: No, I think that's cool 'cause you just, you just clued in on something I think m- myself I think makes a good coach, is someone who can recognize where their athletes are at,
Hallie: Yeah, that's it. That's a huge thing
Riley: My, uh, my jujitsu coach one day, I tell this story very fondly now, but at the time it really upset me. But he sent me home
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: and I had came to the morning class, and I, I'd gotten a couple hours of, of training in, and then I went to work all day out of my lube truck, right?
And then I came back in for the evening classes, and yeah, I was about halfway through the [00:33:00] first evening class, and he goes, he goes, "Man, I want you to, I want you to go home." And I was like,
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: I don't wanna go home." And he's like... I was really struggling. I was-- I could not do a move at all, and it was a simple move, and I just couldn't make it happen.
And recognized something in me that was, that was off, and he knew it. He knew I was just over, overtired, right? And so I asked him if I could just sit and watch everyone else, know, grapple, and he says, "No, I want you to go home and go to bed." Like, have to leave, you have to leave the gym. You can't
Hallie: Yep. Yep
Riley: And I was, I was really upset at him until the next morning I showed up for class, and I could do the move.
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: It was something in, in here had
Hallie: Yep
Riley: he recognized it as my coach. He knew what was good for me even though I didn't, right?
Hallie: Yep
Riley: yeah. I'm excited for your journey in that. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
This is such a cool thing. So
Hallie: it's pretty exciting.
Riley: sounds interesting to me the, the, the amount of study you're gonna have to do to, [00:34:00] to become that,
Hallie: Yeah. There's a lot, there's a lot of,
Riley: coach. I-
Hallie: a lot of behind the scenes that you don't realize until you're going through it and you're like, "Oh." So a lot of knowledge. I'm excited. I'm excited to learn
Riley: Yeah. I think, I think CrossFit has done a really good job in creating an amazing culture and just, uh, yeah, just that organization as a whole has done a really good job of
Dave Rainey: I had a question for Hallie. Um, Hallie, who invited you to CrossFit?
Riley: Ooh.
Hallie: He did. Yep, he got me down the rabbit hole
Dave Rainey: Just, just wanted to clarify
Riley: Yeah, I love it. I love it. You gotta be a proud daddy, though.
Hallie: Mm.
Dave Rainey: That's
Riley: You're watching this girl go. This is awesome, you guys. right. That's where we're gonna cut it off, and I'll, like I
Hallie: Cool
Riley: move that section into another part of the podcast. So when you hear it, it won't be in the same order.
Hallie: Yeah. That's all [00:35:00] right
Riley: But That's, um... So you use this to st- to stay in shape, 'cause, right, volleyball and track is done, 'cause you're- you've graduated
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: you're, you're past that point, and unfortunately, with some of these sports, there's not really an avenue after high school, right?
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: you know, possibly college if you're, you know, doing it at that level. But, you know, it's, it's funny because in the, in the grappling world it's that way, right? That you can wrestle in high school, but man, you hit
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: and that's pretty much done for 99% of people, those few that go to, to the college, and
Hallie: Oh, yeah
Riley: few of those few who can go on to, like, Olympics and stuff.
But, but in volleyball and track it's kind of the same way, right?
Hallie: Oh yeah
Riley: S- So this more accessible sport of CrossFit you guys to this place where now you've got a certain base level of fitness, now you decide, like, hey man, there's mountains to climb. So did
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: Like, was it just from Table Rock as a kid?
Hallie: I, um, yeah, man, it's funny. I remember it was [00:36:00] two years ago or something, I was like... I- someone at the time I knew had said they, like, were doing Table Rock and, you know, like, going up and watching sunset or whatever. And I was like, "Oh, man," like, "I haven't done that in so long," like, "I should do it." So I got some friends together, and we went up it, and I was like, "Oh, yeah.
This is pretty fun." Like, I d- I do enjoy a little hike here and there. And I remember just, I don't even know how I got to it, but I was like, "Oh, I wanna hike more this summer." So I researched some hikes. I figured out there's four out by Lucky Peak in the foothills. They're called the Grand Slams, and they're these four...
Some are pretty brutal trails. Um, pretty, pretty physically demanding. But I remember doing one, and now it's, it's called Servaday, but it's, like, the easiest one now out of all the ones we train on. And I remember doing it at the time and, like, dying. But I was like, "Oh, yeah. I wanna, I wanna do these Grand Slams."
Like, I wanna do the other three and whatnot. And, uh I remember going [00:37:00] to a 4th of July event thing with some family friends, the Dunstans, and they started talking about the Grand Slams. And I was like, "No way. You know about those too?" I was like, "This is crazy." I was like, "Not many people know about 'em." And I was, I was, like, already starting to go down the rabbit hole of hiking.
I mean, I didn't have hardly anything at the time. Like, I had maybe a backpack and a water bottle. Like, I didn't have anything really. I had my old running shoes. And I remember they started talking about it, and they were like, "Oh, yeah," like, "We do those, and we, we're, like, we're starting to climb these mountains."
Like, "You guys should do a mountain with us." And I remember I was just like, "All right. Yeah, let's do it." And I don't even know how it ended up getting planned, but they ended up being like, "We're doing this 12,000-foot mountain end of September in 2024." And they were li- it wasn't Bora. It was called Hindman.
We actually just did it two weeks ago, um, again. I did it again. It was his first time. But
Dave Rainey: Person
Hallie: I, [00:38:00] I was like, "Okay. Yeah," like, "Let's do it." He ended up having-- He was supposed to come, and then my brother and sister-in-law were moving cross-country to Florida and moving stuff, so he had to end up coming back from Oregon where he was at at the time, go to Florida, help them move.
And I remember he w- like, called me, and he was like, he was like, "Well, I sent you Brian's number." Like, "He, he's gonna give you a call in a bit." Like, we were supposed to be leaving, like, that day or the next day or something. And I was like, "Oh, okay." I was like, "All right." And yep, sure enough, they picked me up.
We went out there, and I remember I didn't sleep at all pretty much. I tossed and turned all night. I was freezing. I had a lot of adrenaline. I had an air mattress that was leaking, and I turned into a taco by the morning. But I, I remember just, like, so much adrenaline and going out there for the first time, and as soon as we got up to- so like some of the technical stuff I'd never done before.
I was, like, holding onto the rocks for dear life just thinking, "I'm [00:39:00] never doing this ever again. Like, this is one and done for me. This is dumb. I'm horrified. I'm hanging onto these rocks that are moving. It's cold. It's windy." And I remember Brian, um, it was him and then his daughter Eden, it was us three who went, and he was like, "Now, Haley, I'm not saying this so that you turn around, but, like, I've already done this one.
Like, if you can't get there, like, it's okay. Like, the mountain's still gonna be here." I remember I go, "No, I've told too many people I'm climbing this mountain. I'm making it to the top." And he was like, 'cause I remember he was like, "We got like 600 more feet of just, like, scrambling these, like, massive rocks to get up there."
And he was like, "It's hard getting up, but we're gonna have to get down this thing." And this mountain is, like, 14 miles of a, of a trek. It's, like, seven to the top, seven down. Like, you're just... It's so long. And I just remember I was like, "I'm making it to the top of this mountain. Like, I've come way too far."
Like, you're not... Unless, like, a [00:40:00] storm rolled in, like, I'm not turning around right now. Sure enough, I made it, and by about, I don't know, a day or two later, I was like, "Okay, when's the next one?" And it-
Dave Rainey: And how long did it take in comparison to the one we just did two
Hallie: Oh man, yeah. It probably took me like two, three hours longer my first time through than the time we just went and did it again. So
Riley: This, um, yeah, I think that's, that's something people don't think about sometimes, 'cause you, you, you get on these... Like, guys tell me 'cause you've done Bora, but
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: from Bora is really not that long, right? It's only like a 5K or something from the bottom to the top, but it's like,
Hallie: It's, yeah. It's like, I think it might be eight miles round trip,
Dave Rainey: that.
Hallie: something like that
Riley: something like that, right? Three, 3.75 or something for
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: I, I'm talking out my
Hallie: Yep
Riley: wazoo. I shouldn't say that, 'cause I don't know for sure. But didn't-- When I saw the trail, I was like, "Eh, it doesn't seem like that long of a walk." But it's [00:41:00] steep.
Dave Rainey: feet of elevation gain.
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: Yeah. Yeah, but this other one you're talking about was 14 miles round trip,
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: So
Dave Rainey: 5,400
Hallie: Yeah, feet we climbed. Mm-hmm
Riley: Yeah, so, so less steep, but longer.
Hallie: Very long.
Riley: But then you get to the top, like, I... And I, again, I haven't done Borah, but ev-everybody I talk to who's done it, there is a spot on that mountain, too, where you kinda have to traverse a pretty narrow section of,
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: that is a little sketchy. And I've known several people who I haven't been able to,
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: that, right?
So the, what's the mental talk up there when you're, when you're
Dave Rainey: The
Riley: in one of these skinny places?
Dave Rainey: yeah, on that day was, ain't coming down till I make it." So I was, determined to make it to the top, and Borah was actually my favorite one out of all the ones I've done, uh, just because there was a really good trail and there wasn't a lot of [00:42:00] exposure. Um, and so I really enjoyed that one.
That was a fun one to me
Hallie: I guess for me, I mean, I did... That, the 12,000s aren't as daunting anymore as they were, 'cause after beginning of this year, after Whitney, which was 21 miles in one day, and it was 7,000 feet of elevation climbing, and then I did Mount Hood in Oregon. And man, those two scared me half to death. I mean, only on a couple parts.
Lots of it was like, "This is amazing." But I guess especially Whitney, it was like we were down a narrow icy back path, and we had, like, two miles to go. And I just, I don't know. I don't, I don't, I'm not a quitter, so I just kinda have to I just kinda buckle up. I'm like, "You're, you've come, like, so far. You've gone through some of the hardest things."
And especially Mount Hood, it was, we were on our [00:43:00] hands and knees, like, with our ice axe and our crampons on, like, fully, like, axing up this mountain. And it was kind of like, like I'm so close to the top right now, and like, I don't know. I just, unless, like, something seriously dangerous or, like, a storm or something like that, I just, I'm just like, "I'm gonna make it to the top," unless there's a death reason of why I'm not going to make it.
But mentally, it's just like, I don't know. You kinda have to, you kinda have to push past that part, especially of like in the fall zones and stuff, and not let yourself get too, like, gypped out about it. 'Cause there's been some sketchy ridges too, and it's like you just can't... Don't look down for too long.
Like, just keep moving. One, one more foot in front of the other, and just keep pushing through pretty much
Dave Rainey: I think the time that I-- we went to Lost River. We went early in the season for the first time we had... It was my first [00:44:00] twelver too, and I ended up getting elevation sickness at about eleven thousand feet, and I could not continue. Like, my body was simply done. It was headaches, and it was nausea, and it was your mind, your, your whole was just a mess.
You couldn't move. And so when we went back to that, my, my thought was... Well, we went back when there was better weather, so there wasn't knee-deep snow, which was giving me a lot of struggle. but it was scree that you had to, which is kinda like climbing quicksand. You know,
Riley: Yeah
Dave Rainey: then you just kinda slide back, and you don't feel like you're really moving. that was and I just said, "I'm not stopping," you know? I'm gonna make this, 'cause I didn't make it last time. And there's a lot of people that it, it takes several times even to even summit a twelver. You
Hallie: Oh, yeah
Dave Rainey: I've read in the books where, um, it takes four, [00:45:00] five, six attempts to even get up one of these things,
Riley: Wow
Dave Rainey: Everyone's different. Um, and I was just determined on that second attempt that I don't care what it takes, and it just, it spent me. It took-- It gi- I gave everything I had to get up that one. That was, that was my least favorite. That was Lost River
Hallie: That one also, I mean, we did that one twice. We went up in May, and we went up in the snow. And even three of us, we made it to the ridge, and there's a false summit, and then it's just a ridge walk. And that was probably the most horrified I've ever been. I was on this snow, snow-covered ridge. You can only see some footsteps in front of you.
And there was avalanches going in the mountains around us, and like we saw a couple of 'em, and it was just like, I'm standing on a snow-covered ridge, like one step can mean I'm done. And quite literally, the... our group was like, like, "Okay, you can choose to, [00:46:00] to die another day." And that was, that was the caption for the post on that one.
It was like, we quite literally chose to die another day, 'cause it was like you don't realize it, and then you're up there, and there's avalanches sliding to the sides of you. And it's, it was just like I'm not gonna get past this ridge and get to the summit. So when we went back and I got on that ridge that next time, I was like, I could see everything, and I was like, "All right, there's the summit.
I'm going
Riley: That's, um, making that decision, right, to
Hallie: Oh, yeah
Riley: or not you're gonna back and, like you said, choose to die another day. continue through that at great risk, right? Because again, you're talking if, if avalanches are already going and you're on a, on a peak and I don't know, guys, go watch some videos on w- what these, these ridges look like.
You know, it's, it's, it's scary even on video. I can imagine in
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: you're, uh, probably having a different level of, of crap, you know? And, [00:47:00] but what does that take to make that, that correct decision, right? Um, one of the things that struck me, Dave, that you said was you gave it all to get to the top of this thing, right? But the reality is you have to reserve some in your tank in order to get back down, 'cause you still have many miles of down to go. And down is maybe your heart rate's less, but there's still challenges to going down, right? It's different
Hallie: Oh, yeah
Riley: different, you know, there's still that mental clarity.
It's you're still carrying... Well, I wanna talk about the gear it takes to do all these things too, but, but talk about that, man. What, to make that correct decision, especially when you're so close to the top to say, "Man, I, we're gonna turn around because it's too dangerous," you know. Tell, talk about that a little bit.
Dave Rainey: Um, she's had more experience with that on
Hallie: Yeah
Dave Rainey: than I have. But, you know, when I got to the point on Lost River where I couldn't go, it was just... I didn't have a [00:48:00] choice. My body was not taking any more steps. I had nothing in the tank. I had enough to get down the mountain, but I, saw them getting ahead of me, and Brian was like, "Hey, man, just stay where you are or make your way down. You don't need to make it up today. It'll be here next time." I'm like, "You're right. It will be." And it, it made me mad, you know, 'cause I'm competitive, and I
Riley: Yeah
Dave Rainey: of me. But, um, I'm like, "You know, I, I can't go." So physically, I was not able to go. When you get, uh, altitude sickness, it's a different deal. It's something that you don't ever experience, and body just kind of shuts down and... So I sat there for about a good 20 minutes just sitting there, just letting my body kind of recoup and catch my breath. And then I, you know, eventually made our way down the mountain and some, some guy that had summited kind of kept an eye on me as I was going down.
So that was kind of cool. It's, it's kind of a community [00:49:00] up there, too, if
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Dave Rainey: with the people that are hiking. Um, everybody is just friendly, and it's just fun to, to be around. So you're always back and forth with them. But... So it's kind of cool
Riley: You're talking about that, um The altitude sickness and how you just cannot go on, right? Um, I've never experienced altitude sickness. I've experienced the opposite. There's this thing called, uh, high altitude decompression syndrome, and I don't know if you ever even heard of that. I hadn't heard of it until just last year.
I was... I spent a few days up in Park City, and it's only 7,000 feet, right? But then I came back down to Boise, and over the course of the next couple days, every joint in my body started locking up and getting sore. And turns out it acts just like the bends, but
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: And it was the weirdest thing I've experienced, but I couldn't do hardly anything.
Like, I couldn't bend my arms. I was... My, my knees [00:50:00] hurt so bad that I... And my hips and, and it was the weirdest thing. But I, I can imagine maybe similar thing except now you're, you're talking about oxygen deprivation up there, right? Which is the altitude sickness part. But what, what did that feel like?
Dave Rainey: Uh, it wasn't a good feeling, I'll tell you that. Um, I just... You know, you didn't feel like throwing up or anything. I didn't at least. But it was, uh, you know, I felt really dizzy and I felt like I was gonna lose my balance and I was on the side of a mountain in the snow. I was just like, I literally just leaned forward and put my knees down in the snow and just kinda got my bearings.
But it took me a good 20 minutes to like feel like I could move again. so it was kind of paralyzing really, realistically. It was, just shut down. You're like, "Nope, your body's done. You're not going anywhere."
Riley: So did it, did it [00:51:00] come on sudden did you feel like, or did it, you just sort of kind of become aware of it?
Dave Rainey: Well, I was, you know, like, like both of us, we're both super competitive. So I'm like, "I'm getting to the top of this mountain," you know? That was my thought at the beginning of the day. I don't care what it takes. Um, so I probably went a little further than I should have. started feeling that way, like maybe minutes into it, and I was like, "I'm gonna give it another shot." I kept moving and kept going, and then I got to a point where, you know, you take a break and catch your breath and keep moving, and then I couldn't go again. I, I stopped, took a break, and I was like, "Okay, I'm gonna push again," and nothing to push with. It was... then the headache came on, and the dizziness came on just pretty suddenly.
So at that point I knew. I was like, "Okay, I think I have motion-- I have sickness here, and I, I can't go." So it took a few minutes for me to realize what was going on. But [00:52:00] eventually I'm like, "Oh, yeah. Okay. I'm, I'm done for the day."
Riley: So did you have, um, of the other guys that were with you that day, were they more experienced than that and kinda helped you understand what was happening?
Dave Rainey: Um, I mean, I was aware of it. I don't think that Brian, who was the guy that we go with a lot, um, knew I had that because at that point he was getting ahead of me, and so I wasn't communicating with him as well. And so once you get further up the mountain, it's hard to communicate. But he saw me sitting there and then he yelled back and he's like, "Hey man, if you can't go, just stay you know, turn around and make your way down." So at that point he probably knew like, "Yeah, he's, he's not gonna make it today."
Riley: Yeah, so maybe he didn't realize it was altitude sickness, but he knew physically you were just done at that point. Yeah, I think that's a good thing when you have someone there who can say, "Hey, dude, it's okay if you don't continue on." You know, don't, don't...
Dave Rainey: It's like
Riley: 'Cause sometimes,
Dave Rainey: day
Riley: yeah, [00:53:00] yeah. What'd you, how'd you put it, Hallie? to die another day?
Hallie: Yeah. When you had to put it Uh, yeah, we quite literally said choose to die another day.
Riley: Yeah. Have you experienced the altitude sickness?
Hallie: Um, not climbing in that sense. I remember like driving through the Rocky Mountains when I was younger, and I got it pretty bad. But it's just very-- There's a lot of like technique that goes into it and prepping for it and stuff. Like, I mean, you can't really go and just like sit at 11,000 feet for a few minutes and come back down.
Like, you obviously don't have that option. So lots of it's hydration, um, a, a lot of hydration, magnesium, all that stuff. Like taking a lot of that the night before is huge, and then like I probably-- Like sometimes before we climb, it's like I probably drink like a gallon and a half or something that night before.
It's just like almost over-hydrating for the next day because that's the [00:54:00] biggest thing to fight it off, and it's very, very much being aware of it and like taking breaks and stuff. Like for Whitney, that was the one thing we were like scared about because it was like 1,200 feet higher than we'd ever been, and just knowing the air up there is gonna be a lot thinner, and you're gonna be exerting yourself more and more with every step, and it was very much like, okay, like you kind of had to keep checking in with yourself and checking in with everyone else and making sure everyone was still good, especially up there.
Like that elevation, if you don't know what you're doing, like you can die up there and like, uh, I know of a story of a guy who like walked off the mountain 'cause they were just so unaware because they were so like altitude sickness. So it's very-- being very aware with yourself. I remember our group was like, "Do you have a headache?
Are you good? Any headache?" And I was like, "Nope, no headache." And they were like, "Okay, keep going." So it's very-- a lot of technique, a lot of just being very cautious and honest with yourself, honestly
Dave Rainey: Being prepared[00:55:00]
Riley: that, that's interesting to me. Having, having people around you who can on each other, right?
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: I- That's the other, that's the other part of that I think maybe non-climbers don't understand, is the lack of judgment that starts to happen, right?
Hallie: Oh, yeah
Riley: that can happen with hypothermia, that can happen with just the sheer fatigue.
It can... A lot of things. But all of a sudden your judgment's clouded. So having someone else around there who can see it from an outside point, then being humble enough to listen to them when they tell you, like,
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: you know, like he told you, Dave, "Today's not your day, man. It's- You probably start making your way down." But then your whole crew's going back up and you're like, "Well..."
Dave Rainey: Mm-hmm.
Riley: Um, have you experienced hav- having to, um, maybe walk someone else back down summit yourself because th- they were sick?
Dave Rainey: I mean, I've seen a lot of it. Borah is a well-climbed mountain. It's the most famous in Idaho it's the tallest. And so when we were there, [00:56:00] there was so many people there. I mean, so many people on the trail. And you saw a lot of people that, you know, simply got to Chicken Out Ridge and said, "Nope, I can't do that." so you saw a lot of people turn around, but for hydration reasons. I've never been around someone that was like, had altitude sickness other than myself, uh, that I saw. 'Cause like sometimes when you climb these mountains, like I think when we did Lost River the last time, or maybe it was Leatherman, that we only saw, like two people the entire time, the entire day. But Borah, we saw hundreds and hundreds of people. So just kind of depends on, on where you're at
Riley: Yeah. Man. Do you... You talk about these, these different hikes, right? These different, climbs that you do and, and the different numbers of people. I imagine,
Hallie: But people, I imagine
Riley: Whitney and Mount Hood probably had a lot of people on them too, huh?[00:57:00]
Hallie: Yeah, it was surprisingly-- I mean, Whitney, it's so hard to get climbing 'cause there's permits and stuff. But I mean, you were passing a decent amount of people, and same with Hood. But Hood is such an interesting mountain. Like, there's no false summit or anything like that. You can see the top from the bottom, which is very rare for mountains.
And I mean, you're starting at an unearthly hour. Like, I remember being up at 12:00 AM, 12:30 AM getting ready to climb, and it's just like, it's, it's just crazy. All of you-- Like, we had a group and a guide and all of that for Hood, and we were roped and everything on that one. But yeah, some of the, some of the Idaho mountains, it's like you, you might not see anyone.
You might see two other people, and that's it for the day. Whitney, you definitely saw quite a bit of people, but not as much as I expected. I think they, they keep it within the permit just for protecting the land and everything
Riley: Yeah. Yeah, that would definitely slow it [00:58:00] down a little bit. You just, you just used the term false summit. Talk about that a little bit, what that
Hallie: Ha.
Riley: gut when you see, you
Hallie: Oh, man
Riley: then you realize...
Dave Rainey: frustrating.
Riley: of a couple mountain bike trails when you talk about false summit.
There's this one that's it's just in our foothills, but it's a, it's a pretty gnarly climb. It's, it's, uh, like three and a half miles of continuous climb. But it's, like four or five false summits on it. And you're,
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: up and you're like, "Man, I see it. It's right there." And you hit the top of that, and just as you start to crest over the top, you realize nope, there's, there's another one.
Dave Rainey: There's more
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Hallie: It's mentally challenging, for sure. I mean, lots of the ones like, lots now that I, like, at least for training hikes, it's like you know when there's, where it is at that point. But man, those first times that you do the mountains and stuff, it's like, it's so, it's so annoying. Uh, it's a lot of checking, checking your mileage, checking your map, and being like, "Okay, it says it's there."
Or like I'll even ch- I'll check elevation on my app or my watch or whatever, and I'm like, "No, I still have like 600 feet to go, so that can't be the top right there." Like, "That can't be the top." And sure enough, [01:00:00] you get around the corner and you're like, "Oh, that's the top." And it's very just like, okay, just keep going one step further, like one step more.
Even Whitney was such a cool mountain because you really ha- you have to hike all the way into it. So, you gotta hike all the way into this mountain and it's off to the right, which is really weird. It's like far off to the right and you can see the summit and it's just like massive and there, it, Whitney has all these spines to the left of it, these just like huge rock spines.
And when you have to go up the left and then you have to hike behind it and then go up behind it. So that, that's a, that was a definitely unique one. But, uh, I just remember the trail on that backside, it was icy and snowy and I remember slipping once and like was so horrified, 'cause you're on the backside of this little cliff thing.
And I just remember keep going around the trail and like sometimes people would be passing us and we were like, "So how, how much further really is it?" And it's just, it sometimes it [01:01:00] feels never ending and you're just like, literally all you can do is be like one step, one step further is one step closer to the summit and then it's one step closer to being down and back to regular trail.
So-
Dave Rainey: F- I feel like there was some of that on Mount Hinman that we just, that we just, uh,
Hallie: No
Dave Rainey: 'cause the rocks that you were climbing, you couldn't quite see. You think, "That's the summit. No, that's not the summit." And even when Haley was at the top, I couldn't even see her, so, but I heard her yelling at me.
I'm like, "Oh, okay, so she's there. Okay, so now I know where it is finally." I kept thinking, "Okay, I'm almost there. Okay, I'm almost there." And nope, I wasn't.
Riley: That's, uh, that, that, you know, kind of mental image you get about... It's so cool, 'cause there, there is so many metaphors in life, right? Where you just have to put one foot in front of the other and just keep going and, and the, the task seems so daunting, right? You- if you can't see the end from, from your [01:02:00] vantage point. But again, one step closer is one step closer, right? And the- and this, this mental talk, I think, is one of the most impressive things about physical accomplishment. We, we, you know, we talked about muscle ups earlier, Hallie, and
Hallie: Oh, yeah
Riley: that the progression is incremental, right? It's not one day you can't, one day you can.
It's like you
Hallie: Oh, yeah
Riley: grow in that and over a long period of time in, in order to get there, right?
Hallie: Oh, for sure
Riley: climbing these mountains you guys are talking about. uh, one step at a time. Oh, I, I, I think that could be the summit, but my app tells me it's not.
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: I just have to believe that, right?
And I just have to suck it up and go, "Hey, it's not." So this is... It's cool to, to hit this one point, but that's just one point on the way to the goal. So will you guys talk about... [01:03:00] There's, there's, there's one thing I, I, I wanted to ask you about the gear, right? So when most people, when they climb Mount Borah, at least my understanding of this is it really just requires you take some snacks and some water and you don't need climbing gear, right?
You don't need ice picks or that kind of stuff for, for Borah. But for some of these other ones you guys do, you need other gear, right? And so what's that gear look like and, and how much does your pack weigh when you start these, these
Hallie: Oh, man. Um, I mean, I'll speak of, like, Hood and Whitney were probably my biggest ones, especially Whitney. You're going 21 miles and, man, I... A lot of food. A lot of food. I mean, I packed sandwiches and beef jerky and a lot of just quick carbs and sugars, and I had a whole gallon bag full of food. And I think, [01:04:00] so Whitney actually I took two shoes.
I had a 30 liter pack, and I had three liters. I probably had three to four liters of water with me, and then there's also, I think I had three, because you can fill up on Whitney too, but
Riley: Hmm
Hallie: liters of water, a huge pack of food. I had, I took in my, we call them trail runners. They're just, like, they're really grippy type of shoes.
So I took those in. For most of the way I wore those in, and then I had my crampons, and then I also had my mountaineering boots. And for anyone who don't know, they're heavy, and the crampons are steel just, like, alum- steel. So I think, I remember we weighed our packs. I can't even remember. I think we were about, for Whitney, I remember being around, I don't even, I don't even remember.
I think I was under 20 pounds, but somewhere in there. The really, really long ones that you do, like [01:05:00] the long backpacking trips, you're typically sitting around 30, which I've got some of those in the future. But around 20. I rem- You, you don't realize how much gear you need. For Whitney it was, like, especially Hood.
Hood was, I had a whole, I laid everything out from layers to helmets to, you gotta remember sunglasses and, like, just stuff to keep warm. I mean, I had my regular base layer on, so I just had, like, a long sleeve and then some pants, but then I also had snow, like a snow pant kinda type thing in my bag also, like waterproof and windproof and all of that.
And then I had my hard shell for my jacket, but then I also had my, like, I had a fleece on. I had a puffer jacket on top of that. I mean, you got, like, a buff for your neck, and you got, like you gotta remember all the tiny things too, like the sunsc- sunscreen, the sunscreen chapstick and all that, 'cause you will get fried in the snow.
And then you gotta remember extra pair of socks in case, like, something happens with [01:06:00] that, and ice axe and just so much food, helmets, all of it. We had your hiking poles, your harness, your carabiners. There's a lot. The list goes on
Riley: Yeah
Dave Rainey: I think for a normal twelver, I mean, um, think you can get up a mountain with tennis shoes. So you do need, for any twelver, you need trekking poles. Um, it's good to have a helmet because you don't know what you're running into with people above you and rocks coming down. so good hiking shoes and a good backpack with three
Hallie: There you are
Dave Rainey: of hydration preferable. Um, so you need that on any twelver.
Hallie: Especially helmets are very underestimated. I mean, some people are like, "Oh," like, "Why, why you got a helmet?" Or whatever. And on, like especially in the snow, climbing on, um, Mount Hood, it was very... You all are going up this big chute, like this [01:07:00] big old chute once you get there, and you got ice falling down, flying down.
You got rocks. Like, those things are flying at like 30, 40 miles an hour, and it's like you get dinked with one of those, you don't have a helmet on, like, especially depending on the size, if it's a rock or something, and you get knocked out, like you're, you're tumbling off the mountain. Like, you're going.
So that's, I remember even on Hood, it was like you yell, "Rock," or, "Ice," and I remember just people screaming like, "Ice coming down," and you just like, you have your ice axe and you just like bunker to the mountain and tuck your head if you got your helmet on. It's pretty, pretty wild
Riley: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I, I think, you know, you take a reasonable sized rock and it doesn't matter helmet or not, you're gonna get knocked silly. But sounds like a pretty important thing to have, for sure.
Hallie: Oh, yeah.
Riley: So a friend of mine told me a story one time. He hiked a mountain. I can't remember what one it was.
Um, but they had a section when they were coming down that they would, they would, [01:08:00] uh, slide down it, on the... slide down the
Hallie: Oh yeah. Glissading
Riley: is that what that's called?
Hallie: Mm-hmm
Riley: Well, so he's, he's cruising down this thing and he, at one point, his crampon caught on the snow and it...
Hallie: Oh, no
Riley: I don't think it totally broke his ankle, but it was close, it
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: him up.
So then the, the walk down was excruciating, right? 'Cause he still had to get off the mountain,
Hallie: There's, there's a mountaineering rule and it's never glissade with crampons on 'cause you can snap your leg in half
Riley: Yeah. You don't... You want that thing to skip, not to catch, huh?
Hallie: Yeah. Yeah.
Riley: Yeah. No, it was his, kind of his first, first climb and
Hallie: Yep
Riley: himself pretty bad. Yeah. So have you guys had any injuries when you're up there?
Hallie: Oh, man.
Dave Rainey: I've had any injuries
Hallie: Nothing crazy. I mean, you... We've had people,
Dave Rainey: and scrapes
Hallie: yeah
Dave Rainey: know, of times when you're coming down, if you're scree surfing, [01:09:00] it's pretty easy to fall. And
Hallie: Oh, yeah
Dave Rainey: I mean, falling is a part of it, and so you gotta be prepared for that. Um, I think on Leatherman, that was probably the worst time coming down for me I fell so many times and my elbows was-- my elbows were just both entirely bruised badly, and I was really frustrated because I couldn't keep my balance. but there's just some places on the mountain that are like that
Riley: Was, was that from fatigue or was that just tricky surface you were walking on?
Hallie: Both.
Riley: Both. No, I've experienced that where I'm fatigued and I don't even almost realize how fatigued I am maybe until later. But I- my coordination starts to go away, right?
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: yeah, you can't quite control your movements the same, and yeah, that's a weird feeling
Hallie: Oh yeah
Riley: What's, um, what's next, you guys? Where, what, what's, what's on
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: goal list?
Dave Rainey: We have Well, [01:10:00] Hallie sum- well, we both now summited five,
Hallie: Yeah, five out of the nine 12,000-foot mountains. Done two of them twice.
Dave Rainey: so we're trying to, uh, summit all nine. And
Riley: There's nine in Idaho?
Hallie: Mm-hmm. That's
Riley: that. This is great
Dave Rainey: Donaldson, which is basically what they call a twofer because you ridge walk from one to the other, because they're close.
And then we have Breitenbach, and we have Idaho.
Hallie: Those are the next, next mountains. And then I also, for CrossFit I compete, so I have two big competitions coming up that I'm training for too
Riley: I, uh, your mom sent me of them. She sent me a, a flyer on Instagram
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: them, and it's, it's in California?
Hallie: Yeah, I've got one in California end of September. It's like, I think I just saw something, it was like 51 days away, and then 11 days after that is finished, I have [01:11:00] another big one called Mountain West. It'll be October 10th and 11th here in Caldwell
Riley: I've been to that one. I've, I've watched some
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: ours compete in that. In fact, um, Justin and Megan were there
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: So, well that's pretty exciting. Dave, are you doing any CrossFit comps?
Dave Rainey: Um, the only ones I do are really, like, the, the CrossFit Open, which is every
Hallie: February and March
Dave Rainey: it's February. Okay. And then the, um, the Murph, which is an annual event that we do every Day, I think. So I don't really get into the competitions like she is. She's young and competing and trying to maybe one day get to the CrossFit Games. but, uh, I'm too old for that. So I just go to stay in shape and keep my strength and, be part of the family there
Riley: Well, talk about that a little bit, Dave, 'cause you're, you know I identify with that a [01:12:00] lot, 'cause I, I had a guy ask me the other day, he's a young dude and he was in his, his, uh, middle 20s, middle or later 20s, and he, he found out I'm a jujitsu guy, and he's a jujitsu guy, and he's like, do you compete?"
And I was like, "No, man. I'm almost 50 years old, and I do this as a hobby. It's not my, you know... I'm not a competitive athlete in the jujitsu world, you know?" And, and it's not, it's not something that I even desire, so those, that different stage in life, man, is there... How, how do you kinda contend with that?
'Cause there's part of me that's still in my mind a young man who would love to, love to compete, but the reality is I'm just, I wouldn't be competitive and I, I, it's not really that attractive to me. What, what's that experience like for you?
Dave Rainey: I think it's, um, you know, I've, I've kind of been around the road or block a few times, so I mean, um, I have competed at a younger age. When I was in high school, I went to weightlifting competitions. [01:13:00] but even in CrossFit, you get a sense of competition where you're like, I'm, I'm trying to beat the guy next to me.
Like, even in today's workout, it was a combination of running and kettlebells and sit-ups and and I was literally staying ahead of the people next to me because I'm competitive. And so you get that... You still get a little bit of that in there, and then when it comes to the open competitions, everyone's rooting you on, so you're not really, like, competing there per se. but you still get a sense of that while you're in there and, you know. And so everyone's rooting you on if you're trying to hit a PR. Um, we have bench press coming up, so that's gonna be, um, our next PR attempt. so you have things like that that you look forward to and, and still get to enjoy as far as being competitive and, and competing.
Riley: That's awesome. How about you, Hallie? You got, uh, you're, you are in that competitive stage of life, and you're, you're just kind of a [01:14:00] natural-born competitor, you mentioned earlier.
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: does that, uh... When, when you're thinking about these things, you're thinking about the prep for them,
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: what special things do you do to, to prepare for it?
Hallie: Oh, man
Riley: normal workouts as usual, or do you add some stuff?
Hallie: Add stuff for sure. I mean, especially, like, as far as skills go in CrossFit, there's, there's always the next, the next thing for skills. And I mean, the one thing about competitions is it'll put you in a box, and whatever's in that box, like, you're gonna have to do. So there's a lot of, a lot of things and a lot of prep as far as, like, showing up every day and getting it done, but then, like, after working on, like, okay, what am I gonna work on today?
Like, still working on, like, muscle ups or if you wanna do, like, handstand walks or, like, the really, like, technical things on that side. And then a lot of it is, like, uh, like recovering, like you [01:15:00] train. Like, as hard as I'm training and going sometimes two times a day or whatever, I gotta, like, I gotta eat for that, and then I also gotta, like, sleep, and you gotta roll out.
You gotta, like, check in with yourself. Like, my physical therapist is basically on call. Like, if something's really messed up and I need to be worked on, like, I'll go to him. But recovery I feel like is something that's skipped a lot, especially if... Like, even just staying after for five minutes and, like, rolling out or stretching or whatever, like, it-- that can save you a whole, like, you know, that could save you from hurting yourself and enjoying yourself.
And then same with fueling yourself is so, so huge
Riley: Will you describe, um, for those who don't know, what rolling out means?
Hallie: Yeah, yeah. You basically take, it's just a foam roller and then you, you, whatever, whatever muscles, if you wanna roll out your, like, quads or calves, back, whatever. It's just you're quite literally rolling out your sore muscles and flushing them out basically, and it's [01:16:00] painful. It's like stretching, but worse.
Riley: Stretching but worse with lots of pressure and
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: I love it. love it. We've got several guys out at the jujitsu school after they get done grappling they'll, they'll do that. out their foam rollers and they're laying out on the
Hallie: Mm-hmm.
Riley: rolling that across their quads or yeah. Yeah, sometimes you'll hear some painful noises coming out of that.
Hallie: Oh, yeah.
Riley: I love it. So, um, at this point in the podcast I, I typically will ask some get to know you questions, and they're, they're a little lighter for the most part, but there's some, there's some in there that are maybe not so light. uh, yeah, I would like to go through that with you guys if you're game
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: Starting with you, Dave.
This is, this is called the Go Earn Your SALT Podcast. you know, when you hear that term, go earn your salt, what does it mean to you?
Dave Rainey: Um, well, I remember when you came and watched me at a, uh, a race that I [01:17:00] was participating in, and that was the, um, CrossFit... Not the CrossFit, the, um, Fit One 10K. And so I remember you showing up, and that was cool. Um, but at the end of that, you're like, "Hey, Dave earned his SALT today. You know, he, he put in the work to, to earn his SALT."
So I thought, "Oh, that makes sense," you know, because you gotta rehydrate, and you gotta hydrate for one, but you also gotta rehydrate make sure your body's getting the nutrients and things that it needs to stay healthy
Riley: Cool. Hallie, what does that going yourself mean to you?
Hallie: Um, I mean, kind of in a sense similar. I feel like for me it's very much like... I also think of it as like those workouts that you like are just like sweat, sweating like no other. Like today was one of them. Feel like it's like, okay, I, I earned my SALT. Like, especially those days that you really need a, you really need a refuel or you really need to like stay on top of like taking your electrolytes.[01:18:00]
Feel like those just like really hard days, really brutal days where you, you, you do it, you get it done. It's like, okay. I feel like that's kind of what I think of
Riley: Are, are you guys both big sweaters?
Hallie: I, yeah. Especially in CrossFit. I,
Dave Rainey: Yeah.
Hallie: I, yeah.
Dave Rainey: at least I do
Riley: I get, I get laughed in the eye 'cause there's... Yeah, I'm such a pathetically heavy sweater. It's, it's... Some of the times you, you guys talked about, you know, taking these three liter packs on a hike, and I'm like, "I don't think that's enough for me." I
Hallie: Yeah.
Dave Rainey: Sometimes,
Riley: to-
Dave Rainey: we take, we take an extra liter, so I usually take four on
Hallie: Yeah, typically four
Riley: I'd... I need to take six or eight, man. It... Yeah. funny because I, I think people don't realize how much volume of, of fluid you u- or lose
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: right? And until you're in a... A lot of times as indoor athletes, we can... you're working out indoors, [01:19:00] you see it. You know, you'll be on a, on a, a bike or a, you know, doing a certain workout and just watching it drip, and it's like, okay, this isn't just coming from here, but it's my whole body is dripping like that. It's like, that's a lot of fluid to, to create that. And so, yeah, that rehydration that you talk about is, is super important. Um, outside of the, the CrossFit and mountain climbing, what's your favorite pastime?
Dave Rainey: Um, probably softball. You
Riley: Yeah
Dave Rainey: playing baseball, and so I'm very competitive. I like to win. And, um, we made it to... I play in two leagues. So I play in a men's, um, city league with friends from work and church, and then I play on the CrossFit team as well. And we won the championship in the men's league, and we came in second place, losing by one run the CrossFit league.
So, you know, [01:20:00] and being the pitcher, I feel like I'm kinda in charge out there, so I feel like it's my team, even though it isn't my team. Um, at least I pitch on the, uh, the CrossFit team. I play all the positions on the other team, I just, I just love the game. It's fun
Riley: I haven't played softball in a long time, man, but I, I sure... I used to play on a church team and it was, I loved it. Absolutely loved it. What about you, Hallie?
Hallie: Oh man. I mean, most all of my time is filled with CrossFit and and hiking or climbing of some sorts. Anything active. I like, I mean, spending time with friends and stuff. I like, I always walking just anywhere, Greenbelt. I- probably one of my favorites is probably like getting coffee and then walking the Greenbelt.
Like that's enjoyable, especially with friends. But anything active, biking, walking, running. I don't love running, but
Riley: you, you mentioned, you know, this, uh, wanting to one day [01:21:00] be in the CrossFit Games, right? So I'm just getting this mental picture that you're... It sounds like you train more like a professional athlete would train, right? It's more, more than recreation to you
Hallie: Yeah, I, I mean, The Games is like insane. It's the top 30 women and men of the world. So it's like if I were to go there, it'd be crazy. But even just in a sense just like going more elite with it is kind of the goal, and I definitely-- I, I, part of it that makes it so much easier for me is I just generally love it.
Like, I generally love training, whether that's like I'm dying in the middle of like a workout or I'm, you know, I'm doing however many sets of back squat or power cleans or whatever it might be strength training-wise. And so there is a lot of days that I go in and I do two times a day, or I'll even like one day I'll train and then I'll work on like gymnastics movements later in the day or whatever that might, might look like.
A lot of [01:22:00] zone two recovery too. So it's a lot more than, it's a lot more for me than I'm just going in the morning to work out. It's generally like, generally a passion, and then generally I wanna get myself to be the best that I can
Riley: Yeah, I think that's super cool. I, sometimes we, we don't... We hear something like what you're saying, you know, "I wanna go to the CrossFit Games," and, in the person's mind who's not in the athletic world, that can sound like sort of a cute little goal, but they don't realize how much of your life it takes
Hallie: Yeah, those athletes are, those athletes, I mean, most of them don't, they don't work. It's mainly, it's that's their life. That's all they do. So those athletes are, I've met a few of them, talked to a few of them, and it's just, they're, they're really inspiring. They're really, they're really cool to see. Even, especially when you see where they've come from and stuff, it's, it's pretty crazy
Riley: Do you feel like that's something that, um, at this stage in your life you have the capacity to do?[01:23:00]
Hallie: I mean, I wouldn't doubt myself that I wouldn't, like, not be able to go there. I think if, like, that's where I was to go, God would definitely open those doors for that, and it would definitely be... It would definitely have to pretty much be taken very, very seriously and stuff. But I'm just kind of pushing myself more and more every day, every week that I train, as far as competitions go and stuff.
Like, I'm just, I'm more so excited to see where this road takes me
Riley: That's pretty exciting. I, uh, it almost is an unfair question to ask you what's your favorite pastime outside of
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: climbing because I, I'm like training at the level you're training, you know, it's how, how, how could you have another pastime?
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: Um, all right you guys. Dave, what's something quirky about you that people don't know?
Hallie: No. Hmm.
Riley: Hallie be thi... How, how about this?
Hallie: I know,
Riley: this.
Hallie: no,
Riley: gonna
Hallie: no, no, no, no.
Riley: this up. So Hallie, what's something quirky
Hallie: Oh, [01:24:00] gosh. Uh, oh. I really gotta think on this.
Riley: back, so just be prepared.
Hallie: Hey, hey, hey. Something quirky. Oh, man. Gosh, I don't even know
Riley: Is Dave a man without quirks? This is, uh... He'd be the first
Dave Rainey: I just don't think about them very
Hallie: I know
Dave Rainey: I'm, I'm more of a, uh, lone wolf than I am a,
Hallie: Yeah
Dave Rainey: group person. So I am very content to be alone, but I am much more content with my dogs. So we have two golden retrievers, Cider and Whiskey. Um, so I'm... I can be content with them or by myself, but usually more content with them if I'm
Riley: about, how about Howie? What's, what's something that's quirky about Howie that people don't know?
Dave Rainey: Um, Hallie becomes hangry very, very easily. [01:25:00] So if she doesn't have the proper food, as we experienced in one of the parks on our last trip to Florida, um, it wasn't a fun day
Riley: So did you just use the term hangry? Is that what you said?
Dave Rainey: Yeah,
Riley: Ha- hangry. I love that.
Hallie: Oh, yeah.
Riley: Holly?
Hallie: Oh, yeah. Don't go, don't let me go without food for too long.
Riley: Oh, gosh. that, that leads into the next question. What's, what's your favorite naughty food? And you get to start there, Holly
Hallie: Naughty food? Chocolate. Specifically dark chocolate. I don't know, I eat a lot of whole foods. I'm not, I don't, I don't really eat processed foods. I don't eat at rest- not restaurants, but fast food. I... So honestly if, probably dark chocolate or I, I bake a lot, so sweets in general, but dark chocolate, peanut butter.
I mean, it's not even that bad, but
Riley: you just said is dark chocolate 'cause you're, you're trying to be like, "Oh," like that's not [01:26:00] really a naughty food, right? You're still in the,
Hallie: My sweet treat
Riley: of, of pretty healthy. What's your favorite naughty food for reals?
Hallie: Does cinnamon rolls count?
Riley: Yes.
Hallie: That. I'd probably go with that. Or brownies. Brownies is really bad.
Riley: Cinnamon rolls are freaking good, but have a tolerance. I get about halfway through a, a reasonable size cinnamon roll and I'm kind of done with cinnamon. Do, do you have that same tolerance? Do you-
Hallie: Mm-hmm. It's a toss-up.
Riley: them?
Hallie: Oh, I could, I could pound them. I could definitely pound them, especially brownies. Like, brownies are the other one. Like, I don't keep brownies for myself, 'cause I'll eat all of them
Riley: Yeah, that's a good call. Dave, what's your favorite or naughty food? Yeah
Dave Rainey: There's too many. Um, brownies, um, chocolate chip cookies from Costco. get in trouble if those are around, so those are really good
Riley: So fun. [01:27:00] Hallie, do you have a nickname?
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Hallie: I don't know. [01:28:00] I feel like, I mean, they call me random things all the time. Um, one of my coaches will call me Beefcake. That's probably my favorite. Um, I've g- I've gotten called Hangry Halle, you know, by my family. Um That's about, not too much. I mean, some of my friends will just call me Hals or Hal, but those are probably the ones that I hear the most
Riley: Hangry Hallie. I love it. I love it.
Hallie: Yeah.
Riley: Dave? You got a, a nickname
Dave Rainey: Not really. Um, more so when I was in high school, like, like my oldest son, Brayden, he was called Rainey. That was, you know, how they,
Hallie: I w-
Dave Rainey: by my last name
Hallie: I will say our mountain climbing group will call him Queen Dave, not King, Queen. And there's a, there's a whole backstory behind that, but
Riley: Okay, I gotta hear the backstory
Dave Rainey: So
Hallie: was
Dave Rainey: is [01:29:00] went to, uh... It was our first 12er. We were hiking, Lost River, and we ended up instead of staying because of the, the weather, because of staying at the base of the mountain and camping out like we usually do to kinda get your body used to the elevation, we stayed at a place that we had rented, and there was a queen bed there, and I got the queen bed, so I was nicknamed Queen Dave
Hallie: Now we, now we use it as a running joke if he does anything that's like, as we would consider a wimp. We're like, "Oh, it's, it's Queen Dave today."
Riley: He needs his, he needs his, uh, his luxury, huh? it. Okay, a little more serious here. What, what's the scariest moment of your life? Starting with you, Dave
Dave Rainey: Let's see. Some of the 12ers have been pretty intimidating, but not like [01:30:00] scariest moment. Probably was, um, the week before I went-- got married, we went and, uh, me and a couple other guys went and free rappelled into the Kuna Caves, and that-- at that point in time, there was no ladder like there is now. So that was pretty scary.
I was like, "What am I doing?" Um, I had never rappelled before, and so I didn't really know the technique, but I learned it pretty rapidly as to how far to let go and how far to get down. But then coming out was... I had never, you know, pulled myself up out of anything, so I had two guys pulling on me while I was trying to pull myself up, and the rope was just swinging back and forth, and I'm just hanging on by a thread it feels like. Um, I'm roped in and everything, but was pretty scary.
Riley: Yeah, I can imagine going down is easier than going up when it comes to... How about you, Holly? Scariest moment
Hallie: Um, probably [01:31:00] two mountain climbing ones. One was probably Lost River when we were on the ridge, and we had gotten to this-- and it was, it was snow covered. We'd gotten to this spot, and I remember the spot, like, clear as day now since I've gone back and done it without snow. But it's like you have to step down, and to the left and the right it's just like...
I mean, it's a ridge, so, like, you fall to the right, you fall to the left, and there's, like, a bunch of snow cornices built up to the right, which ba-basically are those, like, big snow drifts that build and build, and so they're not sitting on anything. If you, like, walk to them, it'll just-- you'll fall. But we're-- There was just, like, this one point, and it was kind of when they were like, "All right," like, "this might be where we need to turn around."
And it was just like you're just shaking. Like, you can't control your legs. Like, you've already climbed so much. So that was pretty horrifying. The next one that was probably even more horrifying was when I had to down climb this, like, half-mile snow slope that was on Whitney, 'cause we went super [01:32:00] early in the season, and it was just-- Climbing up is fine, but we were down-- we had to down climb it, and I hadn't really down climbed before.
But it was icy and snowy, and it was-- the snow wasn't, like, amazing conditions. There was rocks beneath us, and it was you'd put your ice axe in and hold onto it, and then you'd step down with your, like, left foot and right foot and put your crampons into the snow, and it was so icy. And I was, like, so-- I mean, we'd gone, like, 11, 12 miles at that point and you're so exhausted.
But it's like those times when o- like, you slipped, and it was just like there was no, there was nowhere to go. Like, I had to go down, but I was just-- I remember just, like, literally holding on for dear life. And it was like I have no other choice but to fight through it and keep going. But it was so steep, and it was so hard, and it was just, like, mentally exhausting and physically exhausting.
Like, I'd never wanted to be off a mountain so bad in my entire life, especially, especially when your foot would slip or something like that. And it's just like [01:33:00] your, your ice axe in those cases are your lifeline. But it was, it was, it was pretty daunting for me doing that. That was my least favorite part of it all.
It was not, not something I care to repeat.
Riley: Yeah. Man, that's, uh, thing where you get to that mental state where you're like, "Why'd I do this?" And you start to second guess why you even
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: hobby. But I've experienced that in the long runs where I'm an event or something and I'm hurting so bad and yeah, yeah, you just start to second guess yourself.
It's just like, "Oh, this sucks. So stupid. Why'd I do this in the first place?"
Hallie: Oh, yeah
Riley: That's awesome. Um, in your life, what has been the most valuable learning experience, the thing that just sticks with you as the kind of best lesson you've ever learned in life? Start with Tally
Hallie: Oh. Oh gosh. Um[01:34:00]
I feel like, I mean, I'll, I, I'll keep the trend of all my, all my physical activities that I like to do, but learning... I remember in track, I remember writing on my shoes Philippians 4:13, which is the, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And I think kinda keeping that motive to a lot of things that I do and a lot of...
Like, another, another verse is Matthew 17:20, and it's a verse that talks about if you have faith, you can move, you can say to this mountain, "Move," and it'll be done for you. So a lot of stuff like that when it comes to mountain climbing, especially, like, especially that verse too, it's very much... Like, people don't realize how massive these mountains really are until you're out there.
And, like, just having, like, God say that, it ju- it takes on a whole different level. But kinda keeping him at the forefront of all my things is [01:35:00] definitely something that, I mean, you learn and you work on doing every day, and it's just, it's a lot different than someone who might not follow Christ and stuff
Riley: You've got that as a guiding principle in there.
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: How about you, Dave? Most valuable learning experience
Dave Rainey: Most valuable learning experience. Well, I've been around a little longer than how I asked, so I've had a lot of them. But, um, most valuable, I think, uh, you know, life's a journey, some things are-- some things come easy, and some things don't. And I think that, just learning how to walk through, uh, the loss of my parents, uh, it's been quite a journey for me to get through. And so it's been [01:36:00] humbling and and frustrating and, um- You know, when you lose a parent, that's not an easy thing. So that's probably been one of the most, um, valuable lessons to learn how to lean in to, uh, friends and family, and yeah
Riley: Question just almost mostly for myself here, Dave, but when you walking through that, I've kind of recent- not super recent, but five years ago walked through that, you know, losing my father and I lost my mother when, when I was eight years old, and my stepmom then again in 2015, you know. And so, but experiencing that, there was something that hit me that I'd never experienced, and I guess I'm curious if you've had the same thought.
But there was that That kind of realization that there's no one there [01:37:00] anymore that's like a safety net, if you will, or that, that person I can go to that's, you know, like that... parents hold a certain level of, of almost, almost shelter you from a lot of stuff, even as an adult. Then all of a sudden when they're gone, it's just like, "Man, I gotta weather all these storms myself, and I don't have somebody to ask and, you know, reach out to."
So did you experience that, that also?
Dave Rainey: To a certain degree, yeah, I would say so. Um, you know, still journeying through that. I'd say the journey is still on the journey, you know? Um, as far as like feeling not specifically, mean, Adam was like-- called me, you know? Who calls-- What kind of pastor has-- takes the time to call some thousand-member congregation and help me walk through this?
And even you [01:38:00] guys the same for me. And, um, I'm part of a different small group now with, Pastor He's in my small group. so being able to share with them kind of the journey and experience and having them help me through it has su- been super helpful
Riley: Yeah. Man From there, what's, what's the, the best advice you've ever received? So is there something in your, in your life where somebody said something to you that was just like, "Man, lifelong advice I can, take and use forever"?
Dave Rainey: My mom always said, "If there's something worth doing, it's worth doing well." So that's kinda always stuck with me
Riley: Beautiful. How about you, Holly?
Hallie: Oh, man. I haven't lived as long as him, but um [01:39:00] I don't know I think
I, I don't know. There's kind of a few that I've heard. I, I mean, one is just, like, in general, Philippians 4:13, which is, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I feel like that is just, like, very, very just, like, true verse to, especially, like, all these things that you do and stuff, and it's... No matter what you're doing, like, if it's climbing a mountain or, you know, I'm in a competition or even just, like, walking through daily life, it's kind of a verse I can always fall back on.
But I guess another one would be just in general, like, a dream's not, your dream's not gonna chase yourself. So I guess just kinda going after really, like, if you have a dream, like, go after it. Like, don't... What's, what's kinda holding you back? So I've kinda had people tell me that one too
Riley: No, that's good. [01:40:00] Yeah, there's... A dream's just a dream unless you're chasing it, right? Then you, you make it a reality. Yeah. There is that part of us that we have to, we have to go out there and make it happen, otherwise it never will. I l- I love it. did you phrase that?
Hallie: Um, I said a dream won't chase you back, so you might as well go and chase it yourself
Riley: That's awesome. I like that. I'm gonna steal that. That's, uh... Who, who in your life has influenced you the most? Start with Allie
Hallie: Um, probably my family. I mean, like my dad, my mom especially. I, my grandma did too a lot. She was, she was very strong, strong godly woman, so it was kinda cool to see just how strong she was, especially how strong she was for me. Like, she wouldn't, she wouldn't kinda talk about the bad, the bad days or the hard times or, like, when she had an appointment or whatever.
It was... [01:41:00] She was always, like, super strong for me, I feel like, and seeing how strong she was and, like, how much she just loved, loved the Lord was pretty cool. And then, yeah, my family just always showing up for me no matter what crazy thing I'm doing and always kinda pushing me to be better
Riley: That's awesome. How about you, Dave?
Dave Rainey: Um, actually the same person, my mom. Yeah.
Riley: Yeah
Dave Rainey: was a huge influence in my life and, I mean, always supported me. Um, you know, Hallie mentioned that she was super close to God and, you know, always setting a good example for us and, um... Yeah, I can't remember what else I was gonna say, but my mom. She would, she would support me even back in high school.
I remember, um, in Oregon it can rain, and if you've ever been there during a rainstorm, you know what I mean. [01:42:00] Um, and we were a high school football game in Oregon City and, I mean, it was coming down in sheets, and she was in the stand with her umbrella watching me. So I mean, that's the kind of person she was.
She would just... She was supportive
Riley: That's amazing. That's amazing. So what is-- what's an item on your bucket list? Something that you wanna do before, before it's all over, Dave
Dave Rainey: I think travel and see things I haven't seen. There's a whole lot of the world to explore. Um, I wanna take about a month and just go up and down the Oregon coast and see things I actually haven't even seen. The Oregon coast is huge. It's three hundred and sixty-three miles, I think, long. Um, and there's a lot of little pockets of places that I've never been to. Um, and there's like the Creation Museum, the Ark,
Riley: Yeah, that'd be cool
Dave Rainey: out there. And [01:43:00] I don't know if I really wanna go to New York City, but, um, you know, there's places back east. Um, I've just got to experience Washington, D.C. this summer first time. That was a really experience, and I've been to Florida several times.
Um, never been to Mexico. You know, Cancun sounds fun until the recent events there make you not wanna go there. Um, maybe Hawaii. I have friends that have been there that say it's amazing, but, um, you know, travel, I think, is on my list of things to do.
Riley: Well, I was, we, we went to Philadelphia one time, and that, that was really cool to see all the US history there and... Excuse me. I've always thought it would be really cool to go see castles. The old, old, you know, European castles How about you, Halie?
Hallie: Oh man, for a while it was Whitney, and I just did that. [01:44:00] Um, climbing more for sure. I mean, I've checked off quite a couple of the ones that I really wanted to do, but there's some other really, really big ones that I wanna hit. And then definitely travel. I wanna travel more. I enjoy traveling and seeing a lot of things.
And then I guess, like CrossFit I definitely wanna at some point do like one of the really, really big competitions where it's like few get invited to or few get there. I think that would be pretty cool
Riley: Yeah, that'd be amazing. It'd be cool to see you, see you do that. So for the both of you, do you have a, a favorite book? Something you would recommend everyone read
Dave Rainey: Let's
Riley: Let's go, Hallie
Dave Rainey: read the... I, I might butcher the name, but I think it's called The Influencer, and it's sitting by my bookstand, but I don't remember the name exactly. But, [01:45:00] it talks a lot about, um, your perspective on life and how perspective is e-everything, and, um, how your perspective can change, your whole, whole outlook on whatever it is you're facing. I'll have to get you the name and the correct title. That's probably not right.
Riley: Yeah, just text it to me
Dave Rainey: um, besides that, the Bible obviously for me is the, the biggest book in my life
Riley: How about you, Hallie?
Hallie: Yeah, definitely the Bible. I, I'm not, I'm not a huge reader, so like there's no other book I could really point to being something that's worthwhile reading, so
Riley: That's, uh, yeah, definitely always a good choice. I mean, you've cited scripture se- several times, right, with verses that really spoke out to you, and there's always a lot of inspiration to be, to be gained there for sure. Um Are you guys on social media? I mean, I know you are, [01:46:00] Holly.
Hallie: Yeah
Riley: uh, what's your, what's your Instagram so people can see what you're up to?
Hallie: Um, I can name it here in just a second. My handle is just Hallie, H-A-L-L-I-E, dot Rainey, R-A-I-N-E-Y. And you'll know it's me because it's all CrossFit and mountains.
Riley: It's all CrossFit and mountains. Oh, I love it. How about you, Dave? Are you on the social medias somewhere?
Dave Rainey: I only look at Howie's stuff and other people's stuff, so I don't, I don't post much of anything. Occasionally, if we hike a mountain, I think I posted something here lately about that we hiked, um, Hindman a couple weeks ago. But I don't, I don't post a lot. I look a lot
Riley: You're not a social media diva, huh?
Hallie: I take care of it for him, you know?
Dave Rainey: Yeah,
Riley: Oh, I think it's so cool.
Dave Rainey: so[01:47:00]
Riley: Well, I'm excited what you guys are doing. I think, you know, Dave, you talked about early on in the, in the episode here about wanting to make memories for your family, and I think it's so cool that you guys are doing these mountains together, 'cause Holly, you're gonna, you're gonna remember this very fondly as life moves on
Hallie: Oh yeah, for sure
Riley: Yeah. And I know Dave, he, he... I can, I can see it in his, know, I can see his chin quiver when he talks about it, so it's, you know, him getting to spend time with you up there doing these things is pretty, pretty cool. I can imagine from a dad perspective, that's amazing. So you guys are, you guys are awesome.
I, uh, I think just the epitome of what we're looking for on this podcast is just, is, uh, what you guys are doing. This, thing you're doing together and this, these, uh, pursuits you have of just physical, staying in shape, staying strong, is Go Earn Your SALT kind of stuff. So you guys, thank you for coming on the show
Hallie: Yeah. Thanks for inviting us
Dave Rainey: You're welcome[01:48:00]
Riley: Awesome. Go over to your SALT, you two.
Speaker 3: Hey, you've just finished up this episode and I wanna know, are you or someone you know a gettin' after it, go earn your salt type of person? If so, message me directly on Instagram at the Go Earn Your Salt podcast and perhaps we can have you on the show. Also, if you like this content, leave us a review, subscribe, and share with your friends, and perhaps this podcast can help you and them go earn your salt