The Backcountry Manifesto

Who is DB Cooper? On November 24th, 1971, an unassuming middle aged man pulled off the only unsolved skyjacking in US history, parachuting out of the back of a Boeing 727 somewhere over the pacific northwest with $200,000 in cash strapped to his chest. He was never found. Today, some 53 years later, DB Cooper investigator Eric Ulis sits down with us to tell the whole story of DB Cooper, including...

Does Bigfoot exist? Dr. Jeff Meldrum – a professor of anatomy and anthropology specializing in primate locomotor adaptations and bipedalism at Idaho State University – believes Bigfoot is real (and probably prefers the term “Sasquatch”). Today on the show, Dr. Meldrum drops by TBM HQ to talk all things Sasquatch, as well as his life-long fascination with the controversial “relict hominoid.” In our...

This week on the show, we have Duke University’s Dr. Steven Churchill swinging into town to talk about early man as the ultimate survivalist. Dr. Churchill has been part of discovering two important early hominids and when it comes to neanderthals, he’s certainly among the most knowledgeable. One thing he knows for sure? Early man was on the strugglebus, but pushed through to become the ultimate s...

Today, Laz Lake is in the studio talking about the Barkley Marathons. The Barkley Marathons is the most notorious trail race around, and Laz Lake is the semi-evil genius behind it. Runner’s World has described it as “Five Loops Of Death” and “Arguably the craziest race in the world,” and it was even the subject of a full-length documentary called “The Race That Eats Its Young.”  The Barkley Marath...

On September 8th, 2023, outdoorsman and navy vet Rudy Noorlander was tracking a wounded deer when an encounter with a grizzly bear changed his life forever. On this episode of the backcountry manifesto, Rudy recounts the attack and his miraculous recovery. Links mentioned in this episode Alpine Adventures Montana Alpine Adventures Montana :: TripAdvisor Reviews Connect Catch up with Hayden on IG,...

Our topic today is deep sea exploration, and our guest is researcher and explorer Molly Curran. Molly is an engineer at the Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institution's Deep Submergence Laboratory. In her work, she designs and operates incredibly advanced submersibles to explore some of the world’s most difficult-to-access environments, like the fjords of Greenland and the depths below arctic sea ice....

With over 1.3 million Youtube subscribers and counting, Dan Hurd of Dan Hurd Prospecting might be the world’s most popular prospector. This week, Dan swings by the Backcountry Manifesto Podcast studio with some amazing gold, gem and mineral specimens. Whether you’re a Dan Hurd Prospecting fan, a seasoned prospector, or even a first time 49er, stay tuned – this prospecting podcast is solid gold. In...

Legendary climber John Long swings back by the TBM studio to unpack an infamous chapter in Yosemite climbing history -- the story of Dope Lake. Joining him is his buddy and fellow Stonemaster, Vern Clevenger. In the spring of 1977, a twin prop plane carrying around 6,000lbs of high-grade Mexican reefer crashed into Lower Merced Pass Lake, a small alpine reservoir nestled deep in Yosemite’s backcou...

In the 1970s, a pirate group of climbers descended on the  big walls of California’s Yosemite National Park  and changed the world of rock climbing forever. They dubbed themselves “The Stone Masters.” This week, we’re talking to the original Stone Masters,  John Long  and  Rick Accomazzo . In this episode, we talk about:  Rick’s new book “Tobin, the Stone Masters, and Me” The Stone Master’s Joshua...

Astronaut Loral O’Hara  recently returned from 204 days in the International Space Station as part of  Expedition 69 and 70 . During that time, Loral conducted important science, worked out a surprising amount, and along with her best friend, fellow astronaut  Jasmin Moghbeli , completed a six hour EVA, commonly known as a “spacewalk.” And now, for whatever reason, she’s hanging out in the TBM stu...