EP 88: Ben Ditto — Early Climbing and Photography, Dynafit Dangling, and Adventures With the ‘Wild Bunch’

Ben Ditto is a professional climber and photographer from Bishop, California. We talked about Ben’s upbringing and early climbing, competing against Chris Sharma and Tommy Caldwell, falling in love with the mountains, Dynafit dangling and near-death experiences, advice for aspiring photographers, The Adventures of the Dodo, and climbing ‘Father Time’ with his wife Katie Lambert. You can learn more about Ben at bendittophoto.com

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Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/ben-ditto

Nuggets:

3:26 – Filming a car commercial

4:54 – Ben’s studio, and staying interested in learning new things

6:58 – Ben’s photography, Instagram captions, and visual storytelling

9:18 – Getting started in photography, Ben’s first camera, and photography as a ticket to freedom

11:42 – Pursuing a life that doesn’t fit in a box, growing up in Chattanooga TN, and Ben’s dad

16:01 – Early climbing

19:34 – ‘Scared guy’

24:18 – Hunter S Thomson quote, “the edge is still out there.”

25:05 – Belaying his dad, improving, getting into competition climbing, and flying to San Francisco

34:54 – Failing to perform well on a national stage, and competing at Mission Cliffs against Chris Sharma and Tommy Caldwell

39:09 – Early sponsorships

42:28 – Moving to Salt Lake, working at the Patagonia store, and falling in love with mountains

44:46 – Climbing in the Wasatch, climbing with heroes, American Fork, and finding a different crew

50:28 – Career choices, going with what feels natural, and delaying big decisions

53:38 – Making stuff, trade booths, getting back into photography, noticing the impact we have on the planet, studying photojournalism, and learning by managing other photographers

1:01:30 – Ben’s advice for aspiring photographers

1:05:22 – Patron Question from Elliot: How to take photos while alpine climbing? 

1:08:01 – Behind the scenes of great alpine photography

1:10:40 – Climbing and photography as separate things

1:13:38 – Patron Question from Tim: What location or climber are you most proud of photographing?

1:18:55 – ‘Dynafit dangler’

1:32:48 – Processing risk and death, and “You owe it to your climbing partners to really want to be there.”

1:38:01 – Stacking the odds in your favor, and being involved in search and rescue

1:44:17 – Driving as a pet peeve, and environmental considerations

1:47:17 – The Wild Bunch

1:57:11 – Harmonica, traveling solo in Patagonia, and sailing to Greenland

2:04:20 – ‘The Adventures of the Doto’

2:10:32 – The group’s current adventures

2:13:29 – Climbing ‘Father Time’ with Katie, and the strategy vs. ethics of big wall free climbing

2:30:16 – Relaxing after the climb, and difficulty of the route

2:34:08 – Beefing up the resume, and jumping into the commercial world

2:38:11 – Gratitude, and plans for a trip to the South

2:40:24 – Update on my climbing, Ben’s website, and working on accident reports