I’m a little unsure of the best way to frame this introduction. In some ways, this is a story of embracing climbing for all the right reasons. Pursuit of technical mastery and love for the outdoors over the gamification of grades and emphasis on physical training. On the other hand, this is also the story of early adulthood in the modern era. The narrative to pursue something like climbing full-time is strong in the outdoor world. But most I encounter eventually find that climbing alone leaves us yearning for meaning and purpose. My guest today, Tyler Karow, spent nearly three years on the road pursuing climbing. Today he balances considerable climbing achievements with a secondary passion for building and a desire to be a part of the solution to America’s affordable housing crisis.
Karow is a 29-year-old climber known for his big wall accomplishments in Yosemite, Patagonia, and around the globe. His resume includes a ground-up free ascent of Golden Gate (5.13a) on El Cap, and Yosemite’s Triple Crown in under 24 hours, only the eighth time this feat has been achieved. Notably, Karow climbed the Triple while working a full-time (plus) job. He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Southern California and is a licensed civil engineer and general contractor. With this background in engineering and construction, he envisions a career helping to build prefabricated tiny home communities. This emerging approach to construction helps to reduce the cost of new housing and more efficiently add supply to a stressed housing market.
This episode is an Oreo of sorts, with a focused discussion of Tyler’s climbing achievements and work/life balance in the beginning and end. The middle of this discussion takes a deep dive into the affordable housing crisis, the complex nature of new construction, and Tyler’s vision for the future of American affordable housing.
Topics Discussed with Tyler Karow
- Tyler’s incredible weekend warrior Yosemite season this past fall
- The Yosemite Triple in under 24 hours with a full-time (plus) job
- “Excessive claiming” and the gamification of climbing
- Tyler on the “unhealthy culture in climbing that emphasizes performance.”
- The calculated decision to take an early-career sabbatical from his job as an engineer
- How his 1.5 year “gap” turned into 3 years
- How being on the road changed his outlook on career and meaningful work
- Motivations to help solve the affordable housing crisis
- A deep dive on the root causes of unaffordable housing and the inefficiencies of modern housing construction
- Prefabricated tiny homes and modular housing to increase housing supply more efficiently
- The problems created by second homes and the short-term rental economy in mountain towns
- Changing preferences on space: how much house do we need?
- Why building homes of any kind is good for housing affordability
- Tyler’s thoughts on managing a full-time job and climbing at a high level
- Tyler’s preferred project-based career and the benefits of “career seasonality”
- How climbing ambitions change as work demands ebb and flow
- How Tyler’s appetite for climbing has changed and why
- So much more!
Get in Touch with Tyler Karow
Additional Resources and Articles/Episodes Mentioned
How Blue Cities Became So Outrageously Unaffordable (The Ezra Klein Show): Includes discussion of how high-end new housing projects reduce overall housing costs in local markets.
EP 59: Brent Barghahn: Real Estate Investing and the Future of Home Ownership (Clipping Chains)
All Clipping Chains posts on housing are here.
Books
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