The Silvercore Podcast with Travis Bader

Mark Twight joins Travis Bader on the Silvercore Podcast for a conversation about alpinism, Gym Jones, the training behind 300, and life after peak performance. The booking took five years and one condition: in person only.
Twight climbed in the Alps, Alaska and the Canadian Rockies, including The Reality Bath, a route that went unrepeated for 37 years. He climbed the Slovak Direct on Denali in 60 hours with Steve House and Scott Backes. His books Extreme Alpinism and Kiss or Kill were picked up well outside climbing, including by military units who found the chapter on attitude and character applied to their work. He later worked on nine feature films, most of them with director Zack Snyder, building physical transformations against production deadlines.
In this conversation, recorded in person in Montana, Twight talks about what separated him from better technical climbers, why he keeps walking away from things at the top, and what he has found in the valley since.
Topics covered:
- Growing up the son of a National Park Service law enforcement ranger
- Taking up shooting in 1995, and mentors including Brian Enos and Pat Rogers
- Getting disqualified before firing a shot in his first match in 21 years
- Self image, permission to fail, and why some competitors stall
- Mount Hunter in 39 hours nonstop, and the arithmetic of pack weight
- Writing while drinking, and the decision to stop
- Building the cast of 300, and why fast results do not hold
- Leaving the Aquaman job when the paycheque became the only reason to stay
- Declining physical capacity, and purpose after achievement
A conversation about total commitment, and the bill that comes due for it.
Learn more about Mark Twight:
Website: https://www.marktwight.com
Substack: https://marktwight.substack.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wfmft
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The Silvercore Club keeps you sharp and has your back. $5M excess liability insurance for hunting, fishing, and shooting across Canada and the US, member discounts, and a community that gets outside. $59/year.
Join the Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club
Firearms & hunting courses - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors
This content is for information and entertainment only. Nothing here is professional, legal, or safety advice. Firearms, hunting, and outdoor activities carry real risk. Know and follow the laws that apply to you, use safe practices, and get proper training from qualified professionals before acting on anything discussed. Silvercore accepts no liability for how this information is used.
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00:00 Five years and a one word reply
06:20 A ranger father, an anti-authority son
12:50 Nine films, mostly with Zack Snyder
17:20 Forty pounds and a changed life
20:00 Extreme Alpinism reaches Special Forces
26:50 The mountains are not clever, men are
28:40 Guns are stupid, then a range day
31:30 Brian Enos, Gunsite and mentors
41:50 Back to competition, DQ'd first match
49:40 You never outperform your self image
51:20 Permission to fail
57:20 Seven lives in one lifetime
1:01:00 Mount Hunter, 39 hours nonstop
1:04:50 The Slovak Direct in 60 hours
1:11:00 Why he stopped climbing
1:16:30 Writing drunk, and what it cost
1:29:00 Coming down to the valley
1:38:40 Borrowed beliefs and in-group politics
1:44:40 Hunters, conservation, common ground
1:47:20 Paragliding before anyone knew how
1:56:40 Something to rebel against
2:00:20 The first gym, and what it taught him
2:06:40 Invitation only, everyone on parole
2:12:30 300 and the website that crashed
2:16:30 Fear, rationalization, walking away
2:23:20 Walking off Aquaman
2:31:50 Fast results are unstable results
2:46:20 Why dangerous things matter
2:51:40 Risk tolerance over technical skill
3:03:40 No off-ramp for veterans and athletes
3:08:00 Intent instead of intensity
3:17:30 Saying goodbye to Daryl Miller
3:23:20 What success means at 65

Ian Sim spent nearly three decades in the RCMP. In December, alone in his apartment, the strokes came. He saved the wine, booked an Uber to emergency because it was faster than an ambulance, and days later faced a decision about a clot-busting drug with minutes on the clock and nobody to call.
The man who returns to the Silvercore Podcast is in what he calls the afterglow. Colours are brighter. Food tastes better. Any familiar face is an old friend.
Ian cold-called the SAS out of directory assistance and got a yes. He policed Wreck Beach by getting out of the car and learning names. He wrote a counterterrorism paper that got him summoned to the principal's office, and he has rebuilt his off-duty carry proposal into something a province could adopt on its own. And he answers the question an RCMP recruiter asked him at 19: do you have a healthy or an unhealthy interest in firearms?
His answer got the room to go quiet.
Ian speaks as a private citizen. His views are his own, not those of the RCMP.
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The Silvercore Club keeps you sharp and has your back. $5M excess liability insurance for hunting, fishing, and shooting across Canada and the US, member discounts, and a community that gets outside. $59/year.
Join the Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club
Firearms & hunting courses - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors
This content is for information and entertainment only. Nothing here is professional, legal, or safety advice. Firearms, hunting, and outdoor activities carry real risk. Know and follow the laws that apply to you, use safe practices, and get proper training from qualified professionals before acting on anything discussed. Silvercore accepts no liability for how this information is used.
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00:00:00 Welcome back
00:01:00 The warning shots
00:12:00 The big one
00:18:00 The clot buster decision
00:29:00 A song and a $5 bill
00:43:00 Is there any such thing as a coincidence?
00:53:00 A Reaper in the desert
00:56:00 Cold-calling the SAS
01:04:00 The afterglow
01:12:00 They don't look like supermen
01:19:00 Radio, Wreck Beach and who works for whom
01:32:00 Smart on crime
01:35:00 Off-shift carry, the proposal rebuilt
01:48:00 Define the problem first
01:55:00 The paper and the principal's office
02:10:00 A Liberal beat him to it
02:14:00 "I wanted to live my life armed"
02:26:00 The next sidearm
02:36:00 Courts and credibility
02:38:00 Until next time

Retired Delta Force Sergeant Major Kyle Lamb returns to the Silvercore Podcast to talk about his new book, The Next Mission, co-authored with his wife Melynda. Kyle spent 21 years in the US Army, 15 of them in Delta Force, and fought in the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.
The day episode 124 finished recording, Kyle got a phone call telling him he had bladder cancer. He had just told Travis, on tape, that he was living as though he had six months left. What happened next changed how he and Melynda live.
In this conversation:
The phone call after the last podcast, and the lung finding that followed for his wife
Why The Next Mission reads the Bible through a special operations lens, and why Bible scholars are not the audience
Ehud the left-handed assassin, and how researching a bronze dagger led to Herodotus and tin from ancient Britain
The Apostle Paul chained to a Roman soldier, and the two words that would have stopped his beating
Why Melynda's name is on the cover, and the five chapters she red-X'd out of Leadership in the Shadows
Two poems read aloud that have never been published anywhere
Twelve years without a drink, and the conversation in Hawaii that changed how he saw it
Why the Christian who did the most for his faith in two years is a Muslim friend
What tribe actually means, and why it has nothing to do with skin, geography, or religion
The redactions left visible in the book, and the note inside the cover confirming no AI was used
The Next Mission is 432 pages, published June 6, 2026. Signed and personalized copies are available direct from Viking Tactics. It is priced at $27.17, a reference to Proverbs 27:17, iron sharpens iron.
Kyle Lamb and Viking Tactics
Signed copies: https://www.vikingtactics.com/shop/the-next-mission/
Stay in the Fight Foundation: https://www.vikingtactics.com/stay-in-the-fight-foundation/
Team VTAC Podcast: https://kylelamb.libsyn.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vikingtactics
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Silvercore Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club
Online Training - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/canadian-firearms-safety-course-online
Other Training & Services - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Blog Page - https://www.silvercore.ca/blog
Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors
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00:00 The best conversations happen off the record
01:41 Welcome back, Kyle Lamb
02:19 The year-end question, and what happened that same day
03:40 "Mr. Lamb, you've got bladder cancer"
04:50 Then it was his wife
06:20 What he said to God in the truck
11:20 Time is the gift
13:30 Nims Purja and purpose after achievement
16:20 What's the mission today?
23:00 How the book started: Ehud and the bronze dagger
26:10 The Apostle Paul, chained to a Roman soldier
30:15 Battlefield reflections and the audiobook
31:15 Why Melynda's name is on the cover
33:50 Speaking, elk season, and his grandson's first hunt
36:10 The attention span of a squirrel
39:40 The Kyle pile
45:40 The guns he'd never get rid of
50:20 Commander's intent: reach the unreachable
51:30 Don't wear your faith as a badge
55:20 The Muslim friend who sent him a Bible verse
1:04:20 What tribe actually means
1:08:30 How his prayers changed
1:11:50 Twelve years without a drink
1:14:30 What an answer to prayer looks like
1:21:00 The farther from the flagpole
1:26:20 "If I shoot guns, I get paid"
1:29:20 The path of Musashi
1:34:40 Two poems, never released anywhere
1:46:10 What the public doesn't see
1:47:20 The five chapters his wife red-X'd
1:50:50 Putting the light on evil
1:51:50 Meek is not weak
1:56:40 Cutting twenty percent
2:00:40 Why he writes at a sixth grade level
2:15:20 Do you feel guilt?
2:22:20 The motorcycle in the classroom
2:26:30 Where to get the book, and why it costs $27.17
2:28:20 The redactions and the unit approval

John Barklow spent 26 years in the U.S. Navy, most of it teaching Naval Special Warfare how to survive the coldest, most unforgiving mountains on earth. After 9/11 the military needed mountain warfare experts and almost none were left. They picked a diver from Cleveland, Ohio, and his work went on to reshape cold weather survival training for a generation of special operators.
In this conversation, Travis Bader and John go far past gear. They get into the mindset that keeps you alive when things go wrong, the difference between chasing happiness and building satisfaction, and why the hunting and firearms communities are so quick to turn on their own. John breaks down his famous rewarming drill in full: what to do if you fall in cold water in the backcountry, why you keep your wet clothes on instead of stripping them off, and how your own body heat dries your system from the inside. He explains how to train it safely in your own backyard before your life depends on it.
He also tells the story of a British Columbia horseback hunt that nearly ended under 1,400 pounds of falling horse in the dark, opens up about two hip replacements and refusing to let the old man in, and shares, for the first time publicly, who wrote the foreword to his new book.
Some of the best survival lessons of your life are the ones John learned the hard way, so you don't have to.
John's first book, Knowledge from Storms, is available for pre-order now. This episode includes a giveaway. Details are in the show and on our channels.
Learn more about John Barklow:
Book: Knowledge from Storms (St. Martin's Press)
Website: knowledgefromstorms.com
Instagram: @jbarklow
Courses: outdoorclass.com
Free videos: Montana Knife Company YouTube, MKC Survival Guide series
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Silvercore Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club
Online Training - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/canadian-firearms-safety-course-online
Other Training & Services - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Blog Page - https://www.silvercore.ca/blog
Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors
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Timestamps
00:00  Cold open: they picked a diver
01:00  The best introduction he's ever had
02:00  Cleveland, Ohio does not grow mountain men
05:00  Enlisting in the Navy at 19
07:00  The cardinal direction: a heading he couldn't name
08:00  Breaking the script he was handed
10:00  Happiness versus satisfaction
17:00  The harder you work, the luckier you get
18:00  When it goes wrong in the mountains, who does he call?
21:00  COVID, and the birth of Knowledge From Storms
23:00  The inciting incident: his drill in a competitor's marketing
27:00  Why the hunting and firearms communities eat their own
28:00  The camo wars, and refusing to fight in public
31:00  Trust is slow to earn and fast to lose
34:00  Travis at 16: the station wagon, the cabin, and hypothermia
38:00  Where he learned cold: diving, the Sierras, and Mark Twight
41:00  After 9/11: rebuilding a lost cold weather capability
42:00  Making the soldier durable
45:00  The rewarming drill on camera, and Adam Foss
47:00  The static rewarming drill: clothing is shelter
48:00  Why building a fire can be the wrong first move
49:00  Trap the heat, then move
51:00  An hour in: the shivering stops
54:00  Do it in your backyard, not in the middle of nowhere
57:00  Granddad in denim, and what modern gear actually changed
59:00  The active rewarming drill: one bucket, any trailhead
1:02:00  Mark Twight wrote the foreword, announced here first
1:05:00  Extreme Alpinism: the book that prepared men for war
1:06:00  Going light without getting forced out: the margin of safety
1:09:00  Three days pinned in a Mount Rainier blizzard
1:11:00  Planning builds confidence, confidence builds decisions
1:13:00  Keeping your world small when the float plane leaves
1:16:00  We romanticize the mountains. Here is the rest of it.
1:19:00  The PPCLI research miss
1:20:00  The BC horseback hunt that went wrong
1:22:00  1,400 pounds of horse in the dark
1:24:00  Giardia, and the unforced error he owns
1:28:00  Two hip replacements, and not letting the old man in
1:32:00  Who the book is for
1:35:00  OutdoorClass and Montana Knife Company
1:38:00  Start higher on the mountain, but climb it yourself
1:39:00  Student of the game: enjoy where you are

Get the free bear guide Casey Braam and Travis Bader made, and enter to win an SAI Optics red dot, at : Silvercore.ca/bear
Every download is a contest entry. Silvercore Club members are entered for free automatically, and can earn a second entry by downloading the guide.
Wildlife artist Casey Braam hikes into wild places, paints what he finds, posts clues online, and gives the painting to the first person who figures out where he is and hikes out to meet him. He calls it the Art Outside Project. In his second time on the Silvercore Podcast, 101 episodes after his first, Casey explains why he is doing it. The reason is bigger than art. It comes down to getting people outside and teaching them to actually see the world they live in.
Casey and Travis also go deep on spring bear hunting: reading sign, judging and selecting bears, why patience and selectivity make the whole thing richer, and the hard-earned rule that can save your hunt, shoot a bear until it is down and done. From there it opens up into what makes any outdoor experience richer over time, the value of risk and the "question mark," raising kids who get dirty in a world full of cameras, and why there is no fence between us and the natural world.
If you have ever felt like you walk through the woods on autopilot, this episode is about switching that off.
Free bear guide and SAI red dot giveaway: Silvercore.ca/bear
Gear and partners mentioned:
-IBI Precision rifles and barrels. - https://ibiprecision.com/
**Silvercore Club members get 10 percent off through the member portal.
- Norma Bondstrike ammunition-  https://www.norma-ammunition.com
- SAI Optics - https://armament.com/collections/sai-optics-riflescopes

Find Casey Braam and the Art Outside Project:
Website: https://www.artbycaseybraam.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cabraam/
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Silvercore Club - https://www.silvercore.ca/club
Online Training - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/canadian-firearms-safety-course-online
Other Training & Services - https://www.silvercore.ca/course/category
Merchandise - https://www.silvercore.ca/collections/all-merchandise
Blog Page - https://www.silvercore.ca/blog
Host Instagram - @Bader.Trav https://www.instagram.com/bader.trav
Silvercore Instagram - @SilvercoreOutdoors https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreoutdoors
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Timestamps
00:00 Why he gives his paintings away
01:53 The bear skulls, the invitation, and two styles of hunting
05:09 Hunting for the experience, not just the kill
07:35 Eleven bears in a day, and the animal he knows best
14:09 The free bear guide, and why every bear looks 400 pounds
16:20 A mama and cub at fifteen yards
18:28 "It's not the one": passing on a taker
21:00 The propeller-sound bear and a tactical retreat
25:00 Tiffany's shot, and the bear that got back up
28:44 Shoot it till it's down: tracking, anatomy, and lost bears
33:00 Why cranked magnification gets you killed up close
38:45 The Art Outside Project, and what sparked it
40:50 Why getting people outside changes them
45:24 Teaching your lazy brain how to actually see
52:38 Two hours on a shoreline he'd seen a hundred times
55:29 What makes a painting, or a meal, worth more
1:00:09 How any business can steal this playbook
1:04:07 The ingredients of a richer adventure
1:07:02 Closer to death, more alive: the question mark
1:17:12 Who's standing next to you when it happens
1:18:33 Raising kids who get dirty in a panopticon world
1:25:10 No fence between us and nature
1:29:41 The giveaway, the guide, and the gear