Episode 76: Summit Fever and Close Calls - Knowing When to Turn Back in the Mountains with Stefan Gruber
On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
Release Date: 07/24/2026
Episode 76: Summit Fever and Close Calls - Knowing When to Turn Back in the Mountains with Stefan Gruber
On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
What happens when you build your work around the life you want to live? In this episode of On Adventure, Josh talks with Stefan Gruber, a climber, photographer, traveler, and customer success professional at Levitate. Stefan shares how remote work and his wife Sarah’s career as a travel nurse have helped them create a life centered on movement, creativity, and outdoor adventure. They discuss climbing, film photography, international travel, dangerous moments in the mountains, and the judgment required to turn around when conditions are not right. At the heart of the conversation is a...
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Episode 75: Hard Things Are Worth Doing with Justin Smith
On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
Episode Description What happens in the dark hours before sunrise on day two, when your body starts asking what exactly you are doing out here? Justin Smith teaches high school in Santa Cruz, California, where his classroom is a working bike shop. By day he runs a Career Tech Ed program through Project Bike Tech, teaching teenagers to fix bikes, build resumes, and solve real problems with their own hands. On his own time, he is an ultra-endurance athlete who has finished the 2,700-mile Tour Divide from Banff, Canada to the Mexico border in 16 days straight, raced the Fiji...
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Episode 74: Carrying a Language Home with Gil Jackson
On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
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On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
ON ADVENTURE PODCAST | EPISODE 73 Episode 73: Running is Life with Aaron Saft As a species, we only do things if there is truly a reward on the other side. So when the reward is pain, struggle, suffering, and danger, what exactly keeps driving us back out the door? Aaron Saft has spent his life chasing that answer. A five-time ACC champion at NC State whose teams finished third at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, he traded the track for the trail, ran his first 100-miler in 2016, and has since become one of the most experienced ultrarunners in the Southeast. Today he coaches...
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On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
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Episode 71: Solo Female Travel, Real Risk, and the Belonging We All Crave with Amanda Black
On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
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Episode 70: Saying Yes to the Right Invitations with Colin Stroud
On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
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Episode 69: No One Was Waiting at the Finish Line with Madison Blagden
On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
ON ADVENTURE PODCAST | EPISODE 69 Episode 69: No One Was Waiting at the Finish Line with Madison Blagden Episode Description What would it take to walk 10,000 miles in a single calendar year? Not across a lifetime. Not spread over a decade. One year. Madison Blagden is a long-distance hiker and content creator from Massachusetts who went from a pre-med student with zero backpacking experience to one of the most prolific endurance hikers in the country. After completing the full PCT (2022), the Eastern Continental Trail from Key West to...
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Episode 68: Who You Become When There's No Way Out with Robbie Lenfestey
On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
Season 4 kicks off with a return visit from Robbie Lenfestey, who you may remember from episode 21. Robbie lives on Mandala Springs, a 67-acre retreat center in the mountains outside Asheville, North Carolina, and he was right in the middle of Hurricane Helene. What followed was months of disaster relief, community leadership, and eventually a very long-overdue exhale. In this conversation we get into what it actually looks like to be the calm person in a room full of panic, how a lifetime of pushing physical and mental limits builds a...
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Episode 67: How to find God in Solitude, Silence and Wilderness with Bishop Mark Beckman
On Adventure Podcast with Josh Self
In this final installment of our series on spirituality and adventure, I sit down with Bishop Mark Beckman, the 4th Bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville, to explore what happens when faith is formed not just in quiet rooms, but in wild places. From hiking solo through old-growth forests to walking hundreds of miles on pilgrimage, Bishop Beckman shares how discomfort, silence, and physical effort can open us to something deeper than words. We talk about the moments that push us to the edge of our capacity—storms in the backcountry, long days of walking, fear at high elevations—and how those...
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What happens when you build your work around the life you want to live?
In this episode of On Adventure, Josh talks with Stefan Gruber, a climber, photographer, traveler, and customer success professional at Levitate. Stefan shares how remote work and his wife Sarah’s career as a travel nurse have helped them create a life centered on movement, creativity, and outdoor adventure.
They discuss climbing, film photography, international travel, dangerous moments in the mountains, and the judgment required to turn around when conditions are not right. At the heart of the conversation is a simple message: meaningful experiences should not always be postponed.
In This Episode
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Building a mobile life around remote work and travel nursing
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Why climbing creates focus, presence, and flow
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Traveling through the American West, Poland, and Nepal
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The appeal of film photography and printed images
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Balancing documentation with being present
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Avalanche terrain, exposed climbing, and failed summit attempts
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Summit fever, risk assessment, and the limits of luck
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Future goals, including the Grand Teton and Colorado fourteeners
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Why Stefan believes in doing things while you still can
Episode Chapters
00:00 – Colorado Springs and life on the move
Josh and Stefan discuss Colorado Springs, choosing temporary homes, and the possibility of eventually buying land in Colorado or Montana.
11:00 – Stefan’s career and lifestyle
Stefan explains how he moved from a long corporate commute into remote work and began traveling with Sarah during her nursing assignments.
17:30 – Climbing, travel, and flow
Stefan reflects on his Polish heritage, his early interest in travel, and the sense of complete focus he finds while climbing.
20:00 – Designing work around life
The conversation explores the freedom and tradeoffs of building a career that supports travel, adventure, and flexibility.
24:00 – Poland and international travel
Stefan describes Poland’s cities, mountains, coastline, affordability, and cultural growth, along with other memorable travel experiences.
36:30 – Photography and creative ambitions
Stefan explains how photography connects his travels and outdoor life. He also shares ideas for creating a travel channel with Sarah.
41:00 – Film, digital photography, and presence
They discuss the visual character of film, the value of printed photographs, and the tension between capturing an experience and fully living it.
51:00 – Risk, fear, and turning around
Stefan recounts dangerous moments involving avalanche terrain, exposed climbing, wildfire smoke, and two unsuccessful attempts on the Grand Teton.
57:00 – Summit fever and the limits of luck
The conversation turns to humility, decision-making, and why surviving a poor choice does not make it a good one.
1:04:00 – Survival psychology and photography advice
Stefan recommends Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales and encourages new photographers to begin with whatever camera they can access.
1:11:00 – Favorite mountains and future goals
Stefan talks about the Tetons, Annapurna Base Camp, Denali, Everest, and his goals for the rest of 2026.
1:18:00 – Do it while you can
Stefan closes with his belief that health, time, and opportunity are uncertain, so meaningful goals should not always be saved for later.
Memorable Quotes
“Sometimes those limits find you.”
“There’s a certain store of luck, and it will run out eventually.”
“If it doesn’t happen today, it can happen another day.”
“Do it while you can.”
Key Takeaways
Build work around what matters.
Flexible work can create more room for travel, relationships, creativity, and meaningful experiences.
Turning around is not failure.
Good judgment sometimes means abandoning a climb or summit and returning under better conditions.
Luck is not a strategy.
A successful outcome does not automatically mean the decision behind it was wise.
Give photographs a life beyond the screen.
Printing images or shooting film can make photography feel more intentional and lasting.
Do not save everything for someday.
Adventure can be a major expedition or a small personal goal. The important step is beginning while the opportunity still exists.
Resources Mentioned
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Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales
- Stefan's Instagram page
About Stefan Gruber
Stefan Gruber is a climber, traveler, and photographer who works remotely for Levitate. He and his wife Sarah travel throughout the United States for her nursing assignments while pursuing hiking, climbing, skiing, photography, and international travel.
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