Ben Wah @zartman_rigging!! Our first mate, master of the analogue, celestial navigation instructor, splicer, cook, giver of sailing joy. Ben Wah was a Yosemite fixture climber and the origin story of his friendship with @m_synnott when they lived in adjacent rock caves in Yosemite is one of a kind. Ben built his own small boat and sailed for five years with his wife and their 3 girls and sold Mark his first boat at a 1 dollar loss 😝 He is now a master sailing rigger by trade, splicing a cord made of modern dyneema in a way where there are no knots making a stronger and sleeker bond. The tiniest piece can hold a car! Among many things he our yellow ice pokers, his backpack and puffy trenchcoat ‘the Boston whaler’ with an ingenious design that tacks based on wind direction, his sweater was made by his daughter and all our ice charts where being resized and sent by his wife Danielle. The Zartmans were with us. Looking forward to y’all getting to experience the Ben Wah’s infectious joy in the upcoming @disney doc If you are a climber, stay tuned because @zartman_rigging is going to be sharing some custom slings made by the man himself that are way lighter and stronger than anything out there. Above all else, as Mark says it, you just feels safe when Ben is onboard because you know if shit really hits the fan and we are all whimpering below deck, he will basically sail the boat single-handedly and call us back up when it’s over... @expedition.studios @natgeo #TheArcticMystery #SonyAlpha #Hefalump