EP 301: Matt Samet — Escaping Benzo Addiction, Rifle in the Early ‘90s, and Embracing the Moonboard in His 40s

EP 301: Matt Samet — Escaping Benzo Addiction, Rifle in the Early ‘90s, and Embracing the Moonboard in His 40s

From The Nugget Climbing Podcast by Steven Dimmitt

June 8, 2026 · 2h 11m

About this episode

Matt Samet discusses his battle with benzo addiction, experiences in the climbing community, and his new role with the American Alpine Club.

Matt Samet is the former editor-in-chief of Climbing Magazine, a writer and author, and a sport-climbing pioneer. We talked about his decade-plus battle with benzo addiction, his advice for people who experience anxiety or depression, what Rifle was like in the early ‘90s, how Chris Sharma broke the paradigm, embracing training to send his hardest routes, his new role with the American Alpine Club, and the inaugural American Climbing Journal coming later this year. You can learn more at americanalpineclub.org

People in this episode

Host: Steven Dimmitt

Guest: Matt Samet

Topics covered

  • benzo addiction
  • anxiety
  • depression
  • sport climbing
  • training
  • American Alpine Club
  • climbing history

Keywords

  • benzo addiction
  • anxiety
  • depression
  • Rifle
  • Chris Sharma
  • training
  • American Alpine Club
  • climbing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Climbing Magazine, American Alpine Club

Books & works: American Climbing Journal

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