Bonus Episode 51: 40 Years to Freedom (Part 2)
Amin has been climbing for over 23 years, starting in Shiraz, a historical city in Iran. In 2017, he moved to the U.S. to work as a head routesetter, and was shot in a senseless act of violence that critically injured him and shook friends and family to their core. The irony of growing up in the Islamic Republic of Iran and never being afraid of guns until he moved to America is...sobering.
Today, Amin remains deeply engaged in advocacy for Iranian people, especially women. He believes the revolution is coming and is inspired by those who have put their lives on the line for change.
This is part one of a two-part story.
Visit GoFundMe.com/myshare4freedom to support those who have been directly affected during the Woman Life Freedom movement.
Find Amin on Instagram at @amminabbasi for updates and more. Contact him if you’re willing and able to further amplify the voice of the Woman Life Freedom movement.
For the Love of Climbing is presented by Patagonia. Additional support is from deuter USA, Allez Outdoor, and Ocún.
Music is licensed by Music Bed. Additional music is licensed by Blue Dot Sessions.
Photo courtesy of Amin Abbasi.
Catch up on podcast (pod-Kath?) updates and general life things: @inheadlights
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
(KATHY KARLO): This podcast is presented by Patagonia. Not bound by convention, Patagonia’s in business to save our home planet.
- It’s 2023, and modern climbers are more accomplished than ever, and we don’t just mean on the wall. Patagonia has always seen the value in being bold, whether it means pushing highpoints or having the audacity to demand more for our planet.
So, what’s it mean to be a “strong climber”? Full commitment to the sport and to our communities. It means not just working towards futuristic first ascents but also, a better future. And we aren’t going to get there alone.
For Patagonia’s 50th year, we’re looking forward, not back and together, we can prioritize purpose over profit to protect this planet. Get involved, read stories to get you out there, and join a community that values what we do off the wall as much as we do on. Because we’re Bolder Together. Find out more at patagonia.com/climbing.
- We get support from deuter, one of the leading backpack brands that will help you hit the trails with confidence and comfort, but most importantly—your snacks. Founded in 1898, deuter believes in fit, comfort, and working in the long term to offset CO2 emissions by teaming up with Climate Partner to invest in social and climate offset projects worldwide for select product—including their Guide and Vertrail climbing packs.
deuter packs are PFC-free—meaning no forever chemicals and they honor their Promise Lifetime Warranty since their packs were meant to be on your back, and not in landfills. So, you can focus on way cooler things like puppies, pocket bacon, and gettin’ sendy—whether at the crag or in the alpine.
(FEMALE VOICE): Today we’re going to talk about “allez”. “Allez” means “come on!” in a way, or to encourage. Ok! We are done with the simple and normal uses of “allez”, now let’s cut to the chase:
(KK): Allez Outdoor Personal Care products are made by climbers for those who love the outdoors. Their rich and repairing ingredients for their skincare collection are inspired by desert landscapes, and their simple and recyclable packaging makes them eco-sustainable. Allez commits to protecting the open spaces that we love by partnering with the Access Fund and 1% for the Planet. That’s Allez Outdoor: “A-L-L-E-Z”). Allez Outdoor—made by climbers, for those who love the outdoors.
- Who is Ocún? More than prolific crack climbing gloves, Ocún has been making innovative gear engineered for climbing to improve your performance since 1998. Their climbing shoe designs are all original, developed and manufactured in Czech Republic and completely, one hundred percent gender neutral. Beyond their sticky rubber, Ocún is renowned for their hardware, harnesses, and the biggest lightest crash pad on the market. Find your new favorite climbing shoes and accessories at Backcountry, Moosejaw, CampSaver, and Amazon.
(AMIN ABBASSI): So, the big reason that I’m here is my wife. She immigrated here eight years before I immigrated here. We were together the last fifteen years, but I always wanted to stay and fight for Iran and do my best for my community.
I used to travel a lot and teach all around the country. That’s what I wanted to [do]. I was at the very top of [routesetting] and rock climbing in my city and my country and I tried to get back to my city to teach more—I’m a teacher and a coach, too. But it got to the point where I didn’t have a job and I didn’t have any income.
There is no one doing full-time routesetting or full-time coaching. I used to work at a small cart and sell sandwiches to people in the park, and I’d get that income to spend it climbing.
(KK): Routesetting in Iran isn’t as glamorous as it is in the States. Heck, routesetting sometimes isn’t glamorous at all.
Back home, Amin was used to paying—just to climb. He paid to teach, paid to set, paid to compete—he even paid for climbers to attend his workshops, all while scraping money together from selling sandwiches from a cart.
(AA): Seven years ago, if someone asked me, “What’s your biggest dream?” — “I want to say, ‘I’m a routesetter and have enough income from routesetting to cover my family.’”
So, I got here and found a job and it’s growing. I’m now at that point in my dream, but—
(pauses)
—everything else is ruined, so there’s nothing back in Iran. There’s no way to go back home.
(ALEX HONNOLD) (to himself): Ok, I’m Alex Honnold. You’re listening to the love of climbing podcast. It’s a funny, sad, somewhat uncomfortable podcast—
(louder)
I was like, “Wow, this is the opposite of my podcast. But, you know, here we go!”
(laughs)
(upbeat music)
“I’m Alex Honnold and you’re listening to For the Love of Climbing—”
—is it “to the”? Or “to—“ Do you say “to For the Love of Climbing Podcast”?
“I’m Alex Honnold and you’re listening to For the Love of Climbing Podcast.”
Yeah. Yeah, I see it.
“You’re listening to For the Love of Climbing Podcast. This is not a climbing podcast. Well, sorta. It’s a funny, sad, and somewhat uncomfortable podcast about choosing vulnerability. Here’s the show.”
Easy cheesy!
(KK): In November of 2021, Amin was shot in a senseless, random act of violence that left him critically injured. Around minute ten, the podcast talks in-depth about the accident.
This bonus episode is brought to you by Patagonia. Additional support from deuter USA, Allez Outdoor, and Ocun.
This is part two of a two-part story.
There’s a lot to say about what’s happening in this particular corner of the world, and we proudly share Amin’s story with the hope to spread knowledge, foster compassion and instill hope. Additional source and resource links can be found in the episode transcript online.
This episode was recorded in December of 2022.
(AA): My name is Amin Abbasi and I was born in Shiraz—south of Iran, one of the big cities of Iran. So, I immigrated to the U.S. in 2017 to be with my wife and my family here.
I’m pretty active and I’m a good dad, I believe.
(laughs)
Always laughing—I try to see the good direction of the life and ignore the bad things and the negative.
Five years ago in 2017, I immigrated to the U.S. and my wife used to live in Austin. So, the goal was for me to be in Austin and find a job in Austin to have enough income. So, I applied for a couple of jobs in different gyms in Austin, but the income wasn’t quite enough to support a family.
Even before I got to the U.S., I got a call from Momentum Climbing Gym in Houston, and we had an interview on the phone when I was still in Iran. It was very, very cool people—very supportive people at high levels. They wanted me to be a part of their gym.
So, the first day I landed in the Houston airport, it was nine p.m. and my wife picked me up and we stayed at a hotel in Houston. And the second day, they offered me the job. The goal from that day was to come here.
(KK): Amin’s goal was to live in Austin, close to his wife and her family. And in order to support his growing family, Amin took a job at Houston Momentum as head routesetter.
The truth behind routesetting as a career is that in most cases, it’s not sustainable. Most setters love the craft and the creative autonomy that come with it. For many, the ultimate dichotomy of intense, physical labor and often minimum wage, and the respect for the keen expertise it takes to set, isn’t always worth it. This varies wildly, depending on location.
But as climbing participation grows, global climbing gyms have begun seeking out some of the best setters in the world. The ones who draw movement and inspiration from routes that they’ve climbed—setters like Amin.
Amin’s experience as a climber and IFSC routesetter landed him a job in Houston, a mere 2.5 hours from Austin. It wasn’t Austin, but it was close. Life brought him to the U.S. in 2017, and in 2021, it had other plans.
(AA): So, I had an accident in November of 2021 when I was driving in the morning to go to the repair shop to repair my car tires.
(KK): You might think Amin is referring to a car accident, which would make sense. But what happens next lacks any sense or meaning.
On November 17th—just another regular Wednesday morning—Amin came to a stop sign at a three-way merge on his way to the mechanic.
(AA): The car behind me got mad or something. So, she got next to me and she showed me the gun and she hit me. It happened in two seconds. So, I was driving. I was looking at the right side. I saw a woman with a gun and I looked forward, and she shot me. Two seconds.
She drove away and I hit the stop sign in the middle of the street, and it was a busy street. So—
(pauses and inhales)
I opened the door, ran to the street, and everybody stopped. And there was tons of blood blowing in my face and all of the cars were stopped and looking at me. And, oh, I didn’t know what to do. I ran to the street to get help. And a miracle happened.
The first car stopped and I looked at the car and it was a fire engine. They ran to the street. They got lots of towels on my face, and they stopped the bleeding. They called the ambulance. They called the police. And that miracle saved my life. Two weeks later, I woke up. I didn’t know what happened.
They called my wife right away and they said, “Do you know Amin [Abbasi]?”
And she was seven months pregnant by herself—no family in the city. [And she] got the call: “You know Amin?”
“Yes, I know Amin.”
“He got shot in the head.”
(KK): Gun violence is a public health crisis that inflicts a heavy toll on American society, claiming tens of thousands of lives every year. More Americans have died of gun-related injuries in 2021 than any other year on record, according to the latest available statistic from the CDC.
In 2022, there were 647 mass shootings and over 44,000 deaths. So far this year, over 5,000 have died where guns were the weapon of choice. These numbers are sobering.
Equally sobering is the fact that we may never solve the problem of gun violence by addressing mental health alone. The association of mental illness and violence reinforces stigma, and the reality is that the cause of gun violence is a lot more complex.
Some would call Amin unlucky to have been sitting at that three-way merge on that fateful Wednesday morning. But Amin knows how lucky he is to be here, to be alive, and to be a husband and father to his wife and kids today.
After the accident, Amin went through extensive surgery and remained in a coma for two weeks, when he was eventually reunited with his wife.
(AA): I didn’t know what happened. I couldn’t talk for a month. I was breathing from my neck. Every doctor said, “This is a miracle. We cannot explain how you were lucky. The bullet went straight [through] and your upper jaw fell apart.”
[The bullet] got slowed down a little bit by the full upper jaw, and it passed my full upper jaw from the right side all the way to the left side and got stuck very, very close to my spine. It was two millimeters to my spine. It stopped right there and it’s still in here. And it’s gonna stay with me forever—right.
(inhales)
That’s the perfect direction and perfect shot that I didn’t get killed—I didn’t get murdered. The only thing I lost was my upper jaw. I lost one or two teeth and a little overlap of my jaw.
(pauses)
But I’m alive! And they took care of the plastic surgery and still, I can’t think about it or talk about it. It’s hard to talk about it. I had a very traumatic year. And immediately, the first thing I remember that I said that they actually wrote down, it was, “I want to go back home to Iran. It’s not safe here.”
(KK): Gunshot injuries have become so common that most hospital staff simply refer to them as “GSW”, followed by the location of the injury. After being stabilized, Amin was taken to the operating room where a team of doctors, nurses, and technicians fought to save his life.
Upon discharge, a patient potentially faces a lifetime of recovery, surgeries, and therapy. Many injuries may be permanent or lead to future complications. But the effects of gunshot injuries go beyond mortality statistics and function after discharge.
Because gun violence is so unpredictable, the experience can drastically change a person’s outlook on life. Once commonly held beliefs of safety or a “bad things won’t happen to me” are gone.
About 70,000 Americans survive gun shootings every year, but little research is known about the long-term effect, says a study published in a trauma medicine journal. Even years after the wounds heal, survivors may be at greater risk of alcohol and drug misuse. What’s more is that the psychological trauma can lead to depression, anxiety, panic disorder, and PTSD.
“GWS”. This three-letter acronym is a life-changing event.
(AA): I lived in Iran for thirty-four years and I’ve never seen a gun. No gun. I’ve never heard a gunshot. The only things I’ve seen are police or government people. I hadn’t seen an actual gun. Yeah, one day in Houston. I didn’t want to stay here anymore. I hated everything.
After a couple of months of staying at home, I got lots of support from Momentum and the community. I got lots of fundraising from the community and from people, and especially Momentum headquarters and the Momentum community and team. They did a really good job taking care of me, and I really appreciated that. I’ll never forget that. And after I received all of that—
(exhales)
—[the feeling of hatred went away]. So, I don’t hate anymore, but I had a lot of fear driving—even going with the stroller with my kid in the street just for a walk. I figured that I can’t stay in Houston anymore. And I still have lots of problems in my face. I have problems hearing. I have problems eating. My teeth need to be done and there are really good hospitals in Houston, but I was like, “I can’t stay in Houston anymore. I need to go.”
So, I moved to Austin. I quit Momentum, however, I loved them a lot and moved to Austin to be close to my wife’s family and get support. And luckily, after two months, Mesa Rim Austin announced that they needed a head routesetter for their new location and I got the job pretty quickly and started my job in August [of 2022].
(KK): Not long after moving to Austin, life shifted gears yet again. With current events happening back home in Iran, Amin had two priorities: his family here in the U.S., as well as family, friends, and loved ones back home.
(AA): I have Jana, my little girl. She’s ten months. And I have Milan, my son. He is almost four. He’s gonna be four in June. And they’re so cute, dude! I’m seeing the positive side to this. I put my second birthday in July and [November] 17th, 2021. And every day, every second after that accident is a gift to me that I try to enjoy.
So, every time, I hug my kids and I hug my wife. It’s a gift! I can’t complain about anything. That’s a big gift that I received that [I’m really, really grateful for].
And I love my life, and I can’t complain about anything. And now, nothing can bother me anymore. Even my friends back in Iran—they’re suffering a lot, but they give me more courage. They take away the feeling of fear and make me stronger to fight for them.
(KK): We’re gonna take a short break. We’ll be back.
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(KK): There are so many reasons why people around the globe seek refuge and a new life in other countries. A quarter billion people worldwide live outside their country of nationality.
But roughly one-tenth of people who opt to leave do so because they’re at risk of acute threats, violence, and, persecution. Most attempt to settle in countries in close proximity, so that they can return home if and when circumstances change.
And that’s an important part in all of this—that people don’t want to be stuck in this pigeonhole and marked “refugee” forever.
That they previously had a home, a job, and a good life, and circumstances forced them to leave it all behind. And that many are deeply missing family and friends back home.
(AA): First thing—I’m not here for good. If a revolution happens, we’re going to go back. Me, my wife, my kids. We’re going to go back to that country to build that country again. Hopefully, for good.
So, hopefully, at some point, we can get back and build that country from nothing. We can build them up and appreciate that country, that community, and build them, more and more.
Because there’s enough resources, there’s enough money back there, there are enough strong people and knowledgable people all around the world who are Iranian citizens and they want to get back and build that country, if they let them. So, hopefully, we’re going to kick them out and get back to our country, one day.
(KK): Visit GoFundMe.com/myshare4freedom to support those who have been directly affected during the Woman Life Freedom movement. That’s GoFundMe.com—slash—my share, the number 4, freedom.
Find Amin on Instagram at @amminabbasi. That’s A-M-M-I-N, A-B-B-A-S-I, for updates and more. Contact him if you’re willing and able to further amplify the voice of the Woman Life Freedom movement.
(applause)
(ABIR AL-SAHLANI): Until Iran is free, our fury will be bigger than the oppressors.
Until the women of Iran are free, we are going to stand with you.
(in Kurdish):
Jin, Jiyan, Azadî.
Woman. Life. Freedom.
(applause to fade)
(KK): You’re listening to For the Love of Climbing Podcast. A huge thank you to deuter, one of the leading backpack brands that will help you hit the trails with confidence and comfort. A big shout out to Allez Outdoor for supporting the Access Fund and 1% for the Planet. And to Ocún—innovative gear engineered for climbing to improve your performance.
And thanks to Patagonia. Not bound by convention, Patagonia is in business to save our home planet. Support companies who support this podcast—we couldn’t do it without them. If you liked what you heard, you can leave a review on iTunes or give us a like—like all good things, you can find us on the internet.
**Producer’s notes:
Amin started climbing in 1998.
Amin first started working at Momentum as a setter and about 3 years in, he transitioned into head routesetter position.
Additional Resources
Amin Abbasi: @amminabbasi
Woman Life Freedom Movement - Global action in solidarity with Iranian women & girls who are courageously demonstrating peacefully for their fundamental human rights.
#EyesOnIran - #EyesonIran is a response in solidarity with the courageous Iranians who are risking their lives to express their demand for human rights and a free Iran. Artists and activists throughout the diaspora and their allies are holding a shared vision to ensure international audiences and institutions remain awake in their eyes and hearts to this movement.