Alpinist

Since 2002 Alpinist has striven to push creative boundaries with everything we do, from award-winning climbing journalism and creative writing to photography and art. Now, with the Alpinist podcast, we aim to extend our conversations with climbers and community members into interviews and oral histories that will entertain and educate our listeners with everything from dramatic and humorous adventure tales to in-depth discussions of the most significant issues in the climbing world today. More at alpinist.com/podcast

Climbing Isn't Everything: Beth Rodden 11/01/2024

Climbing Isn't Everything: Beth Rodden Beth Rodden established herself as one of the best rock climbers in the world at the height of her career. Through much of that time, Rodden was quietly struggling with her mental health as she tried to move forward after she and her climbing partners were kidnapped at gunpoint during a trip to Kyrgyzstan in 2000. Now Rodden’s bravery appears in new ways—she’s still a professional climber, but she’s also using her platform to open up conversations about body image, motherhood and finding joy in climbing in a gentler way. Support for this episode of the Alpinist Podcast comes from Following our conversation with Beth Rodden, you can listen to Patagonia Ambassador chat with host Abbey Collins about his passion for innovation and product development, and in particular his role in developing the new M10 Storm pants. Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: Photo by Ryan Moon /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/33705457

Graham Zimmerman's Balancing Act 02/28/2024

Graham Zimmerman's Balancing Act For all of his expeditions and cutting-edge climbs around the world, Graham Zimmerman’s story is one of balancing adventure and exploration with social responsibility and an examined life. His book, A Fine Line: Searching for Balance Among Mountains demonstrates that, and also serves as an ode to the friends and mentors he’s lost to the mountains. Zimmerman became a professional climber at 24 years old. Now 37, Zimmerman is accomplished well beyond his years. He has made first ascents from Alaska to Pakistan, and in 2020 he received a Piolet d’Or for his climb on Pakistan’s Link Sar with Steve Swenson, Mark Richey and Chris Wright. He’s currently the Board President at the American Alpine Club and works for Protect Our Winters. In this episode, Zimmerman speaks to the need for systemic change when it comes to climate and social issues, and how climbers see those challenges through a unique lens. He reflects on his love for the mountains, and the sense of release and joy they provide him with. Support for this episode of the Alpinist Podcast comes from the . Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/30094033

The Many Facets of Len Necefer 02/20/2024

The Many Facets of Len Necefer Dr. Len Necefer didn’t grow up skiing steep slopes or topping out on summits like he does today. Instead, his connection to the outdoors began with golf—a fact he shares rather sheepishly. Necefer was an avid golfer from age five until he was eighteen, when he moved to the desert southwest and realized how water-intensive that sport is. Necefer is a member of the Navajo Nation, and is working to bring more Native voices and talents into the outdoor industry through his organization Natives Outdoors. He believes in the importance of engaging with the environment in a thoughtful, meaningful and respectful way. As a backcountry skier and climber, he cultivates connection with the mountains he visits and the people he visits them with. He is a regular Alpinist contributor. In this episode, Necefer reflects on why having a sense of humor is essential when trying to communicate about heavy subjects like climate change; what it was like teaching himself to ski; and why it’s important for all of us to vote. Support for this episode of the Alpinist Podcast comes from the . Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/30034298

Climbing and Journalism with Lauren DeLaunay Miller 02/12/2024

Climbing and Journalism with Lauren DeLaunay Miller Lauren Delaunay Miller is an award-winning author, journalist and audio producer based in Bishop, California. Her first book, Valley of Giants: Stories from Women at the Heart of Yosemite Climbing, was published in the spring of 2022 by Mountaineers Books, and won the Banff Mountain Book Competition for Climbing Literature. Growing up on the East Coast, Miller says she wasn’t initially an outdoorsy person. But she was inspired to start climbing while at college in North Carolina—after seeing a photo of Alex Honnold climbing Yosemite’s Half Dome on the cover of National Geographic. She recalls that, at the time, she didn’t even know how to pronounce “Yosemite.” Since then, Miller has spent many days on Yosemite’s granite walls. In this episode, Miller talks about the power of using the mountains and climbing as a vehicle to tackle stories around larger issues in society. She speaks to her love of climbing, and how it allows her to connect with people and explore human stories, communities and relationships. Support for this episode of the Alpinist Podcast comes from the . Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/29910518

Training for the New Anything with Steve House 12/15/2023

Training for the New Anything with Steve House Steve House began venturing into the high mountains as a teenager, and has since built a career on climbing, guiding and coaching. By the time he published his book Beyond the Mountain in 2009, Reinhold Messner said House was “at the top of mountaineering.” House’s life in climbing has taken him all over the world. His most famous ascent may be the Central Pillar of Nanga Parbat’s Rupal Face, a climb he completed with Vince Anderson. But he has compiled an impressive list of first ascents and new routes in Alaska, the Canadian Rockies, the Alps and the Karakoram. Steve has been a professional mountain guide since 1992, and in 1999 he became the ninth American to achieve IFMGA certification. But these days House lives in a small Austrian mountain town with his wife and two kids. In the mornings he spends time getting outside, while the later part of the day is dedicated to working with his company Uphill Athlete. He retired from professional climbing in 2020. In this episode, we revisit passages from Steve’s book Beyond the Mountain, discuss fatherhood, and finding his way in his new home in Austria. We learn about the climb that drove him to focus more on training and preparation, and eventually led him to start his company, Uphill Athlete. And, we learn more about how he thinks about climbing and what it is to be human—to focus on the act of becoming rather than being. Support for this episode of the Alpinist Podcast comes from Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/29099418

Unpacking Packing with Sarah Pickman 12/06/2023

Unpacking Packing with Sarah Pickman Sarah Pickman is an encyclopedia of expedition history, in particular the gear early explorers relied on. She recently earned a PhD in history from Yale University. She’s an independent scholar, editor, writer and content producer based just outside New York City. Sarah is also a contributor to Alpinist. She’s written articles on expedition first aid kits and sun protection for the Tool Users section of the magazine. As it turns out, burnt cork is no substitute for sunscreen. Through her research and writing, Sarah looks at the gear explorers carried with them on their travels—to the polar regions and high-altitude mountains, as well as to tropical and arid places—and how this gear shaped their experiences and the cultural worlds they were part of. Sarah takes us on a fascinating journey to the ends of the earth and back again. We talk about the spirit of exploration and much more in this episode. Support for this episode of the Alpinist Podcast comes from Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/28960468

Writing and Routes with David Smart 11/29/2023

Writing and Routes with David Smart David Smart’s life and work seem to intersect with climbing at every turn. He’s a lifelong climber, revered route developer and the editorial director at Gripped Publishing. He’s a founding editor at Gripped Magazine and has been crucial to its success and longevity for more than 25 years. Smart has published five books, including a biography of Royal Robbins that recently won the Banff Mountain Book Award for climbing literature. He also actively contributes to Alpinist, including his mountain profile on Cima Grande in Alpinist 76 and a recent story on Kodak’s Brownie camera and how it impacted the representation of climbing in the media and beyond. Smart has developed more than 300 routes in the Canadian Rockies and elsewhere around the world. At age 60, he continues to climb several days a week and revels in the ambiance of his home range. In this episode, we cover a lot of ground, from his new biography on Royal Robbins, to the state of publishing and climbing media, to his passion for route development and leaving something behind for others to experience. Support for this episode of the Alpinist Podcast comes from Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: David Smart Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/28846363

Racing Fear with Justin Bowen 09/06/2023

Racing Fear with Justin Bowen Justin Bowen’s first time scaling walls and new routes was in a climbing gym during a friend’s birthday party. It wasn’t until high school, driven by persistent memories of that experience, that Bowen started climbing on a more consistent basis. Eventually, while attending college in Arizona, Bowen planned his first trip to Yosemite, where he jumped right onto the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral. He quickly realized just how much he still had to learn about building anchors and placing gear. A few years ago, Bowen met friend and mentor Mark Jenkins, who he says shared a wealth of knowledge based on his decades of climbing around the world. Bowen still climbs with and learns from Jenkins on a regular basis. In this episode, Bowen reflects on how he manages fear—both in the mountains, and in his day-to-day life. He talks about being a PhD student, and the terrifying prospect of only having two-to-three weeks off a year to pursue climbing objectives after finishing school. And he speaks to the striking similarities between the Tetons and Mt. Kenya. Tales from Bowen and Jenkins’ Mt. Kenya expedition are featured in Alpinist 83. This episode is brought to you by the Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Justin Bowen Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/27950313

Aiming for the Bushes with Alan Rousseau 08/30/2023

Aiming for the Bushes with Alan Rousseau For Alan Rousseau, the allure of mountaineering is in the unknown. When he looks up at a mountain and contemplates whether it can be climbed, he sees a mystery to be solved. Rousseau is an IFMGA guide who divides his time between pursuing his own goals in the mountains, and helping others do the same. His achievements in the Alaska Range, to which he has ventured more than twenty times, include first ascents of Ruth Gorge Grinder and Aim for the Bushes. In 2020, his first ascent of the west face of Tengi Ragi Tau with Tino Villanueva was recognized as one of the year’s greatest climbing achievements and the pair won a Piolets d’Or. Villanueva wrote about the climb in Alpinist 81. In this episode, Alan reflects on more than ten years of climbing in the Alaska Range, and exploratory climbs like Aim For the Bushes that he and his partners established earlier this year. He talks about the difference between planning trips to Alaska and the Himalaya, and the mountains that act as his compass. This episode is brought to you by the Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/27895347

Climbing for Change: Caroline Gleich 08/23/2023

Climbing for Change: Caroline Gleich Caroline Gleich lives on the ridgeline between adventure and activism. Her trips around the globe often transcend summit goals as she merges mountain missions with driving awareness around diversity, equality and inclusion, and environmental justice. In 2019, Caroline summited the tallest mountain in the world—with a fully torn ACL in her knee. Two years earlier, she was the first woman to ski the entirety of Utah’s Chuting Gallery. But before she became a professional skier, Gleich thought she wanted to be a pro climber, after getting her start on old school sandbagged trad routes. While she ultimately pursued skiing, Gleich uses her rock and ice climbing skills to further her ski mountaineering goals. On the advocacy side, she organizes marches, protests and rallies to further the causes she believes in, and has traveled to Washington DC to lobby for Protect Our Winters. In this episode of the Alpinist Podcast, Caroline recounts her Everest expedition, challenges stereotypes around body image, and dives into the dark side of her personality and how she plans for a future full of unknowns. This episode is brought to you by the Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/27825174

Talking Schist with Andrea Charest 04/26/2023

Talking Schist with Andrea Charest For Andrea Charest, climbing is entwined with community. She and her husband Steve own Petra Cliffs, a climbing gym and mountaineering school in Burlington, Vermont, where they also work as guides. She’s volunteered much of her time over the years to Crag Vermont, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and advocating for climbing access in the Green Mountain State. She empowers her fellow climbers to take the lead, and has a knack for enabling others to move past their perceived limitations. Earlier this year, Charest became an AMGA-certified ice climbing instructor, a hard-earned goal years in the making. In this conversation, we talk about her journey through the ice instructor exam, and how she balances business, play and parenthood. Charest shares her love for the global climbing community, her excitement around the continued growth of Petra Cliffs, and the importance of helping climbers make the transition from the gym to the crag. This episode is brought to you by Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/26654949

Connected to Place: Sarah Audsley 04/19/2023

Connected to Place: Sarah Audsley Poet Sarah Audsley has an elevated point of view, even when her feet are on the ground. While the Vermont-based writer and climber believes she was indeed born to write poetry, she didn’t start pursuing it professionally until age 29. Before that, she traveled the world, from Africa’s Mt. Kilimanjaro to Turkey’s Mt. Ararat to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, before making her way back to Vermont, the state where she grew up. Audsley’s work has been widely published, including her debut collection titled Landlock X. Her poetry and writing has also graced the pages of Alpinist, with poems published in issues 65 and 74, as well as an interview with Ed Roberson in Alpinist 71. In this conversation, Audsley reads two select works, reflects on the idea of elective suffering, and relishes the elevated perspective climbing provides. This episode is brought to you by Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: Photos by /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/26532558

Beyond Success and Failure: Young Hoon Oh 04/12/2023

Beyond Success and Failure: Young Hoon Oh Korean rock and ice climber Young Hoon Oh is a student of the mountains and the culture borne from them. While pursuing a PhD in anthropology, he spent two years living among Sherpa communities in Nepal and studying the outsized impact Sherpas have on Himalayan mountaineering. Today, Young Hoon represents Korea as a member of the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), and is a lecturer in anthropology at Seoul National University. A father of two young children, he doesn’t get to climb rock and ice as often as he used to, but he’s found new ways to explore and experience South Korea’s wild places with them in tow. Young Hoon also served as the editor of Alpinist Korea, before returning to his love of research, teaching and climbing advocacy. Young Hoon urges his fellow climbers to explore the unknown and pursue adventure, and to look past stories of western heroes, first ascents and summits conquered. He looks beyond the physical and mental wellness aspects of climbing, and reflects on what we can learn from facing danger and even confronting the possibility of death in the mountains. This episode is brought to you by Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Young Hoon Oh Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/26514096

The Art of Playing: Babsi Vigl 04/05/2023

The Art of Playing: Babsi Vigl Babsi Vigl’s pursuits in the mountains transcend summit aspirations and self-indulgence. The Austrian alpinist, guide and writer embarked on her first expedition at age 20. Since that time she has experienced many highs and lows, from climbing Cerro Chalten as part of an all-women ascent of the Supercanaleta, to surviving a sudden, life-threatening illness while on a trip in the Alps. The mountains had always been her safe haven—a place where she says she was never afraid. During a long rehabilitation from her illness, she realized that reaching the summit is just one step of the journey, and what's most important to her is making it home to the people she loves. She needed to rediscover balance in her life, and make peace with the mountains, as she wrote about in Alpinist 79. In this conversation, we found Babsi at home in Austria, where she also shared her thoughts on being part of all-female climbing teams and finding parallels between alpinism and playing piano. This episode is brought to you by Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: Portrait by Monte Viso photo by /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/26442216

Heart of the Sierra: Doug Robinson 03/29/2023

Heart of the Sierra: Doug Robinson When Doug Robinson speaks of a life spent climbing in the Sierra Range, his stories emanate joy rather than ego. He points to experiences and relationships, instead of his many contributions to climbing’s legacy and lore. Robinson worked alongside Yvon Chouinard before Patagonia existed, forging some of the first pitons at Chouinard Equipment, and forming lifelong friendships. Robinson considers climbing a form of active meditation, and is most at home on rock. He was one of the leaders of the clean climbing revolution that took hold in the 1970s, and five decades later he remains a fierce advocate for wild places like his beloved Palisades, which he calls “the alpine heart of the Sierra.” He’s an accomplished and award-winning writer, and has published influential works on clean climbing, mentorship, and his home range. His Mountain Profile on the Palisades was published in Alpinist 48. In this conversation, Robinson reflects on the importance of mentorship during a time of explosive growth in climbing, and the pure joy he experiences on even the mellowest of climbs. This episode is brought to you by Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Doug Robinson Producer + Engineer: Photo by Jim Herrington /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/26378655

Creativity and Climbing: Nikki Smith 03/08/2023

Creativity and Climbing: Nikki Smith With a geologist father, Nikki Smith’s love for rock and the outdoors came naturally. Born in Portland, Oregon, Smith moved with her family to Utah at a young age. She spent her youth wandering the state’s vast outdoor spaces, hunting for minerals and fossils. Smith was 16 when she had her first climbing experience at a crag in Ogden. She recalls: “I don't know how we're still alive, but just as soon as I touched that rock, everything went silent and it was just this amazing experience.” Smith started taking photos—and winning awards for them—at a young age. But it took a climbing injury to set her on the path to being a professional. Her style is distinct; her portraiture brims with intimacy and emotion that Smith says is sourced from a deep sense of connection with her subjects. In addition to her work as a photographer, Smith is a professional climber, guide and writer. Nikki is also an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community, and speaks to the challenges and opportunities facing brands—and climbing media like Alpinist—as they strive to be more inclusive. This episode is brought to you by Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/26155668

Of Peaks and Parenting: Majka Burhardt 02/23/2023

Of Peaks and Parenting: Majka Burhardt Majka Burhardt went climbing for the first time while attending a sleepaway camp for kids in Minnesota. Since then, she’s built a career ascending ice and rock all over the world. As climbing brought her to frozen pitches and high peaks, it also led Burhardt to Legado, an international nonprofit she founded with inspiration from a mountain in Mozambique. After deciding to add “mom” to her resume, Burhardt was still trying to figure out how to balance parenting with a career in climbing and nonprofit leadership when she found out she was pregnant with twins. In her new book, More: Life at the Edge of Adventure and Motherhood, Burhardt shares messages she wrote and recorded for her children while she was pregnant and in the early years of their lives. Throughout the memoir, Burhardt reflects on motherhood, marriage and her own childhood—and what it means to try to do it all. We discuss her new book, whether she thinks her kids will be climbers, and how becoming a mother changed how she evaluates risk and reward in ways you might not expect. This episode is brought to you by . Alpinist Magazine: | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest Majka Burhardt's new book will be released on March 7, 2023. Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/26010054

Braving New Worlds: Steph Davis 02/02/2023

Braving New Worlds: Steph Davis Steph Davis has been a professional climber since 1991. But simply calling the Moab, Utah local a climber seems inadequate. From three years old, Davis was trained in the Suzuki Method on the piano. She practiced everyday, sometimes for hours a day, until she discovered a passion for climbing. The piano fell silent as climbing became her primary focus. In 2004, Davis became only the second woman to free climb El Capitan in one day. The following year she freed the formation’s Salathe Wall—the first woman ever to do so. She’s logged climbing achievements all over the world, and has confronted fear while free soloing walls such as the Diamond on Longs Peak. For Davis, climbing is about when to hold on, and when to let go. We talk about her evolution as an athlete—how she went from focusing exclusively on climbing to adding base jumping and wingsuit flying to her repertoire. She describes the sense of euphoria gained from free soloing, and why it can’t be replicated. This episode is brought to you by . Alpinist Magazine | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/25811553

Honoring Mountains and Mentors: Clint Helander 01/23/2023

Honoring Mountains and Mentors: Clint Helander Clint Helander’s narrative is driven by stories of persistence. Persistence in the face of nearly insurmountable odds, in far-flung places like Alaska’s Revelation Mountains. Persistence in honor of friends lost, and partners with whom he’s made the push to the top. Helander is a regular Alpinist contributor and longtime reader. He says Alpinist 9, which includes a Mountain Profile on Mt. Hunter, is his favorite edition of all time. Most recently, Helander’s storytelling is featured in Alpinist 79. The story documents Helander and Andres Marin’s 2022 first ascent of the east face of Golgotha in the Revelations—a route they named Shaft of the Abyss. Now, Helander is preparing for the next leg of his journey—attending nursing school—while running a snow removal business in Anchorage, Alaska. We caught up with Clint in between storms to learn more about his experiences in the mountains, and the inner conflict formed by a life of climbing close to the edge. This episode is brought to you by . Alpinist Magazine | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Clint Helander Producer + Engineer: /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/25698432

Dreaming of Imaginary Peaks: Katie Ives 12/29/2022

Dreaming of Imaginary Peaks: Katie Ives For those who’ve contributed to or read Alpinist over the last 18 years, Katie Ives needs little introduction. Ives started at the magazine in 2004. After reading the Chicago Manual of Style cover to cover, she took on the roles of overqualified intern and copyeditor. She became editor in chief in 2012, a position she held until 2022. Ives is regarded as a tireless researcher, and as a mentor to the many writers she collaborated with during her nearly two decades at Alpinist. Katie has earned renown for her command of written language. Her book was published by The Mountaineers in 2021. It received a Special Jury Mention at the 2022 Banff Mountain Book Competition. Katie recently moved to Colorado to be closer to the American Alpine Club Library while she works on her next book. In this episode, Katie takes us on a journey through her 18-year Alpinist tenure. She brings us to some of the imaginary peaks she explores in her book, and the Flatirons looming outside her office window today. She laments all the books she left behind during her recent move West, and reminds us that not all answers can be found on the Internet. This episode is brought to you by . Alpinist Magazine | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Katie Ives Producer + Engineer: Mike Horn Photo by: Chris Weidner /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/25455972

A Life of Adventure and Positive Impact: Timmy O’Neill 12/22/2022

A Life of Adventure and Positive Impact: Timmy O’Neill Timmy O’Neill’s climbing career spans more than 30 years. He’s traveled the world, gaining climbing accolades and wisdom about life, and once spent 60 days living in a cave in Joshua Tree National Park, sharing his food cache with mice who also called it home. His resume of first ascents includes routes in Patagonia, Namibia and Madagascar. He’s spent much of his climbing life in and around Yosemite, where he once held the speed record on the nose of El Capitan after climbing the route with Dean Potter in 3 hours, 24 minutes, in 2001. O’Neill is co-founder of Paradox Sports, an organization that creates opportunities in adaptive climbing. Today, O’Neill is executive director of the Yosemite Climbing Association. In this episode, Timmy shares his excitement for the expansion of the YCA’s Facelift program and his desire to leave the planet in better shape than he found it. He reflects on 30 years of climbing, and why he values experiences far more than things. This episode is brought to you by . Alpinist Magazine | | Host: Abbey Collins Guest: Producer + Engineer: Mike Horn Photos by Timmy O'Neill and Corey Rich /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/25396467

The Self Motivator: Chantel Astorga 11/18/2021

The Self Motivator: Chantel Astorga In June 2020, Chantel Astorga soloed Denali’s Cassin Ridge in less than 15 hours, setting a women’s record and making the first known ski descent of the Seattle Ramp during the approach. In this episode, she talks with Derek Franz about her early days as a climber when she was rope soloing ice climbs and skiing Denali in oversized, second-hand gear, and the path that led to her recent success on the Cassin Ridge. /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/21168347

Balancing Risk and Reward: Mike Gardner 11/16/2021

Balancing Risk and Reward: Mike Gardner In this episode, Derek Franz interviews Mike Gardner about a remarkable spring 2021 season in Alaska, his formative life experiences, and how those inform the risks that he continues to face as a professional climber. /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/21168311

From Pebbles to the Himalaya: Pete Takeda 11/15/2021

From Pebbles to the Himalaya: Pete Takeda Pete Takeda is a world-renowned alpinist who started climbing on boulders as a kid in Idaho. He has pursued every climbing discipline over the last several decades, from hard free climbing to big wall aid, as well as ice and mixed climbing. His first ascents range from ephemeral mud towers to some of the most impressive peaks in the world. In this episode, Derek Franz interviews one of his childhood heroes on a wide variety of subjects, from climbing and writing, to life philosophy. /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/21122255

The Novelty Seeker: Madaleine Sorkin 07/07/2021

The Novelty Seeker: Madaleine Sorkin Besides free climbing big walls, Madaleine Sorkin devotes herself to social activism, and has been a leader in starting the Climbing Grief Fund through the American Alpine Club. In this interview from April 2021, Derek Franz asks about her first climbing experiences as a teenager; her perspective as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community; how she is coping with the wear and tear on her body after nearly two decades of hard climbing; and also the latest developments with the Climbing Grief Fund. /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/19734308

Not in Ohio Anymore: Anna Pfaff 06/23/2021

Not in Ohio Anymore: Anna Pfaff Anna Pfaff grew up in rural Ohio, running through cornfields, playing softball and showing animals at the county fair. “I had no idea what a climber was, or what rock climbing was,” she recalls of the life-changing opportunity that came when friends invited her on a trip to Indian Creek. Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz interviewed Pfaff remotely in April 2021 while she was rehabbing a shoulder injury. /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/19566422

Alpinist Aloud: “To Look the Bear in the Eye” 12/21/2020

Alpinist Aloud: “To Look the Bear in the Eye” "In this episode, Derek Franz narrates “To Look the Bear in the Eye: The Life of Yasushi Yamanoi,” a story by Sartaj Ghuman that was first published in Alpinist 62 (Summer 2018). /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/17280407

Alpinist Aloud: "Less Rich Without You" 11/10/2020

Alpinist Aloud: "Less Rich Without You" In this episode, Chris Kalman narrates “Less Rich Without You," a story by Nick Bullock that was first published in Alpinist 68 (Winter 2019-20). The story chronicles Bullock's attempt to climb a new route on Minya Konka, a 7556-meter peak in Sichuan Province, China, in 2018. At age 52, on his twenty-fourth expedition, he and Paul Ramsden make their way through the hazardous maze of an icefall amid heavy mist and falling snow—and through the allures and pitfalls of a modern professional climbing life. /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/16759946

Alpinist Aloud: “Melting Giants” 10/29/2020

Alpinist Aloud: “Melting Giants” For 141 years since its first ascent, mountaineers from around the world traveled to climb la Meije in the Massif des Écrins of France. Meanwhile, the permafrost that held its stones together was melting. On August 7, 2018, rockfall destroyed much of the normal route. In this On Belay story from Alpinist 68 (Winter 2019-20), Benjamin Ribeyre and Erin Smart recount a search for a new way up the peak amid the uncertainties of the planet’s future. /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/16598267

Fire and Ice: Scott Coldiron 10/16/2020

Fire and Ice: Scott Coldiron Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz interviewed Coldiron at the Winter Outdoor Retailer in January 2020. /episode/index/show/alpinist/id/16406684

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