Alpinist

In this inaugural episode of Alpinist Aloud—a podcast project in which stories from our print magazine are read out loud—James Edward Mills reads his story from Alpinist 60 (Winter 2017-18). In “The Force of the Soul,” Mills recounts the life of Hugues Beauzile, the son of a Haitian immigrant who became one of the most promising young alpinists in France before his death on the South Face of Aconcagua 1995. Produced by Alpinist magazine and Height of Land Publications. Audio production by Nick Mott.

Chris Weidner began climbing as a teenager in the Pacific Northwest and is no stranger to being pinned on the summit of Mt. Rainier in a storm. The 45-year-old climbs 5.14 sport routes and continues to establish new free routes on the Diamond of Longs Peak and elsewhere. He has also written more than 300 articles related to climbing—for the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper, Alpinist and other climbing magazines—since about 2007.

Alpinist deputy editor Paula Wright speaks with Kai Lightner about his 2016 trip with Doug Robinson to Stone Mountain, and how his discipline as a climber transcends aspects of the sport.

Literature professor and mountaineering scholar Amrita Dhar grew up in West Bengal. As a child, she vacationed in the Himalayan mountains with her family, and she has since spent a lot of time traveling through and thinking about mountains and the narratives that emerge from them. In this episode, Dhar talks with managing editor Paula Wright about how addressing some of the gaps in mountaineering history might also lead to reconceptualizing the pursuit of mountaineering itself.

In this episode, Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz interviews Jeff Achey, a prolific first ascensionist and author who lives in Western Colorado, where he co-owns Wolverine Publishing with his wife Amber Johnstone.

In the first part of this episode, Robbi Mecus talks about some of her earliest climbing memories and her work in search and rescue. In the second part of the episode, Mecus reads from her Alpinist 65 essay “Perspective,” in which she reflects on how coming out as transgender has shifted her lens on climbing.

In this episode of the Alpinist Podcast, we sit down with longtime climber and writer Geoff Powter to discuss a few of his adventures, as well as the challenges and rewards of chronicling life in the mountains.

Climber, father and house painter Chris Kalous launched the climbing podcast The Enormocast in 2011. In this episode, Alpinist Digital Editor Derek Franz sits down with Kalous, a longtime friend, to rehash memories from the glory days and discuss where he sees himself — and podcasts — going in the future.

In 1969, at the age of nine, Barry Blanchard sat on a Greyhound bus as a young woman read to him from the pages of the mountaineering classic, The White Spider. Five decades later, alpinist and mountain guide Barry Blanchard recalls how the call of the mountains transformed his life.

“How often do we, as climbers, reach out for abandonment?” Claire Carter asks. “Leave the ground to find a swinging freedom; bitter-cold, bittersweet.” In this episode, we sit down with poet, climber and creative consultant Claire Carter to discuss some of her recent projects, including her efforts to retrace some of the travels of Gwen Moffat, a legendary climber and writer who had become Britain's first female mountain guide in 1953, and which she wrote about for Issue 57 of Alpinist magazine.

In 1972, barely out of high school, Doug McCarty and Brian Leo completed the first winter ascent of the North Face of 12,799-foot Granite Peak—only to endure an icy bivy on the remote summit. In this episode, McCarty reads the story he wrote for Issue 63 of Alpinist magazine, in which he recalls the ghostly "strange music" that helped him survive more than four decades ago.

From the time he led his dad up the Diamond of Longs Peak at age fifteen, Derek Franz has long been “obsessed with all things climbing.” After graduating college with a journalism degree, Franz has worked as a freelancer while living crag-side and written an award-winning column for the Post Independent. He joined Alpinist as the digital editor in the autumn of 2016. In this episode, Franz talks with associate editor Paula Wright about the highs and lows of chronicling life in the mountains.

Since she first offered to waltz around on stilts in a purple leotard at the 2002 Summer Outdoor Retailer, brandishing Issue 0 of Alpinist, author and illustrator Tami Knight has been a friend of the magazine. Now, in conversation with Alpinist associate editor Paula Wright, the irrepressible Tami Knight goes beyond the page as she shares stories from her early climbing days and her funniest untold tales yet.

In June 2002, a wildfire erupted about 100 miles southwest of Denver. The Hayman Fire burned for over a month, resulting in the death of six people. The fire blazed through nearly 140,000 acres—at the time, the largest fire in the state’s recorded history. It also consumed popular climbing areas, including Thunder Ridge. In this episode, journalist Nick Mott explores the impacts of the Hayman Fire, and what the rising rate of megafires might mean for climbing communities across the country.

Kathy Karlo is a climber, writer, and the director of the website and podcast, both titled “For the Love of Climbing.” In this episode, Karlo talks about her Alpinist 61 article, "Climbing Doesn't Change You," and how writing openly about vulnerability within the context of climbing can be a radical act.