Ice Ice Beta (Aaron Gerry)

What goes into projecting first free ascent winter lines in New Hampshire?

That’s the subject of today’s chat with Jon Nicolodi, a humble MBA student and hard mixed climbing hard man. (Those are my words, he certainly would not describe himself that way.)

Surprisingly, Jon’s only been mixed climbing a few years but has established some big winter FFAs in that time — the routes range from M8 to M11 and all are on some of the most prominent walls in the state. These include, “Across the Great Divide” (M8 R, 5 pitches, 550′) on Cannon Cliff, “The Resistance” (M10, 5 pitches, 360′) on Mount Washington, and “Cathedral Direct” (5.12b M11 WI5, 7 pitches).

In an Alpinist recap describing a few of the climbs, Rick Wilcox, one of the most accomplished mountaineers in the area and a trailblazing climber in his own right, described what Jon is doing as “state-of-the-art as far as difficulty goes” for New England. 

Listen on to hear about Jon’s search for balance, how he trains, and get a great play-by-play of “Cathedral Direct Direct”, a 7-pitch, 5.12b, M11, WI5 route he freed with Chris Saulnier in February of last year. 

Timestamps:

02:41 - The appeal of winter climbing

06:29 - Balancing climbing and career

13:25 - The impact of Outward Bound

24:36 - The process of projecting hard climbs

37:14 - Evolving Dry-Tooling Ethics at Cathedral Cave

38:09 The art of finding potential climbs

40:28 - Gear: What he takes on climbs

46:21 - Training for climbing

51:45 - The story of "Cathedral Direct Direct"

1:07:12 - The Importance of partnerships

1:11:44 - Looking forward: Balancing climbing and Life

Resources and links:

If you’d like to hire Jon, you can connect with him at @jon_nicolodi on Instagram. 

Here are a few articles that highlight Jon's other climbs, which we didn’t get to in this episode:

• Alpinist recap of "Across the Great Divide" and "The Resistance"
• Jon's American Alpine Club write up of "Across the Great Divide"
• Jon's IG post about "Cathedral Direct Direct"

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page. 

Credits:

Episode cover photo by Erik Howes.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Sponsors:

A big thanks to our sponsor, Blue Ice, for supporting this show!

Blue Ice is the best kind of ice, and also my choice when it comes to fast and light ice climbing gear. Their Aero Lites go in like a hot knife through butter and their climbing packs hit the sweet spot between function and lightweight. Designed to get to the point in the alpine, their gear is tested by mountain professionals between the Alps and the Wasatch. If you’re looking to get to the point too — and with a little less weight on your kit, check out Blue Ice’s gear at blueice.com or your favorite local retailer.

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Sometimes opportunities arise which push you outside your comfort zone.

For Kelsey Rex, an out of the blue invitation turned a next year trip to Alaska into "we're leaving in two months". That accelerated timeline required a Matrix-like download of expedition planning and put Kelsey in her sweet spot as a lover of meticulous spreadsheets. It also meant confronting her tendency towards, as she puts it, "conservative progression plans" — and perhaps, even her concept of what she's capable of.

Resources and links:

This is the article by Bayard Russell that Kelsey mentions, which supplemented her own gear list spreadsheet: How To Remember Everything: An Exhaustive Alaska Expedition Packing List.

You can read Kelsey's 5-part recap of the trip on Instagram. Here is part 1.

If you'd like to follow Kelsey on Instagram, you can find her at @kelsey_rex. This winter, Kelsey will be at the Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest, Smuggs Ice Bash, and Michigan Ice Fest, and if you'd like to try and book a day out with her, she guides with Cathedral Mountain Guides.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.
 

Credits:

Cover photo provided by Kelsey.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Sponsors:

Thanks so much to Blue Ice for sponsoring this episode (and Kelsey)!

Blue Ice began in 2008 at the base of Mont Blanc with the idea of designing products that went back to the basics. That's led them to focus on functional, ultralight gear that just works. In their words, "we get to the point with a subtle blend of purism and daring."

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

What are those funny folks in tights doing on the YouTubez, kicking into the whozimiwuchits and spitting off those metal thingamajigs?

If you, like me, have ever had questions about Ice Climbing World Cups, this is your episode of Ice Ice Beta… because today we chat with, Rob Adie, the man responsible for organizing the UIAA World Cup Tour.

He’s sort of a one-man band. To help paint the picture, last year, Rob managed 12 events across 3 continents featuring over 150 athletes from 28 countries. (And I want to note, that’s considered a down year). There’s a lot that goes into putting something like that together, obviously, and you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll cover it today.

In this episode, we chat about a range of topics, including:

• 🧊 Rob’s journey from climbing wall designer to competition organizer
• 🧊 The evolution of ice climbing comps
• 🧊 All the intricacies of managing the World Cup Tour, especially in light of climate change
• 🧊 Ice climbing's Olympic ambitions
• 🧊 The ebb and flow of the sport’s growth
• 🧊 And how the community spirit drives the success of ice climbing competitions

Resources and links:

The UIAA will be announcing their calendar for the upcoming World Cup Tour shortly. You can check in at iceclimbing.sport when it’s live. 

The org is also launching a YouTube series, “On Thin Ice”, which follows competitors from last year’s World Cup circuit. It should start at the end of the month, and if the trailer is any indication, it’ll be a fun watch.

Lastly, if you’d like to follow along with all the World Cup going-ons, their IG is @uiaa_iceclimbing.

...

📸 Cover photo by Sarah Lilley (@saralilleey)

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Today we're talking about the Beartooth Mountains in Montana, which have a history of minimal spray when it comes to ice climbing. So of course that's what we are going to do...

Let's start with why should you go: One, if you're looking for first ascents or a first ascent-like day out, the Beartooths provide. Two, it's the largest uninterrupted landmass above 10,000 feet (or 3,000m) in the U.S., outside of Alaska. Three, there is not a single path to any climbing objective.

In other words, if you're looking for a challenge, it's easy to find one. What's not easy to find, though, is info.

That's where Akio Joy and Anju Samuelson come in... 

Resources and links:

Learn more about the trips Aku and Anju talked about in this episode on their website: beartoothguides.com

You can connect with them on Instagram @beartoothmountainguides where they also share condition reports during the season. And here are Anju's "Soul Back Up Book" blog posts for those who are curious.

This is the Gripped article about Shooting Gallery, a three pitch mixed route that Aaron Mulkey, Dane Steadman and Natalie Afonina climbed on September 10, 2020. And this is another route by Aaron Mulkey, Last Call, a 2,000 foot, 13 pitch mixed line that he sent with Tanner Callender and Chris Guyer in 2014, which gives you an idea of the type of adventure you can have in the Beartooths.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.
 

Credits:

Original photos used in cover image courtesy of Beartooth Mountain Guides.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!)

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Enni Bertling has seen it all when it comes to climbing in Finland. When she started she was one of the few climbers in the country, then she helped form the Finnish Ice Climbing Team, and is now the Head of the Youth National Team, among other roles too numerous to list but which also includes routesetting, coaching, and occasionally competing when the mood strikes. 

Still, despite how it sounds, her path to a professional climbing career was anything but straightforward.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 Transitioning away from scientific research
• 🧊 Winning the first-ever World Cup medal for Finland
• 🧊 How she thinks about coaching and mentoring youth
• 🧊 What the climbing in Finland is like
• 🧊 What you do with only 1 hour of daylight in winter

🧊 Resources and links
As is a trend among many of our guests, Enni keeps a low social profile. But, if you’d like to follow her for occasional updates, her handle is @ennibertling.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Mixed climbing was always part of the alpinist’s bag of tricks 🪄, but the technical and impossibly steep style we know these days only started to come into its own in the ‘90s.

The period has been referred to as the Modern M-Revolution — a period when grades advanced rapidly, from about M8 to M13 📈 — and lasted roughly from the mid-90s to the early 2010s. It was punctuated at the start by Jeff Lowe’s ascent of “Octopussy” (WI6 M8 R) in 1994 and perhaps came to its conclusion in 2012 when Robert Jasper climbed “Iron Man” in totally dry conditions and officially denoted it with a “D” grade (D14+), effectively spitting off a distinct discipline.

Today, we chat with Raphael Slawinski, one of the leading mixed climbers during this time. Some of his accomplishments include sending some of the first M10s and M11s in Canada, climbing out the Stanley Headwall (including many routes he established), and topping out the unclimbed 7040m K6 West in Pakistan with Ian Welsted, for which they won a Piolets d’Or. I want to note that he managed all of this as a quote-unquote “weekend warrior”, since his full time profession is physics professor. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• 🧊 The evolution of mixed climbing (and the role of bolts)
• 🧊 Advancements in techniques and equipment
• 🧊 His “honest introduction” and progression in the sport
• 🧊 Desire vs. judgement
• 🧊 Close calls and risk management
• 🧊 His relationship with the Stanley Headwall
• 🧊 Social media and climbing documentation

Resources and links:

If you want to follow what Raphael is up to, you can’t. But you can help him reach 1,000 followers on instagram. His handle is @raphael.slawinski.

There are a bunch of articles and resources mentioned in the interview:

• “Degrees of Freedom”, American Alpine Journal (2002)
  • The follow up hubbub to Raphael’s article, “Mixed Messages, Is Hard M-Sport-Climbing Influencing High-Standard Alpinism?”
• Raphael’s ode to the Stanley Headwall
• The full report of the First Ascent of K6 West
• Raphael’s blog
• Colin Haley’s blog
• Nick Bullock’s blog

Leave Us a Review!:

If you enjoyed this episode, help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Shopify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

📸 Cover photo by Leif Godberson (@leifrdenby)

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

In this episode with Patrick Cooke, we talk about progressing in ice climbing with longevity in mind, mental tricks and training, and balancing mentorship with figuring things out for yourself.

Patrick is based in the Northeast and has been climbing for nearly 20 years. During that time he has ticked hard classics all over New England, the Canadian Rockies, Québec, Scotland, and Hyalite Canyon. Some of his proud sends include Call of the Wild at Lake Willoughby in Vermont. Omega at Cannon Cliff in New Hampshire, and he was part of the first free ascent team for The Resistance, a 5-pitch M10 on Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Patrick is especially drawn to thin technical routes, weird mixed lines, and has begun to embrace more sport-styled mixed climbing over the past few years. In his coaching, he focuses especially on head game strategies...

Resources and links:

During the episode, we talk about Patrick teaming up with Jon Nicolodi on two first ascents during the winter of 2022: The Resistance and the upper pitches of Across the Great Divide, both in New Hampshire. You can read more about these climbs in this article on Alpinist online.

You can connect with Patrick on Instagram @pgcooke or at Project Direct Coaching at projectdirectcoaching.com.
 

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.

Credits:

Episode cover photo provided by Patrick.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Does drytooling have a grading problem? Katie McKinstry Stylos is one of top drytoolers in the world, specializing in big roofs. In 2023, Katie sent A Line Above The Sky, becoming the fourth woman to climb D15. This past summer, she returned to project Parallel World (D16/D15+/other?), and she has some questions.

While Tomorrow's World is somewhat of a benchmark for grades in drytooling, compared to rock climbing, consensus is hard to come by. Factors such as DTS vs. Yaniro, tactics for manufacturing difficulty, the changing nature of routes, and, human variables, like ego, all play a part in grade discord. 

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 The complexity of grading at the highest level of drytooling
• 🧊 How you don’t have to comp to crush (or need specialized tools)
• 🧊 Coming to climbing after a competitive horseback riding career
• 🧊 Balancing her roles as an artist, business owner, and climber
• 🧊 Developing new drytooling gloves with Aniiu

"There's so many factors in drytooling that can make it complicated. And so, for me, I really want to try to have this general idea of the hard grades around the world so I can give my opinion to help us kind of find a consensus on the grading. And I think, really, what makes the grades of drytooling pretty difficult to figure out is there's, even though we're a small sport, there's a pretty big divide."

🧊 Resources and links

To follow Katie on social, she’s @katie_stylos on Instagram. And to check out her artwork, you can head to hyalitedesigns.com.

You can read about her send of A Line Above The Sky here.

📸: Cover photo by Cooper Shuman.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

If JC Dubeau is known it’s somewhat as a dark horse. 

Search for JC online and you won’t find any trip reports or beta spraying, but as a soloist with a selfie stick he has surprisingly good photos on IG for someone who likes to keep a low profile. JC is also an older athlete who doesn’t train or project yet he will likely send yours if you let him. 💪

So who is this guy?

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 How there’s old and there’s bold, but there’s no old-bold climbers
• 🧊 His five goes rule and other principles to climb by
• 🧊 Climbing without a rope more often than with 
• 🧊 Designing gear
• 🧊 And much more

🧊 Resources and links:
You can follow JC on Instagram — for often glorious fisheye photos — at @jcdubeau.

📸: Cover photo courtesy of JC.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

I’ve been dry-tooling more than ice climbing this winter, largely because it’s been frustratingly warm in New England. Call this my adaptation strategy — but really, I feel like I’m just getting ahead of the curve since trigger alert: dry-tooling is the future of ice climbing. #provemewrong(please)

Not to be all dire, dour and doom and gloom, but globally, climate change is leading to fewer days below 0°C, aka, the planet is warming. (according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report from 2021). Since ice forms below the freezing temp of water, it’s not hard to see that the result will be fewer climbable days of ice as a result.

So what’s an ice climber to do?

Today, we chat with Taylor Luneau, an ice climber from Vermont, former Policy Director of the American Alpine Club, and current Conservation Manager at The Wilderness Society. Taylor has spent the bulk of his adult working life in conservation efforts, protecting public land, and now, supporting climate change mitigation strategies through forest management policies.

During his time at the AAC, Taylor commissioned a first-of-its-kind study evaluating ice season length for one of the premiere ice climbing destinations in the U.S. — the Mount Washington Valley in New Hampshire. You might have seem the film that came out of this, freeze//thaw, which shares the scientific findings and socioeconomic impact on guides in the area. Definitely worth watching.

We talk about the study, how climbers can get involved in responding to climate change, along with mitigation and adaptation strategies in today’s episode.

Timestamps:

3:56 - Is it an end of an era for ice climbers in New England?

6:22 - Growing up in Vermont

11:36 - Interest in environmental policy

17:45 - Experiencing climate change firsthand 

20:07 - Work with the AAC

27:31 - Targetting climate messaging

31:21 - Climate solutions

35:21 - Mount Washington Valley study

51:27 - How can climbers take action?

Resources and links:

If you’d like to connect with Taylor, his Instagram is @taylor.luneau, and his Wilderness Society email is tluneau@tws.org. 

To learn more about the Mount Washington Valley study, here is the webpage that has “freeze//thaw”, an article by Jimmy Voorhis and Micheal Wejchert, and the full study by Voorhis, McDowell, and Burakowski, et al.

The impact of our national forests to mitigate climate change:

“Forests in the U.S. remove the equivalent of about 12 percent of annual U.S. fossil fuel emissions or about 206 teragrams of carbon, after accounting for natural emissions, such as wildfire and decomposition. Worldwide, healthy forests absorb 1.1 billion metric tons of carbon per year, the same contained in nearly 54 million tanker trucks worth of gasoline. Biologically rich, continuous networks of public lands play an important role in absorbing climate-changing emissions, sustaining plants and animals, and helping the hardest hit communities adapt to the impacts of a changing climate." Source

Nationwide forest plan amendment to conserve old growth: 

Remember that the scoping period runs through February 2nd. Here are some resources to learn more and get involved:

• TWS Action Alert on the national amendment to all forest plans to conserve old growth
• TWS blog explaining what it is
• Federal Register scoping notice for the national amendment to all forest plans to conserve old growth
• USDA Press Release on National Old Growth Amendment

Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) Amendment:

The comment period wraps up on January 29th. Here are more resources and how to comment:

• TWS Action Alert on the NWFP
• TWS Blog explaining what the NWFP is and what's happening
• US Forest Service landing page for NWFP amendment
• USFS comment portal for the NWFP: here

Make sure to get your voice heard!

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page. 

Credits:

Episode cover photo by Marcus Garcia.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Sponsors:

Of course, a big thanks to our sponsor, Blue Ice, for supporting this show!

Blue Ice is the best kind of ice, and also my choice when it comes to fast and light ice climbing gear. Their Aero Lites go in like a hot knife through butter and their climbing packs hit the sweet spot between function and lightweight. Designed to get to the point in the alpine, their gear is tested by mountain professionals between the Alps and the Wasatch. If you’re looking to get to the point too — and with a little less weight on your kit, check out Blue Ice’s gear at blueice.com or your favorite local retailer.

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Introducing the Meet the Maker series. 

Each day this week we’ll be releasing a mini episode with an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers.

🎙Today we chat with Ben Carlson and Nick Hernandez, Co-Owners of Furnace Industries, which make gym-safe training equipment for ice climbing and dry-tooling.

Quite simply, you’d be hard-pressed to find another company that has done more to promote dry-tooling in the U.S. Core to it all, it’s because they care.

The company was started as a way to give back to the community. Ben and Nick knew they weren’t going to chase FAs or push the grades, but they could help folks train year-round and encourage new people to try the sports. Why? They believe in giving back to the sport that has given them so much – from sponsoring ice fests and Team USA to loaning out tools for dry-tooling nights to producing educational material – Furnace Industries is always forging ahead to help the community.

Hear more about their story and what makes their tools special in today’s episode.

🎁 Furnace Industries doesn’t really do sales, but Ben and Nick are graciously offering a one time discount for listeners. For details, check out Furnace Industries' episode post on our Instagram page.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

🎙 Today we chat with Ben Carlson and Nick Hernandez, Co-Owners of Furnace Industries

Ben and Nick make gym-safe training equipment for ice climbing and drytooling.

Quite simply, you’d be hard-pressed to find another company that has done more to promote drytooling in the U.S. Core to it all, it’s because they care.

The company was started as a way to give back to the community. Ben and Nick knew they weren’t going to chase FAs or push the grades, but they could help folks train year-round and encourage new people to try the sports. Why? They believe in giving back to the sport that has given them so much – from sponsoring ice fests and Team USA to loaning out tools for drytooling nights to producing educational material – Furnace Industries is always forging ahead to help the community.

Hear more about their story and what makes their tools special in today’s episode.

🎁 Giveaway

Ben and Nick are generously offering a set of DRY ICE Evolutions.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 On the original DRY ICE prototype that Ben saw, the tool was made with a fan belt from what car?

Once you have the answer:

• Follow @furnaceindustries and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#itsalwaysiceseason” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

According to the American Alpine Club’s 2019 State of Climbing report, only 1% of surveyed climbers identified as Black.

Jordan Revis is trying to change that.

This past winter, Jordan helped lead the first-ever Black Intro to Ice Climbing workshop at the Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest and he is part of the DEI committee with the Western Massachusetts Climbers' Coalition, among other initiatives he’s involved with.

For Jordan, it’s a complicated position to be in and has led to a lot of self-reflection.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 What does representation really mean?
• 🧊 Concepts of identity and belonging
• 🧊 Managing anxiety on and off route
• 🧊 Balancing big goals with being kind to oneself

“Because of my lived experience, having the anxiety of it being different than somebody else's, now I'm like, why do I get anxiety over that when everyone else's lived experiences is different?"

🧊 Resources and links

Jordan is an AMGA SPI and Apprentice Rock Guide. If you’d like to hire Jordan for a guided day out, the easiest way is to get in touch via Instagram: @revissaywat.

You can also find him at this year’s Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest, which runs from January 31st to February 2nd.

Jordan is an ambassador for @arcteryxboston @cypherclimbing @aniiu_gloves and @barndoorhostel

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

What goes into making an ice axe? Of course there is technical know-how, design, and testing, but for Marty Theriault, it was more like an act of therapy. And a way to connect with friends.

Marty started Forecast Equipment after he was medically released from the Canadian military for PTSD. He’d been percolating on the idea of a new tool and finally had the time – to heal and to create. He wanted a tool that could do it all, and he drew upon decades of familiarity with different axes and uncompromising principles for certain features. 

How did it come together?  Listen on to find out.

Resources and links:

Marty and the Forecast team are offering veterans and active duty military a 10% discount through January. To get the code, contact the company at sales@forecastequipment.com.

You can check out the Nor*easter and the rest of the Forecast lineup on their website: forecastequipment.com.

If you are struggling with PTSD and are seeking help, know that you are not alone and there are resources. Consider talking with the Veterans Crisis Line to get support. You don't have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to call.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.

Credits:

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Roger Strong made his catch king crab fishing so he could ski and climb the rest of the year. His life was forged by sea and steel, commercial fishing hardening him for both alpinism and captainship.

As he says, it was some of the best and worst times.

But to continue the metaphor, the metallurgy of life also requires tempering, annealing, and healing too. 

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 Life and times of commercial crab fishing
• 🧊 Establishing mixed lines in Washington, including the first M8, M9, and M11
• 🧊 Why having a child was the best thing that ever happened to him
• 🧊 Learning to smell the moss

"Being part of that environment is as important, if not more important than the accomplishment — humans just put too much value on the summit, too much value on numbers. 

I don't know what the difference between 15 a, b, c, and d is, but that's for those people that can do that. And so is their ascent more important than my soloing 5.6, 5.7, 5.8? Maybe it is to them, but, it's the movement, it's the touching the stone, it's the swinging of the ice tool, looking for the perfect swing, looking for the perfect amount of footwork, and it's just this, I'm just always looking for."

🎁 Giveaway

Roger works for Black Diamond, America’s quintessential climbing company. For this episode, they are generously giving away:

• 🐉 A set of Hydras!

Only members of the podcast will be able to enter, luckily, you can become a member for FREE, which gives you access to special giveaways like this (and other goodies).

👉 To enter:

In this week's newsletter, we share a question which Roger answers in this week's episode.

Once you have the answer:

1. Follow @blackdiamond and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
2. DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
3. Comment on Roger's episode post on our Instagram: “#manyheadedbeast” once you’ve sent in your answer

📣 Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, February 10

🧊 Resources and links

You can follow Roger on Instagram, @roger_strong.

If you’d like to learn more about Roger’s accident, this is the video Fitz Cahall produced about his recovery.

🧊 Credits

📸: Cover photo courtesy of Roger.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

In today’s episode with Tom Beirne, we talk about the psychology of performance and the ethics of developing a new dry-tooling crag.

Tom doesn’t love labels — and definitely don’t call him the dry-tooling guy — but to help paint a picture he’s a mixed climber from Seattle who especially enjoys questing, runs The Barn, a dry-tooling gym, helped to develop Wayne’s World, a dry-tooling crag, and is a former high-level collegiate athlete and World Cup competitor… in dry-tooling.

Through all of his experiences he’s been fascinated by the psychology of learning, training and performance — especially as it relates to exploring choss piles or competing. As Tom quotes in our chat, “you don't rise to your level of expectation, but fall to your level of training”. 

Interested in how to raise your own level of training and rise to the occasion? Listen on.

Resources and links:

Want to climb at The Barn and train with Tom? You can check out their schedule and upcoming events here.

In the area and looking to climb at Wayne's World? This is the Mountain Project page. And here is an article with both Wayne and Kyle talking more about the development.

Ready to dive into your own motivations and psychology when it comes to climbing? Tom was greatly influenced by Arno Ilgner's "The Rock Warrior's Way: Mental Training For Climbers".

Lastly, a big thanks to Kyle for offering a few Ice Screw Cannons for this episode's giveaway. To learn more about his speciality climbing gear, including ultralight backpacks, aid ladders, and portaledge system, head to highmtngear.com.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page. 

Credits:

Tom would like to thank his partner, Renai, for her support spanning many adventures. 

Sponsors:

A big thanks to our sponsors for supporting this show!

Blue Ice: Blue Ice is the best kind of ice, and also my choice when it comes to fast and light ice climbing gear. Their Aero Lites go in like a hot knife through butter and their climbing packs hit the sweet spot between function and lightweight. Designed to get to the point in the alpine, their gear is tested by mountain professionals between the Alps and the Wasatch. If you’re looking to get to the point too — and with a little less weight on your kit, check out Blue Ice’s gear at blueice.com or your favorite local retailer. 

NW Alpine: There aren’t many companies that make climbing-specific apparel in the U.S., but NW Alpine does, and have been since 2010. They started with simple principles: to create functional and durable clothing for people who get after it in the alpine. Today, their Black Spider is a lightweight, grid fleece hoody for moving fast in the mountains while their Fortis line is made from fabric spun with ultra high molecular weight polyethylene fibers so you can tackle project after project after project. Learn more about their products at nwalpine.com.

And thank you to Kyle Willis of High MTN Gear for donating Ice Screw Cannons to give away!

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Pavel Dobrinskiy is a leading figure within the drytooling community in Moscow and is one of the most prolific route setters on the Ice Climbing World Cup circuit 🌏.

Maybe you’ve heard about the Russian style of setting — its high-tension ⚡️ moves are calculated for maximum kinetic energy like Ivan Drago in route form #sterotypingmuch? Perhaps. Anywho, Pavel’s had something to do with that. 

From his constant drive to create cutting-edge moves, which necessitated the development of new holds to make those possible, to his thoughtful and collaborative approach to planning routes, to his mentorship, Pavel has helped shape the comp routesetting many are familiar with today. 

In this episode, with Pavel’s particular brand of humor in tow, we chat about:

• 🧊 The magic of Indian Creek
• 🧊 History of comp climbing in Russia
• 🧊 Russian-style training (rule number 1: never shake out)
• 🧊 The importance of speed in competitions
• 🧊 His routesetting philosophy, including a lot of “dos” and “do nots”
• 🧊 Opinions on some of the hardest routes in the world

Resources and links:

Pavel is an an all-around climber, and has done everything from expeditions to places like Nepal, China, and Tajikistan to attempting to free “The Nose” to being the first person to flash “A Line Above the Sky” (D15). 

He doesn’t post regularly, but you can follow him on Instagram at @majorbobkov.

🗣️ Leave Us a Review!:

If you enjoyed this episode, help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Shopify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

📸 Cover photo courtesy of Pavel

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

What are the things in your life that have infinite complexity upon closer inspection?

I’m betting you didn’t expect that question on a podcast about ice climbing.

But that’s Jackson Yip for ya. An atmospheric researcher by training who specializes in cloud-microphysics, Jackson is also a deeply passionate climber and alpinist who has coupled his interests in a myriad of ways.

Whether scrabbling through murky datasets or slogging to break trail, Jackson finds beauty in the mundane and labyrinthine.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about:

• Cloud physics and the complexity of turbulence
• The importance of first-hand experience
• How to develop mental models
• Why we can and need to do better when evaluating ice conditions
• The mechanics of pillar collapse
• And more

Hope you enjoy this chat, I certainly did.

Timestamps:

01:41 - The concept of heat death and its implications

04:00 - Having perspective

05:37 - The complexity of cloud micro-physics

09:15 - Observing and first-hand experience

11:30 - Engineering challenges in climate research

17:58 - Predicting ice formations

20:20 - The tragic consequences of misreading ice conditions

23:10 - Mechanics of slip-out pillar collapse

28:31 - The importance of patience in climbing and life

35:38 - Accessible doesn't mean easy or safe

41:13 - The seasons of life

42:43 - Supporting socioeconomic equality

Resources and links:

If you’re interested in collaborating on one of the ice climbing models that Jackson mentioned, you can reach him at jackson.yip@utah.edu. To connect with him on Instagram, he’s @jp_yip. You can learn more about his research on his website: jpyip.com

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.

Credits:

Episode cover photo provided by Jackson Yip

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Today on Ice Ice Beta, we’re chatting with Melissa Orzechowski of The Adirondack Queer Ice Fest 🌈 a no-cost ice climbing festival solely dedicated to the LGBTQ+ outdoor community. 

When the idea first came about, the organizers, Melissa, Robbi, and Nol, thought they might be the only attendees — something  for just the three of them. They didn’t know how big the community was in the Adirondacks, or beyond. When 40 people showed up in the middle of a blizzard — many of whom hadn’t ice climbed before — they knew there was a need.

Now in their third year, they keep being surprised: Registration filled up within 45 minutes. 

In this episode, we talk about why identity-based affinity spaces are important, the power of starting (however small), and being the change you want to see.

Timestamps:

01:32 - Melissa's (sandbagged) journey into ice climbing

06:31 - Organizing in college and beyond

11:20 - Moving to the Adirondacks and building community

18:56 - The start of the Adirondack Queer Ice Fest

25:55 - The importance of affinity spaces in climbing

37:26 - Overcoming gear challenges 

45:37 - Future plans and aspirations

Resources and links:

While registration is full, you can support the festival by donating on gofundme.

And if you’d like to follow along with this year’s event, and stay up to date for future happenings, their Instagram is @adirondack_queer_ice_fest. Melissa's IG is @melissaormo.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.

Credits:

Episode cover photo provided by the Adirondack Queer Ice Fest

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Sponsors:

A big thanks to our sponsor, Blue Ice, for supporting this show!

Blue Ice is the best kind of ice, and also my choice when it comes to fast and light ice climbing gear. Their Aero Lites go in like a hot knife through butter and their climbing packs hit the sweet spot between function and lightweight. Designed to get to the point in the alpine, their gear is tested by mountain professionals between the Alps and the Wasatch. If you’re looking to get to the point too — and with a little less weight on your kit, check out Blue Ice’s gear at blueice.com or your favorite local retailer.

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Passion, conviction, obsession. Heart and soul. Words to describe the devoted. Those driven to produce what had never existed before — a crusade to push the sport forward. 

When Bill Belcourt talks product, you listen. The former head of R&D at Black Diamond, Bill helmed the department during the heydey, when anything was possible and all roads led to BD for product innovation. Chances are, if you’ve used BD climbing gear in the past 30 years, you’ve used Bill’s work.

Now, Bill leads Blue Ice - North America, where the work continues.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 Why product discovery is a life project, not a job
• 🧊 How finding your people can change everything
• 🧊 The lifecycle of innovation in business and industry
• 🧊 Life lessons from Randy Rackliff and Mark Twight

Resources and links:

Bill isn’t really active on social media, so no point in sharing links. We didn’t talk about it in the episode, but Bill has been at the vanguard of paragliding in the U.S. for decades (and has several long-distance records). If you’d like to learn more about that facet of his life, this is a good podcast episode.

If you’d like to dive deeper into the (mythology?) of Black Diamond, I enjoyed this article from Outside, “Welcome to the Mutant Factory”.

And of course, if you’d like to support a climbing brand who is continuing the work, check out Blue Ice at blueice.com.

...

📸:  Cover photo by Barry Blanchard. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This week we chat with Ryan McCauley, a member of the USA Ice Climbing Team. Ryan has had a rapid rise, fitting for her speciality in speed.

In fact, within two years of starting to dry-tool, Ryan went from falling off the second hold of rec team tryouts to finishing 6th overall in Women's Speed Climbing during last year's World Cups.

According to Ryan, this wouldn't have been possible just a few years ago... 

Resources and links:

You can connect with Ryan about coaching for dry-tooling on Instagram @ryane_mccauley and for professional coaching you can reach out to her on Linkedin at linkedin.com/in/ryan-mccauley.

In the episode, you'll hear us reference an article by Corey Buhay about competition ice climbing in Russia, which you can find here. Ryan also wrote an article about her own experience during last year's World Cup season (also discussed in the episode).

If you'd like to donate to the USA Ice Climbing Team here is the link and you can learn more about The Ice Coop here. 

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.
 

Credits:

Original photo used in cover image by Robert Hendriksen (@thatcrazydutchguy).

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Kendra Stritch made history by becoming the first American to win a UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup medal in December of 2014 — when she took gold on the speed wall in Bozeman, Montana.

Since then, Kendra has been a major force in developing dry-tooling and competitive ice climbing in the U.S.: She helped to formalize USA Ice Climbing under the auspices of the American Alpine Club, has organized countless comps around the country, and even was the first importer of speed tools in North America.

A competitive athlete since she was 9, Kendra is drawn to the novelty and strategy of new sports ranging from alley cat bike racing to log rolling to kickball. She equally enjoys the camaraderie of fellow competitors, and refers to the ice climbing scene as her World Cup family. 

Over the past few years, Team USA has been steadily improving on the world stage — in no small part due to dedicated dry-tooling gyms across the country — and Kendra has played a vital role in getting the sport to where it is. We’ll talk about the hows and whys in today’s episode.

Resources and links:

If you’d like to bring a dry-tooling comp to your university or local gym, consider hiring Kendra. You can connect with her on Instagram @kendrastritch. 

To follow along with USA Ice Climbing this World Cup season, their IG handle is @usaiceclimbing_ and their website is usaiceclimbing.org. If you’re feeling generous and would like to donate to the team (since the athletes have to pay their own way to events) you can find a donate link on the American Alpine Club.

For a fascinating look at how far USA Ice Climbing has come, Corey Buhay, a former national team member, has a great article in Climbing from 2021.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page. 

Credits:

Episode cover photo by Scott Thompson.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Sponsors:

Big thanks to our sponsor, Blue Ice, for supporting this show!

Blue Ice is the best kind of ice, and also my choice when it comes to fast and light ice climbing gear. Their Aero Lites go in like a hot knife through butter and their climbing packs hit the sweet spot between function and lightweight. Designed to get to the point in the alpine, their gear is tested by mountain professionals between the Alps and the Wasatch. If you’re looking to get to the point too — and with a little less weight on your kit, check out Blue Ice’s gear at blueice.com or your favorite local retailer.

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Introducing the Meet the Maker series. 

Each day this week we’ll be releasing a mini episode with an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers.

🎙 Today we chat with Doug Heinrich, the Founder of Aniiu, which make technical ice climbing gloves.

Doug is a longtime Salt Lake City climber, route developer, and alpinist, among many superlatives. He’s also the VP of Product Development at Black Diamond. What do you get when you combine 30+ years of ice climbing experience with technical chops? 

Listen to the episode to find out.

***

🎁 Doug and Aniiu are giving away 3 pairs of gloves to listeners and offering a discount code. For details, check out Doug's episode post on our Instagram page.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right, or so goes the pithy expression. But at least in Angelika Rainer’s case, it does seem to bear out. 

During Angelika’s 20-year career, she helped set new world standards, becoming the first woman to send D15 ✅ and routinely finishing first or second on the Ice Climbing World Cup circuit 🥇. That’s a far cry from the kid whose favorite catchphrase was “I can’t do it”. What changed? 

Well, you’ll have to listen to find out.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 Struggling with confidence and how climbing helped
• 🧊 Developing a love for the mountains thanks to her mom
• 🧊 Going all in on drytooling and how the sport evolved
• 🧊 The importance of an “off-season” for recuperation
• 🧊 Her mental battle with “Iron Man” (D14+)
• 🧊 The decision to retire from competitions
• 🧊 Sending her first 9a
• 🧊 The story behind a cappuccino-inspired route

Resources and links:

Angelika is spending a lot more time on rock these days, and to see what she’s working on, you can follow her on Instagram @angelika_rainer. She also regularly shares blog updates on her website: angelika-rainer.com

Leave Us a Review!:

Speaking of whether you can or can’t… you CAN help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Shopify, Apple, and other podcast platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

📸 Cover photo courtesy of Jonathan White

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Introducing the Meet the Maker series. 

Each day this week we’ll be releasing a mini episode with an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers.

🎙Today we chat with Deed Ziegler, Founder of RecPak. I’m excited for these because I think ice climbers will really like them – RecPaks are 700 calorie, ultralight and ultra-packable meal replacement drinks that I think are perfect for sipping at the belay (you can fill them with hot water).

Deed was inspired to make the product after a military tour overseas. He wanted something that was consumable on the move, designed for high energy output, and was a complete meal with proper macros and nutrients. They’ve since been used in environments as wide-ranging as emergency response and combat zones, to high-altitude mountaineering, long treks in the desert, and ultra races. 

Deed also has a great radio voice, which you can hear in today’s episode.

***

🎁 Discount code! Deed is generously offering a 25% discount so you can try RecPak this season. For details, check out Deed's episode post on our Instagram page.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

🎙 Today we chat with Kyle Willis of High Mountain Gear

Kyle Willis of High Mountain Gear, who creates specialized equipment for alpinists, guides, and climbers.

I mean specialized too, like 4 oz. ice hammocks or ski guide tarps — gear that most businesses run away from making. But not Kyle. That’s because he’s driven to fill gaps in the outdoor market — his product decision process always starts with the question, "Why doesn't this exist?"

🎁 Giveaway

Specific to ice climbers, Kyle is generously giving away a few crampon bags and a rare pink Ice Screw Cannon to listeners.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 Which climbing couple did Kyle work with to create the ice hammock? 

Once you have the answer to the question:

• Follow @highmountaingear and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#whydoesntthisexist?” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Kevin Lindlau is one of the rare birds in drytooling who excels at both comp *and* outdoor climbing. In January, Kevin completed the second ascent of “Aletheia”, rated D16 ✅, becoming only the second person in the world to climb the grade. (There’s some nuance here since other routes have been proposed at D16, but this is the first route that has been repeated and the grade corroborated). Anywho, on the comp side, Kevin was the first American to ever make World Cup Finals in Lead in 2019, and he has regularly made Finals since. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

• 🧊 How Kevin came to climbing after a gruesome accident that ended a promising bicycle racing career
• 🧊 Overcoming self-doubt along the way
• 🧊 The important role of mentorship in his development (shout out to Marcus Garcia)
• 🧊 How to train for high-end roof climbing and competitions in the same year
• 🧊 What most people get wrong about ARC training
• 🧊 The future of drytooling routes
• 🧊 And of course, latte art ☕️

Just a warning that Kevin gives a graphic description of his accident. If you’re squeamish, you might want to skip that part. If you’re a sadist, well, enjoy, I guess. 

Resources and links:

If you’d like to follow along with Kevin’s latest latte creation, his ice axe juggling or climbing, you can follow him on Instagram @lindlaukevin.

Other notes:

We are also planning a training episode with Kevin and a few others, so if you have any questions from the episode, send me a DM and we’ll include it in that conversation. 

...

📸 Cover photo by Kara Vogler (@mtnghoststudio)

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This is the first of a new series — the Community Spotlight — which is a way to celebrate everyday folks who are helping to grow the sports of ice climbing and drytooling.

You may have seen Jon Blackwood’s shipping container project on Instagram (which he is working on with Johnny Korthuis), if you’re curious like I was this chat is about what he’s up to.

For Jon, his journey into drytooling began with a quest for mental healing. The discipline has become more than a tool for therapy though, in his words, “It’s a passion, a lifestyle, and a path to personal growth”.

As a larger-framed individual, traditional rock climbing presented challenges, but drytooling opened a world of possibilities. The deeper he got, the deeper he got, and he ultimately invested in coaching and built his own training wall. In two years, he went from barely being able to hold onto tools to figure 4ing to competing at the competition level.

Through it all, it’s been the tight-knit and supportive community that Jon appreciates most. Whether it’s cheering each other on during comps or generously sharing knowledge, there’s a genuine desire to foster a love for the sport — and Jon is certainly doing his part too.

From welcoming people to climb at his home wall, The Nook, to developing a new outdoor drytooling venue, Jon wants to give back to the sport that has already given so much to him.

Timestamps:

01:24 - Building a climbing structure with shipping containers

04:24 - The motivation behind the project

05:58 - The importance of vertical training

10:20 - Personal journey into drytooling

10:27 - The impact of climbing on mental health

15:41 - Building a drytooling community

19:52 - Asking for help

Resources and links:

Perhaps drytooling has had a big impact on your own life, and you dig what Jon is up to. If you’d like to support Jon’s projects, you can donate through PayPal. His email is spreken@gmail.com. Money will go towards holds and construction materials.

You can also follow along with his journey on Instagram @living.forward.
 

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page. 

Credits:

Episode cover photo provided by the Jon.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Sponsors:

Thanks to Forecast Equipment for supporting this episode!

Jon uses their tools and has connected with the team on a personal level. That’s because they care about their customers — Marty, Zac and Brian focus on creating products for climbers like themselves which led them to develop their do-it-all Nor*easter. The tools handle everything from moderate snow gullies to steep-and-mixy to World Cup comps and they come stock with Krukonogi picks, cheeks, and hammers so you can configure them to fit your needs. To learn more about their products, check them out at forecastequipment.com.

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is all about training for ice climbing, mixed, drytooling and speed.

To discuss these diverse disciplines, we’re joined by Kevin Lindlau, Aneta Loužecká, and Zac St. Jules and dive into how they think about and structure their training for their respective specialties. 

Kevin is a leading roof-climbing drytooler and the first American to send D16, Aneta was last year's World Cup Champion in speed, and Zac is a strong all-around ice and mixed climber who manages to send hard while also working full-time and raising 4 kids. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• 🧊 Each climber’s unique journey and some surprisingly common training mistakes
• 🧊 Why defining your goals is so important
• 🧊 How to break things down to first principles in order to structure your training
• 🧊 Why mastering technique matters as much as being strong
• 🧊 Mental tricks and tips for getting in the right head space
• 🧊 Cost-effective training solutions if access to drytooling is hard to come by

Resources and links:

To see how Kevin, Aneta, and Zac are training, you can follow them on IG:

• Kevin: @lindlaukevin
• Aneta: @anetkalouzecka
• Zac: @zacst.jules

Be sure to send them a thank you message if you found their advice useful.

A few other useful resources:

• Uphill Athlete has an article about Training for Ice and Mixed Climbing that I’ve personally used
• Furnace Industries has a series about Training for Ice Climbing
• We also had an episode about training for drytooling specifically last season, with Eli Ellis
• Lastly, if you don’t have access to a drytooling gym or crag, Furnace Industries' wooden tools are climbing gym safe and also make for great options for training at home. And if you do want to build out your home wall, they also have the largest selection of drytooling-specific holds in the U.S.

...

📸: Episode cover photo courtesy of Aneta

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Cogne is known as one of the ice epicenters in Europe. Located near the base of the Gran Paradiso, the only 4,000 meter peak in Italy, the Cogne Valley boasts over 400 ice climbs and many more mixed and dry-tooling lines. Consistency and accessibility are the name of the game: The microclimate and terrain means ice is reliable year-in-year-out and you can often start your approach to climbs right from your front door.

Matthias Scherer is lucky to have called the area home for the past 20 years... 

Resources and links:

Matthias has climbed over 1,000 frozen waterfalls, and you can see his top 100 list here. To follow along with his adventures, check him out on Instagram @matthiasscherer.

Want to join for the Cogne Ice Opening? It runs from December 14-17 and you find find all the details on their website: cogneiceopening.net

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.

Credits:

Episode cover photo provided by Matthias.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

🎙 Today we chat with Paul Shaugnessy and Charlie Faust

Paul and Charlie are the the Founders of Beartooth Alpine, who specialize in metal goods made in the USA.

Driven by an ethos of “do not conform”, their mission is to produce the best gear possible out of the best materials. Period. 

Their latest release — specialized picks — have gotten folks excited: their 2mm-tapered Ice Hawk is optimized for minimal displacement and durability while their Master Scratchers have been hailed as the best ice climbing mixed pick that will actually hold up to the rigors of scratchy terrain.

🎁 Giveaway

Paul and Charlie are generously offering a set of picks to listeners. They have picks for all major ice tool models, including the Nomic, X-Dream, Hydra, and Dark Machine.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 What is one fundamental difference between their picks and most stock picks on the market?

Once you have the answer to the question:

• Follow @beartoothalpine and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#donotconform” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

...

📸: Cover photos courtesy of Paul and Charlie

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Doug Heinrich has just about done it all and seen it all in ice climbing ⛏️ as both a climber and product designer 🧤. 

Doug hails from Salt Lake City where he began climbing in the 1970s. He was an extensive route developer, including many mixed climbs in the Wasatch, competed at the X Games, and has been at the vanguard for product at Black Diamond almost from the beginning.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 The climbing scene in Utah, from early bouldering to the evolution of ice climbing, to the advent of sport climbing and sport mixed climbing
• 🧊 Lessons learned from Mugs Stump
• 🧊 The importance of humility
• 🧊 His inverted professional career
• 🧊 The evolution of Black Diamond and what most people don’t understand about the company
• 🧊 How passion projects lead to innovation, and why he’s excited about his new venture, Aniiu

Resources and links:

Doug’s not much for social media, but you should definitely check out his side project, Aniiu, which are focused on making highly technical gloves for all disciplines of ice climbing, including working with some of the world’s leading drytoolers. You can check them out at aniiu.com and follow them on IG  @aniiu_gloves.

And for some behind the scenes into Black Diamond R&D and testing, here is a (sponsored, albeit interesting) article from Outside from 2014, with quotes from Doug.

...

📸: Photos by Chris Noble (@noblefoto)

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Today, we dive into the mindset of a competitor. Gordon McArthur has been a staple on the World Cup circuit across 15 seasons, including a one-year retirement. We talk about the particular highs and lows of returning to the sport, the story of Storm Giant (the first proposed D16 in the world), and what role ego plays in it all.

In particular, our conversation hovers around themes of drive, our relationship to competitiveness, and understanding our true motivations. 

We also chat about:

• 🧊 The moment of retirement: Inner Mongolia, 2017
• 🧊 Challenges and reflections from Edmonton
• 🧊 Mentorship and the legacy we leave behind
• 🧊 The story of Storm Giant
• 🧊 Advice for younger climbers

Resources and links:

You can learn more about Gordon and read some of his reflections at gordonmcarthur.com. To follow him on Instagram, he’s @gord_mcarthur. If you’re curious to see how Storm Giant came together, definitely check out the Outdoor Research film, “Storm Giant: The World's Hardest Drytooling Route”.

...

📸:  Cover photo by Jeff Mercier

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Introducing the Meet the Maker series. 

Each day this week we’ll be releasing a mini episode with an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers.

🎙Today we chat with Benjamin Leibham, the Founder of Alto Gear, which make ice climbing accessories out of upcycled and recycled material.

You’ve probably seen Ben’s ice screw wrap at an ice festival, they are the brightly colored roll-ups made of repurposed billboard vinyl. And they are bomber (I’m a proud owner of one) – which is on purpose. Ben is a product designer whose mission is to make ice climbing gear more sustainable. To start, he’s using technical material that would otherwise end up in a landfill, sourcing and manufacturing locally, and designing gear that lasts. He’s got some big plans too.

Hear more of his story and design philosophy in today’s episode.

***

🎁 If you’d like to snag your own ice screw wrap or crampon pouch, Ben is offering 15% off at their store, altogear.com. For details, check out Ben's episode post on our Instagram page here.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Introducing the Meet the Maker series. 

Each day this week we’ll be releasing a mini episode with an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers.

🎙Today we chat with Kyle Siegel, the Founder of Raide, which makes gear that supports efficient human-powered movement in the mountains. Their first major drop is the LF 40L which may be the perfect backcountry skiing pack, but which I also think works well as an ice cragging or multi-pitch pack.

Kyle is a jack of all trades, having done hardcore engineering at places like SpaceX, learned design and development at The North Face and Db, and built tech products to boot. During that time, he’s spent the past 10 years diving into backcountry skiing and scheming up ever bigger objectives. If only there was a backpack that could keep up…

Hear more about the why and how of Raide in today’s episode.

🎁 Discount code below!

***

DISCOUNT CODE:

Want to put an LF 40L to the test this ice season? Kyle is offering 15% off at their store raideresearch.com. For details, check out Kyle's episode post on our Instagram page.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

It’s rare to find American-made climbing companies. The shortlist includes the likes of Metolius, Organic, Misty Mountain, UnParallel, and a handful of rope producers.

It’s even rarer to find technical apparel made in the U.S., which makes NW Alpine so distinct. And by technical, I mean purpose-built clothing designed for the elements, not adventureleisure masquerading as such.

Anywho, the idea for NWA was born out of the 2008 financial crisis. Founded by Bill Amos, a quote-unquote “climber dude” at the time, he wanted to understand what was happening and brushed up on economics. He concluded that basing the economy on financial shenanigans instead of manufacturing wasn’t the way to go.

So, his solution to one of the worst recessions in the history of the country was to create a pair of pants. At its height, the company employed 75 people and put millions back into the local economy.

In this episode, we talk about how NW Alpine is developing innovative apparel (in the true sense of the word), the economic and free trade factors that led to mass offshoring, and how many of your favorite brands are making huge profits off the back of exploited labor.

NWA harkens back to an older ethos for climbing companies. I particularly enjoyed this chat and hope you do too.

Timestamps:

02:00 - Bill's climbing journey 

05:57 - Adventures in the Cascades and Alaska

20:10 - The birth of Northwest Alpine

20:13 - Understanding the economic shift in the U.S.

24:41 - The impact of offshoring on the U.S. manufacturing

33:01 - Journey to Kachatna: Scaling manufacturing

37:37 - Rise and fall of Kachatna Apparel

40:59 - Innovation in apparel: The Fortis line and rainproofness post-PFAS

50:36 - The reality of how products are made overseas

58:03 - The Future of Northwest Alpine
 

Resources and links:

Bill is graciously giving away two Black Spider Hoodies for listeners — one men’s and one women’s. To enter, head to our Instagram @ice_ice_beta to find the details.

If you’d like to follow along with what NW Alpine is up to, their Instagram is @nwalpinegear. To check out their products head to nwalpine.com. They have several new lines dropping this year.

Here is the video of Sir James Goldsmith predicting the future impact of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in an interview with Charlie Rose (which we reference in the episode). And NW Alpine's blog also has a lot of great trip reports from the past 14 years.

This is the "contentious" IG post where Bill breaks down how much overseas workers are paid to make expensive outdoor apparel.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.

Credits:

Episode cover photo provided by the NW Alpine courtesy of GearJunkie

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Stas Beskin is known for soloing big bold climbs, such as Rainbow Serpent and Fearful Symmetry, two of the most iconic WI6s in the Canadian Rockies.

It's one thing to solo big flows, it's another to do it on freestanding pillars about as wide as your shoulders. But he does that too. And he does so without swinging his tools.

Stas' conception of ice climbing revolves around displacing as little ice as possible. It's an adaptive strategy that means different things in different situations, but it's always about fitting one's body and style to the ice in front of you – it's about being attuned to the environment and trying to fit it, not the other way around...

Resources and links:

Stas is a rock and ice climbing guide, specializing in multi-pitches. If you'd like to book a day out with Stas, you can connect with him at wildice.ca.

For a bit more about Stas, Ian Welsted, an ACMG alpine guide, wrote a great profile in the October/November 2022 issue of Gripped.

In this video, Stas shares techniques for scratching and climbing thin pillars. And here is an article (one of many) about hard mixed routes he is putting up.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.
 

Credits:

Original photo used in cover image by Caro Ouellet (@ouellet.caro).

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

It’s a tale old as time: Narrative is the vehicle that connects us to something greater. And for Christian Beckwith, he’s built a career on that foundation.

You probably know of Christian, or have interacted with his work. He’s spent more than thirty years immersed in the world of alpinism, and in that time he was the editor of The American Alpine Journal, co-founded Alpinist — which Reinhold Messner once called “the greatest climbing magazine in the world” — and recently started a “hardcore history” podcast about the 10th Mountain Division called Ninety-Pound Rucksack.

If you haven’t heard of it, you might be living under the rock… but since you're listening to a climbing podcast, that very well may be the case. Regardless, it’s great and I encourage you to give it a listen.

In this episode, we don’t talk much about the podcast, instead, we hone in on:

• How to complicate seemingly simple projects by going deep
• Clues to find the narrative in anything you do
• What can happen when you follow your curiosity
   

Timestamps:

05:18 - From New England to the Tetons

14:45 - Building community through climbing

22:38 - Narrative as a tool for connection and change

27:25 - Exploring the awe 

34:20 - Diving into the contribution of climbers on the 10th Mountain Division

42:28 - How history is written

47:56 - Climbing Riva Ridge to understand history
 

Resources and links:

To listen to Ninety-Pound Rucksack, head to your favorite podcast platform or learn more about it at christianbeckwith.com. If you love what Christian is doing and want to support longform narrative projects like this, I highly encourage you to become a patron at patreon.com/NinetyPoundRucksack. 

Find the rest of the notes on the episode page.
 

Credits:

Episode cover photo provided by Christian.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

That's it for Season 1! If you enjoyed the conversations and want to help us do many more for Season 2, consider supporting us on Patreon.  (And for less than the price of a bougie beer per month).
 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

🎙 Today we chat with Doug Heinrich

Doug is the the Founder of Aniiu, which makes technical ice climbing gloves.

Doug is a longtime Salt Lake City climber, route developer, and alpinist, among many superlatives. He’s also the VP of Product Development at Black Diamond. What do you get when you combine 30+ years of ice climbing experience with technical chops? 

Listen to the episode to find out.

🎁 Giveaway

Doug is generously offering a few pairs of their Viinson™ Short gloves to listeners.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation with Doug, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 Takashima, Aniiu’s partner, and perhaps the premier technical glove makers in Japan, are now under which generation of family ownership?

Once you have the answer to the question:

• Follow @aniiu_gloves and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#yourfriendinthecold” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Marianne van der Steen is one of the top female ice and mixed climbers, and competition dry-toolers in the world today. She’s climbed WI7, M10 trad, and recently joined the D15 club, the third woman to climb the grade, alongside Angelika Rainer and Haruko Takeuchi.

While she’s won many European Cups in ice climbing and reached the World Cup finals a number of times, but hasn’t yet been able to break through to the podium. Will that change this season?...

Resources and links:

Marianne's recap of climbing A Line Above the Sky (D15) on Scarpa's blog.

You can read more about one of Marianne's idols, Robert Jasper, in this Climbing article, and here is a powerful obit about the late Tom Ballard, who established A Line Above the Sky, and the crag, Tomorrow's World.

You can connect with Marianne on Instagram @verticalmarianne or at her personal website, verticallife.nl.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.
 

Credits:

Original photo used in cover image by Robert Hendriksen (@thatcrazydutchguy).

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

I’m sure Carolyn Parker could have become a household name if she had wanted. In her 20s and 30s, Carolyn was one of the most talented all-around mountain athletes in the U.S. — she was one of the first women to become an AMGA certified Rock Guide, climbed 5.12 trad at altitude 🧗‍♀️, went on 8,000-meter peak expeditions 🏔️, sent M8, skied 50-degree couloirrs⛷️ and regularly ran mountain ultras. Or as Sarah Hudson, our co-host for this episode puts it, “Carolyn is a boss”.

Climbing was only half the story, though. After flirting with the limelight, Carolyn found that she derived as much, if not more, satisfaction from helping others achieve their objectives as she did in accomplishing her own 🙌. As a result, climbing and guiding eventually transitioned into training and coaching. More than 35 years later, Carolyn has worked with 1,000s of athletes in the pursuit of their dreams.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 The life, times and challenges of being a female climber in the 90s
• 🧊 Choosing to stay just under the radar
• 🧊 Her philosophy and approach to running a coaching business
• 🧊 Mental and physical aspects of strength training for female athletes
• 🧊 How the hormonal cycle and nutrition impact athletic performance
• 🧊 Navigating menopause

Resources and links:

If you’d like to learn more about Ripple Effect Athlete Training Center or coaching with Carolyn, you can visit their company website, rippleffectraining.com. To follow along with Carolyn’s latest endeavors, her IG account is @blitzkriegbarbie. 

To learn more about Carolyn’s coaching journey, there is a great article on Uphill Athlete. Further, UA has a lot of useful resources for training as a female athlete, including a general overview, strength training, and hormones.

If you’d like to dive deeper, Carolyn has shared quite a few resources as well:

Books:

• Dr. Stacy Sims: ROAR, Next Level
• Dr. Lisa Mosconi: The Menopause Brain

Research papers:

• Effect of Estrogen on Musculoskeletal Performance and Injury Risk
• The Effect of Menstrual Cycle and Contraceptives on ACL Injuries and Laxity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
• The Effects of Oral Contraceptives on Exercise Performance in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
  • Kelly McNulty also has a pdocast on the subject, “the period of the period.”
• Postmenopausal hormone therapy for cardiovascular health: the evolving data

Articles:

• Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport - A Cautionary Tale
  • More info on REDS
• Hormones for menopause are safe, study finds. Here's what changed

...

📸: Cover photo by Angela Hawse (@alpinist007), courtesy of Carolyn.

🙏 And a big thanks to Sarah Hudson (@sarahferocity) for joining as co-host!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

In Matthias Scherer’s words, Norway provides the true character of ice climbing. That is to say, you can always find adventure, from single pitch up to vertical kilometer ice flows.

Outside of popular destinations like Rjukan and Hemsedal, you will rarely find a line that has been picked out. Depending on where you go — from the 1,000-meter ice falls of Gudvangen to the 1,700 fjords that fracture the coastline, to the arctic ice of the far north — you are likely to have a first ascent-like experience, if not an actual FA.

And of course, there are plenty of beginner and intermediate-friendly areas too. Rjukan, for example, has 100s of easily accessible climbs.

This is Matthias’ second time on the podcast. If you recall, he joined us last year to talk about his home, Cogne, another epicenter of ice in Europe. This time around, in classic Matthias style, we discuss:

• 🧊 Why so many of his top 100 ice climbs are in Norway
• 🧊 The history of ice climbing in the country
• 🧊 Classic routes and areas
• 🧊 Logistics for planning your own trip
• 🧊 The upcoming ice festival in Rjukan, which runs from Thursday, February 6 to Monday, February 10.

“The human brain, I think, cannot get what Norway means for ice climbing. It's a little bit like if you look up to the sky in the night and you see all the stars; it's the same with Norway, it's impossible. Because 1,700 fjords, over 50,000 kilometers of coastline, and you can say in every fjord at least there's 10 to 15 ice climbs — so you can do the math by yourself."

🧊 Resources and links

Matthias has climbed over 1,000 frozen waterfalls, and you can see his top 100 list here. To follow along with his adventures, check him out on Instagram, @matthiasscherer or his website matthias-scherer.net.

Want to join for the Norrøna Ice Festival in Rjukan? It runs from February 6-10 and you can find all the details on the website.

To learn a bit more about Matthias, he did an interview on the Norrøna podcast.

Lastly, Matthias would like to thank his sponsors for supporting his adventures: Norrøna, Petzl, Scarpa, and Gloryfy.

📸: Cover photo by Tanja Schmitt.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Corey Buhay has made a life out of doing what she loves. That’s not to say it’s been easy.

Known as the go-to reporter for all things drytooling ⛏️, Corey quickly built a career as a freelance journalist regularly contributing to Climbing 🧗‍♀️, Backpacker 🥾, Smithsonian 🗿, and the like. Around the time she started writing full-time, she also started drytooling. Again, she quickly established herself, rising to the top of the rankings for comp ice climbing in North America. But, shortly thereafter, she decided to walk away. How come?

In today’s chat we talk about:

• 🧊 The assignment that changed everything
• 🧊 Going all in on things that give you happiness
• 🧊 Struggles with expectations, perfectionism and anxiety
• 🧊 Revitalizing Team USA and competitive pressures
• 🧊 Burnout and taking a break
• 🧊 Rediscovering balance and joy in climbing

I want to say that I really appreciated Corey’s openness and willingness to discuss difficult topics and her ability to infuse humor into the conversation. Further, if you’re struggling with mental health, know that you’re not alone and that there are folks and resources who can help, some of which we share in the show notes.

Resources and links:

If you’d like to follow Corey’s latest writings, her website is coreybuhay.com. 

Some of my personal favorite articles of hers are:

• Russia’s World Cup Ice Climbing Scene is as Hardcore as it Gets
• The Strange Underworld of Competition Ice Climbing
• Years After My Mentor Died in the Backcountry, I Retraced His Final Footsteps

Mental health resources:

• Mental Health in Athletes: Breaking the Stigma
• Resources for Athletes with Eating Disorders
• Athletes Against Anxiety and Depression Foundation (who offer a free therapy option)
• Managing Stress in Sports: Quieting the Mind and the Body

...

📸: Cover photo by Mike Thurk (@mthurk)

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

This episode is part of the Meet the Maker series where we highlight an entrepreneur who is making specialty gear for ice climbers. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the story behind some of your favorite – and soon to be favorite – products, that’s what today’s conversation is about.

We’re doing this because we believe that thoughtfully-designed gear is more than the sum of its parts: they are crafted by folks who have decades of experience in the sport, are refined through countless iterations and testing, and brought to life with genuine passion to solve real problems. 

Said another way, these folks represent the heart and soul of product innovation.

🎙 Today we chat with Kevin Bourque of OuterU

Kevin is the the Founder of OuterU, who has turned the ski and mountaineering face mask from a source of complaint into a spark of joy.

If you’re sick of face covers that fog up your goggles or buffs that get wet and freeze up, you’re going to be psyched about OuterU’s faceGloves and bala that covers noses and cheekbones without restricting breathing — solutions that were long overdue.

🎁 Giveaway

Kevin is generously offering a few sets to listeners — the faceGlove and bala can be used separately, but are optimzied to work together.

Here’s how to enter:

In the conversation, be on the lookout for the answer to the following question:

• 👉 What is the name of Kevin’s mentor who helped him turn his prototypes into their first commercial products.

Once you have the answer to the question:

• Follow @outerugear and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
• DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
• Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#abetterfacemask” once you’ve sent in your answer
• Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry
• Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 2!

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Today is about all things training for dry-tooling with Eli Ellis.

Eli is a dry-tooler, coach, and professional slackliner who specializes in highlinemo, a discipline that combines slacklining at high altitudes and mountaineering. For those familiar with the conjunction "skimo", you'll see where "highlinemo" comes from.

To establish ever higher lines, Eli began ice climbing and dry-tooling. Naturally he got hooked. And within two years he was climbing M10. In this episode, we dive into Eli's training that allowed him to progress so quickly, which in part, starts with him climbing, essentially, since childhood. But there's more to it...

Resources and links:

Get a peak into the "First Across" of Hal Latte, Eli's highline at 3,290m in the Colorado Rockies. Here he is sending Rambo II (D10-) in Merano, Italy. And this is a photo of his slackline set up of The Seventh Fang 🐍, his ice-to-rock line extending from The Fang, what he calls his small contribution to the historic Vail Amphitheater.

You can connect with Eli on Instagram @gmeliellis or check out some of his impressive highlines on YouTube. Eli does offer coaching as well, DM him for more details.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.
 

Credits:

Episode cover photo provided by Eli.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Who Do You Want to Be?

On the surface, it’s a simple question, but getting to the core is often a devious stumbling through masquerade — “Is this really what I want to be doing?”, “Is this me or who I used to be?”, “What’s next?”

Marcus Garcia is turning 50 this year and he’s lived a lot of lives in that time. These questions have been buzzing. 

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 Starting anew and learning to let go
• 🧊 Understanding our energy demands and value
• 🧊 Creating and coaching the USA Youth Ice Climbing Team (and what it means to see so many of the athletes flourishing)
• 🧊 Some useful mindset techniques and exercises for other youth coaches
• 🧊 And Marcus reads some poetry too

“What letting go really means is not just letting it go, but letting it give the space it needs so you can process and understand the why you're feeling these things. So in a way, you have to grieve that old identity to make space for this new identity. And that is part of what letting go is, is making room for this new person you become.”

🎁 Giveaway

Marcus is a Rab athlete, and to support Marcus and this podcast, Rab is giving away a few items to listeners:

• Generator Alpine Jacket
• Ascendor Alpine Softshell Pants
• Latok Mountain GORE-TEX Pro Jacket

Only members of the podcast will be able to enter, luckily, you can become a member for free, which gives you access to special giveaways like this (and other goods).

👉 To enter:

In this week's newsletter, we share a question which Marcus answers in this week's episode.

Once you have the answer:

1. Follow @rab.equipment.na and @ice_ice_beta on Instagram
2. DM the answer to the question to @ice_ice_beta
3. Comment on the giveaway post on our Instagram: “#TheMountainPeople” once you’ve sent in your answer
4. Share the giveaway post to your story for an extra entry ⭐️
5. Winners will be randomly selected from submissions that meet all the rules on Monday, December 16! 📢

🧊 Resources and links

Marcus would like to thank his sponsors, Rab, Camp, Osprey, Lowa, and Sterling. They support him in regularly teaching climbing workshops and clinics, from the art of the offwidth to how to mix climb. The best place to see where Marcus will be and what he’s teaching is on his Instagram, @mgclimber1.

For Marcus’ opening poem, here is the post, and here is his latest video “Beyond the Climb”.

... 

📸: Cover photo courtesy of Marcus.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Pedro Guerra-Zúñiga has a fighting spirit — a spirit that especially likes to laugh. 

Growing up, Pedro expected to get cancer, at some point, probably in his 60s. Fate has a funny disposition, though, so when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Pedro decided to respond on his terms: with humor and a goal of making Team Canada. 

After all, you never know what can happen. 

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 How showing up can be the most powerful thing you do
• 🧊 The impact of philosophy on his recovery
• 🧊 Why he likes drytooling so much, beyond being tendon friendly
  🧊 Training as a larger athlete

🧊 Resources and links
You can follow along with Pedro’s competition season via his Instagram (@peteclimbing). He shares a lot of updates, including tinkering with gear and different training techniques.

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Eliteclimb makes the lightest ice tools in the world, and it’s not even close. It’s possible because Jarosław "Jarek" Walewski uses a mix of carbon and kevlar composites, and nothing else—the only metal in his tools are the bolts and picks.

The one-man brand has been bucking industry trends for over a decade now, and it’s his unique position as an independent craftsman that lets Jarek pursue solutions that the bigger brands ignore.

By being attuned to the community and working with some of the world’s best, their tools have been used on no oxygen ascents of Lhotse, expeditions to places like K2 and Broad Peak and at the highest-end of drytooling today.

In this episode, we chat about:

• 🧊 How Jarek came to understand composites by working in one of the best glider factories in the world
• 🧊 Why he chooses to make each tool by hand
• 🧊 The advantages of composite materials
• 🧊 Why moving fast and trying things is a good strategy
• 🧊 Being open to opportunities and feedback (positive and negative)
• 🧊 His philosophy on business, craftsmanship, and production 

Resources and links:

To learn more about Eliteclimb’s tools, head to eliteclimb.com. All of their tools can be customized (from weight, strength, colors, etc.), so if you’re interested, be sure to reach out to Jarek. 

On the website, you can also read trip reports from expeditions where their tools have been used. Lastly, there are more updates on their Instagram, @eliteclimb.

...

📸: Episode cover photo by Artur Małek courtesy of Jarek

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

How many of you were inspired to start climbing because of a comic? I’m sure Masato Najakima is not alone, but he is the only person I can say with certainty that that's the case. (And if you’re curious, it was Gaku: Minna no Yama (in English, "Peak: Everyone's Mountain")).

Anywho, Masato is a leading drytooler in Japan and was one of a contingent from the country who sent “A Line Above the Sky” last year. Masato is a bit of a late bloomer — at 43, he’s one of the older athletes on the UIAA World Cup scene — and has made great progress since he started competing in 2016.

As one of the elder statesmen in his country, he’s trying to grow the sport locally. And despite 5 drytooling gyms in Tokyo — yes, you heard that right — it’s not easy… which we dive into in this chat.

Along with that, in this episode, we discuss:

• 🧊 Overcoming health issues and getting into climbing
• 🧊 The history of drytooling in Japan
• 🧊 Efforts (and challenges) to grow the sport locally
• 🧊 Where to climb in the country and the strict no-drilling ethos
• 🧊 Unique perspective from a Japanese expat living in Canmore

...

📸: Most photos are by @kazuhiro_kodaira, courtesy of Masato.

Resources and links:

If you’d like to learn more about drytooling in Japan, are thinking of visiting, or would like to help grow the community, you can reach out to Masato at @masato_drytooling. And here is the manga that inspired Masato.

If you’d like to learn more about Takeshi, here is an article about one of his routes in the Himalayas, and if you’re interested in going out for a day of guided climbing in the Canadian Rockies, you can connect with him at @taniyan_8000.

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Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

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It takes a village to raise an ice festival, and for Liz Sahagún and her co-organizers, it’s all hands on deck for the All In Ice Fest — which will take place from January 5th to the 7th of 2024. Entering their third year, the mission of the fest is to create a space where folks from historically marginalized communities can simply have fun ice climbing without having to feel like they’re checking a box that defines their identity. 

To help make ice climbing more accessible, Liz, Claire, Mari, Christina, Rosie, and the rest of the team started All In to help reduce barriers to the sport — they do this by offering low-cost clinics and programs to develop as guides, cater to people of all physical abilities, and fostering a culture where folks can simply show up and feel welcome.

Listen on to hear how Liz first fell in love with the mountains, her Journey to 30 ice climbing road trip, and how she’s developed her self-care toolbox.

Resources and links:

If you’re interested in attending or volunteering, you can register at allinicefest.com. And if you’d like to support the organization, you can donate here.

Want to learn more about what affinity spaces are and why they are important? The AMGA helps explain in an article by Monserrat Alvarez.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page.
 

Credits:

Cover photo by Louis Arevalo.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

If you’re interested in attending or volunteering, you can register at allinicefest.com. And if you’d like to support the organization, you can donate here.

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

We’re headed across the pond on this episode of Ice Ice Beta. Today, we’re chatting with Willis Morris and Oz Miller of the Scottish Dry-Tooling Club. The club has been called the developmental model of the future, a rolling circus, and bonkers by various authorities.

But what is the organization, how does it work, and why has it been so successful in just a few short years?

A few anecdotes to highlight their success:

• They are the largest dry-tooling club in the world, with hundreds of members.
• The GB Youth Ice Climbing Team, who are part of the Club, are one of, if not the, strongest, in the world. Meanwhile, most other national teams have few, if any, youth members.
• And most importantly — by internal metrics — the psyche is very, very high.

With a rapid growth trajectory and big plans, the future is bright. After listening to Willis and Oz, you’ll likely agree — they’re quite convincing!

Timestamps:

01:39 - Getting to Cheongsong, South Korea isn't as easy as you'd think

07:27 - Meet Willis and Oz

08:20 - Starting the Scottish Dry Tooling Club

13:21 - The growth of the Club and its influence on the climbing community

23:22 - Importance of culture

29:01 - Scottish winter climbing

32:33 - Every climber, even Dave MacLeod, can learn something from dry-tooling

40:50 - The future of ice climbing: winter sport climbing?

41:45 - Success at the comp level (and elsewhere)

55:14 - The future of the Scottish Dry Tooling Club

59:15 - Ice climbing in the Olympics?

01:04:13 - Advice for starting a dry tooling initiative

Resources and links:

If you’d like to learn more about the Scottish DTC, their Instagram has all the important links. It is @scottishdrytoolingclub. 

As Willis mentions in the interview, the 7th and final round of the UIAA Ice Climbing Continental Cup for the season is taking place in Sunderland, UK this Saturday, February 10. Live streaming will be available for the finals. 

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page. 

Credits:

Episode cover photo provided by the Scottish Dry-Tooling Club.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Sponsors:

A big thanks to our sponsor, Blue Ice, for supporting this show!

Blue Ice is the best kind of ice, and also my choice when it comes to fast and light ice climbing gear. Their Aero Lites go in like a hot knife through butter and their climbing packs hit the sweet spot between function and lightweight. Designed to get to the point in the alpine, their gear is tested by mountain professionals between the Alps and the Wasatch. If you’re looking to get to the point too — and with a little less weight on your kit, check out Blue Ice’s gear at blueice.com or your favorite local retailer.

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others. 

Life doesn’t follow a clean and cut narrative arc — unlike the stories we tell. Sure, it might all start and end the same way for folks, but it’s the complex, messy middle that makes us, us. One of our tendencies with storytelling is to simplify, which means skimming over a lot of the details. But when we do that we might find the narrative doesn’t actually work, it's not really who we are.

Luckily, we can rewrite it. Narrative is a choice.

In today’s episode, we talk with Shane Farver, an adaptive climber, writer, former journalism instructor, and now Director of Marketing & Communications based in Utah. After a climbing gym accident in 2018, Shane found the story he was telling himself — and others — needed a revision. Since then, he has embraced the problem-solving aspect of climbing and pursued the sport he loves while continually adapting his body through techniques and accessories.

We talk about what makes ice climbing particularly accessible for adaptive athletes, how to ask “how”, and what it means to belong in the outdoors on your own terms.

Resources and links:

If you’d like to connect with Shane, his Instagram handle is @sfarver01. He does a lot of work with the Adaptive Climbing program at The Front if you happen to find yourself in Salt Lake City, and he's also just down the street from the new location of The Scratch Pad. This winter, he’ll be at a few upcoming ice fests.

Paradox Sports is the leader in the adaptive climbing space and definitely worth checking out.

For more stories with adaptive ice climbers, here is a podcast interview with Kimber Cross and here is a recent video featuring Mo Beck.

If you'd like to go out with an adaptive ice climbing guide, consider Santi Vega, a full-time mountain guide in the Wasatch and Uinta mountains of Utah.

Find the rest of the notes, timestamps, resources, and more on the episode page. 
 

Credits:

Episode cover photo by Maureen Beck.

Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).

Sponsors:

Big thanks to our sponsor, Blue Ice, for supporting this show!

Blue Ice: Blue Ice is the best kind of ice, and also my choice when it comes to fast and light ice climbing gear. Their Aero Lites go in like a hot knife through butter and their climbing packs hit the sweet spot between function and lightweight. Designed to get to the point in the alpine, their gear is tested by mountain professionals between the Alps and the Wasatch. If you’re looking to get to the point too — and with a little less weight on your kit, check out Blue Ice’s gear at blueice.com or your favorite local retailer.

Patreon:

For the price of a beer per month, you can help us produce episodes like this and much, much more. If you’ve been enjoying the podcast this season, consider supporting us on Patreon. 

Credits:

• Intro music by Hannah Noelle Enomoto (thanks, sis!).
• This episode was edited by Andrew Salomone of salomonesound.com.
• And of course, a big thanks to our sponsors, Aniiu  Gloves and Furnace Industries!

Become a member:

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the conversation and want to help us do many more episodes like this, please consider becoming a member.  

(For less than the price of a bougie beer per month!).

🗣️ Leave us a review!:

You can also help us out by subscribing to the podcast and leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice. Reviews are helpful for new listeners that come across the show, and a good rating means Spotify, Apple, and other platforms are more likely to recommend it to others.