Mountain Voices

Mountain Voices Season 3. Interview Series Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Swiss climber and IFMGA mountain guide Caro North has spent much of her life seeking out new challenges in some of the world’s most remote mountain regions. In this episode of Mountain Voices, she reflects on a journey that began on the slopes at the age of two, progressed to climbing at 11, and led to her first major expedition on Aconcagua when she was just 16 years old.

Although she turned back only 100 metres below the summit, the experience sparked a lifelong passion for exploration and a deep connection with South America. Since then, Caro has built an impressive climbing résumé that spans the Himalaya, Iran, Armenia, Alaska, Antarctica and Greenland. Her achievements include establishing dozens of first ascents and developing 55 new routes in a remote area of Patagonia near Bariloche.

Among the stories shared in this episode is a remarkable sailing expedition across the North Atlantic to reach unclimbed objectives in Greenland, as well as her recent participation in the first all-female ascent of the South African Route on the East Face of the Central Tower of Paine in Patagonia. The demanding climb took 13 days in difficult conditions and highlighted the resilience and teamwork required for success on big-wall objectives.

Further Information:
https://www.theuiaa.org/mountainvoices/
Caro also discusses her work as a mountain guide, the lessons learned from years of expedition climbing, and the balance between life in Switzerland and El Chaltén, Patagonia. The conversation offers an inspiring insight into a climber whose career has been defined by curiosity, determination and a passion for discovering what lies beyond the horizon.

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Lara Neumeier is one of Germany’s best trad and big wall climbers, describing big walls as ‘the ultimate adventure’. She was born in the Allgau mountains of Germany, near the Austrian border and first put on a climbing harness at the age of two. A love of rock climbing began early…

In 2023, Lara and BABSI Zangerl made the first female ascent of the route Muir Blast and El Corazon on El Capitan, a 5.13 climb. The 35 pitches, which they free climbed, took them 6 days. Amazingly, this was her first big wall climb on El Cap. The following year she would return to El Cap, and free El Nino via Pineapple Express variation with Nemo Feurle. Closer to home she recently made the fourth repeat – the first female ascent – of the trad-route Psychogramm at Bürser Platte, in the Vorarlberg region of Austria which has a grade of 8b+.

She now has a new project – repeating the famous Alpine trilogy of hardest climbs put up by Beat Kammerlander, Thomas Huber and Stefan Glowacz, back in the day. First was Silbergeier (8b+) on the Swiss side of the Rätikon, the next was End of Silence, a 14 pitch 8b+ in her native Berchtesgarden Alps. Only the third remains: Des Kaisers neue Kleider (The Emperor’s New Clothes).

In this episode, Lara reflects on her achievements to date, her current targets and her desire to inspire others to climb.
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Season 3 of Mountain Voices is dedicated to interviews with a wide range of noted individuals – climbers, mountaineers and experts in specific mountain fields including safety, rescue and climate change.

Kicking off the season is a British climber for whom Sir Chris Bonington once said: ‘Tom Livingstone, one of the finest climbers in the world, always using the purest techniques.’ As Tom’s own website biography details he has a penchant for trad, winter and alpine climbing - the bigger and badder, the better. He works as an outdoor instructor and a noted writer.

Some of his favourite routes include Cracking Up (IX,9), The Fourth Dimension (E7 6c), Fun or Fear (ED), The Secret (IX, 9), Rare Lichen (E9 6c), Conan the Librarian (E6 6b), Divine Providence (ED), a winter ascent of the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses, The Great Game on Koyo Zom (ED+) and the North Ridge Variation on Latok I (ED+). Now in his mid-30s he remains ambitious to take on more.

In this series guests go on a journey, looking back at what got them into climbing, onto the walls and into the mountains, the lessons learned along the way, the equipment they never go without, the people they’ve met, their strengths and weaknesses and what the future holds.
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An exclusive interview with Kilian Jornet, an athlete whose feats almost defy description. A multiple ski mountaineering world champion and a trail and ultra running legend, Kilian has set speed records on numerous mountains - most recently his 19-day challenge to climb all 82 4000m peaks of the Alps, a classification recognised by the UIAA.

In this interview, Kilian discusses: the logistical and physical challenges of that feat; the current initiatives of Kilian Jornet Foundation which focus on the environment, youth engagement and inclusion; his thoughts on the importance of ethics in mountaineering; reflections on some of his notable achievements including his time on Everest.

Further Information:
https://www.kilianjornet.cat/
https://www.kilianjornetfoundation.org/

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