Enormocast 262: Caroline George – Belonging

On Episode 262 of the Enormocast, I connect across continents and oceans to Switzerland and Caroline George. Caroline is one of the most accomplished climbers you’ve never heard of, an early female IFMGA guide, a mom, and a Swiss Ms. She holds US, French, and Swiss passports which open the world for climbing and professional opportunities. Though Caroline almost lost her way into the world of being a city-based lawyer, the mountains beckoned after a personal tragedy and a near-fatal accident, and soon she was accidentally dropping her tools on her future husband and guiding partner in Ouray, CO. Caroline rounded out her life goals with the birth of her daughter. Now based in the Swiss and French Alps, Caroline guides worldwide and advocates for more inclusion and acceptance of woman in the guiding industry, climbing community, and the world at large.

Caroline’s Website

Enormocast 236: Malik Martin and Conrad Anker – Brothers, Friends, and Countrymen

All photos: Max Lowe

On Episode 236 of the Enormocast, I sit down next to, but for some reason not in, a hot springs pool with Malik Martin and Conrad Anker. Conrad and Malik met at Memphis Rox when Malik was working there, and the North Face had sent Conrad to check it out. Memphis Rox is a unique gym, a non-profit, and known for its outreach to the South Memphis community. Malik was already a photojournalist, but his curiosity about outdoor photography bonded him and Conrad. Since that fateful meeting, Malik has come to call Conrad his “Mountain Dad”. Since entering the industry, Malik has become an outspoken advocate for diversity and representation for the Black community in the outdoor industry. He’s not afraid to confront racism, hypocrisy, and apathy in climbing around diversity. Climbers may be most familiar with Malik Martin from Sender Films’ Black Ice.

Malik and Conrad at the Alpenglow Speaker Series

Enormocast 225: Manoah Ainuu – Life’s Sustenance

On Episode 225 of the Enormocast, I sit down in a yard with goats with ice climber, Manoah Ainuu. Manoah popped up on a lot of climbers’ radars in the film Black Ice from last year’s Reel Rock, but he’s been a North Face Athlete for 3 years and getting it done in Bozeman for longer. As a brown-skin climber and sporting long dreads, Manoah knows that he stands out in the ice climbing world, but that’s fine with him. His participation is his own statement about diversity. Above all, Manoah is trying to find a life balance that is a bit against the grain in the world of hard climbing and 20 something men: family, health, spirituality, climbing, in that order.