Epsiode 154: Buddy Nielsen – One Version of a Dangerous World.

On Episode 154 of the Enormocast, I sit down back stage at the Summit Music Hall in Denver, Colorado with Senses Fail frontman and founding member, Buddy Nielsen. Buddy has been the lead singer and driving force behind this acclaimed hardcore band since 2002. Living the touring rock band life led him into many of the typical pitfalls of booze, drugs, and erratic behavior. But rock climbing, the birth of his daughter, and the care from and for his wife have brought him to a hard-won place of balance in the last 3 years. Buddy is a proud helmet-wearing, slab-climbing, dad-climber who, like us all, aspires to get a little better every time he climbs. He finds that the fear and challenge of rock climbing is a balm to his anxiety in normal life. All the tunes in this one come from Senses Fail’s 2018 recording, If There is Light, It Will Find You. 

A Good ol’ Fashioned Music Video from Senses Fail.

A reminder that once in a while rock stars do, in fact, climb.

 

Episode 153: Janet Wilkinson – A Little Help From Her Friends.

On Episode 152 of the Enormocast, I met up with ice-climber, rock-climber, guide, and gym-owner, Janet Wilkinson, in her breakfast nook in New Hampshire. Janet came up in climbing when female trad-climbers and guides were still few and far between and cut her teeth with the boys. But in search of lady partners, she made life long friends with the likes of Sarah Garlick. Janet does not consider herself an alpinist, but anybody else looking at her resume in Patagonia and beyond certainly would. For now, as a mother, she’s happy at her local crags in New Hampshire, but she is always threatening to be a threat again in the greater ranges.

Babes On Belay

Episode 152: Mark Hudon and Max Jones – As Free as Can Be.

Clockwise from top left: The Nose 1976, Jones on the FFA of Enduro Corner, Salathe 1979, Devils Tower 1979.

On Episode 152 of the Enormocast, I realize a stated dream by sitting down in the Oasis Camper Trailer with Mark Hudon and Max Jones. Max and Mark quietly pushed the boundaries of free climbing in the late 70s in Yosemite. Operating under the shadows of the likes of Kauk and Bachar, Jones and Hudon were every bit as visionary on big routes as those superstars. They had a tremendous 5 year run in the Valley and beyond before Max Jones turned his talents to the budding sport of Mountain Biking, and Mark Hudon started searching for something new – eventually ending up with a coffee business in Hood River and then retiring to become a climbing bum again. But several years ago, the buddy movie that was their time together in Yosemite in the 70s got a reboot and they’ve been climbing walls as a team again to this day.

Mark on El Cap Bridge

Mark and Max on South Seas 2012