On Episode 45 of the Enormocast, I sit down with kayaker slash ice climber Aaron Mulkey. With the strength of 10 men, Aaron attacks both first descents and first ascents with zeal and unwavering psyche. Aaron admits that he’s a bit of an adrenaline junky and a lucky optimist that gets in over his head once in a while. In addition, I tell the tale of my near death at the hands of the screaming barfies. Good times at the Rodeway Inn.
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WW kayaking took one of my best friends. I still can’t relate to the danger of the sport despite being an avid climber. I’m sure people look at us the same way, but it still feels different.
Anyway, always fun to time travel in the archives. thanks, Chris.
I related to this episode because I share the same lack of interest (i.e., fear) of kayaking and ice climbing. 🙂 I much prefer the slower versions of both… I just don’t think that fast usually. But I do love Aaron’s spirit and how he moves between those two worlds. And appreciate how he is at home and comfortable in them.
And your personal ice climbing story may be the best Kalous story I’ve heard in all 45 episodes. I’m laughing out loud right now just thinking about it!
Couldnt agree more about the sentiment in the beginning of the show. I was a gymnast for many years and was terrible. It was just too fast, I couldn’t stop mid flip and fix something. Then when I came around for the next set, I’d try to fix position and something else would go wrong. I imagine similar with the kayak route, you have to go back up the river and start again with new variables. Maybe one reason rock climbing really appeals is because you can isolate moves to a finite degree at your own speed.
Exactly. There is a clock ticking on a rock route, but comparatively it’s very slow and though sequences need to be remembered or improvised, there’s usually breaks in between. When somebody says to get a shake on this or that hold, they really mean to reset for the next sequence.