The Enormocast

May 14, 2025May 14, 2025

Enormocast 305: Caro North – Magnetic

On Episode 305 of the Enormocast, alpinist and guide Caro North joins me in my lovely hotel room in Banff, AB during the Banff Mountain Film Festival for a heartfelt talk about her journey as an international female climber. Born in Switzerland, but raised in Germany, Caro actually found herself on top of Aconcagua in Argentina at the age of 16. She was hooked on the climbing life from that moment forward. Soon she was deep in the alpine clubs in Germany and learning amongst a group of her female peers. So once Caro set out on her own, it seemed natural to try and climb with women in the mountains. Then she found that being a polyglot and multinational opened her partner pool to the world and a frantic decade of expeditions ensued. Some burn-out was the cost, though, and Caro took assessment of her exhaustion at the ripe age of 26. This talk finds her a part time resident of El Chalten, a full blown UIAA Swiss guide, and on a (very) slightly more restful path as she still pursues her goals in the mountains.

Caro on the Gram

Passes for Banff 2025

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

April 23, 2025May 13, 2025

Enormocast 304: Sam Stroh – Naturally Decent

On Episode 304 of the Enormocast, climber Sam Stroh drops by my suite at the Arcteryx Academy in Squamish to talk climbing and get to the bottom of a misunderstanding. Sam cut his teeth in New Mexico and soon after high school was on the road as a classic itinerant dirtbag. After falling in with his climbing-life-partner, Adrian Vanoni, the duo started audaciously skipping through the grades and finding themselves on bigger and bigger missions. El Cap sends ensued. Professional offers appeared. Deals were made. And now Sam is out on a limb farther than he ever dreamed. But somewhere in there, Sam and Adrian heard something from one of their thought leaders, yours truly, that didn’t sit well with the boys. In this interview, we get to the bottom of my apparent diss that’s been stuck in their mutual craw for years. But we hug it out in the end.

Wet Lycra Nightmare with Sam and Jordan Cannon

Get ‘Em While They’re Hot: Sam Stroh Arcteryx Academy Clinic Spots

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS

April 4, 2025April 4, 2025

Enormocast 303: Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll – A Very Particular Set of Skills

On Episode 303 of the Enormocast I sit down with one of the most compelling and somewhat enigmatic climbers of our times: Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll. It was a multi-year dance, but we finally sat down puss-a-puss in the Canadian Rockies at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Sean is known for his big wall antics across the globe, often in the company of his broer van een andere moeder, Nico Favresse. But that bright and shiny sense of humor belies the fire and climbing beast that Sean can muster when the going gets tough, cold, and seemingly insurmountable. We discuss his Belgian, Irish, Spanish multi-cultural background and what his Irish roots in particular mean to him. Sean also fills us in on his beginnings, partnerships, forced COVID retreat in El Chaltén, Greenland, sea sickness, meditation, philosophy and more. And of course, I didn’t unlash him from his seat until we got some Irish tin whistle. I mean, come on!