Author: Chris Kalous

Owner, operator, guru, yogi of enormocast.
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Enormocast 315: Kate Kelleghan – Turbocharged Life

Photos: Abbey Bergh, Kate Kelleghan, Julien Scherliss, James Lucas

On Episode 315 of the Enormocast, I sit down with Boulder-born Yosemite-trained speed climbing maestra, Kate Kelleghan. Kate came to climbing at 20 despite, or maye TO spite, her climbing dad. A youth of dark eye make-up, music, art, and smoke-sessions behind the school finally gave way to a life of climbing adventure when dad took Kate up the 3rd Flatiron as a teen. Then, as was her way, she leapt into the deep end and became a CLIMBER, eventually moving through the gym to finding trad climbing on the cliffs above Boulder like Castle Rock and Eldo. Then she fell into the quirky world of the Naked Edge speed games eventually creating, setting, then breaking her own women’s speed record. Eventually, Yosemite pulled her further west where bigwall speed climbing was her future. This path culminated (for now) when Kate and Laura Pineau became the only women (so far) to ever complete the Yosemite Triple: Half Dome, El Capitan, and Watkins in a day.

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Enormocast 314: Sam MacIlwaine – The Way of the Offwidth Warrior

Photos: Sam MacIlwaine, Sav Cummins, Becca Aist
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On Episode 314 of the Enormocast, I sit down with climber Sam MacIlwaine. Sam is a sport climber, trad climber, bigwall climber, but perhaps is most well-known for her invert offwidth jones. Somewhere in her kinda “normal” ascension as a climber, Sam ended up in Mary “Tradprincess” Eden’s Offwidth clinic and the two women became fast friends. Soon Sam was right next to Mary sending some of the hardest Offwidths out there including Mechanical Bull, Supreme Manliness, and Belly Full of Bad Berries. As climbing took over her life, here tech job was simply too time consuming so Sam took her love of writing and parlayed that into a freelance career and scored a position as associate editor of Climbing Magazine. As we speak, one more OW project is in the offing as Sam journeys to the underworld of Monument Basin to throw herself at Century Crack. Then maybe, just maybe, she’ll cool it on the OWs for a bit and start sport climbing like a normal person.

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Enormocast Tweener: Matilda Söderlund Live in Squamish

Photos: Bill Hamilton
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On this Tweener Enormocast, we rebroadcast a live interview with Swedish climber Matilda Söderlund captured in front of a smart well-dressed audience at the Arc’teryx Academy in Squamish, BC. Matilda has become a bright star of Swedish climbing progressing from a tween competitor to hot shot sport climber, big route climber, trad climber, and gyn owner. She’s climbed 9a, complete the first all female ascent of Rayu 8c, and fearsome E8 in trad. Her gym Moumo was the first in Stockholm and is a hub for outreach to women climbers. Listeners may remember mentions of Matilda’s prowess on the rock in Episode 309 with Anna Hazlenutt.

Matilda’s Website

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