Enormocast 240: Maiza Lima – The Long Way Home

On Episode 240 of the Enormocast, I am joined by Maiza Lima. Maiza resides, more or less, in Great Falls, Montana, but her journey to that town has been a long and arduous one. Maiza was born and grew up in a remote village in Brazil, and in her teens, joined her mother to cross the Mexican border into the US. They found their way to Seattle, Washington where they both cleaned houses relentlessly for the next ten years. After being first drawn to the night life of the big city, she finally yearned for more satisfaction from life and started exploring outdoor opportunities and then climbing. Soon, Maiza was obsessed and chose to make a life out of climbing, married a fellow climber, started working in the climbing industry and the rest, as they say, is current history.

Enormocast 239: Janja Garnbret – Her Hardest Hue to Hold

On Episode 239 of the Enormocast, I have the privilege to sit down with Gold Medalist, Janja Garnbret. A Slovenian climbing hero, Janja, of course, took Gold at the inaugural climbing Olympics, but before that she was already the winningest climbing athlete of all time. As she beams into the interview from Oliana, Catalunya, a relaxed Garnbret talks about the pressures and joys of performing at the Olympics. Her secret seems to have been letting go of perfection. Now, as Janja faces her post Olympic period (until the next one), she is looking to continue to dominate the indoor field and set new standards for women’s outdoor climbing as well. But mostly, she wants to inspire girls and women to be their best and do what they love.

The Wall: Climbing for Gold

Enormocast 238 – Tommy Caldwell: Concerned Climbing Citizen

On episode 238 of the Enormocast, Tommy Caldwell shows up for his sophomore appearance on the podcast. A lot has gone down since his first show in 2016. Both Tommy and the Royal We had a child – his second. He wrote a New York Times best seller. He and Honnold put up a free route on El Cap that nobody cared about. They also teamed up to do the Nose on El Cap in under 2 hours. But perhaps most importantly, Tommy turned his sights on environmental activism by getting involved in Climb the Hill, the protection of Bears Ears and Oak Flat and more. Finally, we find a slightly mellowed Caldwell, bent on being a great dad and husband, but still chasing after that elusive sense of adventure.