Enormocast 317: Alik Berg – A Climber’s Climber

Subscribe

On Episode 317 of the Enormocast, I sit down at the Banff Mountain Film Festival with alpinist Alik Berg. Born in Edmonton and living in Canmore, Alik has spent most of his life forging himself into the climber’s climber: reliable, strong, smart, and bold. His view of the ethics and philosophy of alpinism were instilled by his dad, but also tested on the big walls of Yosemite as a teenager. As the years progressed, big wall Alik transformed himself into an expert winter alpinist in the Canadian Rockies. Though he is relatively unknown outside of the deep community of alpinists in the Bow Valley, he is revered and respected throughout that realm of compact, snow-dusted, limestone and rime-covered necky leads that is Canadian Rockies winter climbing. Never one to spray about himself, Alik agreed to sit down for the Enormocast because he wants to share the hard fought wisdom of his years in the range and beyond as those that came before shared with him.

Enormocast 306: Sarah Hueniken – The Aftermath

Subscribe

On Episode 206 of the Enormocast, I sit down at Banff Mountain Film with alpinist and guide, Sarah Hueniken. Sarah was an outdoor educator before she was a climber, and though she is known for ice climbing and dry tooling, she was a rock climber first. She even found Canmore, Alberta a little bleak and cold for her taste. Nevertheless, Sarah eventually set up shop in Canmore and pursued guiding as her career choice and first love. Almost as an afterthought to that pursuit, she became an accomplished alpinist in her own right and took to the emerging disciplines of mixed climbing and dry tooling. She became the first North American woman to climb M11-M14. But then, well into her advanced guiding career, a terrible incident occurred during an ice-climbing camp under her direction in 2019. An avalanche swept over a a guided group at Massey’s Waterfall and buried and killed Sonja Findlater. In the aftermath of that incident, Sarah found herself wallowing in guilt and trauma and the loss of her friend. Finally, she emerged from her despair to rejoin the climbing community, start guiding again, and form the Mountain Muskox organization to see others through the trauma of mountain accidents.

Sarah On Fire

Sarah’s Guiding Website

Massey’s Incident Guide Report

Not Alone by Heather Mosher

Episode 208: Margo Talbot – Climbing Through the Pain.

On Episode 208 of the Enormocast, I have a very enjoyable and inspiring talk with ice climber and author, Margo Talbot. Margo is Canadian and based out of Canmore, Alberta. In her memoir, All That Glitters, Margo reveals that she had a youth of drug addiction, depression, and suicidal tendencies but found climbing ice to be therapy she needed to start to face her demons. Instead of using climbing to hide her trauma, ice climbing gave her strength to dig at the roots of her addiction and depression. Finally overcoming her loneliness and darkness with the help of good friends, deep introspection, and the peaks surrounding Canmore, Margo now helps teach others to heal their own trauma by her example.

More about Margo: margotalbot.com