Enormocast 319: Freja Shannon – Moments of Glad Grace

Photos Fay Manners, Hamish Frost, Al Lee
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On episode 319 of the Enormocast, I connect across the Atlantic with Irish/Swedish climber and guide, Freja Shannon. Freja split her youth between the west coast of Ireland and Sweden. Her first mountain sport was snowboarding which took her to Chamonix for a winter season when she was 19. But in that spring, she found climbing and finally felt “this is it!”. Freja dove into all the alpine pursuits with abandon and started racking up ascents in Chamonix, her other home in Sweden, and discovered that the sea cliffs of Ailladie were only a few miles from where she grew up. Then an serious fall in 2023 in the Alps broke her back and dealt a major blow to her confidence. Freja’s body recovered quickly but she’ also had to reassess her risk tolerance and her commitment to the alpine. The fire is still there, but Freja’s focus may have changed for the better.

Enormocast Tweener : Live from the Banff Mountain Film Festival with Helias Millerioux

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I had the honor of interviewing French alpinist and guide Helias Millerioux on stage at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Helias is most internationally known for climbing a new route on the South Face of Nuptse alpine style with a French Team. But Helias is a experienced alpine climber with ascents around the world. He is a guide in Chamonix but originally hailed from the mean streets of Paris. Known for his sense of style in climbing, Helias also specializes in long and committed multi-disciplined human powered expeditions like climbing Mt Logan sea to sea. This episode is rebroadcast of the live interview. He has two beloved cats named Nuptse and Logan.

Episode 171: Mark Twight – Still Coming Down Part 1.

L: MFT signing REFUGE (Trevor Thompson). M: MFT on Mt Hunter (Scott Backes). R: Kiss or Kill Cover (Brooks Freehill).

On Episode 171, I sit down in the Dissect Podcast studio with former alpinist, Mark Twight, for part 1 of our talk from February 2019. Though Mark gave up extreme alpinism around 2000, his attitude, outlook, and philosophy are still that of a climber. In this EPIC late night and whiskey-fueled interview, Mark recounts a career in the mountains that happened two decades ago, but is still reverberating in his own psyche and with young alpinists today. Like a drug addict or a rock star, Twight battled with the prospect of coming down from those heights to the trivia and monotony of the valley. Nearly 20 years out from his last great climb and after many other incredible accomplishments, Mark only recently has found some peace without climbing.

Nonprophet.media and Mark’s New Book: REFUGE.

Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber.

Episode 172: Mark Twight – Still Coming Down Part 2