Enormocast 264: Alita Contreras – The Language of Climbing

On Episode 264 of the Enormocast, I connect with Alita Contreras – a Venezuelan/Colombian climber beaming in from…Georgia. Alita was born in Venezuela to a Colombian father who taught his child to love the traditions and legends of Colombia. At University while studying languages, Alita found climbing, and soon, she was pining to leave her rainy and relatively rockless home for destinations worldwide. Stints in Germany and Canada introduced her to the world of climbing coaching and she brought her own ideas of that craft to Colombia where she became a top competitor and then a top outdoor climber and now a coach. Alita is primed to take a job coaching girls in the States and about to finish a film, Guerreras, about the climbing women of Colombia.

Episode 206: Andres Marin – El Afortunado.

On Episode 206, we get down to climbing talk and climbing stories with Andres Marin. Andres was born and grew up in the mountains of Colombia, but immigrated to the US as a young man. Ending up in Grand Junction, Colorado, Andres was quickly drawn to the climbing opportunities in his back yard. Soon, he found himself guiding Mt. Rainier over and over and over (and over) again. Finally, he wound up as a consummate guide in Ouray, Colorado and then on the North Face team. Andres has been drawn to all forms of climbing, with alpinism and ice climbing being his bread and butter. First ascents world wide dot his resume amid years of desert climbing and technical Rocky Mountain ice. Good for a laugh and a crazy story, Andres Marin is the kind of climber you want at your campfire.